The Mafia Mayor

By Ricardo Sherman

A politically -charged homicide centered around the mayor, a stripper and a raunchy party at the mayor's Manoogian mansion. Strawbelly is hot, voluptous and regal. A superstar erotic dancer addicted to the drama of the streets, with a penchant for powerful and violent men.
Black Jack, the charismatic newly elected mayor brings to office an era of youthful exuberance. His dedication and determination is fueled by his intoxication with power. He uses the mayor's office to run the city as a criminal enterprise that's styled after the Mafia.
At the turn of the 21st Century, the city of Detroit is no longer a vibrant metropolis, city of champions and Mecca to the automobile industry.
Motown is in dire straights, trapped in a road construction quagmire of never-ending orange barrells and urban blight.
A corrupt police force and wayward city council births a mass exodus of the residents. Will Detroit lose control over its water supply? Will the spirit of Detroit survife Black Jack's corrupt administration, and breathe new life into the body of the once resilient Motor City?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9781456754129

Ricardo Sherman

Author of "Back in the Daze" and "Street Jeapordy." Edistor-in-Chief of Cambridge Voice, writer for Fisher Center Clubhouse. Paralegal for criminal attorney and State Representative/ Civil Attorney. Third Circuit Court assignments: Secretary to the Hon. Harvey F. Tennen, Wayne County Jury Commission, Psychiatric Clinic, and Friend of the Court. Board of Directors for Southwest Solutions and Fountain Court Co-peratives. Invoved with candidates for Mayor of Detroit and Wayne County Executive. Associate of Black Women's Lawyer's Association of Michigan. Ricardo is divorced, with five children and one grandchild.

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© 2011 Ricardo Sherman. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 6/1/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5412-9 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5413-6 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-5414-3 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011908063

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

"LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST WHILE YOU CAN,

AND RECKON NOT THE COST."

OMAR KAYYAM

IN MEMORY OF ISAIA SHERMAN

To Jalon, Chanel, Aisha, Ania, Sincire, Sonia, Davion, Little Ricardo Bernard, Nicole, Dee, Verlina,

and all of my fellow Detroiters

Paul R. from Motown Records and Radiyah El-Fil, Good looking out.

Contents

Chapter 1

MANCHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND

Chapter 2

BAD MAMA JAMA

Chapter 3

FUTURISTIC DETROIT

Chapter 4

PARTY AT THE MAYOR’S MANSION

Chapter 5

JUST ANOTHER MOTOWN LEGEND

Chapter 6

THE INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER

Chapter 7

REAL GOOD THING ABOUT TO COME TO AN END

Chapter 8

MAYOR’S RESOLUTION

Chapter 9

SECRET SQUIRREL STUFF

Chapter 10

THE WHISTLE BLOWER

Chapter 11

MEDIA LYNCHING

Chapter 12

PILE IT ON

Chapter 13

LEGAL EAVESDROPPING

Chapter 14

FREEDOM AIN’T FREE

Chapter 15

CLASH OF TITANS

Chapter 16

FAREWELL, DETROIT

Chapter 1

MANCHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND

With a ritual of pomp and circumstance that’s customary for a dignitary, two State Troopers riding on motorcycles escort two armor-plated black Cadillac Escalades with tinted, bullet-proof windows. Their headlights flash on a blinding high beam as two blue and white Detroit Police patrol cars drive at a safe distance behind them. The loud blast of their sirens pierces the silence of a quiet April afternoon in downtown Detroit.

The caravan speeds through the red stoplights along Congress Avenue, the heart of the business district with an urgent sense of presence. It comes to an abrupt stop in front of the Penobscott Building. Charles Cab Calloway and Thomas Skinner, both highly decorated veterans from the mayor’s elite, Executive Protection Unit consisting of twenty-five personal bodyguards, quickly exit the front Escalade. With breath-taking precision, they cautiously enter the Caucus Club Restaurant to survey the premises.

Five tense minutes pass by with anticipation, and then suddenly, without warning, the door to the front Escalade quickly opens. Out steps the youthful Qwame Jackson, a.k.a. Black Jack, who drew nationwide media attention and was dubbed Da Most Def Mayor, after he went club-crawling for five consecutive nights of celebration, on the premise that he won the mayoral election the day before his thirty-first birthday last November.

