The Awakening of the Widow Maker: The Widow Maker Trilogy

By Zoez Lajoune

The Awakening of The Widow Maker is the story of high school senior Carlos MacIntyre aka Lil Carlos, who loses his mind amid the violence birthed from a deadly trapezoid of personal ambition and selfish exploitation, which take place between two feuding families, controlling two crews at war in a struggle for power over a highaEUR"volume drugaEUR"trafficking zone. The war birthed from an old family betrayal that originated in North Minneapolis that has spread over time into a neighborhood that is located off Brooklyn Boulevard and Zane Avenue in the heart of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The resilience of the human part of Lil Carlos's soul attempting to survive the darkness unleashes The Widow Maker-a psychopathic, unrelenting, serialaEUR"killing entity that has been waiting in a dark chamber of his mind since he was in the womb. Driven by an insatiable thirst for blood, along with a growing hunger to inflict pain, he leaves a very disturbing dark age calling card at each homicide scene across the Twin Cities. The unrepentant ones who have no loyalty, destroy the balance of the streets, and incite his wrath will bear his eternal mark. Swiftly, his trail of carnage stretches from the doors of Park Center High to Regions Hospital in East St. Paul, Minnesota. None that fall on his list can find refuge at any place. Lead Detective Tommy Soprano, along with his rookie partner Mike Kowalski, are in a race against time to catch a methodical killer before he strikes again and save a young man with a severe psychosis, before he is lost forever to the darkness within himself.

John Wayne Gacy (Chicago, Illinois), Jeffrey Dahmer (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), and John Lee Malvo (Washington, DC) each had their own dwelling, territory, and story with roots of old. However, even they knew well not to cross into the backyard of the Twin Cities. Lest, through their own illaEUR"gotten behavior, they too should fall on the list of none other than . . .

The Light of Death Himself. . . The Widow Maker!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781642142198

Book preview

1

The Other Side Of The Street

Could it have been fate that made Taz into a gang member, cold-blooded shooter, and criminal mastermind? Was it by the design of society that he would become addicted to the streets and specialize in home-invasion tactics? From cities, to neighborhoods, to blocks. All of these things would in one way or another eventually become true.

Now, April 3, he sat parked in downtown Duluth, Minnesota, on the side of the Holiday Inn Center. Inside the black 2016 Chevy Tahoe, with peanut butter guts, it was warm and cozy. Outside, the weather was a mix of rain and bone-chilling cold. Taz sat with his eyes closed and wondered just what was he doing in this godforsaken city? The white girl sitting next to him was holding his two favorite pistols. A .40 caliber Desert Eagle holding ninety-gram hollow-point bullets that he called Judgement and a ten-shot reverse magazine fully automatic Glock .45 that he called Conviction. Each gun had its name engraved in a gold plate on its side.

The white girl, he nicknamed Lodda, because she had lips like Megan Good with a body like Jennifer Lopez. When it came to women, Taz always said, There’s two things I’ve never seen, a UFO and a faithful woman.

Lodda was different though. If you looked up the word rider in the dictionary, you may see her picture. Lodda never questioned Taz. If he said it, she did it. It was those Asian-like eyes that told him she was born to get money. Plus, Lodda had a way about herself that swept away the pain buried in his heart. She made him want more out of life and comforted Taz’s soul.

Lodda smiled and said, Here, take this two grand from the last ounce of meth I sold. I’m about to walk across the street to the bus stop and check out this watch and UG boots this girl selling. Lodda placed both pistols under her seat as she got out. Taz took the two grand and put it with the eighteen grand that he got out of the lock box in the trunk. As soon as he got back in the Tahoe, he readjusted both the side and rearview mirrors to widen his view.

A guy dressed like an auto mechanic came out of Wells Fargo bank from using the ATM just as Lodda was making it across the street He slid up from behind. Grabbing her hand, he said in a sly voice, Hey, beautiful. Where you going?

Angrily Lodda said, Don’t touch me! You don’t know me!

Still smiling, the man replied, My bad, baby girl. I thought you were someone else.

He was running game, and Lodda knew it. Taz was watching everything in the rearview mirror of the Tahoe. So he threw the money in a Dollar Tree bag that was in the glovebox. Next he placed the money bag under a towel on the back seat. Then he grabbed the Glock from under Lodda’s seat and slid out of the truck to get a little closer. The man was twice Taz’s size with a low-cut beard.

The man continued walking backwards in front of Lodda to try to block her path. He said, By the way… you way too fine to be out here by yourself. What’s your name?

Lodda tried to get around him as she said irritatedly, I’m not alone. If I was? You couldn’t help me… riding the bus. Everyone on the bus stop started laughing.

