by J. L Rose
“That’s Dad with Mom,” Melody told Dante, first looking at the picture and then over toward Dante.
“I know,” Dante replied as he stared at the picture unaware that he had stopped walking.
He then shifted his eyes over to the woman in the picture and said, “So, this is what my mother looks like, huh?”
“Mom admitted that she left while you were still a young baby and she was pregnant with me,” Melody told him. “She wants to meet you, Dante.”
“Meet me, huh?” he asked, looking back at Melody. “Where is she anyway?”
“We live in Syracuse, New York.”
“Why didn’t she come with you?”
“Because Dwayne just got into an accident right when we found out about you getting locked up on the news! You’re pretty famous, big brother!”
Dante looked back at Melody and saw her smile at him, and he noticed her dimples.
Dante handed the picture back, only for Melody to gently push his hand away and say, “You keep it. It’s for you.”
Nodding his head in thanks, he then said, “Are you staying?”
Nodding her head yes, Melody replied, “Vanessa explained to me that you’re in the middle of dealing with something. So, I’ll stay until you finish, if you allow me to stay.”
“Of course!”
“Will you come to Syracuse once stuff here is in order?”
“Daddy! Daddy!”
Dante looked up just as Mya came rushing over to him, followed by both Dante Jr. and Andre Jr. Dante smiled as he bent down and scooped up his little girl into his arms, ignoring the pain that shot through the left side of his chest.
“What’s up, baby girl?”
“Daddy, can we get pizza?” Mya asked, smiling into Dante’s face.
“Pizza, huh?” Dante repeated, smiling and looking down at his son and nephew. “What’s up fellas? Y’all want pizza too?”
“And a movie!” Dante Jr. added with a big grin.
Laughing at his son, Dante said, “All right, lil’ man! I got you! Let’s get back to the house, and I’ll have Emmy and Rose get y’all some pizza, and we’ll watch a movie up in the movie room we have already here.”
“Daddy, can Auntie Melody come watch the movie, too?” Mya asked, reaching for Melody, who smiled while taking her niece from Dante.
“What’s up, Melody? You wanna hang with us?”
“Of course!” Melody answered, kissing Mya’s cheek and then wrapping her left arm around Dante’s waist and leaning into him.
* * *
“What’s up, gorgeous?” Dante said.
Alinna instantly heard her husband’s voice and looked over her shoulder. He was standing a few feet behind her, but she didn’t hear him walk in. She turned back to what she was doing inside the closet.
“So, what did she have to say?” Alinna asked over her shoulder.
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Melody?” Dante said as Alinna walked past him wearing a peach-colored thong and matching bra while holding an outfit she took from the closet.
“Who else would I be talking about, Dante?” she asked, shooting him a look over her shoulder.
“You wanna tell me what’s up with this attitude, when I’m the one that should be heated after I’ve told you over and over about going anywhere without security?”
“Who do you think you’re talking to, nigga?” Alinna asked, spinning angrily around to face him. “Last time I checked, I’m a grown-ass woman. I don’t need your permission to do a damn thing!”
“Yeah! You right!” Dante replied with light laughter.
Just as he was turning to leave the bedroom, Natalie walked into the bedroom and bumped into him.
“Hey, baby. What’s wrong, Dante?” Natalie asked, instantly noticing Dante’s facial expression.
“I’m good, beautiful,” Dante told her, kissing her on the lips before stepping around her and walking out of the bedroom.
“What’s wrong with him?” Natalie asked, looking back at Alinna after he walked out.
Sucking her teeth, Alinna said, “Dante is just being Dante, Natalie!”
SIX
ALINNA FOUND DANTE, MELODY, and the kids inside the home theater, after Rose let her know that Dante was spending time with them. Alinna caught the way he looked at her once she entered the theater. She sighed deeply, aware that he was still mad at her from earlier.
Alinna walked over to the sofa beside where Dante was seated with Melody, who sat next to him with her arm wrapped around his middle. Alinna looked over at Melody as the woman looked up at her.