His close-knit inner circle of trusted family members and friends follow Black Jack into the upscale restaurant.

Exiting the Cadillac behind Black Jack is Sonny Jackson, a ten- year veteran of the Detroit Police Department. Sonny is assigned to the evidence room, where 2 million dollars in cash and 4 million dollars in seized cocaine vanished in an eighteen-month period from the Police Headquarters, located at 1300 Beaubien Street.

When not doing police work, he spends his time off duty either running up a five-thousand-dollar tab at the Bat Lounge, or wining and dining the fly women at the clubs across the bridge in Windsor. He drives at an exhilarating speed across the Ambassador Bridge that expands above the crystal blue water of the Detroit River, that are both still and calming. He returns to Motown and continues to party at the hot downtown nightspots. His never- ending pursuit of the excitement and aura of the feminine mystique leads him to Seldom Blues, Studio 54, Legends, Floods, Hard Rock Cafe, Athenaeum and Bleu Room Experience.

Sonny is usually accompanied by his childhood friend, G. Black, the notorious, high profile rouge cop with the dubious reputation of being involved in four fatal civilian shootings while serving seven violent years on the Detroit police force. He made the headlines after being turned down for promotion as sergeant three times. Each of his police-related shootings were in the Cass Corridor and Downtown areas. Notwithstanding that G. Black is certainly one of Detroit’s Foulest, he exercises his constitutional rights and joins the typical Detroiter, with a lawsuit pending against the city. His lawsuit is for discrimination, a result of passing the test for sergeant three times with high scores, yet being looked over each time, and the position given to a lower scoring applicant. G. Black’s current partner, Henry F. Potter, a 14 year veteran on the Detroit Police Force will go on to be charged with manslaughter. While he was in the middle of filming a reality show, a 7-year-old-girl was shot in the neck and killed while sleeping on a couch after the police used a flash-bang grenade while executing a search warrant on a two-family flat on the East Side. Potter claims that a 71-year-old grandmother grabbed his gun and it went off, killing the little girl.

Next to G. Black is Black Jack’s thuggish brother-in-law Ronnie, a felon on parole. He’s currently serving 90 days in the Wayne County Jail. The mayor visits him regularly, after cutting a deal with the Wayne County Sheriff to release Ronnie from his jail cell every morning at 8:00 a.m. so he can be allowed to run his business operations. Ronnie returns back to jail each night at 8:00 p.m. to serve the first part of his blended sentence for committing great bodily harm less than murder, after he was convicted of brutally beating a wayward employee with an iron pipe wrapped inside of a newspaper after the employee was released from jail for the third time for picking up a prostitute on Mack Avenue while driving the company pickup truck, causing it to be impounded for seven days.

Following alongside Ronnie and to his left, is the mayor’s cousin, Roy Charles, the head of payroll for the City of Detroit; behind him is Renard, Black Jack’s father, who wears double hats, one as Black Jack’s press secretary, and the other as his financial adviser. Next to Renard, is Bull Hunter, a tort attorney who’s known for throwing lavish, off-the-chain parties, while keeping an eye out for glamorous and promiscuous women.

Bull owns a school for paralegals and gives himself the title of director. The entire 23rd and 36th floors of the Guardian Building are used for his paralegal classrooms. He’s been known to offer the exceptional students private law classes at his home on Warwick Street, on the outskirts of the fashionable Rosedale Park community.

Following Bull Hunter is Mongo Slade. Mongo lives a double-life as a bigamist. He has a middle-aged, Caucasian socialite wife in Windsor named Sylvia. His other wife is Monica, a tempestuous twenty-six-year-old Black woman with a pretty face and curvaceous body. She lives in Southfield, where she loves to snort cocaine and party with her young home girls that get high on Crystal Meth and Ecstasy at the Detroit nightclubs.

Monica has aspirations of becoming a Detroit city council member. Mongo’s two wives keep him running back and forth to Windsor and Southfield each day, with the impossible task of pleasing them both. As Black Jack’s political consultant and strategist, Mongo’s an adept hatchet man, taking a couple of pages from Republican Lee Atwater’s book of using a tenacious approach of employing electoral politics to promulgate unflattering rumors. He’s also a master at appearing on television and creating emotional wedge issues and abstract points of view to win the support of Black Jack. Mongo takes delight in deploying a strategy dubbed as sand in the face. When not wanting to answer a question, he creates a diversionary topic and talks about it until the issue disappear from the mind of the person who’s confronting him.

