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five days and took her shopping on top of that. He dropped a minimum of forty grand on a couple pairs of boots, a diamond necklace and a mink jacket. She made him come out of his motherfucking pockets and if it were me, I’d done the same thing.
    Since she was the only friend I had at the moment, I got her on the phone so I could take my mind off the shit that was about to go down at the Polo Grounds.
    “ Hey, Chica,” she said as soon as she answered her cell phone.
    “ What’s good babe? Where you at?” I asked her, trying to make small talk.
    “ At the bodega picking up some milk and a few other things,” she replied. “Why, what’s up?”
    “ Nothing. I was just calling you to see what you were doing since I was sitting here bored out of my mind.”
    “ Are you scheduled to work tomorrow?”
    “ You know I am. Remember we got that early morning flight to New Orleans?”
    “ Oh yeah, how can I forget that?” she replied sarcastically. “I get so tired of that crazy ass woman when she schedules us for that mess. She does that shit to piss us off.”
    “ Yeah, I know. But just try not to let it get to you. You see I don’t pay that shit she does no mind. I just go on about my damn business.”
    “ That shit you’re talking is easier said than done,” she laughed. “Oh yeah, you heard about that murder that happened today at your old stomping grounds?” she blurted out. I mean, that shit came from out of nowhere. I didn’t know whether to lie or tell her the truth. But then a little birdie whispered in my ear and told me to play dumb. The less I acted like I knew, the less she’d ask me questions. And besides, I figured if she heard something, then she’d be able to tell me what the streets were saying.
    “ Nah, I didn’t hear that,” I began to lie. “What happen and when did it happen?”
    “ I saw it on the news earlier. I started to call you to see if you knew who got killed but I got caught up in some other stuff and forgot all about it.”
    “ What did the news journalist say?” my questions continued.
    “ They didn’t say anything really. All they said was that an unidentified young man in his early twenties got shot in the head execution style in the elevator of one of the towers of the Polo Grounds, and if anyone had any information that could lead to the arrest of the triggerman, than to call the hotline.”
    “ They didn’t say anything else?”
    “ They did say that it may be drug related but they weren’t for sure,” she replied. “Think your brother may have known the guy that got killed?”
    “ Reggie knows everybody. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he did.”
    “ Have you spoken with him today?”
    “ Yeah. Earlier. But it was this morning.”
    “ Well, I bet if you call him, he’ll be able to tell you more information than me or that reporter on TV,” she laughed.
    “ Like I said before, it wouldn’t surprise me,” I said and then I turned the direction of the conversation. “So what are you going to get into after you leave the store?”
    “ I’m not sure. I’ll probably pick Kennedy up from preschool and drop her off at her daddy’s house since we gotta get on that early flight to New Orleans.”
    “ Yeah, that might be your best bet. That way you won’t be scrambling in the morning trying to get her situated so you can get to work on time.”
    “ That makes sense. But I’ll call you later.”
    “ Do that,” I told her. And then we disconnected our lines.
    I sat back on my bed and let out a long sigh of relief. Knowing that the news reporter had no knowledge that I had witnessed Lucky get murdered was a stress reliever. One thing I can say about my people at the Polo Grounds was that they definitely knew how to keep their mouths shut. And that was a huge plus in my book.
     
    New York’s Finest Kiki Swinson
    Chapter 5 – Checking In
     
    I had let a few hours roll by and when I hadn’t heard from Reggie I became worried. I knew I wouldn’t be