Part II - Chapter 7: THE BEST FRIENDS YOU'LL EVER HAVE

Chapter 7

The Best Friends You’ll Ever Have

(Ó 2009)

University of Chicago Hospital

Intensive Care Unit

17 Days Later

 

Leticia Higgins had arrived early that morning just as she had the previous sixteen mornings before to take her place by her son’s bedside. It had become a daytime vigil for her, in fact to would always go well into the evenings. Her son Percival had awoken around the second day after his surgeries. For the first five days he spoke not a word. He would lie staring at the ceiling. When his mother or the ICU nurses would speak to him he would not respond. However, especially at night, he would react in an alarmed manner at the slightest sound that seemed out of place. His eyes would open wide and they would dart around in every direction looking for whatever the cause for the noise would be. His right arm, which still performed well for him and seemed unaffected by the attack, would flail around in his fright. Sometimes the nurses and orderlies were forced to restrain his arm down to the bed in order for him not to endanger his condition any further.

Mrs. Higgins was pleased this morning because her son seemed to be calmer than he was on any of the other days. This also pleased her because that morning she was accompanied by Pastor Ben Butler from the Missionary Baptist church of which she was a member. She now believed in her heart that her son Percival needed to be “saved by the good graces of Jesus,” now more than ever. That they both needed “God’s love and guidance” through this “dark time” in their lives. Pastor Butler was there to counsel Percival whenever he decided that he wanted to “be saved.”

Leticia Higgins now stood next to her sons bedside, leaning over so that she could lock her eyes onto his face that was secured in the halo brace. She new his attention was now confined to her. “You need to do this baby; you need to ask for God’s love and guidance because we have some rough times ahead of us.” She said, holding her ever-present Bible in her hand and shaking it slightly for him to see.

“Mama,” he answered her with an annoyed tone, “Believe me, God and Jesus both can’t save my ass now.”

“Please don’t use that tone or language to me Percival,” Leticia said to her son, “I know you hurtin’ baby, but that ain’t no cause to talk in front of your mama that way.”

“Listen son,” Pastor Butler said stepping up to the bed and beside Mrs. Higgins, he then spoke in a concerned and eloquent manner as he continued, “I know that not only are you hurting the flesh but also in the spirit. I also know you’re very angry for what has happened to you. You’re going to need time … time to get this anger out of your heart. And I know that bringing Jesus into your heart and into your life will not only help you rid yourself of that anger, but He will uplift you and help you through not only this difficult time right now, but also for all those that lie ahead for you. He will help you to move on with your life and yes enjoy it. I’m telling you son, with Jesus there are no boundaries, there are no obstacles. But, I won’t push Him on you, I can only tell you who He is and how He loves you and He so much wants to be in your life. Only time can make you see the glory of Him, and that’s what you need son is time, and we have plenty of that.”

Suddenly a voice broke in from behind them. “Well, I beg to differ with you on that one Reverend.” Leticia and Pastor Butler turned around to see David Todd leaning at the doorway of the room. “Oh now, isn’t this just the coziest of family moments?” He said sarcastically.

“What are you doing here?” Leticia Higgins asked in a demanding tone.

“Oh, me and my friends just stopped by to pay Percy here a little visit that’s all.”

“What friends?” She asked angrily.

David waved to summon whoever was behind him and then he entered the room. Following him were Noel, Captain Xiang, Celia Hanna and Ernie Adams. David stepped up to the foot of the hospital bed and said to Pastor Butler, “Yes Reverend, I believe that Jesus would love for Percy here to accept Him as his Lord and Savior and all, but ‘plenty of time’ as you said? No, I don’t think so.”

“That’s him baby.” Mrs. Higgins said to her son, “That’s the man who gave me all that disrespect.”

Gem P shifted his eyes downward to look at David, “Is that true motherfucker?”

“Guilty as charged.” David answered smiling back at Gem P and waving to him.

