by Roy Glenn
Bobby and Mike rolled up in front of Cynt’s house, got out and went inside. There were two doors; one that led upstairs to the offices. Entry to that area is controlled by card key. The other door led to the bar area, which also featured erotic dancers on a small stage, but private shows were available. The gambling was run from the basement. They were met at the door by security, dressed neatly in blue double-breasted suits and white shirts. Ties were optional. There were new guys on the door who knew Mike and Bobby only by their reputations. After verifying their identity, Mike entered the house. Bobby stayed outside to talk with security before going in.
Once inside, Mike stopped to look around. Not much had changed in the last four years. Some of the old regulars are still regulars. Mike recognized most of the dancers from their appearances in the female revue at Impressions. He asked one of the dancers if Cynt was in the house, then he saw Sammy behind the bar, still pouring.
“Sammy, how you doing?” Mike said approaching the bar.
“Damn, Black! I ain’t seen you in years. Where’s … Bobby! I knew you couldn’t be far behind. Black drag you out the house?”
“What you talking about, Sammy?” Bobby said sitting down at the bar.
“Freeze says your wife got you on lock down, Bobby.”
“She does. But I can always get him out,” Mike said. Bobby continued to talk with Sammy while Mike looked around the room. Like a magnet, he was drawn toward to the stage. Dancing on stage was a tall woman with beautiful dark skin that he had never noticed before. He lost himself in the seductive manner in which she moved her hips. She reminded him of Shy. Mike stood for a while, watching, staring. He gave the dancer a hundred-dollar bill as a tip.
Mike decided to call Freeze to get an update on the search. He went to get the phone from Bobby, who was about to answer it.
“This is Bobby.”
“Bobby, Black still with you?”
“Hold up. Here he comes now.” He handed Mike the phone and told him it was Freeze. “What’s up, Freeze. You got her yet?”
“No, but I’m on her trail. I know where she’ll be in an hour. She’s trying to put a deal together. I’ll pick her up there. Jap’s going to meet me there, and I’ll turn her over to him. Where y’all at?”
“At Cynt’s.”
“Yo, Black, tell Bobby to watch Cynt. She says the next time she sees him she’s gonna slap the shit out of him.”
“I’ll tell him. You call me when you got her,” Mike said as he hung up the phone. Mike looked around for Bobby. He saw him going up the stairs to the offices. He returned to the bar. Sammy waved Mike on.
“Black, come here man. Do you remember the last time you were here?”
“Sure. I gave you a bottle of Remy Martin Napoleon.”
“That’s right. We had a few shots. And what did I tell you?”
“I think you said you were going to save it and only drink it … when you see me. Don’t tell me you still have that bottle?”
“It’s in the back. I’ll be right back.” Sammy went to the storeroom to get the bottle. Just then a guy walked up behind Mike and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, man, you’re in my seat!” Mike put his hand in his pocket and turned around slowly. “And what happened to my drink? I left a drink sittin’ right there.” Mike stood up with his right hand still in his pocket.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t see you sitting there. As soon as Sammy gets back, he’ll get you another drink.” Mike turned to walk away, but the man walked up and grabbed Mike by the arm. “No. You gonna buy me a drink.”
Mike shook his head. He put his hand on the gun. “Look, man. I am not having a good day. So, take your hand off me. I’m not gonna ask you again.”
“What you gonna do …”
Before he could finish Mike grabbed the man by the throat. Mike pushed him against the bar and put his gun to the man’s head. “I did ask nice, didn’t I?”
“Yo, man, I’m sorry man. Please don’t kill me. Please, man, I’m sorry.”
Sammy returned from the storeroom. The room was still as all eyes were on Mike.
“It was a little dusty, but I’m sure it’s still … Oh, my God. Tommy! Black, whatever he did he didn’t mean it. Please don’t kill him,” Sammy pleaded. Mike looked at Sammy then let Tommy go and put his gun away.
“This is Vicious Black?” Tommy said as he backed away clutching his throat.
