Sunday, March 24, 2013

Top

Northern Liberties Section of Philadelphia, Spring 2009


"Duke...I still don't like this...She's just a rookie.." said Detective Tyriq Pile to his partner, Edwin "Duke" Baylor as they sat down the street from a bar they had been watching in a rental car with tinted windows...


"Rookie my ass, she's been on the force nearly nine years." said Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor..

"Yeah, but she was a patrolmen...a beat cop riding around in a squad car....She just made Detective nine months ago...She's not seasoned at this..." said Detective Tyriq Pile.

"Tyriq...Tyriq...pipe down...She was in plain clothes for a year ,working with Narcotics....and she's smart as a whip...Had the highest score on the detective exam in her class....plus ,she's fine as hell." added Duke.

''That's all you care about...the fact that she looks good...Ray Arcada is a dangerous man....I don't want to find her all cut to pieces and in the ocean like his last alleged victim.." said Tyriq...

''Mannn, you got no faith in the rookie...She asked for this assignment." protested Duke.

"So?  She's not ready yet....Why didn't you get somebody seasoned like Detective Angie Belton?" asked Tyriq.

"She's working a case with Lt. Sissy Van Buren...and there was no one else available...Plus...Ray Arcada will probably feel better talking to someone like himself....a fellow Latin." said Duke.

''Aww man..now you sound like a racist." said Tyriq...

"Who me??  I'm just being a realist.....She's Puerto Rican, He's Puerto Rican and I hope hetero-sexual...It'll be a piece of cake Riq...relax....I got two plains clothes detectives in the bar already...and they're armed...Look up on the roof over there...I got two sharp shooters....she's covered... and me and you are out here.." said Duke..

"Man...I just worry..After all...She's my partner...I'm mentoring her....I don't want anything to happen to her." said Tyriq.

"Rico, you gettin soft on me?  She'll be fine...If anything goes wrong...I'll call it on account of rain." said Duke.

"No...you'll call it on account of death." said Tyriq...

''Relax...Here she comes." said Duke...


"Hey guys....sorry I'm late...but this dress is kind of tight and they had a hard time placing that wire in my bra....had to change three times...Sorry...I suppose that's too much information." said Detective Carlotta Rodriguez..
 ''Nah...Nahhhh...I like those kind of details...What size cup?" joked Detective Baylor...

"Wouldn't you like to know?" replied Carlotta.....They both laughed.....

Detective Pile looked up at her...

"You sure you want to do this?  You don't have to..." he said.

"Tyriq...Tyriq? Shut up...She's fine...I have complete faith in her....She'll be alright....Give her the buy money." said Duke.

''Awww Tyriq...Are you worried about me? I'll be just fine...I was born for this." said Carlotta reassuringly and smiled at him...

"Okay Doll, it's showtime....Do ya thing!" said Duke.

"Sit back fellas watch me work." laughed Carlotta as she walked down the street and  into the bar...

"Damn she's fine...Whoever gets that is one lucky guy." said Duke.

"I hope she lives to have a love life." said Tyriq...

"Okay Father....but hell, you've trained her...You've mentored her...Let's see if it paid off." said Duke.

II-
Carlotta walked into the bar as though she owned it...Ordered Tequilla and sat and waited....It wasn't long before Ray Arcada walked in...He was handsome, six foot two, immaculately dressed, with a well groomed manicure and a fresh haircut....he arrived with two goons who sat a safe distance away.

He took one look at Carlotta and exclaimed...

''Aye Mios dios... I had no idea Minolo Sennterro was sending a woman to handle his affairs....But...I'm glad he did." he said.

"First off friend...Let's not use any names okay?   The man I represent does not want his name bandied about ." she said.

"Oh yeah...yeah...right....?" he said.

They traded shots of tequila and engaged in small talk for close to an hour...Carlotta seemed more at ease than most seasoned undercover detectives....It was as if she was just hanging out...She told some jokes, laughed and b.s.ed with all three men for quite awhile...