“Hi, Alinna,” Melody said, smiling up at her brother’s wife.
“Hey!” Alinna replied, emotionless, but then directed her attention to Dante. “Dante, I need to talk to you.”
“Talk!” Dante replied without taking his eyes from the screen.
“Dante!”
“What, Alinna?”
“Dante, Alinna’s talking to you!” Melody spoke up, seeing the way her brother was being disrespectful to his wife. “You need to go and speak with her if she says she needs to talk with you.”
Dante remained where he was sitting until Melody said his name again. He looked at her and saw the look she was giving him. He then shook his head as he stood up from the sofa and started toward the door, with Alinna following behind.
“What’s up, Alinna?” Dante asked once the two of them were out in the hallway.
“Dante, Carmen called,” Alinna informed him.
She followed alongside Dante as he pulled out his Blacks headed to the back patio.
“Carmen says that Dominic is awake and wants to see you.”
“When did he wake up?” Dante asked.
“A few minutes ago,” Alinna told him as they stepped outside. “Are you going to see him?”
“Yeah!”
“All right! I want to go too!”
“Whatever! It’s your decision.”
Alinna sighed at his sarcasm and then said, “Dante. Look, I’m sorry about earlier, okay? I was upset and took my anger out on you. Then I hear this girl is supposed to be your baby sister who just pops up out of nowhere claiming you’re her brother. How do we know she’s telling the truth?”
“Here!” Dante said while handing Alinna the picture from his pocket that his sister gave him.
Alinna took the picture from Dante. She stared at the picture and then locked her eyes on the older man who was a twin of her husband.
“Dante, is this your father?”
“Yeah!” he answered. “And my mother!”
Alinna stared at the picture a moment, looked back at Dante, and said, “So, Melody is your sister, huh?”
“That’s what it looks like,” he answered. “After everything’s handled here, I wanna take a trip out to meet my mother.”
“Of course, baby,” Alinna replied, just as a cell phone began to ring.
“That’s me!” Dante told Alinna, pulling out his cell phone and seeing that Monica called him. “What’s up, Monica?”
“Dante, where are you?”
“At the house. Why?”
“I’ve got that information you asked me to look for, but I also have somebody I want you to meet. We’ll be at the house in twenty minutes.”
“Nah, meet me at the hospital,” Dante told her. “Dominic woke up and wants to see me!”
“All right! We’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
“What did Monica want?” Alinna asked as soon as Dante hung up.
“Remember that information I told you I wanted Monica to look up for me? Well, we about to get a better look at who we’re dealing with.”
“You want me to send for Roosevelt?”
“Have security bring ’im out to the hospital.”
Alinna pulled out her phone to make a call to her security escort. She then followed Dante back into the house to get ready to head back out to Phoenix Memorial.
* * *
Carmen hung up the phone with her so
n-in-law and laid the cell phone back on the bedside table beside her husband’s bed as he spoke with the doctor. Carmen waited until the doctor finished speaking with her husband and left the room.
“Dominic, Dante is on his way here now,” Carmen said.
“Where the hell is he?”
“Alinna says that they are down the street, Dominic! You need to come down!”
“What the hell has he been doing while I was out of it?” Dominic asked angrily. “Has he gone after Randolph yet?”
“I’m not sure what Dante’s plans are, Dominic. But I’m sure that he’s putting something together.”
“What about Roosevelt?” Dominic asked.
“What’s happened to him?”
“Dante has—!”
“Mrs. Saldana!” both Carmen and Dominic heard.
Carmen looked back over to the room door to see Carlos with his head halfway inside the door.
“Yes, Carlos,” Carmen replied.
“Dante has just stepped off of the elevator, ma’am!” Carlos told her.
Carlos then stepped inside the room, holding open the door as Dante, Alinna, Roosevelt, and Evelyn all walked into the room.
“About time you decided to show up!” Dominic said angrily once he saw Dante.
