Concealed Weapons: Celebrating the Courage of Today's Abandoned American Youth

By Alana Reneé

Compelling & dramatic coming of age stories for young readers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 25, 2010
• ISBN: 9781462822027

Alana Reneé

Alana Renee is a long time community volunteer who has mentored, fostered and supported At-Risk youth over the past 20 years. As a Human Performance and Corporate Training Professional, Alana leverages synergies from her corporate and consulting experiences to adopt techniques and leadership skills that appeal to and support leader characteristics development in young people. She and her family live in New Jersey.

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Copyright © 2010, 2017 by Alana Reneé.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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.

Rev. date: 11/22/2019

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CONTENTS

A Brother Gotta Get Paid

Characters Welcome

Check The Forensics

Got Skills?

Lefty’s Right

On The Lam

The Emancipation Proclamation

Yafeelme?

This book is dedicated to my cousin – Wendell.

If

By Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Rudyard Kipling published in 1895

A BROTHER GOTTA GET PAID

J ASON WAS HEL LA fine. I’m talking dimples like LL and body like

50 Cent. Wearing a warm hazelnut complexion, he was especially nice to all Honeys—always full of compliments and smiles. The amount of cake this kid stacked was ridiculous. Although Negroes may have wanted to hate, Jason was way cool. Somehow, you couldn’t be mad at him. I mean you could get mad but you wouldn’t stay mad for long. He didn’t take shorts and he wasn’t on the block all hours of the night serving every dope fiend. He ran a respectable drug business. He was in it for the finances. He didn’t use the product he sold. He paid his moms rent every month.

Jay, as friends called him, had worked since high school. Recently, street hustling had become a way to supplement the family’s finances. Helping his family was his responsibility and he handled most responsibilities without fail. Jason made sure all his people on his mom’s side had whatever they needed. In fact if it wasn’t for the fact that Jason sold illegal contraband, he could have easily been a respectable young businessman.

Unfortunately, according to the law, Jason wasn’t a respectable businessman and Newark Task Force was determined to trap then steal the young brother’s song for as long as they could. Cops cuffed him a few times and were able to hold him on disorderly conduct once, but he’d talked his way out of it. Nothing stuck to this kid. However, things were about to change. NTF was planning a little something-something for the young man’s hind parts.

Pushing a black Escalade at 22, Jason was savvy enough to save some street cake for a rainy day. He was well aware of NTF’s reconnaissance efforts. It wasn’t raining but he could sense a storm coming. He was tired of the drug lifestyle —not the part about stacking money — just the part about having to watch his back every second. Six weeks ago he’d met Nina. She was confident and Beyonƈilicious. To deck her would definitely require an upgrade in lifestyle. Jason had confidence and skills. He was working a plan to parlay a dirty money operation into a legitimate money-making business. According to his calculations, in about 18 months he’d get the girl, realize the dream and have it all!

*     *      *

Nina worked in Short Hills Mall at the designer fragrance counter. She was about to go on break when she received a new THuG911 text: Cappuccino swaging thru Menswear heading to make up! Nina was trying to peek at the alleged eye-candy when he walked up to her counter.

"Oh my, it is Pretty Ricky! No, he’s Rico Suave." She smiled at her private joke.

Excuse me Miss, but would you give me the phatest gift set you have over with you.

Hello! Yes. I can show you a few things we have. Angel is quite popular.

She swallowed hard as he walked closer. He was fine. She ducked behind the mass of gift box sets to refresh her lip-gloss. She shuffled a few boxes to create a diversion. She could feel his eyes appreciate her beauty and style. She grabbed two boxes and laid them on the counter for his approval.

Here’s a few to look at. She didn’t want to stare at him.

Oh, yes. Thanks. Jason exam the gifts then said, I would like whichever one you like best. It’s for a very beautiful lady.

Her feminine gaze traveled through the beveled glass, up his strong arm, past the crease in his moist lips, straight into his light brown eyes. Everything was moving in slow motion as she reached into the lower case to retrieve a third gift box. Nina saw his hands glide across the glass countertop towards the lock of hair that landed on the counter when she bent down.

Do you know how beautiful you are? Jason asked, careful not to touch her.

Oh! That is so weak! she thought. By the time she stood and closed the case, she had her grind face back on. She selected the most expensive gift set and took it to her register. She put the box into a medium brown bag.

That will be $178, sir.

It wasn’t until he gently stroked her fingers while handing her nine twenties that she lost herself in his eyes again. When she looked at him, he spoke to her.

Honestly Miss. You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. What is your name?

She smiled before handing him two dollars. "I’m Nina and thank you. No one has ever called me a beautiful creature before. Thanks for shopping at Bloomingdales."

As he walked away she added, Have a great afternoon!

When Nina returned from break, she noticed a pastel purple box with a huge silver bow at the end of her counter. She was headed to Lost and Found before she noticed the card was addressed to: Nina. She loved Angel. It was her favorite fragrance. "Wow, she thought he probably was a nice guy."

