CHAPTER FOUR
Del slept at one of her cousin’s house on Molynes Road that night. She made sure that she kept the merchandise and her gun close to her. She woke up, had some breakfast and then went to the house, she had recently rented in Cumberland. One thing she liked about Portmore was the amount of schemes that one could easily hide out in.
She drove home and relaxed. She had to get some credit for her phone. She also had to get some more clips for her gun. She knew that Myra still had people out there looking for her. After she disposed of the merchandise she would take the two children and go to the country to cool out for a while.
***
Myra didn’t stay at her house on Jackson Avenue but went up to Dorraine Avenue that night. Dorraine Avenue was in Desland Gardens over in Red Hills while Jackson Avenue was in Molynes Gardens. Only three security men were on guard. When she woke up it was in bright sunshine and the house phone was ringing.
Dixie was on the line. “You shoot the girl yet.”
“I can’t find her, Dixie. Last night I pursued her all over town. We even shot at each other. But she escaped, I’ll find her and pump some bullets into her, though,” she threatened.
“We might have to intensify the search for her,” Dixie said as they ended the call.
***
Elton and Nully were still frustrated at not being able to find Bus-up and get the repayment for the gun from him. Their Don, Chulky had other things on his mind besides their failure to retrieve the gun. Apparently some money, food, clothes, guns and ammunition had been sent down from England. It was to be shared out among several brethren, including Chulky’s Base 50 and Balty’s 23 Lane syndicates. The goods had been sent down by Keeble, a man who had migrated out of the community fifteen years ago and was now a a top Yardie general in England. Several men were accusing Chulky of not sharing the spoils right. Only last night an attack had been made on his headquarters and two of his fighters shot and wounded.
"Those men want to wipe us out, they say that they should have gotten more so they came and shot up Bindy and Raymond," Chulky stated.
"It's pure war all over the city, as far as I hear the war between Bobby Deacon and Coltrane isn’t over yet," Elton reported.
"I don't know what those men are talking about. I saw them sharing it out. Maybe it's they who didn't share it out the right way," Nully declared.
"Make sure that all the roads have their blockades. For tonight all our fighters must be on guard and in strategic positions,”Chulky instructed.
Chulky had a small army of about twenty men. These he sometimes hired out for pay. Bobby Deacon had phoned him about hiring some of his fighters for a push on Shadow and Coltrane. He had told him his price and the man would be getting back to him. Now this falling out between him and certain men in the nearby community could complicate things.
***
Gonzales tasted the cocaine, dipping his fingers into the powder several times before looking at Del and going to his small vault. Del examined the packets of money, making sure that they were still sealed. Five hundred thousand Jamaican dollars. She put the money in her bag, her hands still on the Browning pistol.
"You said you have more, bring it and you’ll get more money." "I'll bring the rest in two days time," she said, retreating from the room and going to her car. She got into the car, started it but didn’t drive off immediately but looked around. When she drove out of the yard she went a few meters up the road and stopped. She kept her eyes on the entrance to the premises, but didn’t see any vehicles coming out of the yard.
***
She decided that she would buy some manager's checks with the money and drove off. Bettina had told her that the children were at their school. She wanted to take them and go down to the country as she didn’t want to give her any added burden. She didn’t want to embarrass her and Winston.
He was a top government official and Bettina didn’t want any incidents to jeopardize his movement up the ladder. So Del was anxious to take herself and her children out of their lives for a few months at least.
***
Myra felt frustrated, neither Del nor the merchandise had surfaced. Cudjoe had given her until month-end to find the merchandise or start repaying him his money.
***
Bobby Deacon, Dixie and Bowla met over lunch at Haughton’s restaurant on Wilson Avenue in May Pen. Bowla had agreed to meet them at this out of Kingston location. All three men had come to the meeting from separate directions. Bowla’s two bodyguards were in the restaurant having lunch. Bobby Deacon’s bodyguards were at a nearby restaurant also having lunch.
