by Roy Glenn
“Excuse me, Freeze. Travis is here to see you. Do you want me to show him to the office?”
“No, that’s all right, Diane. I’ll go over there and talk to him.” Freeze paused for a second. “One more thing, Diane. Start enforcing the old dress code. I’ll make sure you have security up there to back you up.”
“You’re the boss,” Diane said and walked away.
No, the boss just left.
Freeze got up and walked toward the table where Travis was sitting. “What’s up, y’all?” Freeze said as he took a seat.
“What’s up, Freeze?” Travis reached in his coat for the envelope containing the money he had for Freeze.
“No,” Freeze said quickly in anticipation of what Travis was about to do. “Meet me at Cynt’s in two hours. We’ll talk there. And from now on, when you need to see me, call me and I’ll tell you when and where to meet me. Understood?” Freeze said and moved on to the next table.
“What’s up with that?” Ronnie asked.
“How should I know?” Travis replied. “We’ll just meet him at Cynt’s in two hours. I’m sure you two won’t mind, since that’s probably where y’all were goin’ anyway. Spend some of that money. I know it’s burning a hole your pockets,” he said as he got up and started for the door.
“Shit, like that wasn’t where you were goin’,” Jackie said as she followed Travis and Ronnie to the door.
Four hours later, Freeze still hadn’t arrived at Cynt’s, and it really didn’t seem to matter. Cynt’s was the kind of place where you went to escape. Cynt’s was the kind of place where you went to indulge all of your passions, no matter what they were. You could be or do anything you wanted, as long as it didn’t hurt or bother anybody. Liquor, gambling, and of course, you could experience the pleasures of the women in the house. Cynt’s was a place where fantasies did come true.
Travis sat at a table in the corner of the room where Freeze always sat when he was at Cynt’s. While he waited for Freeze to arrive, a dancer who called herself Mystique was entertaining Travis. She was a tall woman with beautiful, dark eyes and deep caramel skin. Travis had never noticed her on any of his other visits to Cynt’s, although she’d been there every time. He sat, watching her dance, and losing himself in the seductive movements of her hips.
Maybe it’s time to quit.
He couldn’t escape the thought that their run was over and it was time to get out. Mistakes on the job, Murray holding out on the money, and now Freeze wanting to talk. No matter how he turned it, it still came up the same way. Travis was sure of what the flaws were in his plan. First off, he confirmed what he already knew: he never created a contingency plan if anything went wrong in the store. It wasn’t the tight timeline, it was his failure to plan for the manager having a weapon, and his lack of contingency planning once the alarm was triggered.
There was one other factor that Travis had to consider. Had he given Ronnie too many crucial responsibilities in the execution of the job? Jackie had only one primary responsibility, secure the objective, whereas Ronnie had several tasks to complete that were vital to the successful execution of the job. Ronnie had to disable the security cameras, disarm and immobilize the security guard, and disable the security system. And after all that, Ronnie still had to cut and remove the glass and remove the pieces without triggering the alarm.
Why did he assign Ronnie all the vital responsibilities? Was he putting too much on Ronnie? Knowing Ronnie’s personality, was it more than he could handle? Maybe it was only because Jackie was a better getaway driver. Or maybe he didn’t think Jackie could handle the responsibilities. He wondered if he should create contingency plans that allowed for Ronnie’s adrenaline junky personality.
Ronnie was right about one thing: Travis was beginning to second-guess himself. And that wasn’t good. Maybe it’s time to quit?
“Yo, Travis!” Jackie yelled, snapping Travis out of the trance that his thoughts and Mystique had placed him in.
“What?”
“Where this nigga at?” Jackie inquired. “We been around here all this time and Freeze still ain’t showed.”
“So, you in a hurry or something?”
“No.”
“If you got something to do, then bounce and go handle it. But it’s all good here in this little corner of the world,” Travis said to Jackie without taking his eyes off Mystique as she continued to move her body.
