by Roy Glenn
“The plane is ready, Black. We gotta go,” Nick said.
“Thank you, Mr. Elgin. You’ve been a big help getting this information to me,” Mike said as he walked toward the plane.
“No problem, Mr. Black.”
Chapter Four
Freeze walked into Cynt’s, a gambling club they had run for years. He had received a call from Cynt that there were some men who had posted up in the back of her spot, and they appeared to be selling drugs. The night before, he and Nick had a run-in with two other men who were trying to set up shop at another one of the spots they ran. Freeze was confident that these were not the same men, because those men were no longer breathing.
As he wandered around the spot looking for Cynt, Freeze was surprised but not shocked to see Travis Burns sitting by the bar, enjoying the company of two dancers. Travis, along with Jackie Washington and Ronnie Grier, were a robbing crew that made Freeze plenty of money. This was the first time that he had seen Travis since Freeze killed Ronnie over a business matter concerning his long-time female associate, Paulleen. After that, Travis and Jackie did an occasional job, but only if there was enough money involved and absolutely no risk.
As Freeze walked toward Travis, he looked around for Jackie, who, unlike Travis, was gambling at Cynt’s all the time. Not too long after Ronnie’s murder, Jackie approached Freeze about her desire to have someone assassinated, but when she told him that the person was Me’shelle Lawrence, Travis’s ex-girlfriend, Freeze declined and told Jackie to get over it. However, every time Jackie looked at Travis and saw the pain in his eyes, she knew that she wouldn’t get over it until Me’shelle was dead.
“Mind if I join you?” Freeze said as Travis turned slowly and looked at him.
“This is your world, Freeze. I’m just trying to live in it.”
“I hadn’t seen you around much lately, Travis. What’s been up?”
“Nothing, man. Just trying to make a living, same as always,” Travis replied. He had a feeling that it was Freeze who killed Ronnie, or at the very least, had him killed, but he had no desire to die trying to get revenge.
“I’m just saying, you don’t come up here anymore like you used to, and you have Jackie bring me my taste from your jobs.”
“Yeah, well, Jackie’s up here all the time doing her thing anyway. Why not let her do it?”
“Yeah, okay, whatever.” Freeze looked around the room. “Jackie here?”
“Of course she is. She’s downstairs doing her thing. Why?”
“You strapped?”
“No.”
“I may need you and her to back me up,” Freeze told Travis, even though he knew he could handle the situation without him. It was more important to know where his head was. “And I need to know if I can count on you.”
“You know you can. Like you said, whatever went down was business, not personal, and got nothing to do with you and me,” Travis said to let Freeze know that he knew what was going on, but he was still loyal to him.
“Here,” Freeze said and discreetly passed Travis a gun.
“I’ll go get Jackie,” Travis said.
Freeze followed Travis downstairs to the gambling area where, as expected, they found Jackie, doing her thing. Only nowadays, Jackie wasn’t losing at poker anymore.
Early one morning, around four a.m., Mike Black came into the gambling area while Jackie was literally losing her shirt. She waved and smiled when she saw him standing directly across from her, and Mike nodded his head in response. Jackie thought Mike Black was sexy from the first time she met him.
Although she’d never admit it to anyone, Jackie had the kind of crush that a young girl has on her teacher. It had gotten to the point where Jackie thought about making herself available for him.
Mr. Black, Mike Black, but you are so married. So, we can be cool or whatever, but I gotta respect your wife, Jackie told her mirror one day.
Mike stood and watched while Jackie continued to drop money on losing hands. Once he had seen enough, Mike went and sat down. When Jackie lost all her money and got up from the table, Mike motioned for her to join him.
“Bad night,” Mike said to her, stating the obvious.
“No more than any other night.” Jackie laughed, trying to make light of it.
“Freeze says that you’re good people; that you and your boy are good earners. But you’re here a lot; drop a lot of money.” Mike signaled a waitress for a drink.