Last, but not least is Rick Bernard, Black Jack’s extraordinary best friend. Rick has long, straight hair that he combs back into a ponytail. He possesses wisdom far beyond his thirty years of age and often serves as Black Jack’s voice of reason. Rick is sensitive, open-minded, and thoughtful. He’s highly respected for his scrupulous loyalty and general concern for the well-being of the people that he genuinely cares about.

Black Jack is the tallest person in the group. His stature is formidable, standing at 6’4" and weighing 285 pounds, he has ultra- broad shoulders and a big, barrel- chest. He sports a bald-fade haircut. His trademark 3-carat diamond ear- ring sparkles radiantly in the afternoon sunlight. Always a dapper dresser, he’s wearing a large, gangster-style black Fedora hat that makes his face appear small in it, a long, black Cashmere over-coat, a red and white chalk-striped dress shirt, a tailor-made, size 54 black and white pin-striped gabardine suit, red silk tie and black alligator shoes. A large Crown Rolex watch is on his wrist and a gold wedding band is on his finger.

Black Jack claims to be the force of change in the winds of Detroit. He promises the citizens that they don’t have to wait on jobs, clean, affordable homes, safe streets, new businesses and lower taxes, because he is going to create a change, Right Now! Right Here! Black Jack inherits a balanced budget from Danny Archway, the optimistic previous mayor, who reluctantly cut each department in the City of Detroit’s payroll by ten percent across the board, in order to achieve a reconciled budget. Archway also negotiated for the Super Bowl, and the Major League All-Star Game to be brought to Detroit, along with several other political plums that Black Jack graciously takes the credit for creating. Some argue that Archway did more for Detroit in two terms than Young did in five terms.

Each morning, I eat a giant bowl of charisma, sprinkled with confidence for breakfast, Black Jack once told an audience of middle school children. On another occasion, during a graduation speech at his Alma Malta, Cass Tech, he admitted, I’m cut from the same cloth as the average Detroiter who’s oppressed by the disparities of today’s society. The thing that sets me apart is that I’m blessed with an extraordinary gift for gab. My gift of gab is so amazing and outstanding, until it opens doors for me inside of high society. I can sip on a Martini and enjoy the delicious taste of biting into a green olive, while sailing on a yacht, or thrashing the governor in a debate on Mackinaw Island, Black Jack says with a charming smile.

His youthful exuberance, quick wit, savvy speeches, and dynamic charm convinces the majority of Detroit voters, both young and old, along with most of the regional public, that he’s the right man at the right time to turn the economically deprived and crime-ridden city completely around. Privately, he tells his cronies, There’s over ten billion dollars circulating through the city of Detroit in real estate, businesses contracts, city programs, taxes and drugs, I plan to get my hands on at least eight-hundred-million of it. Boss Tweed and his Tammany Hall machine ain’t got nothing on mine. Detroit is a big, old dysfunctional family, and we’re all in this shit together. I’m the head Nigga in charge of this dysfunctional family, and I’m going to hold the reign of power in the Motor City with a tenacious, oligarchy grip, he says, as he effortlessly straightens his tie.

My political machine is going to be the greatest one that the State of Michigan has ever experienced. My administrative control will dominate every aspect of life in Detroit. My blood relatives and childhood friends will steward my empire. I’ll flood the city government with department heads on my payroll. The law department will be my private domain, the judges on the District Court level will be at my beck and call, because I control their purse strings, he says with a Cheshire cat grin.

The internal investigations unit and police chief answers to me and only me. Dozens of union locals, charities, and political action committees, with my family’s oversight will be my puppets, covers and sources of laundering money. Every contract proposal and bid must come through my father’s non-profit charity in Highland Park, with kickbacks coming to me. I’ll have disc jockeys on the hip-hop radio stations preaching my gospel and singing my songs. Small newspaper writers and editors will write stories strictly from my point of view. The Black- owned television station news personalities and their political consultants will say what I want them to say. I’ll control more votes than any mayor in the entire country. He says in his trademark non-stop, rapid –fire speech as he walks through the side entrance of the Caucus Club after arriving from a speech given by President Bush at Hart Plaza.