“Keep smiling at me like that motherfucker,” Gem P said with an ominous tone, “you know what I can do to you? You think you can just come in here and fuck with ME? Your gun and badge don’t mean shit to me man. Do you know who I AM motherfucker? I AM Gem P, and I will have your balls cut off and placed in a solid gold bowl on my fuckin’ kitchen table.”

David looked at Gem P as if he was some sort of joke, he then turned to all the others and asked, “Excuse me, but is this the part where I’m supposed to be quaking in my shoes?”

Adams crossed his arms and answered, “Apparently so.”

David and Adams then stared at each other for a silent five seconds, and then both said aloud at the same time “NAAHHH!”

David looked at Leticia and said, “Gee Mom, you were doing so well a few seconds ago scolding your little boy here on his language. Why did you stop now? Or do you pick and choose that also?”

Leticia stood speechless, then she raised an upright index finger to David and started to say, “You watch your mouth to me cop, or else I’ll - - -”

Then Noel interrupted her in mid-sentence by waving his hand at her and picking up a chair, “Oh save it lady!” He then walked swiftly past her and placed the chair right beside Percival’s bed, sitting down at the upper end where his head lay on his left side. David in turn also took a chair and placed it directly across from Noel on the right side of Gem P’s head. They both were now sitting in a shoulder-to-shoulder position to Gem P, David looking across his shoulder at Percival, as well as Noel sitting from his side. They both were level with Gem P’s head, however since his head was secured with the halo brace he was unable to turn his head to look at the men on either side of him. David and Noel both strategically placed themselves in their position, and both watched as Gem P tried desperately to make eye contact with them. He strained his eyes from side to side trying to see them.

David then said, “Hello … Percy.”

Gem P gave a small snort from his nose and said, “Nobody calls me that man.”

“Calls you what?” David asked, purposely tormenting him.

“Nobody calls me that name, mother fucker.”

“Why not? That’s your name isn’t it? I mean, speaking of mothers and everything that is the name your mama over there gave you. Isn’t it … Percy?”

Gem P pursed his lips in anger and answered, “Man, when I get fuckin’ outta here, I’m gonna - - -”

“You ain’t gonna do SHIT … Percy!” David snapped.

There was some silence for a few seconds, then, with his eyes looking upward to the ceiling, Gem P asked, “Why you dissin’ on me man? Why you showing so much disrespect for me and my mother?”

“Well, the answer to that is quite obvious … Percy. It’s because that … I do not have any respect for you or your mother.” David then stood up so that Gem P could see his face as he spoke. David’s teeth were slightly clenched, “Why, you may ask is it that I have no respect for you and your mom? Because you both are low life scum sucking pigs that’s why. You had a sack of shit daddy who left your sorry ass and hers, so what did you do? You decided to take it out on the world. You became a shit for brains gang banger. You’ve made your money by beating and robbing and killing, or by prostituting someone’s daughter. You made tons of cash by extorting and instilling fear to innocent people around you. You made your living by supplying drugs to addicts, and above all, I disrespect you for doing it to your own people. You are the lowest of the low, you have exploited your own people and you lived high on the hog off their misery. And I have no respect for your mommy here, because she stood by and let you do it, all the time thumping the ‘Good Book’ and hiding behind Jesus.”

Gem P then tried to grab David with his free arm; however, David caught him by the wrist clamping his hand down tightly around it. Gem P then said through his own clenched teeth, “You fucking white motherfucker, I’ll kill ya, you just wait motherfucker … I’m gonna kill you!”

David then pushed down Gem P‘s arm and held it down to the mattress, “Now now … Percy, be careful there, I can arrest your broken ass carcass for assaulting a police officer you know.”

Pastor Butler then tried to speak up, “Officer! Unhand that man now or else - - -”

“Or else what … Reverend? Don’t give me any of your bullshit either,” David said to him, “you’re as much as part of it as she and he are, just by your apathy and going along with it. You’re supposed to be God’s representative on earth … and you allowed him and her to harm God’s children. You failed at your job. What would God say to you? Huh?”