Nina had a sales acumen found only among exceptional hood divas. Nina could talk a blind man out of his seeing-eye dog. She was about to use her negotiation skills on her Human Resources Manager. Though not yet public, Baby Phat was planning the launch of SPLAT - a new cosmetics line for women of all shades. Before the promotional launch, Baby Phat was grooming an elite new sales force. Nina made HR aware of her interest in cosmetics. She increased sales to show management she should be invited to participate in the SPLAT Launch Training Program.

Cosmetic sales positions have long been the all-time, most sought after positions in department store retail. Perfumers know they have the best shot of breaking into Cosmetics. Around the store it was not uncommon to hear stories of backstabbers using clandestine tactics to secure a commission sales job with a popular cosmetic line. There was no shortage of true lies.

Prestige did not matter to Nina. The coveted SPLAT Girl title was not her lifelong dream but could be a stepping stone on her path to success. Nina was determined to become the makeup artist to all of hip-hop’s finest Divas. Soon she’d complete the man-hours needed to take her cosmetology exam. Once Nina got her license, she could combine her hair skills with her new cosmetic contacts to launch her dream career.

She once heard a rumor that Veronica Webb met her makeup artist in a downtown Macy’s. When Veronica blew up, she supposedly requested to have her makeup man with her. As a result, he got to live his dream too. You never know who you might meet. You never know how a chance connection can change your life.

Nina thought the gift was cute, but she had serious priorities and doubted Rico Suave was on the path. She waited two weeks before she called the number on the back of the card. She had been meaning to thank him for the gift but was busy with classes and work.

Jason just listened as Nina went on and on about taking her exam and still fighting to get this new job and running around, but he wasn’t really hearing her words as much as he was feeling her vibe. When she finally stopped explaining why she waited so long to call, he asked, Nina, I’m glad you called. When can we hook up?

*     *      *

Every playa is bound to meet their match. As Jason got to know Nina, he got to admire her focus. He knew he loved her and showed deep respect for who she was trying to become. He understood that she wanted a good lifestyle with no drama. She reminded him of himself because while her plans were in effect, his plan to invest in multi-family property was just getting underway. He intended to live for free and collect rent from paying tenants.

Jason had done his homework and learned that first-time home buyers only need 3 percent of the purchase price to qualify for an HUD loan. When a property needs repair, fix-up loans are available. The trick is to understand how much money is required to bring a property up to Code before you bid on it. In order to find a property he could afford, Jason researched City Municipal websites. He learned that every quarter or so, City’s publish a list of abandoned or distressed properties they want to auction—often for pennies on the dollar. Once he identified a property he could get it at little cost, he could secure a rehabilitation loan to fix it up and use stash for the down payment. Apartments could be rented to Section 8 tenants and Section 8 pays rent the 1st of every month.

Recently, he finally found a decent house in a better area of the hood. His vision was to provide the community with quality housing and secure steady legal income for his family. He expected the initial investment to run about $15K. Now all he needed was for Moms to qualify for the HUD loan. Moms was beating the brakes off the HUD First Time Home Buyer assistance program. It was perfect—a two-family house with a huge attic –the Man Cave. Now it was a waiting game but in the meantime he thought, "A brother gotta get paid."

*     *      *

Jason’s mom was a single working mother. Work schedules at two jobs often forced her to neglect her children. They practically had to raise themselves. Thank God she had Jason. He was always her great little helper but he grew up real fast. She was not proud of what her son did, but she took extreme pride in how he did it. She was pleased at how her son had always been the man of the house. She was not happy Jason sold product nor was she happy she knowingly used drug money to clothe her kids. She was happy that despite the nature of his business, her son had somehow learned to be a streetwise businessman who was confident and responsible for his actions. Times were always financially rough. Even though she was making decent money nowadays, it was still hard to provide for her 3 little ones.

Now that he was taller than her, she relented to his street hustle. It was easier to keep her son close than to risk losing him. She knew he was trying to find a way to do something different. So when Jason shared his plan to get out of the streets, she was all in. WWW.hud.gov offered free directions and she followed them. Using the Homeownership First Steps Guide on http://www.hud.gov/initiatives/homeownership, Moms applied to qualify for a HUD Home Loan.

She had twenty years of steady pay stubs and no major outstanding debt. On paper she was neutral—no debt, no credit. Fortunately her Credit Union had withdrawn car loan payments from her checking account for 2 cars. She knew she could demonstrate savings, income and the ability to pay bills, but was not confident they’d really get the loan.

Jason’s mom wasn’t sure why laws of our Justice System don’t seem to work for Colored folks. She couldn’t explain why officers aren’t a little more compassionate when dealing with the people they serve. Law makers enlist Police officers to enforcement and uphold laws. Sadly, while enforcing the Law, many officers end up looking like paid henchmen of an unjust "just us" system.

Despite the passion and intent of Laws, economically and judicially, even the playing field seems harder to find. Her own mother often told her Babygirl, you gotta get up to bat before you can take a swing at the ball.

