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The Hill (Epilogue)

Epilogue

Craig - Craig continued to grow in the music business and became one of the top A&R people in the industry. However, he began to slip again with his habits. His guilt over using Reginald lead him to start using cocaine again and he was found in the office with a pound by an office worker. He's currently in rehab for his problem.


Arnold - Arnold continued to produce hit songs for Image. Including new albums for both Reginald and Yvonne. He's the most sought-after producer in the R&B and Jazz genre.


Sonny - After the bust on Duane, Sonny was promoted and eventually left the FBI. He's now the director of his own division of the DEA. He's currently investigating several major dealers all over the east coast. He still believes that they never scratched the surface of Duane's empire and he continues to investigate Duane on his own time.


Brandie - Brandie never forgave Reginald for what happened to Shaun. She still believes that Reginald had something to do with his disappearance and subsequent murder. She and the Colston family still hold out hope that they'll recover Shaun's body. In the meantime, Brandie continues to work as a cosmetologist.


The Crew - The Crew all went along for a short time working on Reginald's tour. They practiced with the professionals and eventually they were offered the position of being Reginald's personal band. They gladly accepted. After a couple of years, they cut their own jazz CD and are up for a Grammy.


Hank - Hank did rat Duane out to save his butt. He didn't know nearly as much as he thought he did. He knew of a few shipments that were coming in, but he didn't know about most of Duane's fronts or the locations of those fronts. His charges for trafficking and assault were dropped in exchange for the testimony against Duane. Hank was put into witness protection and never seen again.


Gerald - Gerald was convicted of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to launder money. He received a 15 year sentence and is up for parole in 10 years. Several people believe he made a deal to reduce his sentence, but he maintains that he never turned on Duane and his organization.


Earl - Earl was convicted for the murder of a DEA agent and drug trafficking. He never spent the money that Duane left him to kill Spit Fye. Nobody knows where that five million dollars went. Earl is a suspect in the murder of well over 20 people, ranging from other drug dealers, to every day citizens. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.


Big Mic - Big Mic's concert went on well. The ticket sales and donations brought in over seven million dollars. Two million of that went to his family in a trust. The remainder went to his foundation for at risk youth in Brooklyn. Image released a memorial CD for Mike with five of his unused tracks and several songs from other artists who were his friends. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award Post-Humously by the Soul Train Awards.


Duane - Duane was convicted for multiple violations of the RICO Statute, including: murder, drug trafficking, racketeering, money laundering. He was sentenced to multiple life sentences, not to be concurrent. He has no possibility of parole and is now in a federal prison. Duane's empire going down brought down players from coast to coast. His net worth prior to his conviction was estimated at 78 million dollars.


Spit Fye - After his murder, a lot came out about him. Several men came out and said they had intimate relationships with him. This fact didn't tarnish his legacy as one of the greatest MCs of all time. He had already completed enough material for three additional albums by the time of his death. Like Big Mic, Spit Fye was also awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award Post-Humously. A movie about his life is currently in production. His murder has never been solved.


Yvonne - Yvonne has continued her career as one of the top singers in the R&B genre. She remains sober to this day, however she is tempted regularly. The fact that she pulled the trigger to end Spit Fye's life has scarred her permanently. She takes comfort in the fact that she did it for love. She and Reginald remain together and are planning to be married.


Reginald - As time passed, Reginald's star continued to rise. He has put out multiple platinum CDs and is widely considered the best R&B singer of his time and one of the best all time. Reginald re-opened The Hill, cleaned it up and has several local acts perform there nightly. He holds half of the profits, along with the five million dollars from Duane in a separate account, just in case Duane gets released. For several weeks after Spit Fye's death, Reginald felt as if he had caused Yvonne to pull the trigger. In the end, he moved on with his life, never telling the secret that the love of his life had taken a life.