I’ll have the pastors of the mega-churches on my team. Business leaders from the Detroit Economy Club, all the way down to the corner Arab liquor store and neighborhood gas station owner will play ball with me. The only voices against me will be on the city council, but they’ll step in line during my second term and buy into my business deals. He says with a sly grin. They will never know that my family and friends will win the lion’s share of the contracts, especially for repairing the streets and building new houses. Billions of dollars are flowing through Detroit, just waiting for the right organized group to take it. The Italian Mafia has already begun to quietly infiltrate the city. They’re operating in the shadows of the casino businesses, while they slowly contaminate my city council, he says with contempt.

The drug trade is an underground economy which nets over a billion dollars each year. I’m going to tap into that revenue also, it’s going to take at least a million dollars a year for me to oil my political machine with bribes and pay offs, he says with a predatory look in his eyes that comes from deep within his soul.

His entourage is seated at their customary private tables in the corner, next to the bar. My first year and beyond will be ran completely Mafia-style. Black Jack continues. My secret, private hierarchy within a public hierarchy will consist of high-ranking members making pay to play decisions that trickle down to the other members. This high-rank will be known as the Commission. He stops to check the number of an incoming call on his Executive BlackBerry cellular phone, and continues. My job as mayor is only a front to steal every dime that I can get my hands on, he says with a greedy grin. Loyalty is an absolute thing. We will practice Omerta the code of silence. The counselors will consist of the top attorneys in the city’s law department. I’ll have Capos, lieutenants that lead their own section of family and friends that work for the city. My lieutenants will have specific departments of the city for them to oversee," he says as he returns the wink from a pretty young white girl with bleached blond hair walking pass his table and seductively shaking her hips.

The dirty work will be done by my soldiers. The soldiers will be 12 hand- picked members of the police force. Last, but not least are the associates that work with us in our different enterprises and business dealings, speaking of the Devil, here comes an associate now. Black Jack says.

I appreciate your taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with me, says Mark Everest, an attorney for Safeway Security Company. He extends his hand to Black Jack, and then sits in the empty chair directly across from him. Not as much as I appreciate you for convincing the city council to award Safeway the bid to do the security for the Super Bowl. Black Jack says as the waiter hands him a menu.

The city council would have a fit if they knew that my wife’s brother owns Safeway Security, Black Jack says while catching a glimpse of a scantly clad cocktail waitress smiling at him seductively. There ain’t no party like a Dee-troit party, and Super Bowl 40 is gonna be Detroit’s super party. He says as Mark Everest nods in agreement. The All-Star Game in 05 will showcase Comerica Park and whet a lot of appetites to come back to Detroit for the Super Bowl in 06. Detroit’s three new casinos are the icing on the cake, Black Jack says with excitement. Safeway will win the All-Star game contract also, A greedy smirk appears across the face of Mark Everest.

For an appetizer I’ll have the Confit of Duck with Sweet and Savory Garlic, then Watercress, Mixed Greens, Stilton Cheese and Pecans. For the entree, I’ll try the Roast Duck with Garlic Port and for dessert Creme Brolle with Crushed Pralines. Black Jack tells the smiling waiter, while being both delighted and amused at the new menu.

Here’s my proposal along with the contract for you to go over, Mark Everest says as he reaches into his brief case. Pass them down to my attorney at the end of the table. Black Jack replies. Three waiters carrying trays loaded down with food and utensils carefully place appetizers of shrimp cocktail, escargot, or fresh oysters on the half-shell in front of everyone seated with the mayor.

I don’t want any slip-ups. Downtown is going to be on lock-down for the entire month of January and first week of February 06. I want to showcase the city as a safe place to visit for all of the out -of -towners, both before and after the game. I want them to feel as safe as they would be if they were watching a game of touch football being played on the grass of the corner lot in the neighborhood from where they live. Black Jack says while anxiously texting on his expensive, executive BlackBerry.