It had taken a lifetime to understand her mothers’ words. Her son Jason’s situation was no different than any other scary hood tale. Moms prayed the family would be prequalified soon because she knew a System fully prepared to provide permanent housing to her son. She was right to worry. Detectives were watching Jason and as soon as they confirmed some new leads, they were going to be all over him.

*     *      *

"Close your booklets please. Pass them forward immediately. Please leave your head on the cabinets here as you exit. Congratulations on completing your final exam. Test results in twenty-eight days. Not before then, so please don’t ask."

Quiet was replaced with noisy conversation as students rose to exit the building. Two conversations dominated the walk into the parking lot.

So I’m enjoying myself at the club and this bewitch comes up to me while I’m flexing my sexy in the mirror. The cute speaker quickly demonstrated flexing her sexy as she continued to walk.

She smiles and says, mama why you come to the club with no clothes on? Everyone laughed.

She said what!? her friend asked.

I think I passed. Nina said.

I know! Can you believe it? I told her that I can wear what the freak I want wherever I want to. I said, you better be glad I’m not who I used to be or I ’da busted you in the mouth.

Oh, Samantha! Such violence!

Girl I am not playing. I better had passed. I studied my behind off. I start with Baby Phat next week. I have no time for a do over. Nina said.

So what did she say?

I know. I hope I passed too.

She said, Well I’m so glad you aren’t who you used to be too. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I was just playing with you. I mean I said that almost 4 hours ago? Have you been mad all this time? People go out to have fun and you certainly can wear whatever you want. Let me buy you a drink."

That was it?

Yeah. Once she apologized, I wasn’t mad. I must be growing because I just said no thanks and walked away. Ordinarily I would have whipped that behind before she knew what yoked her.

See! Now there you go! Grow on up, Sam! If someone apologizes, let it go.

Well, I know I passed the written part but Nina, on the wet set . . . What?! Look little Miss World Piece. I know you are not preaching!

. . . I was shook. That wet set looked a hot mess girl.

Dang! Why are you getting mad? I was just playing. Sam, can I get a ride. Night, yawl! Samantha unlocked the car and smiled at her classmate.

Get in the car, Trick! You always twerking on my nerves.

Good night! Good luck, everybody! Nina shouted.

I know everybody want me girl. Thanks for the ride. I love you.

Yeah. I love you too. Hurry up!

Samantha closed her door. Everyone went her separate way.

*     *      *

Nina knew training was intense as soon as orientation began.

Fierce is a verb, people. We invite you to learn the techniques we will present to throw a SPLAT of color on your clients.

Nina stared as the speaker paused for a moment then raised his hand in front of his face and with a twist of his wrist closed all five fingers together into a tulip. He wore a teal collar with a blue-grey tailored suit that fit like a glove. His mauve tie complimented his complexion. He was so clean he practically glowed. Suddenly he squeezed the petals of his tulip tightly then opened them as his wrist swirled the blossom above his head.

"I’m Kyle, your lead instructor. Welcome to SPLAT ladies and girlfriends. You are the best of the best according to those who got you here. However it is important you understand that those who got you here won’t keep you here. As I said, fierce is a verb. That’s an action word. The name of this game is having and bringing your A-game consistently. So let me make this clear to all you potential new artists. This is a six-week course. This launch is going to be very exclusive. As SPLAT launch artists, so are you - if you make it. We start promptly at 6 and end at 9 pm Monday and Wednesday. We know you have real lives. We do too, but we will not be late. We are here to instruct not babysit. If for whatever reason you must be late you are excused, permanently excused. Do not be late. No excuse is acceptable. Please don’t ask, and if you know you are going to be late, save yourself the trip. Are we absolutely clear?"

Everyone in attendance nodded affirmatively as they said yes.

Five weeks later, Nina was still unable to focus attention on work and training. She fought hard to get into the SPLAT Launch training and now she was about to mess around and lose it chasing after Jason. The two argued.

Jason was sure Nina did not believe he was getting out of the game. She already let him know she was not giving up her dreams for anyone.

There are only twenty-four hours in a day Jason, and I can’t work ten hours a day, study four hours a day, and then be up all night with you.

Why not, you’re young. You got through cosmetology finals. How hard can a makeup class be?

I have plans! And I wasn’t with you when I made them, Jason.

Nina was frustrated. Jason was her soul mate. She loved being the receiver of his attention and wanted to be with him night and day. She believed they could make it if Jason would change his lifestyle.

Nina meditated to build inner strength. She imagined Jimmy Choo shoes, socializing and slaying her competition. Jason had better get it together or she was going to have to make a major decision concerning him.

"You’re not with me now either so that doesn’t matter." Jason read her thoughts.

Jason, why would you say that to me? That’s so unfair! I love you.

Humph, love isn’t going pay your bills. Isn’t that what you always say? Your problem is that you don’t believe in me as much as I believe in you!

Listen. Don’t be mad at me because I’m determined to get up outta this hood!

And what do you think I’m doing!? Jason shouted.

Yeah but just look how you doing it, Jason.

"You think I don’t know that Nina! I love my family! You think I ever wanted this! I did what I