Laugh Now Read online

  Table of Contents

  Praise for LAUGH NOW

  PART ONE | DECEMBER 2002 | CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  PART TWO

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  PART THREE

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  CHAPTER 50

  CHAPTER 51

  CHAPTER 52

  CHAPTER 53

  CHAPTER 54

  CHAPTER 55

  CHAPTER 56

  CHAPTER 57

  CHAPTER 58

  CHAPTER 59

  CHAPTER 60

  CHAPTER 61

  CHAPTER 62

  CHAPTER 63

  CHAPTER 64

  CHAPTER 65

  CHAPTER 66

  CHAPTER 67

  CHAPTER 68

  CHAPTER 69

  CHAPTER 70

  CHAPTER 71

  CHAPTER 72

  CHAPTER 73

  CHAPTER 74

  CHAPTER 75

  EPILOGUE | (SIX DAYS LATER) | CHAPTER 76

  CHAPTER 77

  Praise for LAUGH NOW

  “The story captured me from beginning to end. A definite 5 star read.”—Latisha Patterson, Author of Airing Out Dirty Laundry

  “From the first to last page, you are introduced to the gritty schemes and hustling world of the two Bezel's brothers. Allow me to introduce brothers, Kareem a.k.a Reem & Andre a.k.a Dre who are just living it up! We enter their world of hustling, trials and for sure tribulations. Don't get it twisted these two brothers may have committed their share of crimes, but were no fools!”—Mz Grammy Bear, Author of The Purr-fect Tales Children’s Book Series

  “Laugh Now by Rahiem Brooks is a great book!! If you want to read something that is full of twists and gives you a "WOW" factor while your reading, this is for you! I read this book twice and couldn't put it down either time!!!”—Author Krystol, Author of Through Her Eyes and Sweet Innocence

  “Laugh Now is a gritty, detailed, exciting novel full of the imagery of a movie with many twist and turns.”—Rhea Alexis M. Banks, Chairwoman of the Chicago Reading Circle & 2011 AAMBC Reviewer of the Year

  “Really enjoyed the realistic grittiness and URBANess of the writing/setting/characters. It's kinda like a mix between Catch Me If You Can, and Another Day In Paradise (the latter being a book that takes a raw look at a troubling mix of drugs and crime, a.k.a. the real version which James Frey apparently "gained inspiration from," to write his fictitious memoir).”—Jess C. Scott, Author of Wicked Lovely & Master and Servant

  “I started reading the book ... and finished it in eight hours. It was a very good read. The Bezel brothers were a serious force! The twist and turns kept me turning the pages until I got to the end.”—Gregg Burton, Author of What Happens Overseas Stays Overseas & Fool’s Eye

  “There are so many moving elements to this book that it will keep you engrossed the ENTIRE read. The Bezel Brothers are Handsomely Devastating... is all senses of the phase. Good Looking, Educated, Street Savy, and Focused on obtaining the luxury of success by any means necessary. In each Chapter of the story you are wrapped in suspense, and the Author Mr. Rahiem Books makes sure that you feel like you are IN each scene. The descriptive quality is truly incomparable.”—Elizabeth Funderbirk, Author of Love Torn Asunder

  “This novel brings forth a subject matter that needs more light shed on it: the real ever-growing crime of Identity theft. While this subject hits up the news waves it is now the topic of debut author Rahiem Brooks as he introduces us to the Bezel brothers and their illegal careers.”—SiStar Tea, Member of ARC Book Club, Inc.