“Shadow told me that you’re the ones who betrayed him,” Bowla stated.
“When Coltrane’s forces attacked us, he pretended that he was helping us to lure us into a fight. He had secretly made a deal with Coltrane. We lost four of our fighters,” Bobby Deacon explained.
“Right now we have to be on the run from the police. Imagine Shadow and Coltrane claiming that my fighters who were killed were their operatives. They told the police the men were passing through my area when my men ambushed and killed them.”
Dixie nodded in agreement with what Bobby Deacon had just said.
“What do you want out of this deal?” Bowla asked.
“We’re hiding out at our safe houses, but we are fast running out of money and food. We want to be outfitted to launch a war against both Shadow and Coltrane. As you know they control a significant amount of real estate. Once we are in control of that we could guarantee you a lot of things.”
“I have to talk to the syndicate about you guy’s proposals. They might want you to guarantee that Shadow will not be harmed. As you know he has been one of our long time associates,” Bowla explained as the waitress brought their food.
Bobby Deacon ate some of the gungo stew, rice and beef before replying.
“Shadow betrayed us. It was his treachery that made Coltrane defeat us. As I said before, we have passed a death sentence on him.”
Bowla was eating his ackee, saltfish and food. He was making small sounds to show that he was enjoying it.
“Guys like Philly, Lubsy and Cudjoe, my other associates, might not take kindly to him being harmed. As you know his brother was over there before he was killed. That’s how come we got so close to him.”
Bobby Deacon looked at Dixie, who was half-way through his fried chicken lunch. He was wondering if they should end the discussions now. Whenever a syndicate passed a death sentence on anybody it was never commuted. Shadow had to be killed for his treachery.
“Bowla, you know the law of the jungle. Shadow committed an unpardonable act that is punishable by death,” Dixie put in.
Bowla ate some more of his food. Liston, Shadow’s brother, had been a top ranking Yardie general before he was gunned down. His syndicate, Ashley Road, had done business with his Rock Hill syndicate.
“You guys are stubborn, but I have to talk to those guys I mentioned and then I’ll get back to you. I can tell you that it will be hard to make a deal without some guarantees about Shadow,” Bowla declared as he continued eating.
Bobby Deacon and Dixie were nearly finished eating.
Bowla told them about England and some of the challenges syndicates like his were having over there. Finally, they all finished eating.
They realized the risks they had taken by coming to this restaurant. During their meal they had seen a steady stream of policemen passing through the restaurant ordering mostly take away meals. Several military men had passed through too. Bobby Deacon was glad that he and Dixie were both bearded and didn’t look like the pictures of them they were displaying in the press.
The men were now having their drinks.
“I don’t understand Shadow. He doesn’t seem like the man we used to know. He seems to be a shadow of himself,” Bowla remarked as he finished his drink.
“He knows he’s dead if anybody from our syndicate meets up with him,” Dixie warned as he and Bobby Deacon finished their drinks.
“Shadow made Coltrane start operating small time. He wasn’t keeping tabs on him and when he made his move everybody was surprised. Now he controls this valuable piece of real estate. He runs it like his own turf. We warned Shadow that he would move in on him and he didn’t listen.”
“So how did you get started, Bobby Deacon?”
Bobby Deacon ate a spoonful of ice-cream.
“After I came out of prison I went to Shadow and he agreed to let me operate and pay him a monthly fee. I didn’t know that Coltrane was so big. Then I balked when I heard that Coltrane was operating freely and that most of Shadow’s fighters were defecting to him. Each defection was weakening him and Coltrane was beginning to move in on him, taking away areas that Shadow was no longer able to defend. I became alarmed and started to recruit fighters to defend my areas because I feared that Coltrane would move in on me.”
“So, Shadow wasn’t aware of what was going on around him?”
“If he was aware he gave no indication. I had to go to him several times to try and update him about the Coltrane organization. The talk on the street was that Shadow was getting old and useless. He seemed to be satisfied with the pickings that Coltrane allowed him plus as he was getting old, he had stopped partying and living the flashy lifestyle.”
