A Family's Bond

By Leroy Jackson

Family means everything to these five brothers. Fortunately they have two. That has its advantages as well as disadvantages. Loyalty, Money and Respect are just as important to these brothers. They will have to weather many storms and their loyalty will be tested. Will the Jones family stand united or will they fall?

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Feb 21, 2020
• ISBN: 9781532092879

Book preview

A FAMILY’S BOND

LEROY JACKSON

42383.png

A FAMILY’S BOND

Copyright © 2020 Leroy Jackson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

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.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9288-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-9287-9 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 02/21/2020

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Payback

Chapter 2 Barry’s Revenge

Chapter 3 The Biological Kids

Chapter 4 To Shelly’s Rescue

Chapter 5 D-Nice Meets Jimmy

Chapter 6 D-Nice Runs Into Trouble

Chapter 7 Tron Goes to Darby

Chapter 8 More Problems At Home

Chapter 9 The Barbeque

Chapter 10 Arlene Gets Disrespected

Chapter 11 DEUCE Meeting

Chapter 12 The Encounter

Chapter 13 The Family Dispute

Chapter 14 Attempt to Leave DEUCE

Chapter 15 The Studio

Chapter 16 First Day of School

Chapter 17 Tron and Brandon in the Studio

Chapter 18 The Confrontation

Chapter 19 Putting the CD Together

Chapter 20 Tron Visits the Principal

Chapter 21 Movie Night

Afterword

Introduction

T he Jones boys, all five of them, for the first time in a very long time are finally back together again, but for how long. Raised as brothers and now they have families of their own to raise and protect from the only world they’ve known, DEUCE world, up until now. DEUCE lifestyle is not for kids but somehow the children in the Jones family are always caught in the middle. The eldest Jones boy was the leader of DEUCE. He knew he had to get out so he stepped down, in more ways than one. Life changing events threaten to destroy the one thing that the Jones boys and DEUCE hold sacred. Family Can the Jones family weather the storm they are about to go through?

Chapter One

THE PAYBACK

T here were three brothers, Lenny, Tron and Tiny. They all had the same father but Tiny had a different mother. Lenny and Tron had a cousin named Brandon. Their mothers were sisters. The four carried it like they were brothers.

They’ve been in and out of prison since they were old enough to go to prison. They lived in a town call EMERSON. They were known as the DEUCE brothers.

DEUCE was a well known crew that they started on the Eastern Shore. Lenny and Brandon both came home from prison and got married but Tiny and Tron had a little more running left in them. After Brandon was release from prison, he only mingled in the drug game when he needed a few extra dollars even though he knew he could go to one of his cousins at anytime and they would gladly give him what he needed. The drug game had made them both comfortable. Lenny was the oldest of the four. Tiny was a few months younger than him. Tron and Brandon were about the same age but Tron was a little older. Lenny and Brandon were the laid back type but Tron and Tiny were the complete opposite of them. Regardless, they had each others back no matter what. This was the first time they had all been on the streets together since they were kids but that wouldn’t last long.

Tiny was set up by a so called friend of his named Reggie. A week before that Lenny had left the drug game alone. His wife had talked him into giving his life to GOD but now he felt obligated to revenge his brother. Even though he knew he could just call his cousin D-Nice, who he had left in his position when he stepped down, and he would gladly have it taken care of if not do it himself but he figured that they would handle this themselves. He knew if the shoe was on the other foot Tiny wouldn’t think twice about handling the situation. So the brothers decided to play it smart and wait a month after Tiny’s trial was over. Tiny received 15 years.

It had only been 28 days and the brothers were getting impatient. So they drove to the shed where the guns were stored at. Lenny and Tron put on latex gloves and went inside the shed to clean the guns and the bullets to make sure they left no fingerprints on anything. Brandon sit in the car with the trunk up as the ‘lookout man’. When they finished they drove to Lenny’s house. They all agreed to spend the next two days, which was Wednesday and Thursday, with their families. Friday they would meet at Lenny’s house and proceed to seek revenge for Tiny.

Majority of the time Tron and Lenny played spades against Arlene and Shelly. They also took them out to dinner on those days along with the kids and Tawanda. Tawanda was the mother of Tron’s son, Tron Jr., or Lil Tron as the family calls him. The females already knew what the brothers was about to do. They never kept secrets. Arlene tried to talk them out of it but she knew it was useless because it wouldn’t change a thing. They also explained to the kids that they might have to go away for a little while and if they did they wanted them to help their mothers around the house.