  “Mr. Brooks weaves a tale that is sure to keep the reader on edge. I look forward to reading more by this author.”—Leona Romich, Member of APOOO Book Club

  “I was very pleased with Laugh Now to say the least. Mr. Brooks has won me over again but this time with the charming and debonair Kareem Bezel. Who knew crime could look so good? Aside from the twists and turns in this wonderful storyline, Mr. Brooks has brought you yet another lesson in identity theft with a capital "I".”—Dawn Jasper, Author of Beautiful Disaster

  “Rahiem takes you on a fast paced visual into the lives of the Bezel brothers and their illegal crime spree. Laugh Now will

  no doubt keep you entertained and ready to turn the page.”—

  Kiexiza Rodriguez, Author of Beautiful, Blog Radio Host

  “Rahiem Brooks tackled a subject that is affecting millions, and I enjoy how he showed the in and outs of identity theft from the perspective of Kareem. The Bezel brothers are a force to reckoned with.”—Kristin for Urban Reviews

  Awards and Accolades

  2010

  African Americans On The Move Book Club (AAMBC) Book Of The Year

  2011

  AAMBC Author of the Year AAMBC Debut Author of the Year (Nominee)

  2011

  DMV Expo Creative Excellence Awards Most Creative Plot Winner;

  Best Fictional Couple (Nominee)

  2011

  African American Literary Awards Show Self-Published Author of the Year (nominee)

  Laugh Now

  Books by Rahiem Brooks

  FEATURING ANDRE & KAREEM BEZEL

  Laugh Now

  First Laugh (PREQUEL)

  Die Later

  Last Laugh

  Also by Rahiem Brooks

  Con Test

  Truth, Lies, and Confessions (with Kevin Woodard)

  Pretty Boy Thugs

  LAUGH NOW

  PART ONE

  DECEMBER 2002

  CHAPTER 1

  The weight that crushed BG’s shoulders had been lifted when Dre agreed to accompany him from a serene suburb to the hostile ghetto-ness of North Philadelphia. Dre snaked a black Dodge Charger along I-76, rattling to the baseline of the Jada Kiss Why single. BG rode shotgun, seat reclined like a boss, and he breathed somewhat normally—white boys needed balls to cop down the infamous J Street. Brent Gower, at seventeen had earned the moniker BG, and he had balls the size of Russia. Dre glanced at the Girard Avenue ramp, and BG stole a glance at the young thug, just four years removed from the ghetto where they were headed.

  Andre Bezel had smoothly transitioned into suburbia, and was the Upper Merion High School all-American running back. He conspired with BG, the quarterback, on the football turf. And they drove to a notorious drug turf to further that conspiracy. Dre was not a member of BG’s gang, reserved for the toughest white boys in King of Prussia; that was beneath him. Dre’s blackness and he being a product of the hostile North Philadelphia streets was a grand reason for BG to use him. Dre’s father, James “Dope
” Bezel was serving a life sentence for a crack conspiracy, which made room for a lame to sweep Dre’s mother off her feet and into King of Prussia. That did not arrest Dre from being intimately connected to the streets, with a Rolodex of connections left behind by his father.

  At the off-ramp light, Dre turned left onto Girard Avenue at 35th Street. He drove pass the Philadelphia Zoo, crossed the Girard Avenue Bridge, over the Schuylkill River—which separated West Philadelphia from north, Dre’s side of town. Dre mentally relived ghetto gospel and news headlines that confirmed what a zoo the 15-square miles of North Philadelphia was. Dre meandered along the SEPTA number-15 trolley tracks. The street numbers dropped traffic light by traffic light; that pay day for the trip coming.

  33rd Street. Fairmount Park.

  29th Street. Blue Jay Diner.

  25th Street. Girard College.

  21st Street. Berean Institute.

  17th Street. St. Joseph Prep School.

  16th Street. St Joseph Hospital.

  Dre flipped a left up 16th Street. The streets, buildings and houses became scruffier. The teens stared at the crude neighborhood, both glad that they lived where they had. It was not always that way for Dre, though. He had to get used to his new home in the suburbs. Dre pulled up at 16th and Jefferson Streets, and BG did not believe his eyes. The sight was a first; his drugs were usually delivered. The street had three occupied houses with rent paying tenants; the rest were home to squatters. Many other houses were boarded up. A few empty spots where homes had burned down, had housed abandoned vehicles. Young hoodlums loitered on the corner, without a thought of school the following day. Winos drank joyously around a barrel that burned wood in an attempt to ward off sinister winds.

