Pawns & Kings

by D D Bridges

  “Darius, why are you here in Miami?” she asked, looking around nervously.

  “What am I doing here?” I said. “Bitch, you’re the one following me down dark alleys and shit.”

  “Bitch?” she said, taking a step toward me. “I thought you and I were cool, Darius.”

  “I’m not cool with anybody who’s trying to kill me,” I said glancing down at the gun.

  “I’m not trying to kill you. I came to warn you.”

  “Warn me? Warn me about what?” I asked skeptically.

  “Well I’m sure you’re pretty smart and you don’t have any problem putting two and two together,” she said. “Francisco is in Miami and he’s looking for you.” She lowered her gun and held it at her side while she continued to look around nervously. The information that she had given me was very valuable because I had no idea that Francisco had tracked me to Miami. But I still didn’t trust Janelle. She was betraying her boss and that meant that she couldn’t be trusted at the end of the day.

  “Why are you here telling me this?” I asked her.

  “What do you mean?” she said trying to play dumb.

  “I know there’s got to be a catch,” I said. “You’re betraying your boss and that doesn’t add up. You must have a price or something.”

  “I don’t have a price and there is no catch,” she said. “But in exchange for me helping you, I want you to help me.”

  “How?”

  “Help me get away from Francisco for good,” she replied. “When Francisco found me I was only seventeen years old. He kidnapped me from my country and was going to make me another one of his sex slaves until I made a deal with him. I promised him that I could be an asset to him and make him more money. Once I proved myself to him, he made me his personal assistant and put me over all of his international business affairs. But the thing is, I was only supposed to work for him for five years then I could go free. But it’s been seven years and he refuses to let me leave now. He’s trying to force me to be his wife but I don’t want anything to do with him. He’s a snake and I need your help, Darius.”

  I sighed as I stared at her for a moment. I didn’t know if it was the fact that she was holding a gun or the fact that I didn’t know her that well, but I didn’t feel right about agreeing to help her. Here she was feeding me this sob story about being kidnapped and it sounded too much like a perfect storm. Apart of me felt like this was a set-up and that Francisco was using Janelle to lure me right to him.

  “Please Darius. I’m begging you. Are you going to help me or not?”

  “How do I know that you aren’t setting me up?” I asked. “For all I know you could be leading Francisco right to me.” Suddenly I was paranoid again. I went to the end of the alley and peaked around the corner. I saw the last thing that I wanted to see.

  “Francisco has no idea where I am right now. He doesn’t keep tabs on me like that,” I heard her say before I turned back to face her.

  “Oh yeah? Then why are two of Francisco’s men coming this way?”

  “What?” She instantly became on-edge as she cocked her gun and ducked into the shadows by standing up against the wall. I did the same, standing up against the opposite wall while cocking my gun.

  Again I waited, silently counting to five. Before I got to ten we saw two of Francisco’s men dressed in all black walk by the alley. It wasn’t until we thought they were gone that we came out of the shadows. As soon as we did though, the two men rushed us in the alley. My first instinct was to protect Janelle, but there was no time. One of the men grabbed me and slammed me up against the wall, causing me to drop my gun. I couldn’t tell what was going on with Janelle and the other guy but it didn’t sound like she was doing too good.

  Me and my guy threw hands a bit before he tackled me to the ground. Like all of Francisco’s men, he was much bigger than me and trying to wrestle with him was not to my advantage. He had me pinned to the ground and was throwing punches at my ribs. I looked around me for something that I could use against him. I saw a rusty pipe only inches from me. I reached for it then hit him over the head with it, knocking him out cold.

  I got up off of the ground and made my way over to help Janelle. The other guy had his hands around her throat and was dangling her like a rag-doll. I came up behind him and hit him in the back of the head twice. He dropped her and then fell to the ground right beside his partner. Janelle was keeled over trying to catch her breath after almost being choked to death. Truth was I was out of breath too, but I was just glad that we were still alive.

  “You a’ight?” I asked once she was able to stand upright.

  “Yeah. Get your gun,” she said nodding her head toward a couple of trash cans where my gun was lying on the ground. I went over and grabbed the gun and when I turned around Janelle was picking her gun up off of the ground as well. Without hesitation she aimed the gun at both men and put a bullet in both their heads.

  “Damn,” I said. Maybe she really was desperate to get away from Francisco.

  “If I let them live then they will rat me out to Francisco and my whole plan will be ruined.”

  “And what exactly is your plan?” I asked.

  “I told you. I have to get away from Francisco by any means necessary,” she told me. “I know that you want Francisco gone just as much as I do. But there’s more at stake for me. I’ve been his slave for too long and my only chance at a life of freedom is if you help me.”

  I got right up in Janelle’s face and said, “Francisco may want to keep you as a slave, but he wants me dead. So don’t tell me that there’s more at stake for you.”

  “You escaped him once and I know that you’ll be able to do it again,” she said. “But I’m out here by myself and you are the only person that I know that I could come to for help.”

  “Janelle, you led his goons right to me. Teaming up with you is only going to make it easier for him to find me.”

  “If we stick together then we can help each other get away from him. I know we can,” she pleaded.

  “No,” I said shaking my head. “It’s too risky, and to be honest, I don’t know you well enough to take that kind of risk.”