“Told you to be careful about who you fuck with. That man woulda killed you, Tommy.”
“The night is still young,” Mike said as he sat back down.
Sammy poured Mike a glass of Napoleon then poured himself one. “Brother says he had a drink sittin’ here.”
“That’s just his hustle, Black. He gets people to buy him drinks that way. He just chose poorly tonight,” Sammy said, as he and Mike raised their glasses. “That sure reminded me of the old days. Things sure used to be wild up in here.”
“I remember them days too, Sammy. I kinda miss them sometimes. I can’t believe you saved this for four years. It sure is smooth. Pour me another and pour one for Bobby.”
“Better just take the bottle just in case Cynt want one. I been keeping it a secret from her, so don’t tell her I had it.”
Mike took the bottle and headed upstairs to Cynt’s office. On the way up, he considered the fact that he almost shot a man because he grabbed his arm. However, that wasn’t the reason. The reason was Shy.
A little before ten o’clock E pulled up and parked across the street from a building on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The building looked empty, but there was one man standing outside. He approached the car and told them to follow him inside the building. Freeze arrived on the viaduct down the block in time to see Shy and her associates enter the building. Freeze looked around for Jap. He was nowhere in sight. After they entered the building, Freeze saw movement across the street.
Meanwhile, Mike entered Cynt’s office, finding her seated behind her desk. She smiled when she saw him. She got up and gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “What’s up, Mr. Black? I was wondering whether you were coming to say hello to me.”
“How you been, Cynt? Can I offer you a drink?”
“You sure can. What’s this?” Cynt looked at the bottle. “Remy Napoleon. I’m impressed. What’s the occasion?”
“I knew I was going to see you,” he replied as he sat down. “I thought Bobby was up here?”
“He went to get something out of the car. He’ll be right back,” Cynt replied as the phone rang. “This is Cynthia.”
“Yeah, it’s Freeze. Is Black with you?”
“He’s right here. Hold on.” She handed the phone to Mike. “It’s Freeze.”
“What’s up?”
“Yo, Black, I’m on her. She just went inside to handle her business.”
“Good. Jap there?”
“Not yet. But there’s something going on out here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Looks like somebody setting up an ambush. See the crew she’s meetin’ with is at war with some white boys over some stupid shit. Word is, they doing the deal with Shy to get money to buy more weapons. Hold up. Here comes Jap.” Freeze turned to Jap. “Yo, Jap, go over there so you can get a better angle on that crew across the street.”
Bobby tried to re-enter the building through the front door. Much to his surprise, the door was locked. Bobby banged on the door. The door opened and Bobby started to walk in, but the man on the door stopped him.
“We’re closed.” And slammed the door.
“Closed at ten o’clock?” Bobby knew that something must be wrong. Bobby looked inside and saw that there were two different men standing in the doorway. Bobby knew that neither of them worked there because they weren’t dressed right. There was no way of knowing how many of them there were, so he didn’t want to bust in and start shooting. Bobby went back to his car and opened the trunk. He returned to the door armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a hunting knife. Bobby kicked in the
door, catching them off guard. He hit one in the face with the shotgun. Bobby grabbed the other before he could get through the door. Bobby took out the knife and stabbed him in the back then used his card key to gain access to the offices.
“Yo, Black, it’s cool. They’re coming out now,” Freeze said, as Shy came out of the building.
“Cool. Why don’t you meet us down here?”
“Oh shit, Black! Boys across the street just opened up. Shy looks okay, but she’s pinned down behind a car. It doesn’t look like anybody’s shooting at them. They’re just caught in the crossfire. It’s pretty bad down there. What you want me to do?”
“Shit!” Mike thought for a second. “Do what you can to help her. But do not put yourself or the organization at risk in any way. You understand?”
“Understood. We can lay down some cover fire. That should give them time to make it to their car.”
“All right. Do what you can.” Just then, Mike heard the sound of women screaming coming from downstairs. “I gotta go, Freeze, there’s something going on here. Remember, no risk.” Mike hung up the phone as Bobby came into the office.