“I’d say that was the truth.”
“It’s the way you play,” Mike said nonchalantly.
“What do you mean?”
“I watched you play. I could tell when you had a good hand, and when your cards weren’t shit. I could tell when you were nervous. I could even tell every time you had a strong card, and when you were bluffing.”
“Could you let me in on it, or is it a secret? I lost a lot of money to the house. Your house.”
“No, I don’t mind telling you, Jackie. It’s written all over your face. It’s your eyes, actually.”
Jackie smiled. “So, you were looking at my eyes?”
“You have very pretty eyes, but they betray you every hand. All anyone you’re gambling with has to do is watch your eyes.”
“Anything else?” Jackie asked as the waitress set a glass of Remy Martin VSOP in front of Mike and asked her if she wanted anything.
“Hennessy.”
“You’re reckless and greedy.”
“Reckless and greedy!” Jackie barked, looking very incensed. “What do you mean by that?”
Mike took a sip of his Remy. “Before I answer your question, let me ask you one.”
“Okay, go ahead,” Jackie said excitedly. This was the longest conversation she’d had with Mike, and she planned on dragging it out for as long as she could.
And that voice, hmm. Maybe I gave up on you a bit too soon, Mr. Black, Mike Black.
“Are you trying to make money gambling, or is this just a sport to you?”
“I’m trying to make money, no doubt. But I would be interested in hearing you explain the difference between the two.”
I’d be interested in hearing you explain how grass grows.
“If you have time. I know that you’re a busy man, and I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.”
I can’t believe you said that.
Mike looked at Jackie and let out a little laugh. “If you’re gambling for sport, you really don’t care if you make money or not. You just enjoy the game, the tension, the anticipation, and the camaraderie; that’s sport. But when you’re gambling to make money, then that’s all it’s about … money; fuck all the rest of that shit.”
“From what you see, which one am I?”
“You gamble for the sport of it. That’s what makes you reckless and greedy.” Mike paused and then went on to explain his point. “When you got money sitting in front of you, you make reckless bets, and when you lose, you try to laugh it off, like it’s only money.”
Jackie had to laugh because she knew it was true. “That’s me.”
“You chase the big pots.” Mike paused to emphasize his point. “Greedy. And you chase them with weak hands, and since we already talked about your inability to bluff, that makes you reckless and greedy.”
“Damn,” Jackie said slowly. “You really have been watching me.”
“Watching you lose, Jackie. Watching you lose money to me,” Mike said and sat back in his chair.
“You have any advice for me? Because I really am trying to make money. Yes, I enjoy the game, the tension, the anticipation, the camaraderie, all that good shit, but I need to make money. I ain’t making money like I used to.”
“Then you have to learn some discipline. Get yourself and your emotions under control like you would be when you’re doing a job. And the most important thing is that you know how much money you want to make every time you sit down. When you’re gambling, you’re gonna win some and you’re gonna lose some. But if you’re any type of player, at some poi
nt during the night, you are going to have in front of you the amount of money you wanna make. Get up and say goodnight.”
“Discipline.”
“Jackie, I’ve seen you with ten, fifteen grand in front of you and then watched you lose it all. Discipline. You see, what the house wants is to keep you there and keep you coming back, because sooner or later, you’re gonna lose.”
With that thought in mind, Jackie made a few changes the next time she sat down at the table; changes not only to her look, but to her attitude.
Focus and discipline, baby, because Jackie is here to get paid.
She figured that if they were paying that much attention to her face, she would give them something else to look at. Her new uniform became a tight red leather jumpsuit that zipped up the front, which she opened just far enough to give everybody an excellent view of her cleavage. She even wore a push-up bra to make the twins outstanding.
On this particular night, her attire was a black leather jacket and pants. Jackie had on sunglasses, and her hair hung over the frames. When Travis and Freeze approached her, Jackie was raking in a nice-sized pot. Travis tapped her on the shoulder.