“A man named Matthews, who was operating in the area was forced out by Coltrane. Then everything went back to normal for about three months.
“Then he made a push on us. Shadow agreed to help us fight off the attack. He joined us in attempting to repulse the attack, but at the last minute his forces pulled out leaving us exposed on several fronts. I lost four of my fighters.”
“What! I didn’t know that it was so bad. So you’re at your safe houses now. Tell me how many fighters do you have?”
“Excluding myself and Dixie, we have about ten fighters, but Coltrane has about forty and Shadow has about twenty.”
“So how do you guys operate? I mean, where does your income come from?”
“I’ll be blunt with you Bowla, and say that the government allows us to operate freely in our areas so long as we keep the peace. We ensure that everybody is safe in their communities. We make our money by people operating in the areas we control agreeing to help us to keep the peace by making a contribution to our efforts.”
“I like how you put it Bobby Deacon, you guys are really smart. So in other words you’d like to get back your operations?”
“Right now I have my fighters to pay. I owe them several week’s wages plus I have to give something to the families of my dead fighters.”
“Why don’t you guys move to somewhere else. Seems to me as if Coltrane’s doing all right because since I’ve been out here I haven’t heard of any violence in his areas.”
“From all reports the people in my areas feel that he has been oppressing them. They want us to return and some of my former operatives have been chased out of the area.
Bowla called the waiter over and settled his bill. Bobby Deacon and Dixie also settled their bills. Bowla, then drew up his chair.
“It was good meeting you guys, at least I have a better understanding of the whole Shadow and Coltrane set up. I’ll be able to brief my associates better.”
Bobby Deacon and Dixie stood up too.
“It was good to meet you Bowla, at least we gave you our position. We don’t want war, but if it comes, we have got to be prepared for it.”
They had moved to the front of the restaurant now.
“I’ll be seeing you guys,” Bowla told them as he and his bodyguards moved to their car.
They all went to their cars and drove off.
***
Myra’s cell phone was vibrating. She took it up and pressed the call button.
Cudjoe was on the line which was surprising to her. Normally it was one of his lieutenants, who would do the calling.
“What’s going on, Myra? You know that time has run out on you. We’re sending you a payment schedule and a date for you to begin repaying the money.”
Myra knew how the repayment would go. Cudjoe wouldn’t request that she send the money to his syndicate. Instead, she would pay it to one of his local associates.
“So how are things out there? How are those machines doing? They are cramping everything. You know that nothing is coming through to us from over there. We have to be relying on those we have in the other islands.”
“Cudjoe, I’m begging you to give me another chance. I think I can still find that girl and get the merchandise from her.”
“Not a chance, Myra, the syndicate would support you relocating to one of those small islands. We would even get you set up over there as you are one of our most experienced operators.”
Myra knew that this was not the first time the proposition was being put to her. She didn’t want to relocate and leave Dixie and the children. There was still a chance that something could be worked out.
“Myra, I’ll be seeing you, hail up Dixie and Bobby Deacon for me, ” he said before hanging up.
Myra knew that she was in serious trouble. Very soon she would have to find the money to pay back the syndicate. She swore under her breath to full Del full of gunshots whenever she caught up with her. She could never have believed that the girl could have betrayed her like that. She was particularly fearful of not being able to make the payments on time. She had to find Del and hope that she could recover a substantial amount of the coke from her. She knew several dealers whom she could bargain with and sell them at a good price. But Del might also know these dealers, so it was a touch and go situation.
She thought about Cudjoe and the way he had changed from the youth she had known on Maxfield Avenue.
Cudjoe as a youth growing up on Maxfield Avenue had found himself on the wrong side of the law several times. When gunmen invaded his parent’s house and shot both of them dead in July 1980 he had been a boy of about seven years of age.
An aunt had taken him to live with her in St. Mary but he soon ran away to Kingston. He found himself as a street boy washing cars and then doing small holdups to picking pockets.