~The Hill~

The Hill (Ch 24)

As the two sat down, they glared at each other. It was clear that if either could get away with it on camera, they'd throw a few blows right there. Carmen sat between them and began the session.

"First, I would really like to thank the two of you for coming together and meeting. You two are among the biggest stars in the industry and you're both role models to young people. We don't want conflict to destroy our communities and people seeing the two of you come together for a common goal can help remove the animosity that they may have between one another," said Carmen.

Reginald nodded in agreement. Spit Fye sat quietly in his chair.

"Okay, we all know why you two have this conflict. What we want to know is can the two of you forgive each other for the actions that you been a part of? Reginald, Spit already offered you his forgiveness on my show a couple weeks ago. Can you do the same for him," asked Carmen.

Reginald leaded forward in his chair and his eyes squinted a little.

"If you want me to be completely honest; no I cannot forgive him. A lot of things happened. And maybe at some point I will be able to squash this whole thing. But today, no I can't," said Reginald.

"How do you feel about that Spit," asked Carmen.

"I completely understand. I'll never forgive myself for what happened to Mike. I have to live with what I did every day of my life. But still, I forgive Reggie for his attacking me after the incident and I forgive him for the radio thing," said Spit Fye.

Reginald frowned and looked directly at Spit Fye.

"You forgive me for the radio incident," he asked. "I was minding my own business, just doing a show and all of a sudden you are on the phone talking crazy to me," Reginald said. "I didn't appreciate that and I didn't let you get away with it," he finished.

Carmen turned to Spit Fye.

"What exactly happened on the radio," she asked Spit Fye.

"I'm not sure. I was just informed that somebody called in using the alias Jamal Wilson, which is my name. They said some hurtful things to Reggie and Reggie responded in turn," said Spit Fye. "I had nothing to do with that call, it wasn't me."

Carmen turned back to Reginald.

"It was you. Only you and I knew about the meeting between you and my former manager," said Reginald. "How would some random caller know about that," asked Reginald.

"Spit," Carmen said inquisitively.

"Hey, I don't know how they knew. But speaking of that meeting, I didn't like how you sent him to threaten me. I feared for my life after that meeting. Mister Clemons is a very dangerous man. I mean, he wouldn't be in prison if he wasn't," Spit Fye responded.

"Oh, you wanna change the subject, huh," interrupted Reginald. "Look, let's get something straight. You are part of the reason he's in prison," Reginald said.

"No, he's in prison because he's a criminal," Spit Fye said.

"Okay gentlemen, it's time for a commercial, but we'll be back," said Carmen.

As they took the show into the break, Carmen was visibly frustrated. "Look guys, I don't want this to turn into another argument. You guys are here to end this feud and move on with your lives," said Carmen.

Reginald scoffed. "Carmen, no offense, but I didn't ask to be here. I was forced into this by Image. Nothing would please me better than to move on from this thing with Spit, but will he let it go? No, he won't. He's the one who continues to come after me. He sending crazy rumors to your TV station. He's calling radio stations and messing with me. The one thing I did to him was hurt his pride a little, with a punch in the mouth. And I didn't back down to him on the radio," said Reginald.

"Fuck that Reggie. You aren't on my radar, not even on my level. I'm offering peace and you shit on it. How am I supposed to react to that," asked Spit Fye.

"Knock it off guys," said Carmen. "Either squash this thing or leave, period," said Carmen. The cameras began to roll again and Carmen began to introduce the second segment of the interview.

"Thanks and we're back. So when we left, things were getting a little--," Carmen was interrupted by Reginald.

"This is a joke and it's bullshit," he said. "You can't say that on television Reggie," said Carmen. "This is all about ratings. Y'all live for this beef and to have it on television, live, this is getting you paid. I'm not going to be a part of this," Reginald said as he walked out.

Carmen was speechless. As Reginald walked out the door, there were several people standing by waiting to hear about the interview. Spit Fye came out the door right behind Reginald and grabbed his shoulder.