Finally Ray Arcada...a rising young playa ,looking to move higher up in the game as a major narcotics importer asked the magic question...

''So ,What's the deal?"

Carlotta didn't break a sweat.

"The man I represent would like to purchase some prime weight off of you....Starting with about 20 kilos.."she said.

"You got money for that?" he asked.

She put the briefcase on the bar and cracked it...Letting him see the money....

"Uhhh huhh....We can do that.....I uh thought your man dealt outta New York." said Ray...

"He does...He has a high demand lately and would like to distribute some of your primo." she said.

"Not a problem....We distribute to several local dealers in the tri-state area...None as huge or as big a playa as Minolo Sennterro.." he said.

"What did I say about droppin names? " she said.

"Oh-Oh yeah...but I aint wearin a wire....Are you?" he asked slyly...

"If I was, where would I have it?" she asked..

He reached for her breast, but she grabbed his hand and slammed it on the table and produced a small .22 with her other hand...

''Get cute again and I'll cancel all deals for you forever." she said.

Ray Arcada laughed....

''Ohhhh,I like you...I really like you...You got guts.....I like a broad with guts...If I had a broad like you...I wouldn't have to do my own hits." he laughed..

"Hits?? You aint killed nobody?" she laughed..

"Sheeeeeeet....I killed Manny Acosta....Shot him two times in the dome...Left his body on the third floor of that flophouse the cops found him in...They'll never figure that one out...and I killed Johnny Aiota...Cut him up into several pieces and dropped him in the river...I'll bet they're still findin pieces of him...heh,heh, heh.." he laughed..

''Oh wow...you killed two people..." she laughed and ordered another Tequilla..

"Nah....Three actually.....I shot some nosy undercover cop.....that was taking pictures of my warehouse down near the other side of the landing last year.I didn't know he was a cop at the time...I found out when I read it in the papers sometime later...." he said non-chalantly...


Meanwhile out in the car....

''Tyriq...he just confessed to killing your partner...Danny last year!!!!!...This is better than we'd hoped for...We got this clown for three murders and now he's taking half of the dope money...We been on this guy how long?? We got him Tyriq??? We got him??? Baby girl is on the money!!!" said Duke.

Tyriq finally allowed himself to smile.

''Yeah...She's holding it down like a seasoned pro...I guess I was wrong about her!" He said.

"See...I told you she was solid..." said Duke.

"Well okay Killer...There's half...Where do we make our pickup?" she said.

"I'll write it down.....Tomorrow night, midnight....Meet me there...We'll make the exchange and I'll get the rest of the payment." he said.

"Oh my God!!!!..." she said.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"No...No....uhhh, that's fine...Tomorrow.!!!" she said.

"You sound and look like something's wrong!" said Ray Arcada.

"Nuh...No...No..I'm fine...Just feelin a little woozy....So much Tequila." she said.

"Will you be there?" he asked.

"No...I'm a negotiator....Minolo will send his represenative." she said.

"Shame...I really enjoyed talking to you.....I didn't catch your name.." he asked.

"Eva...Eva Dominguez." she said.

"Wow....Eva....I look forward to meeting you again..." he said.

"I doubt it.....but who knows?....Anything can happen." she said.

"Indeed" he said.

Carlotta excused herself ,took her briefcase and exited the bar... Once inside the car, which was parked three blocks away now...Duke hugged her...

"Baby girl...I am sooo proud of you...You handled yourself like a champ.....I never doubted you could pull it off....You got more than what we needed." he said.

Tyriq hugged her too...

"Damn...For a year,I've been trying to find out who killed my partner....Tonight you found out....Thank you Carlotta.." he said.

"That was your partner he said he killed?" she said.

"Yeah...my partner before you....I worked by myself after that...Until you came in the unit and Lt. Tragg ordered me to partner up with you...I sure wish I could transfer and work with Sissy.Nothing against you...I like you just fine Carlotta...but I hate Lt. Tragg." he said.


"Yeah me too." said Duke.

