IBO - Brian R. Lundin (100 books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📗

do.” Joyce said, wiping tears from her eyes.
“I’ll tell you what to do, stay in schools, graduate and I’ll send you to college. You can’t concern yourself about the boys or moms, they’re lost. Matter of fact, we’re moving, you and me. I applied for an apartment on the lake before I left its very nice; two bedrooms and all the windows overlook the lake. I should know something in a couple of days.”
Crying and hugging Malik Joyce asked, you taking me with you? Oh, I love you Malik.”
“I love you too Joyce.”

Chapter 24

The Quadrangle Building was a twenty seven-story rental apartment building on the far southeast side of the city known, as South Shore was located at 67th South Shore Drive. It was a luxury apartment building across the street from Lake Michigan. On the roof of the building were an outdoor swimming pool and a tennis court. Two days later Malik and Joyce moved into apartment 24A, they did not have much to move, only their clothes. Barbara was asleep, fully clothed on the couch and their brothers were gone when they left. Their new apartment was just a few miles from Robert Taylor Homes geographically, but a thousand miles away in terms of economics and people.
When they entered the apartment it smelled of fresh paint and cleaning solvents. The walls were painted an off white and all the floors were covered with new gray wall-to-wall carpeting. The ceiling to floor windows all had vertical beige blinds and they all faced the lake. Joyce raised a window and they felt the cool breeze and smelled the fresh clean air coming off the lake. As they looked out the window, they saw hoards of colorful sailboats drifting lazily on the water. Joyce was fascinated; she had never seen the lake or sailboats.
There were two bedrooms, the master bedroom was the largest and contained a full bathroom. The other bedroom was smaller with a half bathroom. Malik over Joyce’s objection told her she could have the master bedroom; the other bedroom was would serve his purposes. The kitchen contained a dishwasher, built-in microwave, refrigerator and stove. Brightly polished cabinets lined the walls and the air conditioner was on. Malik looked down at the small specks of cars racing down South Shore Drive. He was amazed at how the people in Chicago always seemed to be in a hurry.
“This is so nice Malik, but isn’t it expensive?”
“Yes it is, $1,500 a month, but don’t you worry about that, ok.”
“What we’re going to do for furniture?”
“I want you to go downtown today and pick out what you think we need, and tell them we will pay extra if it can be delivered today, use my credit card,” he said handing her his American Express Gold Member card.
“Me?” Joyce asked surprised.
“Yep, you’re the lady of the house right?”
The furniture, delivered later that evening surprised Malik. Everything matched, the couch, loveseat and drapes matched the carpet, and she also bought a large picture that set the entire room off, she had picked out a California King Size bed for Malik and a smaller one for herself. A small kitchen table with four chairs was set up in the living/dining room and a 54-inch, high definition; plasma television was placed on the one wall not facing the lake. Additionally she had purchased pots, pans, skillets, silverware and dish wear, the place looked good.
“You did great Joyce,” Mali said hugging his little sister.
“Tomorrow we’ll go grocery shopping.”
The tears started to swell in Joyce’s eyes as she held her big brother tight.
“I love you Malik,” she said openly weeping now.
“I love you too Joyce,” he said hugging her closer.
The next day Malik met Pops in the playground.
“What’s up?” Pops asked.
“I’m cool,” Malik answered.
“I’ve hooked up four of my best governors and they have hooked up some of their lady friends, but we had to rent a baby. We gave one of our governors girlfriend friends $1,000 for her baby, we’re set to rock and roll. I’ve talked with Morressy and we’ve got a thing set up for next week, let’s work out the fine details,” Pops said.
“That sounds good,” Malik said.
“This is how I think we should work it, just tell your guys enough, not all of what’s happening. Tell them that we will pay them and the broad five grand each for the trip and we will take care of all of the expenses. We will furnish them with the airline tickets and we will take them to get passports. Also, tell them that hotel reservations will be made for both of them and they are to wait in the Bangkok hotel until a suitcase is delivered. Make sure you tell that they are not to open the suitcase. They will leave the same day they get the suitcase and fly to Paris, the broad will take the suitcases on the plane, but the governor will be on the same plane in a different seat. Tell the governor that he to call you when the suitcase arrives, call you when they leave Bangkok for Paris and call you when they leave Paris and when they arrive in Germany. He also is to call you when they leave Germany. Tell him we will pick both of them up at the airport and pay them.”
“Done.” pops said.
The following week Malik’ and Pops plan went into effect without any problems. They were importing twenty kilos of seventy five percent pure heroin into Chicago every month, when processed the twenty kilos were converted into sixty kilos with a street value of millions. The average junkie could only handle heroin about five per cent pure; anything stronger would probably kill him. The operation went on for about a year without any problems until one day Pops told Malik to meet him at the playground.
“What’s up?” Malik asked.
“Morrissey got busted.”
“What happened?”
“I got a call from that Askido broad and she told me he was busted at the Bangkok airport.”
“Did he have any goods on him?”
“I don’t think so, he was charged with conspiracy or something like that.”
“What happens now?”
“We are going to meet the broad in Bangkok in two days.”
Malik and Pops met Askido at a quiet bar in Bangkok. She was seated in a corner booth; the soft orange light gently beamed down on her face.
“Hi guys, long time,” Askido said.
“Yes it has been, how you doing”, Pop ask?”
“Fine, everything’s fine,” Askido, replied.

