by Roy Glenn
I looked at Rain. She stepped up quickly and punched Watson in the mouth. “What I say about talking, huh? You don’t say a mutha fuckin’ thing, unless I mutha fuckin’ tell you to!” she said and hit him again.
“You had your chance to pay Howard. You had your chance to pay the two gentlemen I sent to talk to you last week, but you ducked out on them and then you sent that asshole to rough-up Howard’s brother and take a shot at him. That’s why he’s lying there dead now. When you shoot, shoot to kill not scare!” I said to the dead man.
“You don’t owe that money to Howard anymore. Now you owe me. So here’s what’s gonna happen. I own ten percent of your business. Tomorrow morning I’m gonna send the same two men around to your office at ten o’clock and you’re gonna be there to meet them. You’re gonna give them the money you owe, including the interest and they’re gonna give you some papers to sign. Sign them. The next morning another man will be there. He is my representative; he’ll explain how things are gonna work. The good news is you still run the company, but you don’t do shit unless you talk to him first. Do we have a deal, or do I have to kill your wife?”
Watson didn’t answer at first; he just looked at Rain. Mrs. Watson nudged her husband. Rain laughed a little and nodded her head. “We have a deal,” Watson said and dropped his head.
“Smart man. Do what I say, and you’ll live a lot longer and you’ll make a lot more money,” I said and got up. “By the way, if you even think about calling the cops and saying anything about our deal, I promise you that you will get to watch me kill your wife and those two kids, before I cut your head off. Do we have an understanding?”
Watson looked at Rain again for permission to speak. When she nodded her head, Watson said, “Yes, I understand.”
We left the Watson’s tied up with a dead body in the middle of their living room floor. Once we got back to the car and drove away, Rain turned to me.
“Let’s get a room and fuck.”
Chapter 31
I rolled out of bed and quickly got in the shower. When I was finished I got dressed. While I put my clothes on, I looked at Rain lying naked on the bed.
“I gotta go,” I said and ran my hand along her hip and down her thigh.
“You got a woman, don’t you?” Rain asked without looking up.
“Yes.”
“Go handle your business.” Rain rolled over on her back, spread her legs, and made it just that much harder for me to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“You will,” I said and rushed out of there.
It was after two in the morning when I unlocked the door to Wanda’s house. On the way there, I ran through several scenarios in my mind. Trying to prepare my answers to whatever questions Wanda was going to throw at me.
The reason men get caught cheating is that they don’t have their story straight and can’t remember what story they told when they did, so the story always changes. Men think of their excuse on the way home, like I had done.
It’s different with a woman. Before a woman leaves the house, she has her story down-pat, her alibi in place, and her answers ready for the few questions we men do ask. And her story never changes. No matter how many holes it may have, that’s her story and she’ll stick to it, sometimes even when there is evidence to the contrary.
Wanda was asleep when I slipped into the bedroom. I looked at her lying there on her side, in a black silk gown and then thought about Rain lying naked in almost the same position. I got undressed quietly and even though I had just taken one, I got in the shower. I always took a shower before I got in bed with Wanda, and that night wasn’t the night I was going to break that tradition.
I stood in the shower and lathered up from head to toe to get the smell and feel of motel soap off of me. As the water rolled off my body, I gave some thought to the fact that this was the first time I had been with another woman since Wanda and I had been together.
Part of that was Wanda, being insanely jealous, went out of her way to keep women away from me. But the other part was that I was, and I guess still am, happy with the relationship and the sex we have. So if that’s the case, why did I spend the last two nights fuckin’ Rain? And why was I thinking about fuckin’ her fine young-ass again tomorrow?
I didn’t have an answer, so I got out of the shower.
When I slid in between the sheets, Wanda began to stir. “Hi, babe,” Wanda said quietly and rolled closer to me.
“Hi. Sorry I woke you.”
“That’s all right. I would have been mad if you didn’t,” Wanda said and started kissing me.
While we made love, thoughts and images of Rain popped in my mind, as they did with Wanda while I was inside Rain. But instead of forcing them out of my mind, I focused on them.
Rain likes to masturbate in front of me, and I gotta admit it sets me the fuck off. If Wanda did masturbate, and I’m sure she does, I’ve never seen it, and doubt seriously if I ever will. And I’m cool with that. There is so much more to Wanda than just her sex.
But I could make the same argument about Rain. Granted, it would be a different argument because they are two completely different women. Wanda was a corporate lawyer with gangster impulses. Rain was all gangster; all the time. And there was definitely more to her then just her fat ass and those juicy nipples. The way she handled the Watson’s was impressive. Rain was impressive.
Handle your business. I’ll see you tomorrow.
When I woke up and looked at the clock, it was almost noon. I looked around the room and was surprised to see Wanda sitting in the chair across from the bed.
Now it comes.
“Good morning,” she said as soon as I made eye contact with her.