"Who is Sissy?" she asked.

"The other Lieutenant. Works in the day...Good Looking, Good Cop....A little less intense and with less attitude than ole Tragg." said Duke.

'But don't get me wrong....I like working with you...You're smart, you have courage and good instincts...It's just that I hate Lieutenant Tragg with a passion." said Tyriq.

"You and me both..." said Duke.

"I believe you two said that before...He does seem to have an attitude." said Carlotta.

"He put the "A" in attitude." said Duke.

"Hey Carlotta, what happened in there? You said "Oh my God." asked Tyriq.

Carlotta blushed...

"My wire came loose...I told you this dress was too tight and this bra was a bit small...." she said.

"Yeah..indeed." laughed Duke.

"Oh stop looking at my top.." said Carlotta.

"Listen at her....Now she gets all girly on us, 'stop looking at my top, Stop looking at my top .'Did you fix it?" teased  Duke.

"Don't you worry about it." said Carlotta...They all laughed...

"You know Top....You did good tonight...." laughed Duke.

"What did you call me?'" asked Carlotta laughing...

"Top...because your top came undone....That's your nickname from now on...Tonight was your initiation...You're one of us now...Top!" said Tyriq.

Carlotta smiled.

EPILOUGE:

Led By Detective Edwin "Duke" Baylor and Detective Tyriq Pile...26 members of the Philadelphia Police Tactical squad raided the warehouse and arrested close to 50 people...and impounded Cocaine, Heroin,Pills and weapons...

Ray Arcada chose to shoot it out and was shot dead on the scene by Detective Tyriq Pile!!..... His taped confession cleared several murders for the Homicide Division.

Lt. Sissy Van Buren and ADA Keith Wallace was pleased and were in fact on the scene.....

''Wow..Good Job guys...Great Job. Where is Lieutenant Tragg?" said ADA Wallace...

"He aint exactly the hands on type of Lieutenant....He's probably buddying up to the Deputy Commisioner or in front of a wall of microphones taking credit for something he had little or nothing to do with." said Duke.

''Gee Detective...Tell us how you really feel."  Joked ADA Keith Wallace.

"Thank you for clearing up those murders...I know Lt. Tragg is proud of you guys." said Lt. Sissy Van Buren...

''Yeah, I'm sure he is." said Detective Tyriq Pile with more than a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

"We couldn't have made this happen at all without the help of that rookie detective over there .....She's good..cool as a cucumber." said Duke...


''Carlotta, come over here." said Tyriq..."I want you to meet some people." he continued.


Carlotta walked over....

"Carlotta, this is the other Lieutenant we were telling you about...Lt. Sissy Van Buren....Lieutenant..this is Detective Carlotta Rodriguez." said Tyriq

"Pleased to meet you Carlotta...I've heard nothing but good things about you......Maybe Lieutenant Tragg will let you come work for me one day...." she said.

"That would be nice." she said.....

"I'm ADA Keith Wallace...Pleased to make your acquaintenace Carlotta." he said.

"Likewise I'm sure " she said....her eyes lighting up...

Soon , the police and everyone else cleared out and Carlotta and Tyriq walked toward their cars.....

"Well Top, you've certainly made an impression on some important people...." he said.


"Yeah and that Assistant District Attorney made an impression on me!!...He's cute." she said.

Tyriq smiled...

"Who knows...maybe yall might hook up one day." he said.

"Nahhh, Him and me? We work two different sides of the street." she said.

''Oh Top, you are wise beyond your years." said  Detective Tyriq Pile.



4 comments:

Tate 2 said...

whoooo Lawd...That one made me want to toss my boxers up in the air!

Sunflower said...

I suspected that Carlotta's nickname had something to do with her boobies....(That and the fact that only the male detectives call her that!)-LOL!

Grover Tha Playboy said...

You didn't go into enough detail man...I was on the edge of my seat waiting for more!>LOL!

Angie B. said...

Cute little story...Shows how they all kind of met...