The Reverend was silenced. Then Noel stood up, looked down at Gem P, and said, “Besides … Percy here is just putting up a great front. He’s bullshitting us all now anyway.”

Leticia asked, “Putting on a front? Putting on a front how?”

Noel answered all the while looking down at Gem P, “He’s putting on a front because Percy here doesn’t want any of you to know that right now he’s just scared shitless. Not from his present predicament, but from the other thing. Right … Percy?”

Gem P looked over to him and asked, “What the fuck you talkin’ about man?”

 

Noel gave him a sardonic smile and asked gently, “How you sleeping at night Percy? Having any bad dreams?”

Gem P glanced at Noel and kept his stare on him. “What you talking about?”

“Oh I think you know Percy.” Noel answered, “You just lying here and all. You have lots of time to just think about what happened here to you, and about who did it. Come on Percy, you know exactly what I’m speaking of. How is it here at night when you’re by yourself … all alone? Afraid to go to sleep are you?”

Percy looked right at Noel and said, “Gem P ain’t afraid of nothin’.”

David then spoke in an unnerving tone as he leaned over closer to Gem P’s face, “Here’s a newsflash for you … Percy. Gem P? Gem P … is dead. He no longer exists. He died on the floor of his living room some seventeen nights ago right there in front of his ‘throne.’ And all that was left of him is lying in this bed here, shitting and pissing in an adult sized diaper. All that‘s left of Gem P is the broken down remains of one Percy W. Higgins”

Percy glared at David and said through his clenched teeth, “Fuck you man.”

“Fuck me?” David asked sarcastically, “Naw, your fucking days are over … Percy. Besides, my partner and I are here only to confirm something with you then we’re going to be on our way. Then we’re going to leave you with these fine people and you’re probably never going to hear from me or Noel again.”

“Who the fuck is they?”

“They? Why … Percy, those are your new friends,” David answered, “probably the best friends you’ll ever have. Because you see … Percy, all your present friends are gone, and you have made some new enemies.”

Gem P didn’t answer back to him; Noel then said, “That’s true … Percy.” Percy’s eyes then glanced at him, “You and your crew pissed off some pretty predominant Columbians it seems, and inconvenienced the hell out of them in fact. I don’t know if you have noticed it or not, but visits from your former comrades in arms at the 4-S have gotten very scarce over the past few days haven’t they? That’s because you’ve been voted out and replaced.”

“Street politics,” David said, “ain’t it the shits?” As the conversation continued, Percy’s eyes just went back and forth between them as each spoke.

Noel then said, “That’s right … Percy, you’re out, you … and your two apes are powerless to help you now too. Let’s see, Bigguns is still in a coma, and it’s likely that he ain’t coming out of it.” He looked over to David then asked, “And what about the other guy?”

“D?” David said, “Well, I understand that ‘D’ may now have the mental capacity now of a five or six year old. He keeps drifting in and out of his comas, but it looks as though he’s going to pull through. He’s probably going to be like Lenny in ‘Of Mice and Men‘, but he’ll be much more active than you … Percy.”

“Lenny in what?” Percy asked.

“In ‘Of Mice and Men’,” David answered, “You know, the book by John Steinbeck. It’s an American classic. Oh yeah that’s right, you’re too stupid to read anything but the funny papers.”

Noel then said, “Your ex-friends are now distancing themselves from you … Percy, they know when they are outmatched. Those people from down South America way are nothing and nobody to fuck with or fuck over. And that’s what they think you and your two wounded soldiers down the hall did to them.”

“Fuck them over how?” Percy asked.

“Come on … Percy,” David said aloud, “you lost something of theirs. Word on the street it was a pretty substantial package that you misplaced.”

“What fuckin’ package?” Percy answered confused.