The man got mad and snatched Lodda up by her jacket collar. Pissed off, he said, Who you think you talking to like that?

Lodda became terrified. Before she could say a word, Taz said, Take your hands off of her. Before I drain the water off of your noodle.

The man turned and saw the rage in Taz’s eyes. Then he noticed Taz’s hand firmly gripping the pistol in his right pocket with the hammer cocked. Immediately, the man let go of Lodda and copped a plea with Taz. He said, I was just joking pimpin.

With piercing eyes, Taz said, I wasn’t… and if you ever see her or me again? You’d better walk on the other side of the street!

The bus pulled up, and the man went to get in line as he apologized again to Lodda. Lodda looked at Taz. Her eyes began to water. Taz knew she was a little rattled. So he cracked a joke to calm her nerves. While smiling he said, Now you see why I call you Lodda? It’s because of your eyes and your booty. They always draw a Lodda of attention.

Lodda smiled. She loved Taz so much.

Taz continued and said, Get what you gone get so we can go. We got to go meet my Uncle Bear on the north side of Minneapolis in three hours.

Lodda gave the girl forty dollars for the UG boots and watch. She and Taz left. The girl who sold Lodda the boots and watch smacked her boyfriend in the back of his head. Shocked, he said, What was that for? I wasn’t checking her out.

Irritated, the girl said, Well, if you didn’t, you missed out, because she did have a nice booty. He tried to look. She said, Oh no! You better not try to look now. Anyway, that’s not why I smacked you in the head.

Confused, he asked her, Well, what did I do then?

She rolled her eyes at him and said, As usual… you didn’t do a damn thing. Come on, here comes our bus.

2

The Bears Territory

Bear was at his house down in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. He signaled outside for his home boy named DC who was sitting in his old-school car. DC drove a black-on-black ’66 Barracuda with bucket seats. It had a rebuilt 455-horsepower engine in it. The original interior was fully restored into mint condition. The only thing DC modified was the audio system. He removed the old factory radio and speakers with the shelf from underneath the back window. In place of it, he installed a remote-controlled KOSS speaker casing with digital EQ for each speaker. The four six-by-nines would elevate and slant toward the front when the five-CD disc-changer in the glove box loaded to play. He padded the trunk with Styrofoam. To cushion the base from the three JVC twelve-inch speakers that were in a plexiglass case, also there to keep the trunk from making that cheap rattling noise.

DC ran up the stairs into the house. Laughing lightly, he said, What’s good, Bear?

In his usual alert and intense voice, Bear said, Get that zip-lock bag out of the bottom of that last plant pot in the backyard at the end of the driveway. Take those three G-packs over to Lil Carlos and them by the basketball court. Pick up whatever money they got. Drop that bread off by my sister house. Then hit me using those new Beartooth two ways we just got once you leave from there.

DC’s face tightened as he asked, Whatever happened to that beef with Coppo, about Lil Carlos and them getting money on the block?

Bear smirked and said, He’s selling wolf tickets and I ain’t buying none. This ain’t what he want. As long as he stay in his lane, he will keep breathing." Bear went into the bathroom and started shaving.

DC smiled as he headed to the backyard. He yelled over his shoulder to Bear without looking back, I’m back in traffic. Hit me up if you need me?

Bear stopped shaving in the bathroom and yelled after DC, Oh by the way, bro, make sure you count that money when you get it and when you drop it off. Last time that money was four hundred dollars short!

DC quickly said, For sure. I’m gone.

Bear knew DC was cuffing money from off the block. The only reason why he didn’t sweat it was because he ran all of his dirt through DC. That way when the police came, he would be totally in the clear. Bear knew that eventually they were coming. He knew that anybody in the game who thought they weren’t coming was a damn fool.

DC picked up $2,350 from Lil Carlos’s younger cousin named Fish on the block. He didn’t count the money out to DC, so DC cuffed three hundred dollars. Bear would make all three of his workers on the block work it off. He paid them seventy dollars each a day and cashed them out at five hundred dollars each per week.

His workers, Lil Carlos, MJ, and Fish, were all in high school. They each thought they were the man, both at school and on the block. They went everywhere together. They did everything together. Every time one of them was serving someone else some dope, he would tell the other two in a stern boss-like voice, Watch me. I’m getting money. The other two would respond in a mock surprised voice, W-h-a-t… you getting m-o-n-e-y? Then all three would fall out laughing.

Bear rented them a one-bedroom apartment on the block, where they sold drugs out of and to chill at. That way they didn’t have to be outside on the block at night, or when it was too hot from the police sweating the traffic. So what do you get when you pay a teenager two thousand dollars a month and give him his own apartment and clout in the hood? The answer is Soulja Boy, the rapper. Now multiply that by three and you got Lil Carlos, MJ, and Fish. Plus they had the Bear name if any drama came up. Most people didn’t want no part of Bear. He was known for putting in his own work. He would put hands on somebody in front of their momma at home, in front of their kids at school, or in front of their boss at work. The only place you were safe from Bear at, if you crossed him, was at church.