"Where you goin'," asked Spit Fye. Reginald instinctively turned and grabbed Spit Fye by the shirt and slammed him up against the wall. "Stay the fuck away from me," yelled Reginald. He let Spit Fye go and stormed off down the hallway.

The concert was set to begin in less than an hour. Several people were up to perform, including Reginald and Yvonne. Spit Fye wasn't on tab to perform, but he did have a five minute window to address the crowd. It proved to be a volatile situation as there were signs in the crowd calling for his arrest and incarceration. Some signs went as far as to ask for his execution.

Spit Fye sat quietly in one of the dressing rooms. He was all alone. A few make up and wardrobe people came by to make him look his best for his few moments in the sun. But he sat quietly, not saying anything. Deep in his heart, he knew that he had been wrong about everything he did. He knew that leaving Reginald alone was for the best. But he also knew that conflict sells records. He was torn, because nobody had ever stood up to him the way Reginald did. In his own way, he respected that.

No matter what his lyrics said, he had never shot anybody in his life. He had never even fired a gun until the night he killed Big Mic. He came from a good family. His father was a minister in Brooklyn and his mother a principle at a local high school. He went to a local university on full scholarship and got his MBA at the age of 22, graduating with a 3.8 gpa. Nobody would have expected him to become what he became.

He always enjoyed listening to hip hop, but he wrote poetry as a therapeutic tool. Eventually, his poems gained notoriety. Eventually he began to rap at local clubs and by the age of 25, he had become one of the hottest underground rappers out there. Eventually he signed to a major label and became one of the greatest of all time. He knew that in the end, he would have given all of that up if he hadn't pulled that trigger. Mike had pushed his buttons.

When Spit Fye was in college, several people thought he was gay. And eventually it was proven to be true when he was caught naked in bed at a Frat party with another guy. Even still, he had been with many women since then. What hip hop star hadn't? But his carnal desire wasn't for women. He loved men. And he loved having power over men who were on the down low. He didn't mess with openly gay men, only men who had something to lose. He knew that they would go as far as they could to conceal their secrets, so he knew as long as he didn't say anything, neither would they.

One of the first people he tried to fool around with was Big Mic. He tried to turn Mike, and Mike turned him down and threatened to expose him to everyone. Spit Fye didn't want to be exposed, so he gave Mike a large sum of money to remain quiet and Mike agreed to stay quiet. When Mike opened his mouth that night, all the anger from several years of ridicule as a younger man was released. He reacted and pulled the trigger.

"It's all my fault," said Spit Fye.

A production assistant stepped into the dressing room and told Spit Fye he had five minutes until he needed to be on stage.

Spit Fye had come to a decision. He was going to apologize and truly leave Reginald alone. He was also going to change his manslaughter plea to a guilty plea of murder. He wanted to do his time and pay for his sins. He had brought everything on himself and he knew that in the end, the money wasn't worth his soul.

Spit Fye stood up and turned towards the door. Someone was in the room. "Hey," he said just as he felt three burning shots hit him in the chest. He couldn't breath. He became light headed and his vision blurred and he fell to the floor. He coughed violently as blood began to climb from his throat into his lungs and into his mouth. He reached for the person in the room and his eyes closed. Jamal Wilson was dead.

The sound of the shots alerted security and several people ran to his room. They saw Jamal motionless on the floor in a pool of his own blood.

News of the shooting quickly spread throughout the building and throughout the music world. Speculation ran rampant. Many people pointed to the heated exchange that Reginald had with him earlier. Other people thought it was a suicide. Even still people pointed to the three shots in the chest and said it was an execution style hit.

That night, the authorities found Duane's sidekick, Earl, in the building. He had a .45 and a silencer. After a thorough check, the found no residue from a gunshot on his body. They also found that the .45 hadn't been fired. Still, he was arrested for his connections to Duane. He had come there to kill Spit Fye, however. That was part of him taking out the trash, as Duane had put it. In the end somebody did the job for him.