Jackie looked at Mystique, who cast her spell upon her as well. “Yeah, I see,” she said slowly. “But check this out. Me and Ronnie were talkin’ about havin’ a little set this weekend. You know, throw some meat on the grill, invite some ladies over. We’ll be sure to invite this lovely lady here if you want. You down?”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m for all that.”
“Good,” Jackie said as she got up to go to the gambling area. “’Cause it’s your turn, so the party’s at your house. Cool?”
“Like I said, whatever,” Travis said and lost himself in Mystique once again.
It wasn’t too long after that when Freeze appeared before him. “Mind if I join you?” Freeze asked as he took a seat next to Travis.
“This is your spot. I was just keeping it warm until you got here,” Travis answered.
“Yo, Mystique. Why don’t you give us a minute?”
“No problem, Freeze,” Mystique said as she picked up her clothes and disappeared into the crowd.
“You got something for me?” Freeze asked, holding out his hand.
Travis handed Freeze the envelope. “It’s only twelve-five. Murray nutted up on me.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I need to talk to you about. During the job, Ronnie accidentally tripped an alarm and we had to deal with a couple of rental cops.”
“Any police action?”
“Yeah, that too. They followed us away from the scene, but Jackie lost them. Anyway, Murray heard about the gun-play and the police involvement and told me that the stuff from inside the store would be harder to get rid of because of that.”
“Did he come correct on the diamonds?”
“All that was cool. And I was able to get a little more from him on store items.”
“Murray’s a slippery fuck, but he’s right. Nobody in town is gonna want to fuck with the shit from the store.”
“That’s what he said. Said he’d have to sell them outside the country. But I wanted you to know about the police involvement just in case anything came of it.”
“I’ll let my people know what’s up. But you, Travis, you need to start keepin’ a tighter reign over that wild-ass nigga Ronnie. He gonna get y’all killed one day.”
“I can handle Ronnie, Freeze. You don’t have to worry about him,” Travis insisted, even though he had the same thought. “I got him.”
“Make damn sure that you do. ’Cause if one of his wild man stunts puts this organization or me in jeopardy, I’ll kill him myself. Believe that.
“Now, what I just said, it ain’t got nothing to do with you. I got nothing but respect for you. You’re a smart man and you’re runnin’ a tight operation, but that nigga is dead weight on the ship.”
“I hear what you’re sayin’, Freeze. But me and Ronnie go too far back for me to cut him loose. Not over no little shit like this.”
“I appreciate you being loyal to the muthafucka. Loyalty is important, especially in this game. We value loyalty above all else. Just make sure you got him in check or I’ll do it for you. That’s all I’m sayin’. But like I said, understand that won’t have anything to do with you. It’s just business.”
“I understand,” Travis said and looked over at the table where Ronnie was sitting. He watched as Ronnie got up and followed one of the dancers away from the table. Travis lost sight of him in the crowd.
“But for now, relax. Enjoy all of the pleasures that the house got to offer.” With that, Freeze raised his hand and snapped his finger. Not only did Mystique return to the table, three other dancers also responded to
Freeze’s motion.
“Do four women always come when you call?” Travis asked and Freeze laughed.
“Travis, when I snap my finger, every woman in the house who ain’t dancing is coming ’cause they know somebody, if not all of them, are about to get paid.” Freeze turned to the dancers. “Ladies, take care of my friend here. I mean take real good care of him,” Freeze said as he stood up and saw that Bobby Ray had come into the club. “If there’s anything you need, Travis, anything at all, you let me know. I need to go holler at Bobby for a minute,” he said and walked away.
After Freeze disappeared into the crowd, the dancers converged around Travis. Mystique looked at the other three dancers and shook her head. She started to walk away when Travis grabbed her hand. “Where you going?”
“I don’t compete. I’m a private dancer. But I know they gotta do what Freeze says. So, enjoy yourself. I’ll be back when I have your undivided attention.”