  Three black males in a Crown Vic on spinners, pulled behind the Charger. Through the rearview mirror, Dre watched the thugs and put his Desert Eagle on his lap. He knew from experience that the 17th Street sentries drove lemons. A car carrying priests was deemed a threat in that ghetto. Equally, a car with a black and white boy—like Dre and BG—in it was registered as two squares in town to cop, and be robbed afterward.

  Dre killed the engine and heard a boom box that played 99 Problems by Jay Z very loudly after midnight. Only in a ghetto was that possible. BG opened the car door and stepped out.

  “I’m staying here.” Dre confirmed.

  “Good ol’ Goldie here will be by my side,” BG said, and showed Dre, Goldie, the .45-cal that he had in his waist. “I know that she’s a ride or die bitch.” BG ignored the feeling in his gut that screamed for him to get the hell out of there.

  “Remember, I told you not to do this.” Dre had tried to convince BG to give him the money and let him cop for him, for a fee, but BG wasn’t having that.

  BG grabbed his Woolrich winter coat and walked away from the Charger. He was not for Dre’s negative energy. He was about that paper. Period! BG crossed 16th Street and walked up Jefferson toward 17th. A pair of eyes from a second story window followed him step by step. BG walked, shivering in the freezing air, toward the hustlers on the corner. He paused in the middle of the notorious drug zone, reached in his jeans for a slip of paper on which he had Trigger’s number. He ripped his Nextel from the clip, flipped it open and began to dial.

  Interrupting his call, a tall thug dressed in all black, stepped out of an alley and put a snub nosed .38 on BG’s temple. Another lanky, thuggish-looking kid snatched the cell phone and told BG, “You don’t need this shit,” before he slammed the phone shut and put it his own pocket.

  “This either,” a third man said, and grabbed Goldie from BG’s waist.

  With BG stripped of his security, his worst nightmare became a reality, right there on the block. BG felt embarrassed and lost. His heart raced with fear. His mind swirled with Dre’s discouraging comment, Remember, I told you not to do this. He was frisked quickly, but the search seemed in slow motion. The robber with the .38 demanded to know where the money was hidden. BG acted dumb founded and the skinny kid swiftly raised Goldie into the air. Goldie had blacked BG’s eye in one motion.

  The kid said, “Maybe that will help your memory?”

  BG mopped blood from his face, as it coldly trickled and began to freeze. He had the message. Through clinched teeth, BG told the robbers that the money was hidden in his Timberland boots. He kicked them off and the men searched them. They found the $5,000 stash and then the beefy man threw BG. He landed hard on the front of a Camry, scrambled to his feet quickly—a gift from playing football—and ran back to the Charger.

  Blood continued to rain from BG’s face as he hopped into the car. Dre peeled off, tires screaming under the powerful acceleration.

  “What the fuck happened back there?” Inside Dre laughed hysterically. He loved when the plan came together. Especially his plans.

  CHAPTER 2

  The next day, Kareem Bezel, an authentic intellect and undoubtedly Upper Merion High’s most savants, strolled out of the debate team meeting. He made his way to the school lobby on a mission. He had always been known for his friendliness, but his popularity skyrocketed when classmates and teachers discovered that he was a child prodigy. At sixteen-years-old, he was a senior at Upper Merion and a highly regarded, quick witted student, and very likely to succeed. How he managed being a distinguished honor roll student, the most stylish boy on campus, and a class clown baffled many.

  Kareem reached the lobby, and called Express Limo on his cell phone. He put on his older white man fake voice and told the receptionist that he was John Carter. Not Kareem, or even his nick name, Reem. After the formalities, he requested a sedan be delivered to the school with a driver to pick up his son. Kareem smiled; he was the son, and the father. A sexy smile, complimented by plush lips that women adored. He had a sleek, natural Caribbean tan, which shone bright under the black that he wore. He had perfect African features: slim head, snout, and expertly chiseled from track and field and weight lifting. He was only 5’6” and very slender. His favorite adage was: Big things came in small packages. And he had a bombshell in the package for the limo service: and, not of the Naomi Campbell persuasion.