Reginald was questioned heavily about the incident. He had the most motive to kill Spit Fye. He even had a slight window to do it. His performance had been over for a while when they found Spit Fye dead. After hours of intense interrogation, they let Reginald go. The had done the same residue test on Reginald and found no evidence that he'd fired a gun.

Reginald walked out of the interrogation room in a Manhattan Police Station at 2 am. Yvonne sat in the waiting room the entire time, waiting for him to get out. The two of them hailed a taxi and went to their hotel suite.

"Are you alright baby," asked Yvonne. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit of a headache," he said as he walked into their suite. Reginald walked over to the bed and laid flat on his back. His eyes closed. He couldn't believe what had happened that evening. "I can see why," Yvonne said. "I know you didn't kill him," she said. She walked over to the bed and laid next to him on the bed. "Thank you for always believing in me," Reginald said.

He rolled over and they embraced and began to kiss. Only moments later, they were making love. Reginald had a difficult day and he needed a release of aggression and frustration. He needed to feel Yvonne's love and she gave that to him. Sounds of passion filled the room. Yvonne took everything Reginald had to give. She was very much in love with him, and she looked him in the eyes, never losing focus. As the climaxed together, Reginald said softly to her, "I love you." She smiled at him and kissed him softly. "I love you too," she replied. The two lovers laid in the bed, with Reginald holding her closely until she fell asleep.

When Reginald opened his eyes again, it was almost 9 o'clock. Yvonne was gone, but the bed was still warm with her body heat. "She must be in the shower," he thought. His head still throbbed with the headache from the previous night's events.

Reginald crawled out of the bed and walked over to the dresser where Yvonne's purse sat. He opened her purse to look for something to soothe his headache. He was shocked at what he saw. Yvonne had a .38 caliber gun. He took the gun from her purse and looked at it. There were three shells missing and the gun smelled like burning metal. "What the fuck," said Reginald to himself.

"Did she shoot him," he asked himself. He thought back to the diner.

"I've completely fallen in love with you. I would do anything for you, no matter what. I just want you to be happy," said Yvonne.

"Anything," Reginald said to himself. "Anything what," asked Yvonne from behind him. She was in the doorway to the bathroom in her bathrobe. Reginald turned, with the gun in his hand. Yvonne saw the gun, but she didn't flinch. "Did you," Reginald said before cutting himself off in disbelief. "I saw what pain he was causing you, and not only you, but me," Yvonne said. "I wasn't going to let him get away with that. Jamal was evil and he needed to be stopped," she continued.

"But, you killed him," Reginald said still in disbelief. "Yeah, I did," Yvonne said. "Nobody will ever know. I'll get rid of the weapon and we can live our life together with no worries," Yvonne said. "It's your gun Yvonne," said Reginald. "They'll find it and trace it back to you," he continued. "No, they won't. I bought the gun on the street," she said. "You forget, I'm from the street and I know how to take care of things," she finished.

Reginald sat the gun on the dresser and walked to the couch. "What are we gonna do," he asked. "There's nothing to do, Reggie. We just move on. Nobody will know anything," she said. "I'll know and you'll know. You can't just live with killing somebody on your conscience," Reginald said.

"Then I did him a favor," Yvonne said.

_______________________________________________

Keep on the lookout for the epilogue...

The Hill (Ch 23)

As the plane touched down at LAX, Reginald thought about his escape. Yvonne agreed that he should come out there and get some rest. Not just physical, but mental. Reginald had become a mega-star at a very early point in his career. One of his best friends is now going to prison for a long time. Another friend was killed before his eyes and he's had two physical confrontations, all within a month. To top it off, he didn't feel like he could trust his bosses anymore, after they tried to use him to get to Duane. He had a lot on his mind.