“Jackie.”
“What’s up, Travis?”
“Let me holla at you, Jackie.”
Jackie turned around to look at Travis and saw Freeze standing next to him.
“Hello, Freeze.” Jackie pulled back from the table and stood up. “This must be something important.”
“Of course it is,” Freeze said and looked around the table. “Otherwise I wouldn’t bother you.”
That stopped any grumbles about Jackie leaving before they got started.
Jackie looked down at the money she had in front of her, trying to decide whether she needed to come back.
“Fellas, as much as I’d love to stay here and continue to take your money, I gotta say goodnight.”
Once they were away from the table, Jackie asked, “What’s up?”
“I need you to watch my back,” Freeze replied. “You armed?”
Jackie unbuttoned her jacket and opened both sides to reveal her now signature push-up bra and a 9-millimeter in each holster. “Always armed and extremely dangerous.”
Travis and Jackie followed behind Freeze until he saw Cynt coming toward him. “Where they at, Cynt?” Freeze asked.
Cynt looked around her spot. “There were three of them, but I don’t see them now,” she replied. “No, wait. There they are.”
“Where?”
Cynt pointed them out. “The two of them over by the bar,” she said, and Freeze wasted no time heading in their direction.
Travis and Jackie had to walk quickly to keep up with Freeze. As he walked, Freeze took a gun out of his left pocket and held it close to his side. Travis and Jackie took out their guns and Freeze grabbed a bottle off a table as he passed.
“Hey, mutha fucka!” Freeze yelled over the music.
One of the men turned toward him. At that moment, Freeze smashed the bottle into his face and pointed the barrel of his gun in the face of the other.
“Thought you dumb niggas woulda learned something from last night. Maybe this will convince y’all,” Freeze said as he cocked the hammer.
As Freeze prepared to shoot, he didn’t see the third man, who Cynt had told him about, pulling out his gun. But Jackie did.
“Freeze! Look out!” Jackie yelled. She raised her weapon and fired twice, hitting him in the chest with both shots.
Freeze fired his weapon and killed one of the men. Travis pointed his gun to the head of the man Freeze busted with the bottle.
“No!” Freeze yelled. “Don’t kill him.”
With his gun still pointed at the man’s head, Travis took a step back slowly. Freeze grabbed the man’s shirt with one hand and a bottle with the other.
“You tell D-Train to stay the fuck out my spots!” Freeze yelled and smashed another bottle into his face before dragging him out into the street. “Take those two to the parlor.”
Travis looked at Jackie, who was still standing there with her gun raised. Travis took the gun out of her hand and put his arm around her as they left the spot.
“Don’t worry, Jackie. You did what you had to do.”
Chapter Five
It was after 11 p.m. when Mike and Nick arrived at the airport in Miami. As soon as they got off the plane, Mike turned on his cell phone and it rang.
“I’m at the airport. Where are you?” Bobby asked.
“We just got here. We’re going to rent a car. Meet us there.”
While Mike talked to Bobby, Nick stood by and listened nervously. This would be the first time that he saw Bobby since the night Bobby threatened to kill him. After that night, Nick joined the Army.
And now, here he was standing with Mike, knowing he had no choice but to face Bobby again after all these years. Even though he didn’t think that Bobby would pull out his gun and shoot him on sight, the idea of finally having to confront Bobby made Nick very apprehensive.
Before all the shooting started, he had talked openly about the situation with Shy, more openly than he had with anybody. Shy told him that it was about betrayal.
When Nick betrayed Bobby’s trust, she pointed out, “You said you felt like you betrayed everybody.”
“And?” Nick asked.
“That includes you. You betrayed yourself. And that’s what hurts you,” Shy told Nick. “So, now that you know the whole story, you’re gonna have to forgive yourself for what happened. You were just a pawn in whatever game this woman was playing. Maybe when you forgive yourself, it will be easier for you to ask Bobby to forgive you.” Nick understood that, and he even pretty much agreed with her.