Overall, Bear was a good dude. Some say he crossed the line when he pistol-whipped his cousin at a grocery store then shot and paralyzed him at a night club for running off with two pounds of cush and being a CRI for the police. Still, Bear took care of his family and crew. He had a soft spot for the elderly.

He never looked for trouble, and he minded his own business.

3

The Fast Lane Of Empty Dreams

DC took the money from the block and dropped it off at Bear’s sister’s house. Then he went to go see his six-year-old daughter, Niya. DC had many questionable character traits, but no one would question his love for his daughter. They certainly would not dare to question Niya’s love for her dad.

There Niya sat, just as she had done most days, on the front porch of her mother’s house in Apple Valley. For hours she would sit there with her angelic face in her tiny little hands. In Niya’s little mind, she knew DC was coming. She just didn’t know when. Some days she would be sad, if he didn’t come before it was time for her to go into the house. That would all change in the morning. She would wear her usual Hello Kitty backpack. Her bag would be filled with all of the usual essentials: coloring books, crayons, and Strawberry Shortcake dolls. There was also a picture of her, her mom, and her dad that she kept in the plastic name tag pocket on the outside of her bag.

Her mom, Kelly, hated to see Niya’s little heart broken. So she told DC to stop making promises to their daughter and not keeping them. DC would often tell Niya he was going to take her places, like Six Flags Great America, Universal Studios, or Disney World. Every day, up to the day of the big trip, Niya would tell everyone where her dad was taking her. Often when the day of the big trip came, DC would cancel. He would tell Niya that he had to work. Then they would go spend two to three hours at the zoo, park, or a movie with McDonalds.

It wasn’t that DC didn’t have the money. Oh, he had the money. He also had an addiction to the street life. Living life in the fast lane had a grip on him. It seemed that everyone around him knew it, except him. Still, although temporarily sad about canceled trips, Niya never complained. In the end, all she wanted was to be with her daddy.

DC turned the corner to Niya’s house, just in time to see her run to the backyard. As he got out of the car, he thought about going in the front door and to her bedroom. There he would wait, until her mom Kelly would tell her to go to her room and get a certain toy. When she pushed the door open and saw her dad sitting on her bed, Niya would always scream with excitement. Ahhhh, Daddy!

DC saw that Niya had her back turned. So he sneaked up on her from behind. While picking her up and spinning her around, he began asking, Hey, giggles! Whatcha doing?

Bursting with energy and giggling, Niya yelled, Daddy! I knew you were coming. Are we going somewhere?

DC smiled and said, Maybe? Where did you want to go?

Niya said, Well, you could take me and Mom to the store.

DC looked at her suspiciously and laughed, while saying, Oh yeah? What are we going to do there?

Niya started giggling again and said, Well, if you have a dollar? You can buy stuff for me and Mom.

In a fake surprised voice, DC said, Oh yeah? Well I may have to charge you some sugar?

He meant kisses, and Niya knew it. So she took off running and laughing to make him chase her. While he was chasing his little giggling princess, Kelly went to look out on the front porch to check on Niya. When she noticed DC’s car outside, she quickly looked into the mirror in the hall to check her appearance. She began wiping the sleep out of her icy green eyes, combing through her thick jet black hair with her fingers, and smelling her breath.

Although Kelly and DC, whom she still called Tim, had been separated since Niya was three years old, she still had very strong feelings for him. Kelly took a sip of the orange juice on the kitchen table for her breath. Then she wet her hair before stepping outside on the back porch.

DC kept right on chasing Niya. She kept right on running and giggling while he said, in his best cookie monster voice, Give me some sugar!

Kelly, wanting to announce her presence, said, Niya, honey, be careful!

DC instantly stopped chasing after Niya, who noticed it. When he looked at Kelly, a flood of memories hit him of the life that they use to share. DC smiled at her and said, Hey you.

Kelly giggled back at him a little, just like Niya, and asked, When did you get here?

DC reached playfully at Niya, who was still running circles around him. Then he said, I got here not even five minutes ago.

Kelly turned toward Niya and said, Niya, baby, if you get cold? Please put a jacket on. Niya kept right on running. She felt a little embarrassed by her mom’s pampering.

Thinking herself to be a big girl. She yelled, Okaaaaay, Mom. Come on, Dad. Betcha can’t catch me.

DC snapped out of the trance he was in and said, Oh yeah? And he took off behind her.

Niya yelled to Kelly, "Hey, Mom,