“Morning, Wanda,” I yawned and closed my eyes.
“Did you sleep well?”
“Very.” I wanted to ask her what she was still doing there, or why hadn’t she gone to the office, but there was no rush. Wanda would get to her purpose for being there soon enough.
“How did it go with Watson?”
“By now Jap and Kenny should be at your office with the papers.”
“That’s good. Controlling that company will put us in a better position to bid on steel contracts.”
“I’m happy when my work makes your job easier.”
“It will also make us more money, so your work pays you back in the long run.”
“Good to know,” I said and rolled over.
“How’d your meeting go with Mike?”
“Fine.”
“Did he talk to you about what Angelo wanted?”
“Did Angelo want something?”
Wanda hesitated. “He came by the club the other night.”
“Which club?”
“Cuisine. Mike said he’s been inviting Angelo to Cuisine since it opened and then he just showed up there.”
“Maybe he was just in the neighborhood.”
“Or it could be something important.”
“I’m sure if it was important he would have mentioned it to you.”
“I don’t think so. Lately he’s been saying that it doesn’t look right for me to be in my position and be advising a criminal organization.”
“He’s right.”
“I know.”
“I mean you’re the one dragging him kicking and screaming to that side of the house.”
“He hasn’t even been kicking and screaming.”
“Black likes to make money, bottom line. You showed him the money and he’s moving that way. Isn’t that what you wanted?”
“Yes. But I still feel so left out.”
“You’ll be all right.”
“That’s what he says.”
“He’s right, you will.”
“So who was that woman with you?”
Now it comes.
My first instinct was to say; what woman? But I know who she’s talking about and she knows I know who she’s talking about. Me asking what woman would only piss her off and send this conversation down t
he road to perceived denial and deception. No, take it head on.
“That was Rain Robinson.”
“Who is she, Nick?”
“She’s J.R. Robinson’s daughter.”
“What were you doing having dinner with her?”
“She’s helping me find who killed Zakiya Phillips.”
“Who?”
“The woman who was killed at Paradise Fish and Chicken. You remember I told you that Black wanted me to look into it.”
“Yeah, but I’m sure he wasn’t expecting you to waste a lot of time on it.”
“Black told me that he didn’t want people thinking that now that Freeze is dead that they could just hit our spots and we don’t do nothing about it.”
“I understand that, but we’ve got plenty of people that could handle that mess.”
“That’s true. But he wants me to establish myself, handle things personally.”
“What does you handling things personally have to do with you having dinner with her?”
“Nothing. How many men do you have lunch and dinner with?”
“That’s business.”
“So is this.”
“How?”
“I told you, she’s helping me find the guys that murdered Zakiya Phillips.”
“What is she, a private detective?” Wanda asked sarcastically. “How is she helping you?”
“My sources say that some of J.R.’s people were involved in it.”
“And?”
“I went to see J.R. and talked to him about it and he assured me that he didn’t know anything about it. But since he doesn’t want any bad blood with Black, he told Rain to help me find who did it.”
Wanda folded her arms across her chest and that pouty look came over her face; which meant that at least for the time being, I had successfully held her off. “I still don’t like you having dinner with her.”
“What’s wrong with it? We were hungry, so we ate. And if you want to get technical about it, we didn’t have dinner together. She ate while I talked to Black and then she sat and watched me eat. But you already know that,” I said and made a mental note to keep Rain out of all of our spots. Wanda had eyes everywhere, and I needed to know who they are.
I had to ask myself as Wanda got up and got ready to leave, if that meant I planned on Rain being around for a while?
The answer was yes.
“When am I gonna see you again?” Wanda asked.
“I’ll see you tonight,” I promised as my cell phone rang.
Wanda looked at me.
I looked at her.
The phone rang again.
“Aren’t you gonna answer it?”
I got out of bed and got the phone from my pants pocket. I looked at the display, but I didn’t recognize the number.
I looked at Wanda again and her eyes narrowed.
“Hello.”
“You busy?” Rain asked.
“Yes.”
“Tell your woman I said hello,” Rain suggested.
“No.”
“Yeah, well, I know where we can find the two niggas you looking for. But I don’t know how long they gonna be in play, so if you want them we need to get them now.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the hotel where you left me, nigga. Come get me and let’s go get these niggas.”
“I’m on my way,” I said and ended the call.
“Who was that?”
“That was Rain.”
“What does she want?”
“She’s got a line on the guys I’m looking for,” I said and headed for the shower. The next sound I heard was Wanda slamming the door.
The first round went to me. But I knew as long as I kept seeing Rain that Wanda would be back at me and this fight would continue.
When I picked up Rain, she told me that the bandits were holed up in some apartments in the south Bronx.
“How’d you find out where to find them?”
“Because niggas talk.”
“What you mean?”
“I mean last night they were talking about it.”
