MACHAYLA INHALED A big breath and let it out through her nose. It was going to be ok as long as she took the initiative to at least have some faith in these people… in Jason. “Mason’s working under someone,” she started, “someone who has more power in this city than he does.”
“There’s more,” Drake stated, his eyes followed her every movement.
She scoffed. “Oh, there’s plenty more. All of this,” she got up and started pacing in front of her seat “is much more than you think it is,” she paused and glanced at Jason who occupied the seat next to her, “much more.”
“Alright, so spill it. Who’s this person he’s working under?” Drake asked impatiently.
She stared him dead in the eye and closed in on him till nothing but the desk was in between them. With her new found bravery, she leaned over the desk with both hands plastered on the surface and narrowed her eyes “You’ve got one more time to interrupt me.”
“Or what?” Drake challenged with his signature death glare in place.
Machayla’s shifted to the left of the room where her empty seat awaited her and sat down. “Or you don’t get the information you so badly want.” Feeling the most confident she’s felt in a long time she crossed her legs and waited for Drake’s answer.
Seconds ticked by before he finally broke down. “Fine. I won’t interrupt.”
An amused chuckle came from her right where Jason sent his brother a look that said no more or less than "ha-ha". She smiled at his playful banter but on the inside a stab of jealousy hit her as she wished for the hundredth time that she at least had one sibling to make fun of. 'Oh well, I've been an only child for this long...'
Drake ignored his brother and gave her his undivided attention. “Go on.”
“If you insist.” She got up again, unable to sit due to her nerves, and started to slowly pace the small office. “As I was saying, this goes deeper than anyone of us, thought, myself included. The night I found out about Mason’s… or should I say Lieutenant Aiden Parks’ plan, it was an accident.”
She paused as a string of curses were emanated from her audience. They obviously weren’t expecting a police officer to be behind this whole ordeal. It was why the option to go to the police was eliminated from day one.
The feeling of helplessness suddenly tried to claw its way back up to the surface but she pushed it down and continued. “I wasn’t supposed to know. No one but his allies was supposed to know that Lieut. Parks was playing both sides of the law. I guess I walked into my own death trap that day because that was when things suddenly became…bad, to put it lightly.”
"Was that when he started hitting you?" Carter asked her.
She nodded.
“Wait a minute, maybe I'm a bit slow but how’d you end up with Mason of all people for god sakes? Forgive me but you don’t seem like the type that would willingly get involved in our world.” This came from Victor.
With her voice full of malice, she answered. “I was dragged into it. Without any warning bells or signs I found myself trapped.”
“Did you know what he was like before you decided to be with him?” Sierra questioned.
“If I did, I wouldn’t have touched the son of a bitch with a ten foot pole,” she bit out. “He came into my life when I was in the most vulnerable state of my life. When my father was killed. I had no one and he was there.” Silence filled the room as she once again battled to push the emotions, that were threatening to come up, down.
“How long after your father die did he show up?” Dennis asked.
“About two weeks. We went to college together but we'd never spoken until one night at a college party that I was forced to go to by my sorority sisters. A day after I buried my dad. I knew who he was because his dad was, still is, the school’s Dean. Even then he was spoiled and arrogant. He didn’t have to work for anything, he was overly confident and he always looked like he was up to no good but he was a distraction, one that I desperately needed and wanted.”
“Your father, uh how did he die?” Tabitha shifted in her seat as if she was uncomfortable asking the question.
“He was killed. Crazy whi-” Machayla stopped herself before she could finish that statement. Her dislike for the opposite race was beginning to seem stupid. Especially since a man of her own race was putting her through hell and Jason and his friends, who were assorted races from Caucasians to Latino’s and bi-racial to blacks and whatever the hell Sierra was, had her back. Judging a race solely on one person’s action made her no different than the racist bigots in America.
Sighing, she answered as simply as she could. “My father was dating some married tramp and when her cracked out husband found out that his wife was sleeping with a black guy, never mind the fact that she was sleeping around on him, he lost it. Barged right into my father’s house, pulled a revolver out, grabbed his wife and shot my father dead but not before freely using the n-word about one hundred times.”
Her chest heaved at the thought of how her father spent his last minute on Earth. Taking her seat once again she sighed. “Chris and Sabrina Gaynor ran but they were found and arrested in two days flat. Chris was questioned several times before they finally condemned him for not only first degree murder with no bond but when they caught him and his wife he had possession of illegal substances and a bag filled with money. They questioned him about his suppliers numerous times but he didn’t budge until they promised a shorter sentence or a plea bargain. Unfortunately for the courts, the son of a bitch was mysteriously killed in prison hours later.”
“Sound fishy,” Drake finally said. “But still, it doesn’t tell us why Mason has made you the queen to his chest piece. What, apart from knowing who he’s working under, do you know that’s key to bringing him down?”
With a swift glance towards Jason and Carter, she dropped her sight to the carpeted office floor. “Jason was supposed to be a dummy of some sort for Mason. Apparently, the DEA have been sniffing around him for a while which was a surprise to me because you’d think that I’d be the first person they question.”
“Why weren’t you questioned?”
Machayla’s eyes flickered over to Tabitha. “Lieutenant Parks told them he did so. He’s the head of his department so of course they believed him without any questions.”
“What type of dummy was I suppose to be?” Jason suddenly asked. His voice held enough grit to draw all eyes to him. Mean while, his green eyes, which were becoming darker by the second, held nothing but pure and unadulterated rage. He obviously didn’t like the thought of being used as a pawn.
Releasing a ragged breath, she clasped her fingers together as a frown creased between her brows. “Mason is a drug dealer and a murderer.” That was the best way she could have phrased it because it was the truth. Her fiancé was a cold blooded murderer; hence why her fear always spiked when he threatened to kill her.
She knew he could and would do it if he really wanted to.
“Let me guess, he was going to set Jason up to take the blame for his murders.” Tabitha sneered.
Not neccesarily the murders but he was setting him for the drug trafficking and Carter was suppose to be his accomplice. And it would’ve been easy to do so with a crooked head cop, an illegal drag racer and a criminal in the equation. From what I heard Lieut. Parks say, he needed some one that wasn't a stranger to breaking the law. How'd they specifically singled your crew out, well that's Carter's fault. His ego and his big mouth didn't only put a target on Jason's back but he put himself in a position where he was also going to be set up.”
