Black Wynter 2 "Quiet Storm"

Chapter Twelve

Jo and Fury inspected their trap house on 146th from top to bottom. Jo was livid. He still wasn't afraid of Nekhi's threats, but if Nekhi was gonna kill him, Jo didn't understand why he just wouldn't get it over with. Khi was hitting him where it hurt. First Egypt, then the shop, now 50% of his workers? Nah. This was bad. Real fucking bad. This was hurting his cash flow!

"We need to go back Uptown and finish what the fuck we started," Fury put forth. He was just as mad as Jo. Jo shook his head. "All in due time. For now we need to focus on our business and how to undo this damage. We loosing money, Fury. Fast," Jo said, stressed. "Well, if we go kill those niggas we will stop loosing money," Fury pointed out. Jo sighed and looked at his friend. He just didn't get it. Money came first. Always.

Jo shook his head and turned back out of the trap house. He knew the cops would raid the place in a few days. Might as well let them take care of it.
*****
Jo went home to find a napping Kennedy. He watched her from the doorframe of their bedroom for a second, before waking her up. She was so beautiful. And he loved her so much. Her first day transporting for him was only a few days away and it bothered him badly that he even had to make her do it. But he promised her and himself that she wouldn't be doing it very long at all. He just needed to regain control of his business reigns and then everything would go back to normal.

He walked into the room, over to Kennedy and shook her awake. She stirred in her sleep. "Wake up, baby," he whispered to her. She opened her eyes. "Hey," she replied, softly. "Wake up. I gotta talk to you," Jo let his wife know. Kennedy stretched and Jo gave her some time to fully wake up before he spoke again.

"What do you have to talk to me about?" Kennedy asked him. Jo went in his back pocket, pulling out his phone. "I wasn't going to show you this at first, but I guess I might as well," he handed her his phone. Kennedy looked down at the screen and squinted in disbelief at what she saw. It was a picture of O-Lok and her brother wearing "Furious Fly" clothing. Attached to the picture was a message that read "Happy Customers".

"That's Quameek," Jo said, making more of a statement than asking a question. "Yeah, it is," Kennedy replied, breathlessly. Jo took slowly exhaled. "Look baby girl. I know that's your brother and all, but it looks like he done crossed over to the wrong team. This beef don't got shit to do with him. I don't wanna take your little brother out, but I'ma be real with you. It might happen. As long as he's down with that Nekhi nigga," Jo said.

He watched Kennedy's facial expression, searching for any emotion. He found none. That was one thing that always amazed him about Kennedy. She never showed emotion or feeling about anything at all. Sometimes, Jo found himself wondering if the girl even loved him. He waited for her to say something. He had just told her that he would kill her little brother if he had to. She had to have something to say.

Jo was surprised when Kennedy looked Jo straight in his eye. "Well," she said. "You gotta do what you gotta do right?"
*****
Jo sighed and pulled over, after the police behind him signaled for him to do so. He rolled his window down and waited for the cop to approach him. "Is there a problem, officer?" he asked. "You know you ran a red light back there, buddy?" the officer spoke. He knew, but Jo played it off as if he were surprised. "Did I? I apologize, officer. Just in a rush to get home," he replied.

The officer eyed Jo, most likely debating if he should believe him. "Alright. Just give me a minute to run your license," the officer said, walking away. Shit, Jo thought to himself. He knew he was going in. He quickly removed his gun from his waist and buried it in his seat. He hoped and prayed that the officer would not find it. Because he knew for a fact that the officer would search his car.

"Alright, sir. I have to take you in," the officer returned saying. Just as Jo had thought. He complied and got out of the car, allowing the officer to arrest him, as he was read his rights. He let the officer lead him to the squad car and then Jo was placed into the back. Jo watched as the officer walked back to his car and began searching it.

A couple seconds later, the officer returned with an amused grin on his face. Fuck, Jo thought. He found my gun. The officer had indeed made a discovery. But it wasn't what Jo thought. The officer held up his evidence, three small bags of coke. Jo just turned his head away. He knew he was going down.
*****
"So, Jo. You're Mr. Big Shot around here," Detective Harvey was saying to Jo back at the precinct. "Yeah, I've heard about you. And we've been looking for you. Now, tell me all about how you and your goons run around and terrorize Harlem," the detective said, getting all up in Jo's face. Jo just yawned. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, keeping his composure. Inside, he wanted to strangle this nigga.

The detective pulled out the plastic holding the three baggies of coke. "So, that means you don't know where this came from, either. Right?" the detective pressed. Jo shook his head. "Nope," he said. He wasn't going to admit to anything.

"So, how'd it get inside of your vehicle?" Detective Harvey asked. Jo shrugged. "I'm a friendly guy. I let many people use my car," he said. "Bullshit!" the detective exclaimed. Jo just sat there, looking bored. "So, who do you let use your car? What kind of people do you hang around?" one of Harvey's back up officers threw out.

Jo looked at her, she was a cute chick. She looked a little young to be an officer. "I hang around all types of people. Like I said I'm a friendly guy," he replied. The detective tried Jo for a while longer. When they finally realized that trying to get answers out of Jo was useless, he was allowed his one call, while they went to have a quick meeting about what to do next.

Jo used his call to call up Fury. His mans was not at all happy to hear that Jo had got knocked. Now, he had to hold the fort down by himself. "They can't keep you for too long, right? I mean they ain't got shit on you," Fury said, trying to create a brighter side of a dark picture. "Nah, my nigga. They got some shit on me. But it's all good. I'll hold it down. We'll see what happens. Just call Shaniece for me and let her know. She'll know what to do from there. And let my baby know I love her," Jo said, referring to Kennedy.

"I gotchu, bro. Don't worry. They not keeping you in there my nigga," Fury stated. Jo appreciated his bro's words of positivity, but he knew it was all wishful thinking. Jo knew he was facing some time. He had too much shit on his name. "Good looks, bro. I love you," Jo told his protégé. "I love you too, man," Fury said back. And they disconnected.

After being finger printed and having his mugshot taken for the umpteenth time in his life, Jo was placed in a holding cell and forced to wait for follow up procedures. A thousand thoughts were running through his mind at once. He knew he had a few warrants out for his arrests and more than a handful of charges on his record. Jo was certainly not a stranger to prison bars. He just wondered how much time he would face this time around.

He sighed and thought about his son. He knew Shaniece hated bringing Massiah to see him on visits. Speaking of which, he was wondering when she would come barging through the precinct doors, demanding to see him. She was after all, his legal lawyer. If she didn't come that night, he knew that she would definitely be there first thing in the morning. She never left him to hold it down alone for too long.

Then, he thought about Fury. He knew he mans was mad as hell, having to take care of their business all by himself now. And Jo worried for him. He knew that Nekhi and YUS were on their bullshit now. Jo would feel so guilty if they got his wingman. But he also knew that for the most part, Fury was always on point. Fury knew how to watch his own back and how to take care of himself.

Lastly, Jo's thoughts turned to Kennedy. He knew she was going to be pissed once she found out what was up. And she was supposed to be out to Baltimore in just two days. He knew she would panic if Jo couldn't be there to see her off, with some words of encouragement.

Fuck, he thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Jo didn't even care about being locked up, this was just bad fucking timing! But wasn't it always? Jo just rested his head back on the wall and chose to look at the brighter side of the situation. At least in here he was safe. He knew he didn't have to keep looking over his back, watching out for Nekhi.