The Man In Forest Hills Read online

  As Maddox lets him talk, he starts to think that Chambers might not only have information, but was the one behind it.

  He brings his attention back to Chambers, and cuts him off.

  “So that's why you had them killed?”

  Chambers eyes widen at the question.

  “You were the only one with motive to do something like this. You knew all our weaknesses and all of our secrets Chambers.”

  Chambers looks at him with disgust.

  “I should have got rid of all of those motherfuckers a long time ago. Look where what doing business with the bitches got me.”

  Chambers continues on.

  “Now I’m doing thirty years in prison without a chance of parole. You know the crazy part though? I do know all your secrets, but I never snitched on you guys. So don’t you think if I wanted to ruin those guys or in the case kill them, I could have done it a long time ago?”

  Maddox sits quietly and listens to Chambers get some built up frustration out. He looks to his left and can see the prison guard still posted up on the wall, patiently waiting to return Chambers to his cell. He turns his head back to Chambers.

  “I was got interrogated for fucking days and never gave up any cops I did business with. So to answer your question, no it's not me.”

  Maddox looks him in his eyes as he talks, when he decides to intervene.

  “You know what Cecil? You’re right. You never snitched on anyone. You killed your people and put that bullshit into the street but you never ever snitched.”

  Chambers simply nods his head in agreement.

  “You never ratted me out, but if you do know who did this, I’d appreciate the information.”

  Chambers laughs.

  “Now why would I even go there with you? We just established I don’t snitch. Does that benefit me at all? I run shit in here now, none of the guards fuck with me, and I still manage to make money from in here.”

  As he speaks Maddox takes a look at the guard and tries to make eye contact with him, but he doesn’t look his way. He stares straight ahead.

  “I think you're on your own with this one. Sorry I can’t be of any help.”

  Maddox gets angry.

  “Those were my best friends Chambers and they were murdered execution style. Stop bullshitting with me!”

  Chambers responds.

  “To be honest, they both deserved that shit for what they did to him.”

  Maddox quickly sits up.

  “Who the fuck is him?”

  Chambers gets quiet on the other side of the glass and he puts his phone down.

  “Guard, I’m ready to go back to my cell now,” he says.

  “No you’re not. You’re not going any fucking where, until you answer my questions,” says Maddox.

  The guard grabs Chambers by one arm and takes him out of the visitor’s room. Maddox screams in frustration as he exits and knows Chambers has an idea of who killed the two detectives. He takes the phone and smashes it against the glass.

  “I will get it out of you Chambers, you piece of shit.”

  As Chambers walks back to his cell with the guard, he can hear faint screams from Maddox. Chambers walks the hallway back to cell block D and gets back to his cell. A couple of his black soldiers walk in his cell.

  “Boss, is everything okay?”

  “It's all good,” mumbles Chambers.

  “I saw they took you from your cell this morning, I just wanted to make sure since I know we can’t have visitors that early.”

  “It’s nothing trust me. A detective wanted to speak to me, but you know I can’t help them out. We all good though,” Chambers says.

  “Okay Boss. See you on the yard. If you need anything just let me know.”

  Maddox has made his way to the parking lot of the prison. He grabs his phone and dials a number. As soon as the voice on the other side of the line answers, he starts his rant.

  “I think Chambers knows who is behind these murders. He didn’t order these, but I can tell he knows something. He has no motive and if he wanted to take us out, he would have a long time ago. Shit, he could have ratted us out if he wanted to. The motherfucker knows something though, so I’m going to get someone on the inside to take care of it.”

  A couple of days have gone by at the prison. A black inmate finishes up in the shower and grabs his towel to dry off. Once dry he wraps it around his waist and opens up the curtain. He walks to the sink to brush his teeth, but he can’t see himself in the foggy mirror. He takes his palm and wipes the fog off the mirror when and he sees a white inmate walk up behind him. He quickly turns to his right to see another inmate walking towards him. He looks to his left and sees another inmate approaching him. He is corned with nowhere to go, so he puts down his toothbrush. As they inch closer to him, he turns around and takes a defensive stance.

  “The fuck is going on?” he snaps.

  “We are here to throw you a beating.”

  “I don’t know about all that.”

  He throws a punch, but misses. One guy kicks him from behind and he falls to his knees. Another punches him in the face and he falls to the ground. They start to stomp him with their feet. Blood starts gushing out of his mouth and from a cut above his right eye. One of the white inmates gets on one his knees and whispers in his ear.

  “Tell your boss to stop playing hardball. He needs to give up a name or next time we won't be so nice, okay brother.”

  The white inmates don’t wait for a response before they leave the bathroom. The black inmate is left on the ground bleeding and barely conscious. A couple minutes go by before another inmate walks into the shower and sees him on the ground.

  “Guard!” he screams.

  A few hours later Chambers sits in his cell with his book in hand. A guard walks up to his cell and taps on one of the bars to grab Chambers attention.

  “One of your guys is in the infirmary.”

  Chambers sits up.

