4 months later
As Smoke sat at his desk he knew he was more lucky than anything because he could have easily ended up in prison, or at least going through legal proceedings with Triggamane for the killings in the park. Triggamane had stood solid and took both charges as he said he would though the man Smoke knew as Gizzle had made an attempt to implicate him. Fortunately it was two men’s word against one and with a little money moved around Smoke made sure that his name never ended up on an indictment tied to the case. He also had to deal with intense police and media questioning in relation to the incident with C-Note. The police had caught word that K, aka, Kenneth Dorsey, was involved in the shooting, and in a subsequent search it was discovered that he had been reported as missing.
Things weren’t going exactly as planned, but they were better that expected for Smoke and M’Famous Ent. in lots of areas considering all that had transpired. The planned collaboration with Legendary Ent. had more or less worked itself out, however there were still a few issues with the world tour due to the recent incidents. Alicia had been the perfect fit with her problem solving skills, and she had gained the confidence in herself that she could do the right thing and make good decisions for the business. She had also been the perfect fit for Smoke and their relationship was one of the better things in his life at the moment. Despite the fact that he still had other women on the side, she was his priority, and he would drop any side chick if she interfered with his relationship. He knew that he needed to just be with Alicia, but at the moment it was hard for him to just make the switch when he had become so used to multitude of beautiful women waiting on his call. He was managing to keep both his relationship and his business on an even keel and for the time being that would have to do.
C-Note’s condition hadn’t changed yet, and his extended coma had his mother beyond stressed and Smoke was using more and more drugs to keep his mind off of it. Thankfully his cousin wasn’t dead, and that alone was enough to keep just a glimmer of hope alive in everyone pulling for him. Smoke looked down at the newest edition of XXL that sat on his desk and saw a cover caption that showed it would chronicle the most recent developments in M’Famous Ent.’s rising urban legend.
Marcellos sat at his home for what would be the last day for a while. His attorney, along with Smoke’s , had managed to orchestrate a situation that had allowed him to only face a charge of aggravated assault, which could’ve led to him doing three years in prison. Instead he had an even better deal worked out to where he had the sentence suspended and was required to spend four months in in-patient counseling along with community service. After the emotional distress of losing the son he had just gained, he felt as though counseling could actually be good for him. He’d been out on bond while the case had moved through the court proceedings and that had given him the opportunity to work on the projects that M’Famous was doing with Legendary Ent., and they already had three top ten hits in rotation on the radio.
Marcellos regretted the fact that he would miss the world tour since he wanted a change of scenery and something to occupy his mind from the thought of never being able to raise his son the way he had envisioned. He began spending a lot of his time in the studio and had made two songs dedicated to Kaylin and one to Katrina. Lately things had started to get somewhat serious between him and Jaylene. They had even once talked about having a child, though he wasn’t’ sure he was ready for that at the moment; he didn’t want it to seem like he was trying to replace the one he’d lost. He turned up the volume of the television, which had the news showing, and watched a clip of himself walking out of the courtroom after his decision had come down. Marcellos had known that the judge and others had received money under the table and he was just fine with that. Smoke, and M’Famous Ent., were playing to win and Marcellos was more than happy to be part of the winning team. While he didn’t know what the future held, he knew that as long as M’Famous was around he would be right there with them to the end, whether it was win, lose, or draw.
Terrance walked out of the courtroom to the thralling and yelling of dozens of reporters and flashing cameras. He almost couldn’t believe things had played out the way they had and that he had gotten away with murder. There had been some haggling and a little money moved around, but all in all he wouldn’t be going to prison for any charges whatsoever. The lawyers had been good enough to sell the story of a man being extorted and self-defense, and his initial condition from the beating that he’d take from Quack and his goons, had actually played in his favor. That combined with the fact that the two contracts had been at the scene, along with the gun from the man Smoke had killed, sealed the deal. Even though Gizzle had come through with his story, which was the truth minus the part about the extortion, due to his own criminal record, it was relatively easy to discredit him. The lawyers had been able to push for a speedy trial, which got him through the process a lot faster than usual.
Now that he was a free man Terrance had plans to make up for the last few months he’d spent in the county jail, and he was just in time to jump on the movement that M’Famous had orchestrated with Legendary Entertainment. To his surprise, and Smoke’s, the sales of his last album had more than doubled while he was fighting the case from the boost of street cred that the case’s notoriety had given him. In addition to that he had found his courage and self-respect, and no one would run over him ever again.
Terrance’s security had to push the crowd to get him through the relentless media and their questioning.
“Do you think you got away with murder?”
“Was your CEO really there?”
“Was this all a marketing scheme set up to sell more records?”
“Will you fight the civil suits if brought by the deceaseds’ familes?”
“Are you sorry that you killed the deceased?”
“Do you think the verdict was fair?”
Terrance didn’t answer any of their questions as he walked towards his car with his head held high. One reporter pushed up through the crowd desperate to ask one last question.
“Mr. Palmer, Mr. Palmer. Is there anything that you want to say?”
The door to his waiting car was open, but Terrance finally turned around to face the expectant crowd.
“Yeah, it’s something I wanna say. I’m M’Famous bitch!” he said and got into his car leaving the surrounding media buzzing and astounded.
Those words would reverberate through every media outlet around the country and dozens internationally.
“You mean to tell me that we are running a multi-agency investigation, and there are five men dead, and none of you, not one goddamn person knows what happened in either case?” the overweight white FBI Special Agent in Charge, Langton Revern, yelled at the agents and officers surrounding the table. “What happened to their tails?”
“Sir the tails rotate and they just happened to squeeze between the cracks,” one officer spoke up. “Our resources are limited, sir, and we’re all doing the best we can. They will slip up again sir, and next time we’ll be there to take them down.”
“You’re damn right you’ll be there, or that’s someone’s ass. I want that goddamn sham of a business shut down. Now, your requests have been granted and you’ll have what you asked for soon.”
To be continued…