Malik and Pops were surprised at her attitude; she seemed very unconcerned about Morressy.
“What’s happening with Morressy,” Malik asked.
“He’s in jail awaiting trial, we have retained one of the best criminal lawyers in the city to represent him and based on what the lawyer told us, he’s got a pretty good chance of beating the case or at lease getting a lesser charge, so he will be alright.”
“Well that’s good to hear, do you think he will tell them anything about us?” Pops asked.
Laughing, Askido said, “of course not, Morressy is like my brother, not by blood, but like me he was the son of an Algerian mother and a black soldier. When the soldier went home he became a street boy. My father adopted him and we grew up together.”
“Well that’s a relief,” Pops said.
“What happens now?” Do we continue our business?” Malik asked.
“Yes we do,” Askido replied.
“What about the police?” Malik asked.
“I don’t think that will be a big problem, my brother was greedy, I’ve been informed that some of the money for the Chief of Police, Colonel He Tong, was being kept by Morressy,” she said, shaking her head.
“In my country opium is a cash crop, we don’t grow corn or cotton or raise pigs and cows; we grow opium that the only way many of my people can survive. Its exportation helps my country’s economy, which would probably collapse without the drug sells, but mainly it helps the people. Thanks to the American and European need for heroin, the farmers who grow and harvest the opium plant can feed their families. Everyone is making money out of heroin, the government and their officials, businessmen and of the course the drug lords who have private armies who enforce their laws and they are fully armed.
All of these people live respectable lives and they send their children to expensive European and American schools like Harvard, and they have friends in high places in both your government and mine. A lot of other people, like Morressy are make a good living in the drug business also, but as in anything, some people get greedy and wants more, that what happened to my brother Morressy. He will probably cool his heels in jail for awhile, than get out; his arrest might have saved his life.”
“Can you arrange a meeting with Colonel Tong?” Malik asked.
“I’m sure it can be arranged. I’ll set it up and call you later,” Askido replied.
The next day Askido called and told Pops and Malik that she had arranged a meeting with Colonel Tong at 9:00 am at the Bangkok Supreme Police Headquarters. Pops and Malik took a cab to the police station and they arrive at 8:45 am. Bangkok Supreme Police Headquarters was a large warehouse set well back on a black tar tarmac road surrounded by a high chain-link fence topped with barbwire and all the windows were barred. Outside the fence was a small guard’s shack with two armed uniformed officers.
As they approach the guard shack, Malik notices that the hot humid air smelled of sulfur and he could see that rain clouds were forming in the east. Pops and Malik walked to the guard shack and spoke to one of the police officers, an older Asian man neatly dressed in a brown uniform and seated behind a thick glass enclosure,
“Malik Johnson, we have an appointment with Colonel Tong.”
The police officer nodded and picked up a telephone. He glanced disgustedly up at the two black men and said to himself “More nigger drug dealers.”
While waiting for the officer to finish his call and to make conversation, Pops says to the other police officer, also an older man, “Looks like rain today.”
“Yep,” the officer replies smiling, showing rotten teeth, “that’s what my knees tell me.”
It was just starting to rain when a uniformed young man appeared and led them into a large room.
Colonel Tong’s office was a dump. It was a small room with cracked plaster walls painted an olive green. Overhead were the bare pipes of a sprinkler system and a skylight with a broken pane and stuffed with an old undershirt. The skylight was so filthy that no light could pass through. Behind a slightly pulled back dirty bed sheet was a sink, stove and a