After he picked up his bags, he saw a man standing with a sign and his name on it. The man recognized Reginald immediately and led him out to a limo. Reginald stepped into the limo and there was Yvonne sitting in the corner.

"Hey baby," she said excitedly. They hugged tightly and Reginald kissed her softly on the cheek. "I'm so sorry about Duane," said Yvonne. "If there's anything I can do, just let me know," she finished. "Thanks, but I don't think we can do anything for him at this point, except be there for him," Reginald said.

They rode quietly to her home. Yvonne lived on the beach, in Malibu. Her neighbors were other celebrities: musicians, actors, pro-athletes. She had palm trees in her front yard and sand in her back yard. The ocean was only 50 yards from her patio. It was unbelievably beautiful.

Reginald tipped the driver as he brought in the last of Reginald's luggage and quickly disappeared out Yvonne's front door. It wasn't even noon yet, but Reginald felt like napping. "Jet-lag is a trip," Reginald said softly as he found himself drifting off to sleep. "Yeah, it takes some getting used to," Yvonne responded.

Reginald took some time to catch Yvonne up on some of the things he had dealt with the last few days. He told her about Craig and Claude setting up Duane. He told her about Sonny, who she had never met. He also caught her up about the incident on the radio, with Spit Fye. He did have some good news for her. He told her about him including his friends in the tour and giving them a chance to become his permanent band again.

"That's great baby," said Yvonne. She was smiling ear-to-ear. "Those guys really love you, and it shows," she said. "Giving them an opportunity to work with you again is a wonderful thing to do."

Reginald nodded in agreement. They had always been there for him and he wanted to do the same for them, especially now that Duane wasn't able to run the club anymore. Reginald sat quietly and began to stare off.

"What's wrong, Reggie," asked Yvonne. Reginald hesitated. He wanted to tell her about his meeting with Earl and the money he was holding for Duane. "You can tell me anything Reggie. I hope you know that," she said. "Yeah, I know. But this is something you might not want to know about," Reginald said.

Reginald's phone began to ring. "Saved by the bell," he laughed. Yvonne smiled nervously. "Hello," said Reginald into the phone. "Reg, it's Farley," he said on the other end of the phone. "Knucklehead, what's up," asked Reginald. "Man, you aren't going to believe this. Turn to BST," said Farley. Reginald turned on the TV and he saw Spit Fye on the screen, being interviewed by Carmen on her show.

"I just want to express my deepest sympathies to Mike's family," said Spit Fye. "I know this might not be popular, but I plan to attend his benefit concert in our hometown of New York," said Spit Fye. Carmen seemed rattled. "Spit, are you sure that's a good idea. How do your lawyers feel about that," she asked. "They are against it, but I think it shows that I held no ill will against Mike. We were brothers in a lot of ways, and if people want to take out their anger over his death on me, then I can take it. I deserve it," said Spit Fye. "That's very brave of you," said Carmen.

"On a related note, is it true that you called into a radio station to harass Reginald Morgan," asked Carmen. Spit Fye scoffed. "It's not true," said Spit Fye. "Someone called in and pretended to be me," said Spit Fye. "Reginald has a problem with me and he's trying to make me look bad. I just want to say something specific to Reggie," said Spit Fye. He looked directly in to the screen. "I forgive you man," said Spit Fye as the camera zoomed in. "Well there you have it," said Carmen. "One of the greatest of all time, Spit Fye, completely open and honest," she said as she went to commercial.

Reginald's fists clinched. "Farley, let me call you back," he said as he hung up the phone. "He is playing with me, trying to ruin my reputation," said Reginald. "Don't worry about him babe," said Yvonne. "He's not worth your anger. I can't believe he'd show his face at that concert. There's no way in hell that they should let him be there," said Yvonne.