David leaned closer to Percy’s face, smiled and then whispered, “Percy … the money. You lost their money, and those gentlemen from Bogotá want it.”

“I didn’t lose no fucking money man, it was taken from me by …” Percy then went silent.

“Oh Percy, Percy, Percy.” Noel said, “This was your first time dealing with the Columbians wasn’t it? You don’t understand. To them, that money IS already theirs. They went through the time and effort to deliver whatever it was that you had ordered and they expect to be paid. They kept their end of the deal. Now, they may have had to dump whatever it is you ordered from them to another buyer for a great discount. But they don’t give a shit, as far as they are concerned, YOU still have THEIR money.”

“And they want it.” David interjected. “And if they don’t get it, they’ll take something else from you.” Then David looked at Gem P’s mother, and this time she expressed fear.

“But the fuckin’ money was taken from me man.” Percy said.

“Percy … they don’t care.” David said to him calmly, “You are, or now I should say were, the head honcho. You made all the deals. Do you know what Harry Truman had on his desk?” Then David turned away from Gem P for a second and said to Leticia, “Oh why am I asking him this? He’s to damn stupid to even know who Harry Truman is.” He looked back down to Gem P and spoke to him like he were a child in the first grade, “Harry Truman was one of the Presidents of the United States. He had a sign on his desk that said ‘The Buck Stops Here’, you are, again I mean were, the president of the 4-S, you were the main man, the man in charge, the man responsible for everything and every deal. The ‘buck’ stops with you … Percy, you had the money. They consider it theirs; you lost it, they want it. End of story.”

Silence came to the room, then Noel leaned in to Gem P’s face and said, “Percy … always remember why this happened to you.” Percy’s eyes widened and Noel continued, “Always tell the truth on everything that you have done.” Noel then smiled at Percy, “Sound familiar?”

Percy began to breathe heavily, at first, he felt great anger and it built up inside him. He was ready to scream obscenities at Noel, however the anger suddenly subsided and all he could do to answer him was to simply say, “Yeah.”

“If you do not do this I’ll return to you and make this worse for you, I promise you,” Noel continued, all the while Percy staring wide eyed at him, “I’ll be watching you always.” Noel looked down at him for another few seconds, “Do you think he’s still watching you … Percy?” Gem P just stared at him and said nothing. Noel then looked to David and said, “Well, I would have to say that … Percy … here has been attacked by our guy. What say you Dave?”

David then looked down to Percy and said, “Yes, I believe that … Percy … here has just confirmed it. He and his two buds down the hall were indeed attacked by our vigilante. How does it feel … Percy? You’re now in an elite group of men. What you all have in common is that all of you are scumbags. Look at the bright side, you’re on the same short list as Jared Bartholomew. You’re no better than him, and he’s no better than you.”

“You also have something now in common with us too … Percy.” Noel said.

“What’s that?” He whispered.

“We have absolutely no idea, not one clue, who it is that did this to you and your home boys.”

“Yeah,” said David, “We have no idea whatsoever. He could be anybody and be anywhere, anybody on the street that passes you by. He could be outside this hospital right now looking at the window of this room. Hell, he could even be the guy whose going to be mopping the floor out in the hall tonight, we don’t know. So, what do you think … Percy? You think he is?”

“He is what?”

“Watching you, always, like he said.” David answered; he was smiling slightly, “Because personally, I do. I think he’s watching you still and will be … always. Think about it. He had to spend quite a lot of time watching you already, there in your neighborhood, watching you, your comrades, all of you. Watching you and planning his action against you.” He then stood and looked to the Pastor, “You see the last guy he attacked? Well, he lived up north in Lake County, in a forest preserve. I can see how he could not be detected at all up there in the middle of the forest with the dark and all.” He then looked down to Gem P again, “But, he watched you, in an urban area, in a neighborhood, for a long time, and nobody there ever even had an inkling he was around. We checked, we asked everyone in the neighborhood around your house, asking them to think back at least six months or so, no one could come up with anything that was of the slightest suspicion.”