“Yo, Jap. Lay down some cover on that side. Aim high. We only want to draw their fire long enough for them to get clear.” Freeze and Jap started to fire and as expected they drew fire from both sides of the street. Still hiding behind a car, Jack noticed that there was no longer any shooting overhead. He looked around and saw that everyone was shooting in the other direction. “Shy! Now’s our chance. While they’re shooting over there.”
“Okay, let’s go!” shouted Shy. “Stay low!”
“Y’all go. I’ll cover you!” E yelled. Shy ran out from behind the car. Jack moved out behind her. Freeze saw them start to move out. “About time. Jap, let’s go.”
Jack made it to the car, got behind the wheel, and started the car. Shy jumped in the back seat. Jack turned the car around to pick up E. Once Freeze and Jap stopped shooting, both sides began shooting at each other. Once again, they were in the line of fire. E rose up, firing in all directions. Shy rolled down her window and fired to give E cover. Jack slowed down long enough for E to jump in the car. With everybody safely aboard, Jack floored it, rounded the corner and sped away, right past Jap.
Jap smiled and said, “Like taking candy from a baby,” starting up his car and falling in behind them.
“Bobby! What’s going on downstairs?” Mike asked drawing both of his guns.
“I’m not sure, but I think we’re being robbed.” Bobby told Mike what happened at the door. Bobby gave the shotgun to Cynt and cocked his Glock.
“Cynt, lock the door behind us,” Mike said. Then he and Bobby left her office.
“I’ll go back down to the front, Mike.”
“I’ll give you enough time to get set before I move.”
“Don’t you wanna synchronize watches or something?”
“I don’t have a watch. But you’ll know when to go.”
“Yeah right,” Bobby said as he went back to the front door.
Mike moved slowly down the steps. The door to the gambling area was open, and there was no sign of security. He moved around to the archway, which led to the bar area. Mike peeked around the corner. He saw that two men were covering the area. One by the door and the one closest to him was standing by the stage. Mike slammed the door to the gambling area to prevent whoever was down there from hearing the shooting, not to mention leaving with his money. It got the attention of both men in the bar area. They turned and started toward the archway. Bobby came through the door firing. With their attention diverted, he had no problem picking one off. Seeing his partner shot, the man who was by the stage fired on Bobby. As he turned, Bobby caught him with a shot in the chest. Bobby shot the man twice as he walked by. “In case you thought about living.”
Bobby came through the archway. Mike was watching the door to the gambling area.
“Thanks for your help, Mike,” Bobby said sarcastically as he reloaded.
“Didn’t want to give whoever’s down there a chance to get away. Besides, there were only two of them. You didn’t need any help.”
“How many of them are down there?”
“How should I know?”
“You ready?” Bobby asked. Mike nodded. “Then let’s go.”
Mike and Bobby moved to opposite sides of the door leading downstairs. Mike opened the door slowly. There was nobody at the door. They started slowly down the steps. Once they reached the bottom of the steps, they found security tied up and all their patrons on their knees. There were three men, two of whom had their guns pointed at the heads of the female hostages. Mike fired one shot to the head of the one who didn’t have a hostage.
“Hey, man! Don’t come any closer or we’ll kill them!”
“Go ahead. I don’t know them ho’s. Either way, you ain’t leaving here alive,” Mike said, moving closer to them.
“All right. We’ll let them go, if you let us walk.”
Bobby laughed as he continued to move closer. “You ain’t listening asshole. You’re not leaving here.” Both Mike and Bobby were at point blank range. Both men slowly released their hostages. The women ran to safety.
“Thank you. Now drop your weapons and get down on your knees,” Mike said.
They followed his instructions. Once they were on their knees, Mike walked up to them and kicked their guns out of the way. Mike stood in between the two, raised his guns, and shot both of them. Bobby untied security, while Mike apologized to his customers.
“Sorry for the trouble everybody. It’s been one of those days.”