Yvonne picked up her phone to call Image. "Let me speak with Deane Milner please," she said. "This is Yvonne Summers," she finished. She sat on hold for about thirty seconds when Deane picked up the line. "Yvonne, how are you," Deane said. "Not too good, Deane," said Yvonne. "Listen, why are you all allowing Spit Fye to attend this concert for Mike? Knowing he's the one who pulled the trigger. There's no way he should be there. Mike's family will be there and you know they won't be happy to see the man who killed him," she said.

"Yvonne, BST has chosen to pick up this benefit concert. One of the stipulations is to allow Spit Fye and Reginald to have a sit down, on camera, prior to the concert. Then they have to agree to shake hands and put an end to all their conflicts," said Deane.

"Reginald is right here with me and he is not pleased about this at all," said Yvonne. "Here, you talk with him," said Yvonne. She passed the phone over to Reginald. "Hello, Mister Milner," said Reginald. "I just can't believe that you all are going along with this," Reginald said. "Look Reggie, all the incidents that you've had recently; the connection to organized crime. We just need some positive press. At this point, the share holders are putting pressure on me to cut you loose if you don't agree to this. BST wants a sit down between you and Spit Fye so you can clear the air. If I'm completely honest with you, I believe it's a ratings thing. But I also believe that people who are fans of you both want to see peace," said Deane.

Reginald shook his head. "I see," he said. "I'll talk with him," said Reginald. "Good, we're glad that you are willing to move passed this whole incident," said Deane. "Yeah, here's Yvonne," Reginald said disgustedly as he gave her the phone. "Deane, you know this isn't right," she said. "This is a business and you know this is all about business," said Deane. Yvonne hung up the phone.

"Reggie, do you have anything on schedule for the next few weeks," asked Yvonne. "No, nothing except getting my boys on their feet and going to Duane's hearings, that's it," he replied. "Well, I've got a lot of room. You are more than welcomed to stay with me indefinitely," said Yvonne. Reginald hugged Yvonne tightly. "Thank you baby," he said.

Over the next week, as Reginald got more comfortable, he went out and got a cell phone with a Los Angeles number, and even rented a post office box for his mail. He only shared his new number with his closest friends. Not even his bosses at Image had his number. Once a day, he'd check his voicemail on his old cell phone and find 20 or more messages. Most messages were from the publicists office at Image, reporters and local party promoters were also calling.

Reginald really didn't want to talk to anybody. He did have to speak with an Image rep to finalize his sit down with Spit Fye. He agreed to speak with him the afternoon before the concert, there in New York, on camera.

The big day finally arrived. Reginald and Yvonne had flown in together from Los Angeles to New York. They reserved a hotel suite in a Hilton in Manhattan, while they were in the air and expected sufficient transportation from the airport to venue and then back to the hotel after the event.

The sit down was to be in a conference room in Madison Square Garden, which is also where the concert would be held. There were cameras filming Reginald and Yvonne's arrival to the building. They had also filmed Spit Fye's arrival. The cameras followed them into the building and through all the hallways.

The sit down had become almost a completely separate event from the concert, although they were initially related. People were more concerned with Reginald and Spit Fye's beef than they were with the memory of Big Mic.

Carmen Lane was the moderator of the conversation. It would just be the three of them in the room together with nobody else except the camera people.

As Reginald reached the door, he saw Carmen standing there. Carmen approached Reginald as if walking on egg shells. She knew that he was very suspicious of her. "Reggie, I haven't talked to you since," Carmen hesitated. "I just want you to know that I had no idea about what was going on. I just wanted to help you," she said. Reginald nodded in approval. "It's okay, you didn't pull the trigger," Reginald said. He turned and hugged Yvonne. "I'm going in baby," he said. "Okay, I'll be waiting," she said. Reginald followed Carmen into the room. Spit Fye was already waiting for him inside.

"Okay, for the sake of the magazine covers and any other media that need still shots, can I get you guys to shake hands," asked Carmen.

Reginald walked over to Spit Fye. The intensity in the air was very thick. You could tell that the two didn't like each other. Spit Fye stood up and stretched his hand out to Reginald.