  “Who is it?”

  “I think you need to come take a look. He's doing pretty badly.”

  Chambers gets up out of his bed and walks with the guard towards the infirmary. It's a long walk down cell block D. They get to the door and Chambers looks through the small glass window. His eyes get wide at the sight of his friend lying on the bed with his eyes swollen shut and a fat lip. He looks at the guard to make eye contact.

  “Go ahead. You can go in alone,” the guard says.

  Chambers grabs the doorknob and takes a deep breath before he walks into the room. It only takes him a couple steps to reach the bed. He stares at the face of a man he once recognized in utter disbelief. He grabs his hand to comfort him. The beaten inmate attempts to speak.

  “No…No. Don’t say a word. I just need you to tell me one thing.”

  He bends down and places his mouth right next to his ear.

  “Who did this to you?”

  The man whispers in Chambers ear. All the inmate can get out is one word.

  “White.”

  After Chambers hears his response, he is overtaken by anger. He gives the inmate a pat on the shoulder and heads straight to the door. He gives is a tap on the door for the guard to open it.

  “You ready?”

  Chambers doesn’t say a word to the guard, he just walks out of the room visibly upset. The guard has to speed up to catch him, so he can be escorted back to his cell. Chambers pace has them back to his cell quickly. He takes a seat on his bed as numerous thoughts start to run through his head.

  “Somebody really thinks they can fuck with my people to get to me. Stupid motherfuckers.”

  A day later, Chambers is out in the yard with all of the other inmates. There is a clear division in the prison yard, as always, the blacks stay together and the whites stay together. By this time, all the other black inmates are aware that they have been targeted. Chambers gives a simple gesture to indicate a meeting is in order. They all start to head towards t
heir meeting place, the basketball court. Chamber walks toward the basketball court with two black bodyguards beside him. All of the black inmates get quiet when he approaches them.

  “Listen up and listen carefully. We are being targeted. Y’all need to watch your backs and stick together. These white motherfuckers are trying to take us all out. Make sure that shit don’t happen.”

  As Chambers continues to talk to all the black inmates, on the other side of the yard a couple of prison guards gather together to discuss. One guard approaches another guard by the entrance of the yard.

  “Those black motherfuckers better not be conjuring up some plan to take over this fucking prison. I’ll shoot every single one of them right between the eyes.”

  All the black inmates disperse from the basketball court, but Chambers stays on the bench with two of his body guards. A guard walks up to him.

  “Now Mr. Chambers, I hope you guys aren’t thinking about starting any trouble out here today. That would be a really bad idea.”

  “Why do we always have to be the ones starting trouble? We got more people in the infirmary than any other group in this prison,” states Chambers.

  The guard raises his eyebrows at Chambers comments as he continues to speak.

  “Look at all those white motherfuckers over there. They got a big group of thirty of them over there, talking about God knows what and I don’t see a guard over there, bothering them. They start trouble with us almost every day and no one says anything about it.”

  The guard looks over at the white inmates to see that Chambers does have a point. He makes eye contact with another guard and gives him a head nod in the direction of the group of white inmates. The other guard heads over to the white inmates and breaks up their group. Chambers cracks a smile.

  “Now, that wasn’t hard. All I’m saying is that if you treat us a certain way, you have to treat them the say way. Let’s all just be fair to each other,” says Chambers in a sarcastic tone.

  The guard takes off his sunglasses and takes a step towards Chambers.

  “You boys listen, don’t be out here starting trouble. We got our eyes on you.”

  He puts on his shades back on and walks away. Chambers shakes his head at the guard.

  “Fucking piece of shit.”

  Shortly after, the siren goes off in the prison yard. Some of the inmates start to scatter like a bunch of insects. One of the prison guards yells.

  “Play time is over ladies, let’s get back to your cells.”

  He yells again.

  “I said, let’s gooooo!”

  Chambers and his men don’t budge from the bench at the courts. The guard walks over to them with another prison guard following not too far behind.

  “Chambers let’s go, tell your crew time’s up.”

  Chambers looks at both prison guards, and then he takes his eyes over to the white prisoners still posted up across the courts.

  “Why didn’t you go tell them to move? How about you go over there to tell them to go back to their cells, I will tell my men the same thing,” he says.

  One guard looks at the other and gives him a head nod in the direction of the white prisoners. The other guard, with no complaints, makes his way across the court. Chambers watches as he has a short conversation with the inmates, who then start to make their way back into the facility. The main guard turns his attention back to Chambers.

  “Are you satisfied now?” the guard asks sarcastically.

  “Of course. We just want the same treatment you give them.”

  Chambers finally gets his boys to walk back in to the facility.

  Meanwhile, across the city, detective Maddox sits in a bar with a cup full of Hennessy. A man walks in and sits down right next to him. The bartender walks up to him at the bar and asks.

  “What can I get for you?”

  “Whatever he’s drinking,” the man says as he points at Maddox’s cup.

  The man gets receives his drink from the bartender and takes a sip. Maddox looks at him for a second.

