Anything for Profit 2: Nothing to Lose (2 page)

The doctors at Greenville Memorial were highly surprised that a young woman with Gloria’s extensive drug use hadn’t miscarried. They were even more surprised that two fetuses were able to survive a full term in such a heavily polluted womb. On March 9
^th
, 1986 Gloria gave birth to twins. Surprisingly, they had no deformities. They were a little underweight but overall they appeared to be healthy new born babies.

However, Glo, as her friends and family called her, couldn’t stomach the sight of her own children. Their innocent little faces were a constant reminder of what had happened to her. One day she asked a cousin of hers to watch them while she supposedly went on a job interview. She never returned to get them. Instead, she went back to the streets and ironically back to the same drugs that had ruined her life to begin with.

After many years of running the streets, running from her past and hiding from herself, Glo had become physically as well as mentally drained. Used, abused, and on the verge of suicide, she decided to enter a church based drug rehabilitation center where they provided the stability and support system she needed to get clean. It was inside this rehab program that she found God and developed her own personal relationship with Him.

When Glo got out of the center, she slowly began to attempt to put the shattered pieces of her life back together. It wasn’t easy. She had no real skills, so a job was not forthcoming. She struggled. But she remained determined, and with the help of compassionate church members she was able to find employment and a place of her own.

Clean, working, and finally able to stand on her own without any assistance, Glo went about the task of finding and reconnecting with her children. The same children she had abandoned so many years before. She was extremely nervous about how that first encounter would go, but she also knew that she would never be complete until she had her babies back in her life.

Finding out where they were was easy. But how do you re-establish a bond that was never there to begin with? It was an arduous undertaking. Anthony and Tameka had so many years of pent up resentment and anger towards Gloria, that it was hard for them to show her any respect, let alone any love.

Every day was a test of her faith, but with her feet firmly planted in the word of God, Gloria remained clean, strong and fiercely determined to be a part of her kids’ lives. She couldn’t erase the past, but she could damn sure do her best to write a better future. It took some time to gain her children’s trust back, but slowly, Glo began to win them over and establish a connection with them. It was a constant learning process, but from that day forth she made it her business to be a good mother. The mother that she’d never been…

That Sunday, after Glo finished sharing her real life testimony with the rest of the congregation at New Life Ministries, (one of the largest churches in the upstate) on Augusta Rd., there wasn’t a dry eye among the congregation. Her story wasn’t one that you could listen to and not have it tug on the strings of your heart or feel in your soul. It was the first time she had ever shared this part of her life openly with anyone, and afterward, she felt as if a tremendous weight had been lifted from her shoulders. The guilt of not being there for her children, the shame of being a dope fiend and a whore, which she had carried around for so many years, was finally gone.

After Gloria’s tear inducing testimony, the choir of New Life Ministries went into a rendition of Marvin Sapp’s ‘Never Would Have Made It’ that truly stirred the soul.
“Never would’ve made it… Never could’ve made it… without you/ I would have lost it all but now I see how you were there for me and I can say/ I’m stronger, I’m wiser, I’m better, much better/ when I look back at all you brought me through/ I can see that you were the one I held onto/ and I never…”
People were in the pews standing up crying, shaking and testifying as they sang along.

Pastor John Dillinger, affectionately called Pastor D by his flock, went on to give a memorable sermon on the true meaning of the Christmas season. Pastor D was in his late fifties and despite his age and a head full of grey hair, he was still considered very handsome. He was a charismatic and articulate black preacher that was extremely well versed when it came to the word. He had started preaching at a young age and had built his church, with the help of his wife, one follower at a time. He was now the head of one of the largest churches in South Carolina.

His wife of 23 years, Esther, was the Sunday school teacher and also the director of the choir. The preacher and his wife were seemingly the epitome of the perfect marriage. In public they exemplified what a holy union entered into before God was supposed to be about. Every Sunday his parishioners faithfully came out to hear the word of God from the mouth of Pastor D. This Sunday was no different. The pastor had once again delivered another moving sermon; words that gave his people the strength and resolve to face yet another week of struggle, trials and tribulations.

Her spirits now lifted, Gloria was at her home, and getting into the holiday spirit. She was hanging up Christmas decorations while jammin’ to classic holiday songs from her favorite black artists: The Jackson 5’s “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus”; “Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto,” by James Brown and one of Glo’s all-time favorites, “This Christmas” by Donny Hathaway. She sang along with some of her favorite musicians and let the music touch her soul. She felt good inside. After all the drama of the past few months, she just knew this holiday season was going to be one to remember…

CHAPTER 2

The theme music for the channel 4 news played briefly before the white male broadcaster began to speak: “
This afternoon on WYFF News 4 at six, we have a breaking story. Two people are in critical condition at Greenville Memorial Hospital, and many others are shaken up after what authorities are calling a violent, gangland type of shooting that took place right in the heart of a busy Downtown Greenville shopping area. This act of violence, which shockingly took place in broad daylight, endangered the lives of numerous innocent men, women, and children. This afternoon, we speak to witnesses who were at the scene. We will also speak to residents who say they are fed up with the increasing violence and are demanding that something be done by the Sherriff’s Office. We’ll have this story and more coming up right after Oprah.”

“Oooh shit! Y’all see that?” a young woman named Felecia asked rhetorically. She was one of the many women sitting in Sylvia’s Hair and Nails, waiting to get her weekly wash and set. Sylvia’s, located off of Laurens Rd., was one of the Upstate’s most popular hair and nail shops, owned by none other than Sylvia Brown. Sylvia was a light brown skinned BBW (big, beautiful, woman) who was proud of her size. “More cushion for the pushin’!” was how she put it.