  He was clueless as to who John Carter was. And didn’t care. For that day’s purpose, he was poignantly another one of his credit card fraud victims. Kareem had been rewarded with Mr. Carter’s American Express card during one of his many “mailbox shopping” sprees. He was amazed at what he found in mailboxes that were not his own. The receptionist recorded John Carter’s credit card number and then informed him that the company only had limos available.

  “Okay, what is your hourly rate, for the limo service?” Kareem asked, despite knowing the answer.

  “That depends on the vehicle,” she told him. “We have Lincoln, Cadillac, Jaguar, and Hummer.”

  “The Jaguar will be great,” Kareem confirmed, like a true businessman. He wanted to enjoy the sleekness of the luxury ride. He had business to tend to and a limo lent credibility to his up-coming plan.

  “Right now, we have the Jaguar S-type 4.0 at $325 for the first hour, and $105 each additional hour.”

  Kareem muffled the phone and pretended to clear his throat uncontrollably. “You can go ahead and charge the card for two hours. Thank you.”

  Kareem patiently waited having done that so many times with different limousine services. On occasion, even if he had no use for the limo, he would rent a limo to activate a credit card. Most other crafty men—well, amateurs—used gas station self service pumps to try and activate a card.

  Not Kareem.

  He had learned that creditors flagged accounts that had a gas pump as the first transaction. Kareem was young, but he had learned early—at fifteen—that when the water department threatened to terminate service, one had to find a creative way to stop that. He received his confirmation from the limo service, and watched his older brother, Dre stroll off the football field.

  CHAPTER 3

  The air blew hard and whistled a fine tune as Dre walked off the football field. He watched a limo pu
ll off, and thought, I hate these rich pussies. His quads were cramped and made practice intolerable, so he cut out early. Besides, why should he practice, if the quarterback was not?

  Coach Cramer was disgusted by his star running back’s faux complaints and barked, “Shape up, Bezel, or be shipped out!”

  Who the fuck does he think he’s kidding? Dre thought as he paced across the school grounds. He was unfazed by the ultimatum. Five-feet-ten and solid 170-pounds, Dre was the districts only recognized all-American. Local media and alumni idolized his cocoa complexion, wavy hair, dark brown eyes, and sly grin, which he showcased each time that he made a big play in a game. He was the school’s touch down record holder, and dubbed Dre Bezel the Great. And the coach was not shipping any damn body out.

  He entered the locker room, with its characteristic smell of stinking sweat and Lysol. He sat on a wood bench, kicked off his cleats, and pulled off his tights and jersey. He exposed an overdeveloped physique that screamed ex-convict. Ladies, both young and old, adored his sculptured body, which was why he dated the head cheerleader.

  Dre reached into his locker to fetch a towel when in his peripheral, he observed BG approached him. Dre jumped to his feet defensively, and thought, this cat had to be crazy to think that he caught me slipping. He hated BG, as did most of the students at the school. In fact, most people in that suburb nestled fifteen miles away from Philadelphia, could not stomach BG off the football field. He had mentally controlled many impressionable minds; Andre Bezel’s was not one of them, contrary to BG’s belief.

  When BG was in arms reach, Dre, with cobra-like speed, grabbed BG with both hands and choke-slammed him hard against a wall of lockers. He proved his company was unwanted.

  BG tried to speak, but Dre was not having that.

  “Look—Brent,” Dre said, insulting BG by calling him his birth name. No one did that. Breathing hard in his face, Dre continued, “All I want to do is play ball and get out of here. I didn’t set you up, and warned you not to go down there. I’m telling you, stop the fuck running around spreading shit about me.”

  Avery Snobli, BG’s second-in-command stepped toward Dre.

  Dre tightened both of his hands around BG’s throat as he spat, “Tell your little fuck boy to back off, or I’ll break your fucking neck.”