One of his father’s former associates had seen him in Half Way Tree. He decided to help him out as a repayment to his late friend who had helped him out on several occasions. Very soon Cudjoe found himself in England with a new identity.
Alton Daniels, his father’s friend, had given him the name Cudjoe because he said he looked like the old Jamaican Maroon leader. Cudjoe was not to disappoint his benefactor and had cut down several of their enemies.
Soon he became the Harlesden syndicate top gunman. He’d been back to Jamaica on more than one occasion sometimes to thaw out. At other times he was pursuing their enemies who mistakenly thought that by buying a ticket to Jamaica they were escaping from the syndicate.
Cudjoe always saw the look of surprise followed by fear on their faces before he pumped them full of bullets. On one of these occasions he had taken care of one of their enemies in Downtown, Kingston and had gone to the North Coast to cool out when word got to him that Daniels had been killed. He had left the island in a hurry.
Returning home he had found the syndicate in disarray. After holding a small conference he was able to get things running again. He did some investigations and realized that it was Keeble’s syndicate which had done it. Gathering some fighters he had immediately attacked their syndicate killing Keeble’s deputy, Sydney and wounding two of his men, Barnes and Teddy.
The two syndicates were now at war. Many more fighters on both sides were injured, some seriously. It wasn’t until both he and Keeble were injured that a truce was called. A peace treaty was agreed on. Under the deal each syndicate was to operate in their former turf and was not to come into the other’s areas.
Both syndicates had spread their wings and the obvious choice was Jamaica.
***
Chulky was building a marijuana cigarette. Beside him Nully was on the last of his cigarette. He was holding an Ingram submachine gun. Both Chulky and Elton carried AK- 47 guns with them.
They were in the yard while outside fighters were milling about as they prepared for an imminent attack by Chulky’s enemies. He had gotten evidence that an attack was planned on his headquarters tonight and so he had started to beef up his defenses. The man behind it was Balty for he had been a close associate of Keeble and felt that he had been wronged by Chulky.
Balty and his associates had somehow gotten hold of the invoices for the list of goods Keeble had sent and realized that they had only gotten a small percentage instead of the fifty percent cut.
Chulky had rejected Balty’s charges and had instead laid the blame on the man’s lieutenants. They were the ones to whom he had delivered the goods, but Balty had rejected his charges and had instead given him an ultimatum to deliver up the rest of the goods or face an attack.
Chulky had balked at Balty, giving him an ultimatum and had put his forces on full alert.
“Everywhere is blocked off, Chulky,” Nully declared.
“I can’t understand those guys, they keep on attacking me and I gave them so much things,” Chulky declared as he heard loud shouting.
“We’re under attack,” came Sully’s voice. It was followed by a barrage of heavy gunfire.
“Return their fire,” Chulky shouted as he let off a round from his AK-47.
Their attackers let off a deadly hail of fire which was returned. Chulky crawled behind one of their sandbag defenses.
The Balty fighters had reversed into the lane and were firing at Chulky’s positions. But they realized the danger and didn’t want to be blocked in the lane. Most of their vehicles were parked on the outside while they advanced on foot, some climbing buildings to get a vantage point.
Elton and Nully were in the thick of the fighting. Elton saw a shadow move and he fired and heard a man scream.
“You got him Elton?” Nully asked.
Their positions came under sustained attack for another fifteen minutes during which time two of Chulky’s men were injured. But they had succeeded in killing one of Balty’s fighters and wounded four others.
The men wounded in the fighting was taken to a doctor Uptown. The Balty forces had taken away the dead man and also their wounded fighters. They all knew that the dead fighter would be given full military honors.
Chulky knew that this was one of the reasons why Bobby Deacon was so cut up about Shadow’s treachery. His dead fighters hadn’t been given the military rites they so richly deserved.
Chulky went to bed around five o’clock that morning. He had to ensure that the garrison around the compound was at its strongest. From now on they would have to be posting guards around the compound.