She was also extremely proud of her rise from the notoriously violent Woodland Homes Projects to being the founder and sole proprietor of one of the most profitable salons in the entire 864. Sylvia’s Hair and Nails was also the spot where the ladies came to talk shit (nobody talked more than Sylvia herself, of course) and gossip about all the latest hood news. Who was having a baby by whom, who was snitching, who’d gotten robbed and who’d been killed were often among the topics of discussion.

“Naaaaw we ain’t seen it. Of
course
we seen that shit girl! Ain’t we all watchin’ the same damn TV you is?” another woman named Pinky quipped. The ladies in the salon giggled and snickered at the comment.

“I mean, I know y’all seen it,” said Felecia, a little embarrassed. “I’m just sayin’ niggas is gettin’
crazy
!”

“Hell you talkin’ ‘bout girl?” said Sylvia, as she applied relaxer to an older woman’s hair. It was impossible for her to resist putting her two cents in. “These niggas
been
crazy as hell! Now they just done went and gone straight fool! Shootin’ shit up in the middle of Downtown!? Now you know dem crackers ain’t havin’ that! Somebody ass goin’ to
jail
,” she said laughingly. “And wasn’t that ol’ boy’s truck they was showin’ all shot the hell up?”

“Ol’ boy who?” asked somebody.

“Well if I remembered, I sure as
hell
wouldn’t be askin’, now would I?” cracked Sylvia. The room began snickering again. Sylvia was known for having a reckless mouth and uttering the first syllables that came to her lips. After you had known her for a minute, you knew better than to take her seriously. The majority of the time, she was just tripping. Every now and then though, somebody slipped up and tried to step to Sylvia about something she’d said. She’d quickly have to remind them, by way of an ass beating, where she was from. “Woodland Homes ain’t raise no soft muh’fuckas” was another favorite saying of hers. But the consensus was in: she had missed her true calling as a comedienne.

“Yeah, now that you mention it Sylvia, that do look like that nigga Mike’s Escalade,” said one girl.

“Mike who?” inquired another woman as she flipped through the latest
Sister 2 Sister
magazine
.

“Mike, that be wit that other fool ass nigga Ant D. He go wit’ ol’ girl Nikki. He be droppin’ her off to get her nails and hair done every week,” replied Pinky. Pinky was a thick, big breasted, flat assed, red bone from Staunton Bridge that was always in the mix. There weren’t too many people she didn’t know personally. If she didn’t know them, she’d definitely heard about them from her younger brother T- Rock.

“Mmm
girrrl.
You mean that sexy muh’fucka Mike, from the District? Chiiiiile, that nigga is
too
fine! I’d love to sink my teeth into
him.
Ummmm umm
umm
!” said Reesy. The salon erupted into laughter. Reesy was one of the male stylists at Sylvia’s. His real name was Maurice Brockman and he was born a boy, but you couldn’t tell him that he wasn’t one of the girls. When he was younger, he’d been tormented and ridiculed for always acting so feminine, so he had tried to act tougher and more like a boy. It just wasn’t in him. As he got older, he embraced his inner femininity and even went as far as taking estrogen pills to soften his voice.

It was a known fact that Reesy had had sex with more than a few of Greenville’s so called tough guys and dope boys. According to him, the only thing hard about them were their dicks when they penetrated him. Reesy was always good for a laugh or two, but more importantly he could do the hell out of some hair… so Sylvia had given him a shot.

“Yeah, Reesy. That’s the same Mike,” Pinky chuckled, knowing damn well Mike would brutally hurt or possibly kill Reesy if word ever got back to him about what was just said.

“Well they said two people was in the truck. I wonder—“

“Shhhh! Shut up girl. The news finna come back on!” Everybody in Sylvia’s stopped what they were doing, and looked up at the thirty-two inch flat screen plasma TV that hung from the wall. They glued their eyes to the television and listened attentively…

Now… WYFF News 4. Live, local, breaking news at six
. “
This evening on News 4, we have breaking news about a shooting that took place right in the heart of Greenville that has many residents of the city outraged, scared and demanding action from the Mayor and the Sherriff’s Office. Good afternoon. I’m David Whitmore and News 4’s own Jennifer Henderson is live on the scene right now with more details. Jennifer…”

Jennifer Henderson was a 5’5, beautiful and intelligent dark-skinned sister who had just moved to Greenville from Atlanta after obtaining her bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Her smile was dimpled and she had the type of bubbly, outgoing personality that made it hard for you not to like her. But she was also a fearless bloodhound when it came to getting down to the bottom of a story. If she felt like she was being lied to, she’d stop at nothing until the truth was obtained… no matter what that truth revealed. It was the reason why she was currently single. It was also the reason why she was so damn good at her job.

She had a serious look on her beautiful chocolate face and the sound of her voice was stern as she spoke: “
That’s right David. I’m broadcasting live from Downtown Greenville where earlier today, witnesses say out of nowhere violence erupted and the sound of gunfire disrupted a peaceful Sunday afternoon.

“
As you can see behind me, police officers are everywhere and have sealed off the entire area as they collect evidence and talk to witnesses in an attempt to put the pieces of this violent puzzle together and get an idea of just what happened, who did it, and why. Officers are being very closemouthed right now in regards to what they know, but from talking to witnesses News 4 has come up with this information: at approximately 1:45 this afternoon, a late modeled dark colored sedan came to a screeching halt alongside this Cadillac Escalade facing the opposite direction. Whoever was inside of the sedan immediately began to open fire on the occupants of that vehicle.”
The camera panned away from Jennifer and zoomed in on a vehicle that was now just a bullet riddled remnant of the expensive SUV it had once been. Uniformed officers as well as plain clothed Detectives were seen walking around and talking in the background.