The other three dancers continued to do their thing while Travis watched Mystique walk away. She had definitely had gotten his attention.
Jackie quickly joined Travis. “You can’t have a show like this without me.”
Travis pointed at one of the dancers and motioned for her to dance for Jackie. She smiled seductively at Jackie and complied immediately. Jackie leaned toward Travis. “You handle your business with Freeze?”
“Yeah.”
“What did he want to talk to you about?”
Travis looked at Jackie for a long moment before answering, “Loyalty.”
“Loyalty? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing major, Jackie. He was just stressing that loyalty is important to us in what we’re doin’, that’s all.”
“True, but that ain’t something he gotta stress to us. Nobody is more loyal to each other than the three of us.”
Travis looked at Jackie and wondered whether he should tell Jackie what Freeze said about killing Ronnie. He also thought about whether he could actually stand by and let Freeze kill one of his two closest friends and not do anything about it just because it was business. He didn’t know, and he didn’t want to think about it. Travis would just have to keep Ronnie in check.
“Where’s Ronnie?” he asked.
“He’s either upstairs gettin’ his freak on or downstairs losing all his money,” Jackie advised.
“I’m surprised to see you up here for this long. You ain’t been downstairs all night.”
“I got too much cash money on me right now for me to go down there,” Jackie admitted.
“You afraid you could lose it all?”
“Not all of it. I hope I’m not that far gone to go out like that. But trust me; it’s better this way.”
“Count off what you’re willing to lose and give me the rest. I’m gettin’ ready to go.”
Jackie counted off ten thousand dollars and looked at Travis, then at the money in her hand. Travis knew her gambling was getting worse. Jackie handed the rest of her money to Travis.
“Who’s that Freeze is going to talk to?” Jackie asked.
“That’s Bobby Ray.”
“You know him?”
“I wouldn’t say I know him. I met him once.”
“What about Mike Black? You ever met him?” Jackie asked excitedly.
“Nope. I seen him once, but I never met him.”
“What’s he like?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, I only saw him that one time. But I will tell you this: he don’t look like the kinda nigga you wanna fuck with,” Travis said as he got up from the table. “Look, Jackie, I’m out. I think I’ll just drive for a while. I need to clear my head.”
“Where you goin’, to your house in Connecticut?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea. I’ll be back on Saturday. You just make sure that Mystique is there.”
“Done. I’ll see you when you get back.”
Freeze walked up to Bobby, who was standing at the bar talking to Sammy. “What’s up, Bobby? What brings you out tonight? I know Black ain’t in town, is he?”
“No, Mike ain’t in town. I just wanted to check on how things are going. I been to all the other houses tonight.”
“And?” Freeze asked with a bit of a bite. That was the second time that night somebody had been checking on how he was running things in Mike Black’s absence, and he didn’t like it.
“Everything is running just the way it should be,” Bobby said with a smile. “Yeah, Wanda called me.”
“What she say?”
“That maybe I needed to be more active in the business. She said that you were runnin’ Cuisine into the ground. Is she right?”
“She made her point and I moved to correct the situation,” Freeze replied.
“That’s good enough for me. Look, Freeze I ain’t got no problem with the way you do your thing. I think you’ve been good for business. But you know how Wanda is, right?”
“Right.”
“So, until you hear me, or Mike say, ‘Freeze, you’re fuckin’ up, just do you,” Bobby said. He held up the glass in his hand and Sammy quickly refilled it.
“Did you know Nick was back in the city?” Freeze asked.
“Yeah, Mike mentioned that to me.”
“Don’t you think it’s time to lay that Camille shit to rest?”
Bobby stared at Freeze for a second or two. He didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it and he never liked being reminded of it. “Don’t you think you should stay out my business?” Bobby asked as one of the dancers walked by him and Freeze.
“Hey, Freeze,” she said as she passed and touched his face. She was dressed in a black cat suit with a small tail and mask to match. She was about five foot three and at best she weighed 110 pounds.