Friday they all laid around the house patiently waiting for 8 o’clock to come. Lenny was watching a movie with Shelly when Tron and Brandon came in the house. The kids ran to their uncles and hugged them. Tron gave them $20 a piece. Tammy thanked Tron and asked if they were also going away with their daddy. Tron looked at Brandon who kneeled down and said If your daddy goes away we have to go with him but we will keep in touch becuz we love y’all okay. They told the kids this just in case something went wrong with the crime they were about the commit and they had to go on the run. Tammy just smiled but Shelly had water in her eyes. So Lenny walked up to her and kissed her and said I need you to be strong for the kids. I don’t want y’all to worry about us. Shelly said How can you ask me not to worry when I don’t know if you’re coming back?

Lenny and Shelly had been together for five years. She already had Donyel when they met and Lenny immediately fell in love with each other. Donyel was only 15 months old when they met and Lenny has been raising her ever since.

They separated once for almost four years and Shelly got pregnant by another man. Lenny and Shelly got back together when Tammy was about 2 yeas old and he raised her like she was his. They have been one big happy family ever since they got back together.

There was a rumor going around that Lenny had a few kids as well but there was no proof. After Lenny calmed Shelly down he and his brothers left Lenny’s house. All three of them had on shorts, a t-shirt, and black tennis shoes. They all jumped in Brandon’s wife’s car. Brandon had the guns and three black hooded sweat suits already in the car. The guns were in a black backpack. They pulled out of Lenny’s driveway and proceeded to their destination. It took 20 minutes to get to Reggie’s house. They drove through town looking for a car with tinted windows to steal. They spotted a dark green Dodge Stratus with tinted windows. They drove past the Stratus and went to gas up. As Brandon got out to go pay for the gas, Tron got out of the back seat and walked around the car and got in the driver’s seat.

Lenny was on his cell phone. He had called home to tell Shelly because they forgot to pray so they prayed together on the phone. Lenny asked GOD to forgive him for what they was about to do. After they finished praying he told her he loved her and they hung up the phone. Brandon knew how he was feeling because he had just been through the same exact thing with Lisa. Brandon passed the black sweat suits out and they all put them on. When they were all dressed Brandon got out of the backseat and walked towards the Stratus while putting on his black leather gloves. He got the Stratus door open and hot wired it in less than three minutes.

When he pulled out Tron pulled out behind him. Tron followed Brandon to a dark driveway on a back road about four blocks from Reggie’s house. They pulled into the driveway making u-turns facing the road with both cars. Tron and Lenny jumped out of Brandon’s car and got in the stolen Stratus with Brandon. They were all dressed alike, black hooded sweat suits, black tennis shoes, and black leather gloves. They pulled out of the driveway and headed to Reggie’s house. They rode pass his house and saw his car in the driveway and saw the living room light on.

They went to the end of the street and turned around. They threw on their hoods and rolled both passenger side windows down. As the windows were coming down, Lenny passed two of the pretty .45s to Tron who gave one to Brandon. As they got close to Reggie’s house they slowed down almost to a stop. Tron and Lenny opened fire through Reggie’s living room window at the first shadow they seen. When Tron’s gun was empty he ducked down and told Brandon to go. Brandon reached over top of him and unloaded his .45. Then he pulled off quickly and they rolled the windows up.

They drove back to where Brandon’s car was parked. They jumped out and left the car running. Brandon jumped in his car, popped the trunk and started the car up. Tron snatched a gasoline jug out of the trunk and shut it. Brandon pulled up a little ways and put the car in park and ran back to Lenny. Tron was pouring the gasoline in and over the car. Then he tossed the jug in the car along with the backpack and the guns. They took their sweat suits and gloves off and tossed them in the Stratus. Lenny lit a cigarette and as they ran away he plucked it in the Stratus. The Stratus went up in flames. They jumped in Brandon’s car and pulled off.

They drove back to Lenny’s house. When they pulled up in Lenny’s driveway Tron jumped in his car and pulled off. Lenny got out of the car and Brandon pulled off. Lenny walked in the house and Shelly was on the phone with Lisa in tears. When she saw Lenny she dropped the phone and ran to him. They hugged and kissed so long she forgot Lisa was on the phone and then she thought about it and ran back to the phone. She told Lisa that Brandon was on his way home and she’d call her tomorrow. Before Lisa could even respond she hung up and ran back to Lenny. Lenny wiped the tears from her eyes and said let’s go to bed but first he jumped in the shower.

She stood in the bathroom door waiting for him impatiently. When he got out of the shower he dried off and they went to bed. He held her as they laid in bed. The phone rang twice then it stopped. That was Brandon letting him know he was home. Ten minutes later it rang again, this time it rang three times then it stopped. That was Tron’s way of letting him know he was at his destination safely. Lenny made love to his wife until they were both exhausted. Then they both rolled over and went to sleep.

The next morning Lenny woke up earlier than usual with a funny feeling in his stomach. He kissed his wife on the jaw and then went into the kitchen to cook breakfast. When breakfast was done he went into the bedroom to wake his wife up. He then told her to come eat breakfast. She yawned and hugged him smiling. She hugged him tighter and told him she loved him. Lenny said I love you too but I’d love you even more if you brush your teeth first and walked away laughing. Then Shelly pushed him and started laughing and called him a smart ass. She got herself together and woke the kids up for breakfast. They got up and Donyel got herself together first then she helped Tammy.