“That’s right,” Bobby said. “So, the drinks are on him.”
CHAPTER TEN
It was just before midnight on Friday and it was pouring rain. Freeze dropped Mike off at his house and he ran to get out of the rain. The rain had drenched him from head to toe. He took off his wet clothes, put on a black silk robe, poured himself a shot of Remy and relaxed with The Miles Davis Quintet. He sat reflecting over the events of the last couple of days.
It had been a good day. Nothing like the night before. Mike spent the morning overseeing the repairs to Cynt’s. The damage was minor; some broken tables and chairs. He spent the afternoon and evening with Bobby and Freeze. First, they met at Cuisine for lunch to talk about the robbery attempt. Freeze took personal responsibility for the breakdown in security. After lunch, they went to each of their operations and reviewed the security procedures. There were changes made to prevent it from happening again.
Being so busy all day gave him very little time to think about Shy. Mike did, however, break down and call her at home a few times. There was no answer, so he didn’t leave a message. Mike still wondered why he hadn’t heard from her. He knew that she too had a busy night and a business to run, so he tried not to let it bother him. If he had only checked his messages or talked with his secretary, he would have his answer. The phone rang and Mike answered it.
“Hello.”
“Black, this is Jap. I’m sorry to bother you, but are you expecting company?”
“Why?”
“Because it looks like Shy is on her way to your house. She camped outside your mom’s house for a while then she saw Larry. She got out and ran him down. They talked for a while then she got back in her B’mer, and now she’s headed straight for you.”
“How long, Jap?”
“She should be on your door in five minutes.”
“All right. Stay with her ‘til she gets here. Then you go find Larry and step on his neck. Don’t hurt him. Just let him know that ain’t cool. Then you get some rest.” Mike hung up the phone. The mention of her name excited him. The fact that she was on her way was almost overwhelming. Mike walked around the house straightening up. Although he told Jap to deal with Larry for telling Shy where he lived, he was very happy that he did. He would have to do something nice for Larry. Now that everything appeared to be in order, Mike sat back down, picked up a book, Player No More, and turned Miles up a little
louder. What would he say to her? Would he play hard about her not calling? The doorbell rang. Mike waited for a second before getting up to answer the door. He walked slowly to the door and opened it. There was Shy, dressed once again in black. A leather jacket, with a leather skirt. She was soaking wet.
“Hi. Can I come in?” Shy said with a smile.
“I really don’t like unannounced visitors, but in your case, I’ll make an exception.” He stepped aside, and Shy came in. He closed the door and turned back to Shy. When he turned, she threw both arms around him and kissed him. Mike dropped the book to the floor and put his arms around Shy. He kissed her lips and then down to her neck. Shy stepped out of her shoes. They stopped to breathe, but only for a second.
“You should get out of those wet things.”
“I plan to.”
Mike took a step back and zipped down her jacket as they continued kissing. Shy wore only a black lace bra under her jacket. He slipped her jacket slowly off her shoulders allowing it to fall to the floor. He paused to admire her beauty. Shy pulled open his robe and ran her hands across his bare chest and kissed his nipples.
“Why didn’t you call me back?” Shy asked, while she kissed his chest.
Mike ran his fingers through her wet hair. “Call you back? I’ve been calling you for two days. Why didn’t you call me?” Mike asked, kissing his way down to her neck and then biting her gently on the shoulder.
“Ahh. I lost your number, so I called you at Cuisine.”
As soon as she got the words out, Mike kissed her on her lips again. Shy began to untie Mike’s robe. “I haven’t checked messages in two days,” Mike said, pulling her closer and kissing her on the lips, then on her neck.
“I thought you were avoiding me. I’m sorry,” Shy mumbled, while Mike kissed the exposed areas of her chest. Shy slid Mike’s robe off of his shoulders.
“I’m sorry too. I was sure you were avoiding me,” Mike said, standing before her naked and rock hard.
Shy stood back and looked him up and down. She tipped her head to the side and said with a straight face.