Bobby watched her as she approached somebody at the bar and started talking. “Who is that?”
“That’s Cat. She just started workin’ here a couple of weeks ago. Cynt says words can’t describe the way she dances. Said it’s something you just have to experience.”
“I’d be interested to see,” Bobby said.
“I can arrange that,” Freeze said. “Yo, Cat!”
Cat excused herself from the person she was talking to and stepped toward Freeze. “What’s up, Freeze?”
“Cat, I want you to meet somebody. This is—”
“Bobby Ray,” Cat said as she stepped closer to Bobby. “I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time.”
“Really? And why is that?” Bobby asked.
“Because powerful men turn me on,” Cat said and grabbed his hand.
Freeze laughed as he watched Cat lead Bobby upstairs to the private rooms. “That’s how the trouble always begins.”
Chapter Five
On Saturday afternoon, Travis returned to his house after a couple of very restful days in Connecticut. The time alone did for him exactly what he wanted it to do. It gave him time to think and clear his head. There were no phones in the house, and he turned off his cell phone so he wouldn’t be disturbed.
Travis spent most of the first day in bed, either sleeping or listening to the CD that he’d been looking for, for months: The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions box set by Miles Davis. He thought a lot about getting out of the robbing game, but no matter how he sliced it, Travis always came to the same conclusion. He didn’t have enough money to retire.
He spent a most of his time thinking about Ronnie. The words Freeze spoke to him rolled over and over in his mind.
’Cause if one of his wild man stunts puts this organization or me in jeopardy, I’ll kill him myself. Believe that.
Travis had no doubt that Freeze would kill Ronnie, but he also knew he couldn’t knowingly let that happen and do nothing to prevent it. He would have to kill Freeze if he did it, even if it meant his life. Because killing Freeze, or even trying to for that matter, would be a death sentence.
Travis didn’t even know if he could kill somebody. Shooting your gun in somebody’s direction is a long way from
standing in a man’s face and pulling the trigger. Especially Freeze. He had known Freeze for a lot of years; not as long as he’d known Ronnie, but they still went back some years. What he did know is that he had to do whatever it took not to let things come to that.
Once he went through the mail that had collected during his stay in Connecticut, he checked his voice messages. His mother had called to thank him for the three thousand dollars he had deposited in her account. Not wanting to arouse the suspicions of his mother or that of the IRS, Travis never deposited too much money into her account at one time. He put just enough to be sure she was taken care of.
After his father died in his sleep six years ago, Travis decided that the Bronx was no longer a place where he wanted his mother to live. “Especially now that daddy’s gone. I would just feel a lot better if you lived someplace else. Someplace safer.” So, after two more years of singing that same old song, Travis finally moved his mother out of the city. While he still had a conventional job, he made a decent down payment on a house in Fort Myers, Florida. She was near an old friend and some relatives who she’d lost touch with, so she was very happy there.
There were a few calls from women who no longer held his interest and wanted to know why he’d stopped calling. Why don’t you call me anymore? This was frequently the question they asked.
Ronnie called to see if the party was still on. “Better be, ’cause we’ll be there around eight, and we got with your girl Mystique, and she says she’ll be there. Yo, what kind of name is Mystique any damn way?”
Travis had given some thought to Mystique during his hiatus. She was a beautiful woman, to be sure, and he liked the way she moved. He would be very interested to see if her seductive dancing translated into seduction in the bed. But he was getting tired of messing around with dancers and the other type of women who were in or hung around the game. There was definitely no future in fuckin’ around with them. But then again, until these last couple of days, he’d never thought about the future in those terms.
After he cleaned up the house enough to receive company, Travis left the house and headed for the store to pick up a few things. First he went to the liquor store and picked up a case of beer, a couple of bottles of Hennessey, a bottle of Alizé, and two bottles of Moet. Then he headed for the grocery store.