  “You gotta be careful drinking Hennessy. This is a grown man’s drink,” he says

  The man looks over at him and responds.

  “Yeah right.”

  Maddox cracks a smile, clearly entertained by his comments. The man takes another sip of his drink before he engages with Maddox again.

  “Why did you even call me here?”

  Maddox gives him an awkward look.

  “Damn buddy, you like to get right to the point huh. Slow down.”

  “I shouldn’t be here with you Maddox. I can’t be seen with you,” he says.

  Maddox throws his drink back and slams the glass on the bar. He turns his chair towards the man. He looks him dead in his eyes.

  “Have you got anything out of Chambers yet?”

  The man checks around the bar and quickly whispers back.

  “No, not yet. It’s not like I’m not trying though. I had a couple of the inmates go rough him up, but I guess it didn’t work.”

  “Well, if it hasn’t worked by now, then it might not ever work.”

  They both sit there in silence not sure how to go forward with the issue at hand. After a couple of minutes, Maddox waves the bartender down. The bartender comes up to him.

  “Can we get two more please?”

  The bartender walks over and pours too more drinks. He walks right back over to them and sets the glasses down in front of them.

  “Thank you,” says Maddox.

  They waste no time, and quickly drink the contents in the glass. Maddox breaks the silence between them.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “What is it?”

  Maddox gets off his bar stool and takes a load of cash out his pocket. He takes a couple of hundred dollars out his pocket and lands it on the bar. The bartender nods his head at him. Maddox returns the same nod.

  “Follow me over here,” says Maddox.

  The man gets up off his barstool and follows Maddox into a booth, so no one can overhear their conversation. The man inches closer to Maddox as he begins to talk.

  “Listen, I need him gone.”

  “Who?” the man asks.

  Maddox responds quickly.

  “Chambers.”

  The man is flabbergasted by his response.

  “Chambers? Are you fucking serious? He’s too high profile. He can’t just be killed like that.”

  “Well, figure that shit out. I’m sure there’s something you can do,” Maddox explains.

  The bartender looks over and can tell whatever conversation they are in is quite heated at this point, so he decides to intervene. He walks over to them.

  “You guys need anything else?”

  “No, we’re good,” Maddox confirms.

  The bartender walks away and heads back to the bar. Maddox and the man wait till he reaches the bar to continue their conversation. Maddox starts up again.

  “There’s gotta be something you can do. Some way you can get this done.”

  The man gives him a confused look.

  “Why do you want him dead anyway? He ain’t doing any harm to you.”

  The man watches as Maddox taps his fingers on the table. Maddox sits there and contemplates his answer. He knows his response will make or break this potential deal for him. He looks at him.

  “I understand that, I mean I really do. But, to be honest, I just don't like his arrogance. The fact that he thinks he can be the man on the street and then get a sentence like that and still think he can run a prison, doesn't sit well with me.”

  “How the hell do you know if he runs the prison?” the man says.

  Maddox has a big smile on his face. He responds to the man with an arrogant response.

  “I have my own people on the inside. Trust me, I know a lot more than you think.”

  The man fully understands now that Maddox wants this done at all costs. He can either accept the deal o
r turn it down and walk away. Maddox interrupts his thoughts.

  “I would be willing to pay you very well if you can get this done.”

  “How well?”

  Maddox reaches inside his leather jacket and pulls out a brown envelope. He slides it across the table. The man grabs the envelope and puts it under the table. He opens it up and looks inside and sees a lump sum of money. As he looks at the envelope, Maddox can tell he is taken aback by the amount. He starts to rub his hands together.

  “That’s ten thousand cash for you right there. I think that’s more than enough to get the job done my friend.”

  The man looks at Maddox then looks at the envelope and then looks back at Maddox again.

  “I’ll get it done.”

  “I knew you would,” Maddox says.

  Maddox quickly hops out of the booth and leaves the bar. He leaves the man sitting there in the booth. The man put his hands over his face. He whispers something under his breath.

  What the fuck have I gotten myself into?

  Several weeks later back at the prison things are moving about like they usually do. Chambers sits up on his bed in his cell and talks to another black inmate.

  “Those motherfuckers stopped threatening us. They must have given up.”

  He stands up and walks over toward his stack of books. He continues to talk to the other inmate who is standing by the front of the cell.

  “See, when a group of individuals come together and stand together, it’s almost impossible to break them.”

  The other inmate shakes his head in confirmation. Another group of black inmates walk in as Chambers continues to talk. Ever since Chambers incarceration, this happens more often than not, with his fellow black inmates gathering in his cell. He is said to be a great storyteller, who shares stories from his life as the biggest and richest kingpin. After about ten minutes of story time with Chambers, a bell goes off.

  “Sorry guys, but story time is over. It’s time to eat.”

  The inmates start to chuckle at his remark, as they start to exit the cell. They all start to make their way down cell block D to the mess hall. A prison guard posted a couple cells down from Chambers’, shoots them a nasty look.