"The game is gonna be broadcast in high definition color on television sets all over the entire globe. I want your security to make their presence known, they must wear bright orange tee shirts and Honolulu blue hats with the word SECURITY printed in black, Black Jack says as he picks up a juicy lemon slice and squirts it generously over a raw oyster, I don’t want any complications after the game. I want a smooth transition before, during and after the game. Detroit’s gonna have a big party, but it’s gonna be a controlled big party."

Attorney Bull Hunter interrupts the mayor by tapping his fork on a glass of water. Everything looks fine except for paragraph 14, which appears to be a boilerplate clause, waiving liability for Safeway in the event of injury to any of their employees. Bull says reluctantly. Well, let Ford Field take care of that aspect. We got a God-Damn Super Bowl to host. Black Jack retorts with annoyance in his voice. Where do I sign? The money the city is going to make from the Super Bowl will put me closer to balancing the budget next year, Black Jack says, as the waiter places a saucer with the hot steam of the Confit Duck rising, and the savory aroma of Sweet Garlic in the air.

Investors are pumping over fifty -million- dollars to repair the infrastructure of Detroit’s streets. The potholes in the Motor City are indeed a Motor Embarrassment. You’re going to make your mark with the voters when they drive down the hundreds of miles of newly paved streets that compliment your handy work and shrewd business dealings, Renard says in his thundering bass voice that can be heard as far back as the kitchen.

Not to mention the kick-backs that I will get from that fifty mill, Black Jack says with a smile. You got it made son. Most people forget that in the 1960’s, Mayor Cavanaugh had the city council to set aside money to revitalize the city. Plans were made way back then to build new houses along Woodward Avenue, starting a block away from the Fox Theater, all the way to Wayne State, cutting through the Cass Corridor. Since you’re sitting in office at the time when these plans are taking place, you may as well take the credit for this revitalization of Detroit, Renard says with a confident grin.

I want you to continue to woo the voters. The courtship will never be over and the honeymoon will never end. The speeches that I write will razzle and dazzle the voters, while leaving them begging for more, He says while buttering a bread stick. Pop, you know damn well that I think on my feet. My razor-sharp wit and outspokenness has gotten me out of many jams. Besides, where’s your brilliant speech writing when my two catalysts, that damn freelance journalist, Tyrone May, who attended Burroughs Jr. High School with me, or Wilson Stevens, that mother fucking investigative reporter from Channel One News tracks me down with one of his accusations? He asks with disdain.

The news media is a powerful and vicious, man-eating dragon. It has no mercy for the innocent person who’s a victim of circumstance, and it has no respect for truth, it’s a despicable, malicious, and self-serving predator, in search of a sensational story to continuously feed the appetite of an inquiring-minded, gossip-mongering public. There was a time when the racist hid behind white sheets and hoods, nowadays these same cowards hide behind computers on the Internet, Black Jack says while eagerly tweeting on his cellular phone.

Bull Hunter hands Black Jack two thick folders, one orange and the other green. The most difficult part of your job will be figuring out how to reconcile the city finances with the city payroll, Bull Hunter says.

No, I disagree, the most difficult part of my real job is going to be where to hide all of the ill-gotten loot, Black Jack admits, as Bull Hunter ignores his comment and continues, which are outlined in the green folder, the orange folder is the city’s organizational chart, with a complete list of 160 appointees, including your executive leadership team of directors at your disposal. I suggest that you send a memo to all of the previous administration’s appointees to submit their resignations immediately, so you can appoint 160 of your family members and friends instantly. That way, they can make the next payroll. Bull Hunter says casually.

"I also suggest that James Dorsey, your best friend from Cass High School be appointed as Deputy Mayor, and his girlfriend, Stella Ward, be appointed as police chief. Stella can save the city millions of dollars, by closing down all of the police precincts, selling the land, and then converting some of the old State of Michigan unemployment offices and other buildings into central police districts for the East, West, North and South sides of Detroit. In the future, each central police district will serve as the police headquarters to the four boroughs that Detroit will be divided into. For the time being, keep the present police chief in office for a couple of months for sentimental reasons, and then let him retire with honors. After Stella Ward replaces him, she’ll be lockstep in line with your agenda of controlling the city and using the entire police force as your personal army, at your command, to protect the wealthy business establishments, and not