The two men shook hands as cameras flashed and recorded what seemed to be a good start to a very important moment for both men.

To Be Continued...

The Hill (Ch 22)

"Take the bag into the bathroom. Go into the first stall and I'll be back with a bag to split the money," said Earl. Reginald grabbed the bag and walked calmly into the bathroom and went in the first stall. "I wonder what Duane is up to," Reginald said to himself.

Moments later, he heard someone go into the stall next to him. "Reggie," said Earl from the next stall. "Yeah, I'm still here," said Reginald. "Count out half of the money and slip it into this bag," he said as he passed a large brown paper sack under the stall. Reginald carefully counted out five million dollars, and put it in the bag. "Go ahead and leave Reggie, and good luck with your career," Earl said. "You probably won't be seeing me ever again," he finished.

"Thanks Earl, you be careful," said Reginald as he walked out of the stall and out the bathroom door with the bag.

As Reginald reached his car, his cell phone began to ring. It was Craig.

"Yeah," Reginald said as he answered the phone. "Reggie, I know you don't want to hear from me, but you really need to get over to the office A-S-A-P," Craig said. "You need to meet with some execs and talk about the concert about Big Mic," Craig continued. "You're scheduled to be here in 15 minutes," he finished.

"I'll be there in a minute," said Reginald as he hung up the phone.

Reginald secured the duffel bag in his trunk and headed on to the Image office. As he entered the building, he was met by Craig, he didn't even acknowledge him. "Reggie, come on buddy, talk to me," Craig pleaded. "I don't have anything to say to you. You put my friendship with Duane in jeopardy. I don't appreciate that," Reginald said as he got on the elevator.

Craig darted onto the elevator with Reginald.

"Look Reggie, without me, you wouldn't be here, period. So yeah, I used you, somewhat, but you used me too. That's what this business is. We are all whores to the industry! Duane used you to make money for his club and to get new customers into his building. You don't hold that against him, so why do you hold it against me? I was trying to save my neck, and I tried to get you to get another manager so at least you wouldn't know that you were indirectly involved when he went down," said Craig.

"Give me a break Craig. Sonny is full of shit. He was just going to use me to get to Duane too. No matter what, the only reason I got in the door was because of my connection to Duane. It's ironic though," Reginald paused. "You kept telling me he was bad news. Sonny felt the same way, and actually you two were trying to set me up to fall out with Duane," Reginald said. "But you actually brought us closer than ever," he said as he walked off the elevator.

Deane Milner, Claude Donaldson and Arnold Chapman all stood in the hall, in front of the large double doors leading to the conference room. Reginald and Craig walked off the elevator. Tension was thick in the air. Deane broke the ice.

"Thanks for coming Reginald, follow me," he said as he opened the double doors. Everyone walked in and sat around the large table. Reginald thought back to the first time he came into this room and sang for some of these same people.

"Reginald, I understand that you've been involved with a major criminal," said Deane. "While your personal life is your own, we can't ruin our reputation here. I hope you've made new arrangements regarding your management. And I also expect that you'll cut ties with Mister Clemons immediately," Deane finished.

Reginald didn't even blink. "Sir, if I may speak freely," Reginald said. "Absolutely," said Deane. "First, I'd like to apologize for any problems I've caused the company. I greatly appreciate the opportunity that I have in front of me. However, some of the same people who helped to make this possible also stabbed me in the back," Reginald said. "How so," asked Deane.

"Duane, has been my friend and been watching out for me for years. He's never done anything to me that made me not trust him. However, Mister Donaldson and Mister Martin have both broken my trust," Reginald said. "I'm sure you're aware of Craig's problem. Are you also aware that Claude and Craig worked along with the FBI to bring down Duane. They also used my relationship with him to get closer than they normally would have been able to," said Reginald. "I don't deny any of this Reggie," said Claude. "Duane's a cancer to this community and he needed to be eradicated," he said.