Smirking at his father-in-law, Dante kissed Carmen’s cheek and then stopped beside Dominic’s hospital bed and said, “It’s good to see a bullet hasn’t changed your attitude. How are you feeling?”
“How do you think I’m feeling?” Dominic asked sarcastically. “What have you been doing while I’ve been out of commission these few days?”
“Dante!”
Dante looked back toward the door when he heard Carlos call his name.
“You have someone out here by the name of Monica Martin,” Carlos said.
“Let her in!” Dante replied, watching as Carlos opened the door and allowed Monica and a light-skinned man into the room. “Who is he?”
“This is who I wanted you to meet,” Monica told Dante. “Dante, meet Nash Johnson. Nash, meet Dante Blackwell.”
“The living legend himself,” Nash said, holding out his hand to Dante for a handshake.
Ignoring the guy’s hand, Dante stared at him and then addressed Monica, “Why is DEA here, Monica?”
“What the—? How did—?”
“Dante, it’s fine!” Monica told him, handing Dante the cream-colored folder she was holding. “Nash is the one who looked into Edward Randolph and Samuel Atlas for me.”
“Dante!” Carmen cried. “Why are you having Mr. Atlas looked up?”
“If I may speak, ma’am,” Nash said as he continued before anyone spoke up. “I’m not sure who this Samuel Atlas is that you all keep mentioning, but either this guy is a ghost or you all are mistaking this guy’s name.”
“What are you talking about?” Carmen asked, staring hard at the young man.
“What Nash is saying,” Monica started, shooting him a look, before looking toward Dante, “is there’s no one on file by the name of Samuel Atlas.”
“But there is a Samuel Randolph who just happens to be Edward Randolph’s younger brother,” Dante spoke up, reading from the file he was holding.
“Wait a minute!” Carmen said angrily. “Are you telling me that Samuel Atlas is Samuel Randolph, who just happens to be Edward Randolph’s brother?”
“Ma’am, it’s either that, or this Samuel Atlas you’re speaking about is lying and hiding something.”
Dante looked over at Alinna as she pulled out her ringing cell phone and walked across the room to answer it.
Dante then looked back at Carmen and asked, “Carmen, where is Samuel now?”
“Last we spoke, he said that he was going out of town on a business trip,” Carmen informed Dante, who was still upset at what she had just learned.
“When is he supposed to return?” Roosevelt finally spoke up.
“I’m not sure!” Carmen answered. “He didn’t say.”
“Dante!” Alinna said, walking up beside him. “That was Mr. Goldmen. He and Mr. Sutter are at the Hilton on 137th and Arizona Drive.”
“Who the hell are Goldmen and Sutter?” Dominic asked, staring straight at Dante.
“You ready to talk about Kevin Kim?” Dante asked, ignoring Dominic’s question.
He then noticed the surprised look that came across Dominic’s face before the Dominican drug lord’s face balled up in anger when he looked at Roosevelt.
“You told him?” Dominic angrily asked Roosevelt. “You wasn’t supposed to say anything to no damn one!”
“So, how is it that Edward Randolph knows about Kevin Kim, Dominic?” Dante asked him. “He called you with an offer of combining the Council Covenant and whatever type of organization homeboy got put together?”
“I never told Randolph anything and would never agree to anything with that fool of a man!” Dominic answered.
“So, how is it he knows?” Alinna asked.
“Excuse me,” Carmen stated as she headed toward the door.
* * *
Carmen dismissed the security that Carlos sent to follow behind her. She then walked to the ladies’ restroom and stood at the sink. She set down the cell phone that she picked up from beside Dominic’s bed before leaving the hospital room.
Carmen silently stared into the mirror a moment praying that what she was thinking wasn’t true. Carmen picked up the phone and called Samuel’s personal phone number, which she knew from memory.
“Hello!” Samuel answered on the third ring.
“Samuel, it’s Carmen. We need to talk.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at the hospital seeing Dominic, but I’m inside the restroom at the moment.”
“Can you get away?”