“To who?”
“Damn, why I gotta give up all that?”
“To who?”
“Like I said, last night at a strip club in Manhattan that a friend of mine dances at; she said this guy was bragging to her that he was a robber, and this and that, and that he’s robbed everything from banks to fish and chicken joints for small change. He does it for the rush, not the money. But she says he was flashing plenty of money. So she asks him if he ever killed anybody. He said if the money is right. Then he said, sometimes the robbing is just to cover the hit.”
“That’s all you got?”
“It’s more than you got.”
“They your people?”
“No, but I know some people that know them.”
“I hate to even have to ask you this, but this ain’t more of your personal shit, is it?”
“I hate you gotta ask me that shit too. I thought we were past that; especially after last night. If I needed you to go down with me on some shit, I would tell you. So no,” Rain said with an attitude. “This is not more of my personal shit.”
“Sorry.”
“Accepted.”
When we got to the building, we went inside. On the way up the steps Rain asked, “How you wanna do this?”
“I don’t know, but I want them alive. If these are the guys, and the robbery was just to cover the hit, I want to know who hired them.”
“Then we’ll kill them.” Rain smiled.
When we got to their floor, we could hear somebody blasting their music. As we got closer to the apartment, it was obvious that the music was coming from there.
Rain and I stood off to the side of the door with our guns out and I banged on it a few times, but nobody answered.
“Kick it in,” Rain suggested.
I tried the doorknob instead.
The door was unlocked.
“That works too,” she commented as I opened the door and went in carefully. The fact that the door was opened, and the music was playing didn’t give me a good feeling.
“Stay close to me,” I whispered to Rain as we moved through the apartment.
When we got to the bedroom I opened the door slowly, halfway expecting to catch somebody fuckin’.
“Damn,” I said and walked in the room.
Rain came in behind me. “Shit.”
There before us in the bed lay two naked men; one with long dreads. They weren’t fuckin’, they were dead.
“From the looks of it, somebody got them with an automatic weapon.”
“So was the music to cover them fuckin’ or to cover the sound of the shooting?” Rain asked.
“I don’t know, probably both.” I walked over to the bed and tried to get a feel for how long they had been dead.
“This happened sometime this morning.”
“How do you know?”
“Rigor mortis has begun to set in. It begins about three hours after death and lasts about seventy-two hours.”
“That’s nice, but how do you know this?”
“Rigor mortis is caused by a chemical change in the muscles after death, causing the limbs of the corpse to become stiff. Come here, feel this.”
“Oh, hell no. Let’s get outta here,” Rain said and left the room.
I followed her out of the bedroom and closed the door behind me, but we weren’t leaving yet. “Search the place.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Anything.”
“Anything?”
We turned down the music and quickly searched the apartment looking for anything that confirmed that these were actually the men who shot Zakiya, or who paid them to do it. We didn’t find anything.
Once again, I was back to square one and wondering how much more time I was gonna put into this. All I really had was a picture that she took at J.R.’s and some e-mail that could have been sent by anybody who worked at the club. I s
till felt that Nice N. Slow could be Miles. What I needed was to get a picture of him so I could show it to the people at Paradise.
“Where you going?” Rain asked.
“I’m taking you to the club.”
“Good. I need to pick up my car; tired of you leaving me stranded and shit.” Rain ran her hand across my thigh and down to my crotch. “Unless you wanna go get a room first.”
It was after five when we left the room. I drove Rain to the club and hoped Miles would still be there. I got lucky. When we pulled up in the parking lot, Miles was just coming out of the building.
Rain got out of the car quickly and stopped Miles before he got to his car. I got out of the car, got a small camera out of the trunk and snapped a few shots of Miles. I spent the next couple of hours with Rain before I told her that I had to go.
Chapter 32
Mike Black
“Monika is on the phone for you, boss,” Kevon said and handed me the phone.
“What’s up, Monika?
“I got something for you. Any way you can drop by here to see it?”
“I’m on my way,” I told Monika and Kevon drove in that direction.
When we got to her apartment, Kevon turned off the car and turned to me. “You want me to come with you, boss?”
I thought for a minute. “Yeah, I think you should.”
We went inside the building and up to her apartment. When Monika opened the door, she looked surprised to see Kevon standing there with me.
“Come on in,” Monika said and walked away from the door. When Kevon closed the door, Monika turned around. “Your friend isn’t coming in with you?”
“He waits at the door for me. Makes sure no one comes in on me.”
Monika laughed. “Believe me, I got so much firepower in here that you’ll be safe.”
“So I heard. One day we’ll have to have a conversation about you and your skills.”
“Be sure that you do. I’d be very interested to hear what you have in mind for my skills,” Monika said in a way that told me that I could fuck her right now. But I was there for business.
“What you got for me?”
“You were right. Eileen McManus is the key to everything.”