But that was then. Now Shy had been kidnapped, and Bobby was in Miami to help Mike look for her. Nick would have preferred better circumstances to put this Camille business to rest.
Nick felt like a fool carrying this around all these years. It was time for him and Bobby to make peace and finally lay their beef over Camille to rest.
After all, the bitch has been dead for ten fuckin’ years.
When Nick and Mike arrived at the rental car counter, Bobby was already there and had begun the process of renting a car. Mike walked up behind Bobby and tapped him on the shoulder.
“I hope you got a black car.”
Bobby turned around quickly. “No, it’s red,” Bobby replied as he shook Black’s hand. Then he looked at Nick. Bobby nodded his head to acknowledge Nick’s presence before returning his attention to the reservation clerk.
Nick stood back awkwardly and watched as Mike leaned on the counter and whispered to Bobby, who would glance over at him and the two of them would laugh. Nick felt like an outsider.
Once the rental was secured, Mike and Bobby came toward Nick. Mike passed by, but Bobby walked straight up to him.
Nick started, “Look, Bobby, I just wanna say—”
Bobby cut him off. “You can save whatever it is you think you gotta say to me. That shit is over, been over since the day somebody put two bullets in her brain.” Bobby started to walk away, but turned around quickly. “Damn, it’s good to see you, Nick.”
“You ladies coming?” Mike asked.
“Yeah, we’re coming,” Bobby said as he hugged Nick.
Once they were in the car, Mike called Wanda. She told him where he could find the boat Destiny docked. He asked if she was able to find out who the boat was registered to. She informed him that it was registered to somebody named Esperanza Valasquez, and gave Mike her address.
“You heard from Freeze?”
“Yes, but I’ll explain that to you when I see you,” Wanda replied.
When they arrived at the place where Destiny was docked, Nick took a look around the area and could see one man standing guard on deck with an AK.
“I can pick him off from here,” Nick told Mike and Bobby.
“Bullshit,” Bobby said quietly, not wanting to attract any attention.
“Go ahead,” Mike said wit
h a laugh as Nick put a silencer on his gun and took aim with his .45. He fired one shot and hit the guard in the head.
Mike turned to Nick with a very serious look. “Why couldn’t you save Cassandra?”
“She pours a mean drink.”
“She sure does,” Mike said quietly, dropped his head a little and started for the boat.
Even though he was doing his best not to show it, this shit was fuckin’ with Mike, and it was fuckin’ with him bad. No matter how he felt about it, he had to remain calm and strong. But it wasn’t easy. He couldn’t blame Nick for what happened. The only one he could blame was himself. He should have been there.
If I hadn’t lost my mind when Cassandra said that she would rather go to jail, then I would have been there to save her, instead of being off somewhere pouting like some spoiled fuckin’ child.
The worst part of it was that he felt so helpless. Well, at least now he was doing something. Mike wanted to scream, to hit somebody, to hurt somebody, to cause somebody pain. Mike wanted to kill somebody. He made a vow then to kill everybody involved, no matter how long it took.
When they got on the deck, Nick checked the pulse of the man he’d shot. “He’s dead,” he said and began to drag the man below.
“You sure this time? I mean, he ain’t gonna get up and kidnap me later, is he?” Bobby asked.
“Stop fuckin’ with him, Bobby. He probably feels bad enough already,” Mike said.
“Oh, it’s all right when you fuck with him, huh?” Bobby asked as they went below.
When Bobby opened the door with his gun drawn, he found two men. Julio was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, and another man was seated in the chair next to him. As soon as he saw Bobby come through the door with his gun pointed at him, the man stood up and raised his hands.
“Please don’t kill me.”
Nick patted down the man to be sure that he wasn’t armed, then took a look around the room and left to check the rest of the boat. Mike stepped up to the man.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Carlton, Daniel Carlton. I’m a doctor. I was brought here by force to treat this man.”