“Not right now. I need to ask you something, Samuel.”
“What’s wrong, Carmen? You sound funny.”
“Samuel, I need to know the truth!” she told him. “What is your relationship with Edward Randolph?”
Quiet for a brief moment, Samuel finally said, “Carmen, why are you asking me a question like that? Where is this coming from?”
“Samuel, what is your real name?” Carmen asked, just as the phone was snatched from her hand.
Carmen instantly spun around to find herself staring straight at Dante.
Dante placed the phone up to his ear, only to hear Samuel Atlas/Randolph calling Carmen’s name.
He held Carmen’s eyes and then spoke into the phone, “Carmen’s right here, but you’re now speaking with Dante.”
Hearing silence over the phone, Dante continued, “I know who you are, Samuel. You and your brother, Edward, will be seeing me soon, and whoever else is with the two of you. Let your brother know that he missed Dominic. As for you, I will kill you myself for my wife. You missed her too!”
Dante hung up on Samuel and turned back to face Carmen, who simply stood just staring at him.
Dante then asked, “So, you were still messing with Samuel after all, huh?”
“Dante, it’s not what you think!”
“You told Samuel about Kevin Kim, didn’t you?” Dante asked, cutting off Carmen as she began to explain.
“I only mentioned it to him, Dante! He really doesn’t know anything!”
Dante handed back the phone and then turned to leave the restroom, only to pause at hearing Carmen ask, “What are you going to do, Dante?”
“Kill Samuel Randolph and everybody else who’s associated with him and Edward Randolph.”
Still standing where she was, even after Dante left the restroom, Carmen felt the tears that began sliding down her face as she thought of how much of a fool she was for trusting Samuel Atlas/Randolph.
* * *
“What’s up, bruh?” Dre asked Dante as soon as he stepped out of the lady’s restroom, after following his mother-in-law inside.
“It’s a work call, bruh!” Dante answered as he and Dre headed back to Dominic’s hospital room.
“Th
at’s what the fuck I’m talking about!” Dre replied, hyped up at the mention of putting in work after just arriving in Phoenix.
Dante arrived back in the hospital, but he left Dre out in the hallway to let Tony T, Wesley, James, and Carlos in on the plans so far.
Dante interrupted the conversation that was going on inside the room among Alinna, Dominic, and Roosevelt: “I need to know where Samuel Randolph lives!”
“Dante, what’s going on?” Alinna asked as she and Monica moved over and stood on each side of him.
“I’ma kill Samuel Randolph!” Dante replied.
He then stared at Dominic and asked, “What’s his location, Dominic?”
“Instead of killing him, why not hold him so that we can question him and find out what’s going on and who all are involved,” Roosevelt suggested, which got Dante’s attention.
Slowly nodding his head in agreement, Dante then said, “What’s the location?”
After getting the address and directions to Samuel Randolph’s mansion, Dante turned to leave the hospital room, only to stop at hearing his name.
He looked over and asked, “What is it, Johnson?”
“If you’re going to go out and play, you’re gonna need some new toys. Come with me,” Johnson told Dante, smiling as he started toward the door.
* * *
“Take a look at this!” Johnson told Dante, once the two of them and Dante’s people were outside standing in the hospital parking lot at the back end of his Lincoln Navigator.
He stepped back out of the way and motioned Dante forward.
Dante stepped up to the back of the SUV and looked inside, where he saw two black duffel bags, one large and one extra large.
Dante looked back at Johnson, only for him to smile and say, “Open them!”
“It’s fine, Dante,” Monica spoke up, seeing the look of concern on Dante’s face. “Remember I told you that I had something for you? That’s it!”
Dante turned back around and reached for the smaller of the two duffel bags. He slowly smiled upon seeing that the bag was filled with different types of automatic handguns.
Dante picked up a black and chrome Colt .45 from inside the bag. He heard somebody whistle in approval, and he wasn’t surprised when Dre stepped up beside him to take the banger out of his hand.
