He flipped it open and put it to his ear.
“Yo.”
“Ty,” he heard a man say.
“Yeah?”
“Angel.”
Fuck him.
Peña.
“Peña,” he greeted.
“Just so you know, Duane Martinez came in two days ago to make a belated report that he was assaulted by one Tyrell Walker.”
Fuck.
“You’re shittin’ me,” Ty rumbled.
“No, a f**kin’ drug dealer pimp walks into the f**kin’ Police Station lookin’ like the weasel he is but a healthy one and he does it to report a f**kin’ assault.”
Then Ty heard a deep chuckle.
Ty was not amused.
Peña kept talking. “Seein’ as I got an interest in Martinez and all his dirty deeds, he was flagged and sent to me. So, he made this report to me. Now, make no mistake, Ty, I take my work seriously but I gotta admit, he gave this report, I lost my pen. Swear to God, don’t know where I put that f**ker.”
And at that, Ty was amused. Therefore he dropped his head and grinned at his boots.
“Sucks, man,” he murmured into his phone.
“I know. Don’t worry, I found it since. I also called up to Carnal and found out you were down with the twenty-four hour flu so no way you could be violatin’ parole, drivin’ your ass into the Lone Star State to deliver a message with your fists. Got a statement from a Tatum Jackson confirming the state of your health and Jackson would know because his wife brought you chicken soup. Heard that did that trick and was glad to hear it, esé.”
Ty lifted his head and looked out of one of the bays, still grinning. “It was a quick recovery.”
“Good news,” Peña muttered then went on. “So, I’ve reported this to Mr. Martinez, asking him if he wants to amend his statement. To say he was shocked as shit would be an understatement. He had neglected to include the information that there was a man with you that apparently you referred to as ‘Tate’ but he included this information when I spoke to him again. I asked if Mr. Jackson’s wife was also in attendance during his recent ass-kicking, considering she stands as both your and Mr. Jackson’s alibi, but he said no. I then reminded him that it was an unlawful act to make false statements to the police, that he had no evidence of said ass-kicking as he, nor his esteemed colleagues who also got their asses kicked, had any medical attention where there were actually records made. And last, the only three witnesses were the three who allegedly got their asses kicked and I explained, since their three rap sheets could be used as a set of encyclopedias detailing the wide array of crimes available to commit, not one of them was a reliable witness and I further informed them that the man they were accusing of being accessory to a crime was an ex-cop and current highly-respected fugitive apprehension agent, something else that I could tell shocked the shit outta him. I then reminded Mr. Martinez that it is ‘hood lore that a Tyrell Walker wiped his ass at poker some years back and Mr. Martinez was not exactly quiet when he crowed about Mr. Walker being sent down for manslaughter seein’ as he still owed him a whack. I suggested that perhaps he was using the police force to extricate him from this debt and that such an endeavor would be frowned upon. He saw the wisdom of retracting his statement which was lucky for me because I had no record of it and my Cap is not big on that shit.”
Jesus, Shift wasn’t only a piece of shit motherfucker; he was also seriously f**king stupid.
And Ty was still grinning when he noted, “What you’re sayin’ is I owe you.”
“No,” Peña’s voice got low, “what I’m sayin’ is, don’t know what shit brought Lexie back Dallas way, but thank you for provin’ me not wrong you give a f**k about your wife. Martinez spread wide he was recruitin’ Rodriguez’s pu**y for his stable and was already takin’ orders. You took care a’ that so I didn’t have to. And also what I’m sayin’ is, the message you sent was not received. He may leave Lexie alone but he is one pissed off black man and that rage is directed at you. You got some experience, I bet, watchin’ your back. Use it and stay diligent.”
Ty’s grin died and he muttered, “Fuck, what I do not need is another f**kin’ problem.”
“Well, now you’re makin’ me feel like Santa Claus,” Peña replied and Ty turned and walked deeper into the garage.
Then he asked, “You gonna share?”
“Well, I wasn’t seein’ as I want your nose clean with all that I’m doin’ though I may be in Dallas but my karma must be in Carnal since I got a message for you this morning from one of your neighbors. First, I’ll tell you that, when I was up there, I walked into the Carnal Police Department and flashed my badge. The officer on duty at the desk, not a very bright bulb, took one look at it, opened the doors wide and gave me his code to the copy machine. Considering those f**kwads have been gettin’ away with murder, literally, I figured they all couldn’t be as dumb as the man they got guardin’ the door so I also figured I didn’t have much time. But I did use my time at the copy machine wisely before someone cottoned onto my activities and I was cordially and collegially ousted. I will not share with you what I found. I will also not share with you what some of Carnal’s citizens I spoke with in a variety of establishments readily shared with me. What I will share with you is that, after spending some time since leaving the beautiful state of Colorado acting on some of the things I learned during my vacation, my activities have been noted. And this morning, an Officer Frank Dolinski phoned me wanting to have a cop to cop chat. Now, Officer Dolinski told me that he heard word some time ago that you were being paroled and, seeing as he’s either one smart motherfucker or clairvoyant, he knew your release could mean good or bad things but, good or bad, he told me you got a lotta friends in that ‘burg, all of ‘em been nursin’ not a small amount of antagonism for over five years, so it was gonna mean something. Further, Officer Dolinski’s father was a cop as was his grandfather and he actually likes his job, wanted to follow the family tradition since he could remember and earned his badge to protect and serve and not doin’ both to cover his own ass. So, he’s been payin’ a lot of attention and when I say that I mean a lot and when I say a lot I mean for a f**kin’ long time.”
Ty was listening, his gut tight and his chest squeezing and when Peña didn’t continue, he prompted, “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Peña replied. “So, Dolinski set the ball rolling prior to your release but shit like this goes slow and you were out before things could get sorted.”
“What shit goes slow and what things are gettin’ sorted?” Ty asked.