“Yeah, I think he’s watching you too.” Said Noel, “I mean what he did to you here? I think that was the easy part for him. It’s what he did to your two buddies down the hall. I mean he reduced them down to harmless little shitballs. Those two guys, I mean Jeez, you know them. Can you imagine what kind of man we’re dealing with here, and with the skills that he has to do these types of things? I mean, that is frightening man”

There was a silent pause, then David said, “You’re painted into the proverbial corner here … Percy.” Gem P then looked at him, “You have some Columbian ‘businessmen’ angry with you, you have the man that did all of this to you, watching you … always, and needless to say, you now have us up your ass, all your friends in the 4-S are jumping the ship and swimming far away from you. Is there anyone else that you know of that you have to worry about?”

Gem P remained silent, and then Noel said, “Is there … Percy, is there someone else that you have to be worried about?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Oh come on … Percy,” Noel said, “We’ve all established, and all here totally agree, that you’re just too damn stupid, too stupid in fact to keep that large amount of money, none the less raise it all up on your own.”

“That’s right … Percy,” David injected, “you don’t have the brain capacity to raise that much cash, none the less have it on you. We know you have an outside investor and … we want to know who it is.”

“I don’t know what you talkin’ about asshole,” Gem P answered with somewhat of a nervous tone and expression, “all that cash was mine, and that motherfucker jacked it from me.”

“Bullshit,” Noel said sarcastically, “c’mon … Percy … who fronted you all that dough? We all know how you all are. The second you have cash it all goes to cars, gold chains and babes. You all don’t have the business sense to make a deal this big, no less have that much cash lying around. You’re the stupid one here, don’t be that stupid to think that we are.”

“Come on … Percy. Who’s your benefactor, who’s your silent partner here?” Asked David.

Percy then went silent and stared straight up at the ceiling, David and Noel knew that he was not going to speak any further to the both of them.

Then David said in a sarcastic happy tone, “Well, that’s not why my partner and I are here anyway. We just came to see if it was the guy we’re looking for who may have done this to you, and you confirmed that. These people over there though, they are they ones who want to know all this other shit. We have our answer, our job is done here. Probably won’t be seeing that much of you anymore … Percy … unless of course we need you to help remember anything that may help capture your attacker.”

“Now we’ll leave you with your new friends Percy.” Noel said. “Be nice to them and they’ll be nice to you. Like we said, they are now the best friends that you’ll ever have. Hell, whom am I kidding? They’re now the only friends that you got. You have nothing now … Percy … nothing. You’ve been booted out of the 4-S, so I think that any help you give your new buddies here is what’s going to help keep your broken down ass and that big one of your mama’s here alive and un-tortured.”

David and Noel then left the bedside of Percy W. Higgins. Percy just lay there with a shocked expression on his face and then followed the two men the best he could with his eyes. He saw as his mother and the Reverend Butler step aside to let both men pass. “Good-bye … ma’am.” David said to Mrs. Higgins stalwartly as he passed and swiftly made his exit into the hallway.

Once in the hallway both men made their way to the elevator quickly and David pressed the button to summon the elevator car. Not a word was spoken between them. In a few minutes, the doors to the elevator opened and both men stepped into the empty car. David then pressed the button that would take them to the main lobby. Once the elevator was in motion Noel asked him, “Do you think they bought it?”

“Yeah, I sure hope so.” David answered, “You saw the look in his eyes when we left, and he knows we’re not shitting him about the Columbians either. He’s going to need whomever it is that supplied him with the money to offer some sort of protection. Even mom looked as if she were about to shit in her pantyhose. I wouldn’t be surprised if she too knows who it is that fronted her boy.”

“Huge fucking reality check for her as well.” Noel said.

“Maybe even for the good Reverend there too. Well, we left a huge stinking pile of shit back there, let‘s see what kind of flies it attracts.”