Then they went to the kitchen for breakfast and when they saw Lenny they ran to him and said Daddy your home. Lenny said Of course I am sweethearts; only death could keep me from you three. They all sat down and starting eating breakfast. Twenty minutes into their breakfast The Emerson Police Department kicked in the door yelling GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR. Everyone got down but Tammy. The officers ran over to Lenny and one put their foot in Lenny’s back and told him he was under arrest. Lenny asked for what and they responded attempted murder. Lenny laughed and said You officers are crazy I don’t make attempts. They picked him up and led him out the door. Tammy and Donyel were crying. Tammy kicked one of the officers as they walked by her and said Let my daddy go! Shelly grabbed her and said He’s okay baby these guys just need to talk to Daddy. He’ll be back real soon. One of the officers told Shelly Don’t count on it!

Lenny told Shelly to call his lawyer and let him know what was going on. As two of the officers put Lenny in the car to take him to the station Lenny heard one of them say Tear that house apart. I want her and the kids searched. Lenny looked the officer straight in the eyes and said I just told you I don’t make attempts now I’m going to tell you one more thing. Don’t touch my family! The officer looked at him with a scared look on his face and softly said Are you threatening me? Lenny said I don’t make threats and I don’t make attempts! Then he winked his eye at the officer. The officer shoved Lenny in the car then they headed to the police station. They had another officer follow them to the station because Lenny had a reputation and they didn’t know what to expect from the rest of his crew. The officers searched the house and found nothing so they left the house mad.

When they took Lenny into the station Brandon and Tron were already in the holding cell. They took Lenny into the Interrogation Room first and questioned him. Two officers were in the room. The first question they asked was Where were you at last night around eight to nine o’clock? Lenny said At Denny’s in Delmar eating, why? One of the officers said This muthafucker lyin, I can see it in his eyes! Lenny started laughing and said "He can see it in my eyes.

This muthafucker thinks he’s Samuel L. Jackson in the ‘Negotiator’. He can see it in my eyes. Then he shook his head as he laughed and said Let me hip you to a lil somethin. This ain’t a fuckin movie; this is real fuckin life pig so stop wastin my time." The officer jumped up and went for Lenny but the other officer stopped him.

They questioned him some more and then got fed up. Then they brought Tron in until he pissed them off. Then they brought Brandon in and he kept telling them to ask my lawyer that’s what I pay him for. I pay him for bullshit charges like this." They question all three of them for several hours but they already had their stories together. The police knew they were already prepared for this occasion because their stories matched too well.

The officers told them that before Reggie went into a coma he gave them their names. Brandon said I hear he’s good at giving up names but what happen to him anyway. He had a little smirk on his face. The officer said Get them the fuck out of here. They’ll slip up and I’ll be waiting! On the way out of the door Brandon looked at the one police officer and said You need to get your attitude together if you want to keep a woman or some friends. Then they all walked out laughing.

When they got out of the station Shelly, Lisa and Tawanda were outside waiting. The girls were so happy when the guys walked out of the station that they ran and hugged them. Shelly told Lenny that their lawyer was on the way. Lenny called him back and told him that he could turn around and he would call him tomorrow. Then he told him thanks.

Chapter Two

BARRY’S REVENGE

T he police knew that Lenny, Tron and Brandon were guilty but with Reggie in a coma they knew they had no proof.

The streets knew the truth as well and so did Reggie’s brother Barry and he wanted revenge. The doctors told Reggie’s family that when and if he came out of the coma he would most likely be a vegetable so the family had the plug pulled on him. The police were mad because they knew without Reggie they had no case so they had to drop the charges. Lenny was suffering on the inside and daily he prayed for forgiveness. His conscience was killing him slowly. He thought back to the days when he could kill someone in cold blood and sleep like a baby the next day but not this time and he was wondering what was happening to him. Shelly could tell something was wrong but Lenny never wanted to talk about it so she just tried showing him more love than usual.

Two weeks after Reggie’s funeral, Lenny was just getting off of work when he got in his car he immediately grabbed his gun. Then he glanced in his rearview mirror, smiled and put the gun in his lap. He pulled out of the parking lot and headed for home. As he was driving towards home he text Shelly and said Remember that I will always love you! Tears started running down his face.

He pulled over to the shoulder of the highway and started praying this prayer. "DEAR FATHER, please forgive me for I have sinned. I know I need to turn myself in but this will destroy a lot of lives. My family needs me but I need you and this guilt is killing me and I know you will keep them safe. FATHER, judge me fairly when my time for judgment comes. Open your heavenly gates