"Exactly," said a voice from across the room. It was Sonny.

"Thank you for coming Mister Benson," said Claude. "I wanted him to explain how this whole thing transpired," he continued.

Sonny sat down beside Reginald. "We've been tracking Clemons for several years, but we never could make anything stick on him. We couldn't even get a warrant. Then one of his street boys flipped on him. But it was his word against Duane's and this kid had a lot of product on him. He was looking to sell it to Craig over there. We got a warrant for Craig's office here and found all kinds of paraphernalia. We were going to take him down and search the whole building. Claude intervened," said Sonny. "He said he knew of a guy who supplied most of the dope on the streets of this city and he had a way to connect us with him. Craig was one link in the chain, Reginald was the other," Sonny continued.

"Wait, why wasn't I made aware of any of this," asked Deane. "The less people who knew, the easier we could pull it off," said Sonny.

"The problem was that Reginald gave Clemons a reason to try and go straight. His shipments had slowed significantly from what our ears on the street said. We figured that Reginald wasn't just a friend of Clemons, but also a customer, and a soldier. Craig was going to let us know when Reginald slipped and we'd use that to nail Clemons. Our guesses were wrong, because Reginald turned out to be completely clean, aside from his friendship with Clemons," finished Sonny.

"Okay, but how did you bust him if Reginald and Craig didn't do their jobs," asked Deane.

"We had some new evidence come to light. The police received a phone call from Brandie Lloyd, Reginald's ex-girlfriend. She said that Reginald had been involved in an altercation with her current boyfriend, Shaun Coltson. That same night, Colston disappeared. Hundreds of people heard him threaten Duane and Reginald after the fight. When he disappeared, they took finger prints from his car and his front door. They matched one of Duane's known associates, Hank Thornton. We brought him in for questioning and he spilled his guts. He said that he and some other guys beat up Colston and brought him to the club on direct orders from Duane. He said that Clemons and his associate, known only as Earl, tied him up and burned him. We dropped Hanks charges for more in depth information. He told us when the illegal shipments were due to come in. We never recovered Colston's body, but this gentleman has volunteered to testify in exchange for complete immunity," Sonny finished. "Reginald, by fighting with Colston, you just indirectly got him busted."

Reginald frowned. He was speechless. Then he thought about Spit Fye.

"Where does Jamal Wilson fit in, with all this," asked Reginald. "Easily," said Sonny. "He's one of our best informants. We bust celebrities using him very regularly. He knows everybody, and nobody would ever believe that he's a narc. How do you think he knew all about Clemons? When you and he began to have conflict, we gave him quite a bit of information about Clemons. When Clemons went to him on your behalf, he already knew about the impending bust. He just let us know where Clemons was," said Sonny. "Again, you are the indirect cause of Duane going down," Sonny laughed. "It's beautiful!"

"So you let a murderer be your informant? It doesn't even matter that I watched him shoot my friend in cold-blood? How do you sleep at night," asked Reginald. "I sleep very well, thank you. Jamal's not dangerous to anybody but himself. But your friend pushed him a little too hard. He pushed back," said Sonny. "He plead down to voluntary manslaughter," said Sonny. "He won't serve much time, if any because of his connections with us."

Reginald slammed his fists down on the table. "Fuck you Sonny," said Reginald. "Craig, Claude, fuck both of you too," Reginald said angrily. "Reggie, calm down," said Arnold. "Mister Chapman, with all due respect, I don't want to deal with them anymore. I don't trust either of them," said Reginald as he got up and began to leave the room. "Reginald, wait. What about Big Mic's concert in New York," asked Arnold. "I'll be there," he said as he stormed out of the office.

Reginald was angry, hurt and upset. He just wanted to escape his life. He knew just where he could go. He picked up his phone and dialed. "Yvonne, I'm coming to L.A."

To Be Continued...