Christmas in the Hood Read Online Free PDF Page B

immediately jumped into action. Crossing the room, he knocked over the tree and sent red ornaments rolling across the living room floor.
    “Why you fuckin’ wit’ our tree?” Andrew yelled.
    “Shut your trap ’fore I stick my foot in it,” the black detective snapped, shifting all his weight onto one leg.
    Realizing the detective wasn’t just making an idle threat, Andrew kept his lips zipped up.
    The uniformed cop grabbed one of the gifts and was about torip off the wrapping paper when, suddenly, one of the cops in the kitchen shouted, “Bingo! Bingo!”
    Gigi’s heart sank as the other cops milling around the house cheered in jubilation. She looked over at Grandma, who just shook her head in despair. A young cop emerged from the kitchen, holding up two ceramic flour canisters he had found sitting on top of the fridge.
    “Look what I found,” the cop gloated. His hands were covered in flour as he set the canisters down on the coffee table in full view of the other cops.
    The bundles were partly visible underneath the flour. Removing them from the canisters, the cop smacked the flour off before bagging them into evidence.
    The same two uniformed cops scared by the cat returned to the living room. “This was in the closet.” The tall white one lifted up both hands and showed everyone in the room the huge stash of crack bundles he had found. He had at least six Ziploc bags in each hand.
    The skinny white one held up a thin white plastic bag. “There’s a little over twenty-seven thousand dollars cash in here—mostly tens and twenties.”
    Gigi’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the cop confiscate the money Grandma had hustled so hard to save for her kidney transplant. The surgery had already been scheduled for January 4. Tears really started streaming down her face.
    Grandma had recently been diagnosed with kidney disease, and she was undergoing dialysis three days a week, each sessionlasting at least three hours. Some days she was in so much pain, she didn’t even want to get out of bed, but she never let it stop her.
    “Looks like the old lady’s doing better than a lot of us. Maybe we all should start slinging dope,” the white detective joked, causing all the other cops milling around the apartment to laugh.
    “What you talking about?” Gigi yelled. “That ain’t drug money. My grandma doesn’t sell drugs.”
    The cops just laughed as they continued searching the apartment. After finding a couple more thousand dollars and a few ounces of marijuana that Andrew had hidden in the closet, the officers finished their search.
    The police led them out of the building, one after the other. Gigi and Grandma hung their heads while Andrew scanned the crowd of onlookers with a smile on his face, knowing the arrest earned him stripes in the hood.
    Everyone in the neighborhood, including most of Grandma’s friends, watched as the cops led them to the paddy wagon that was parked in front of the building.
    Deep in her heart, Gigi had known this day would eventually come, having seen it in a dream, but she constantly pushed it out of her mind.
    As soon as the trio arrived at the 40th Precinct, the arresting officers quickly put the family into separate holding rooms to interrogate them individually. But someone had a change of heart before they started the questioning, because after a few minutes an officer escorted Gigi into the room where her grandma was being held.
    Despite the seriousness of the situation, Gigi had to laugh to herself. These guys couldn’t be too bright interviewing them in the same room.
    As she sat down, Gigi noticed her grandma didn’t look good at all. The older woman’s skin was clammy, and she seemed to be having a hard time breathing.
    “Grandma, are you okay?” she asked, alarm filling her voice.
    Her grandma nodded.
    Gigi turned to the door, where the two detectives were just entering the room, and pleaded, “Please, we have to get her medicine. She’s sick…. She