  Janelle stared at me blankly as a look of defeat washed over her face. Other than being dejected she also appeared to be angry, but I had to look out for myself and she would have to figure this out on her own.

  “I just killed two men for you; for us!” she spat. “Haven’t I proven my worth?”

  “Listen sweetie, don’t get it twisted,” I said. “You may need me, but I don’t need you. So you’re on your own.”

  It was hard to leave her standing there, especially since she looked like she was holding back tears, but I had no other choice. I knew that I could survive on my own, but making someone else’s plight my responsibility could prove to be a fatal mistake.

  “Wait,” she said just before I walked out of the alley. She reached into the pocket of her sweat pants and pulled out a cheap cell phone. She tossed the burner to me and I caught it with one hand.

  “If you change your mind, then use that phone to call me. My number is already logged in,” she told me. I looked down at the phone before reluctantly shoving it into my pocket. Without saying anything else, I turned and walked out of the alley. I figured that would be the last time that I ever saw her and at the moment I didn’t feel bad about that. Maybe that would change.

  Chapter XIX- D.J.

  Sitting around our dinner table with my mother and sisters was a great reminder of everything that was truly important to me. I had come there hoping to find Darius just so that I would have the opportunity to go in for the kill, but as soon as I saw Dajah and Daniella all of those plans went away. I was really close with all of my siblings, but especially Daniella since we were closer in age. Seeing them for the first time in months reminded me that family was what really mattered.

  Seeing my mother was like drinking a cold glass of water after spending days in a desert. Everything that I had done and expe
rienced over the past few weeks had changed me in ways that I hadn’t even fully come to grips with yet. But being in my mother’s arms made me feel like the old me again. With her I was still that innocent, curly-haired little boy who could do no wrong. But I would never be able to let her know that her little boy was a scarred and broken man now, and that I could possibly never be repaired.

  I looked up from my half eaten plate of lasagna as I listened to my baby sister talk a mile a minute about everything from her hair to her clothes to her friends and all the gossip going around at her school. This was typical behavior for Dajah. She always seemed to be talking non-stop about any and everything, and I normally found myself ignoring half of what she said. But she gained my full attention when she mentioned that she talked to Darius earlier that day.

  “Wait a minute… Darius called you?” I asked.

  “No, we were texting,” Dajah said as if my question had gotten on her last nerve. “We told you that he came by the other day. I can’t wait until you meet him because he is so cool.”

  I hadn’t told my family that Darius and I had already become well acquainted, and I had no intention of telling them. But the last thing that I needed was my baby sister thinking that Darius was “cool”.

  “Dajah, I don’t want you talking to him or texting him,” I told her seriously. Her whole expression changed as she became angry.

  “Why not, D.J.? What is wrong with you two?” she asked, looking back and forth between Daniella and I. Daniella had been in a pretty sour mood the whole night, but I wasn’t surprised because I knew how she felt about all of this. Daniella and I were on the same page as far as our ire with Darius.

  “Just trust me on this, baby girl,” I told Dajah. “Darius is not who you think he is.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked genuinely confused.

  “He destroyed our family, Dajah,” Daniella blurted out. “It’s because of him that mom and dad got a divorce and we had to move to Miami.” We all fell silent as the weight of her words settled on us. We never discussed Darius openly as a family. We were all so young when things began to fall apart, and our parents only discussed things privately between themselves. But in spite of that, me and Daniella still knew what was going on at the time. We would sit outside of our parents’ room door and listen in on some of their arguments, so we knew exactly why they got a divorce.

  “I don’t understand,” Dajah said, shaking her head in disbelief.

  “Dajah, you really need to grow up,” Daniella said, getting frustrated. “Dad got another woman pregnant before he married mom. He kept it a secret from her for all of those years. Then when mom finally found out about the other woman and her son, she divorced him.”

  “No, that can’t be true,” Dajah said, sounding like she was about to cry.

  “It is true,” Daniella rebutted quickly.

  I actually did feel bad for Dajah because she had always thought the world of our father. In her eyes, he could do no wrong. She was only nine when the truth about our father came out and she was too young to understand all of the things that were going on. All these years had passed and she still had no idea about what really happened, so I was sure that this was pretty overwhelming for her.

  “Dad would never lie to us,” Dajah concluded. “Mom, why aren’t you saying anything?”

  “Because she knows that it’s the truth,” Daniella said.

  “No, Daniella,” my mom finally spoke up. “You cannot blame the issues that your father and I had on Darius.”

  Daniella scoffed at our mother and said, “Are you serious right now?!”

  “Young lady, you better watch that tone,” mom said, putting her in her place. “Like I’ve already explained to you, Darius is just as innocent in all of this as you all are. What happened in the past is in the past. And the only truth that you need to be concerned with facing is the fact that Darius is your brother whether you like it or not. Nothing will ever change that, so you just need to accept it.”

  “Mom, you know that I love you,” I said. “And I would never disrespect you or your wishes. But I will never be able to accept Darius as my brother. He doesn’t belong in this family. He never has and he never will.”

  “I don’t think that he wants to be a part of this family,” mom said, looking at me from across the table. “He came here because he wanted answers and also because he wanted closure. You all should be more understanding to his situation. He never even had the chance to know your father. So we are all going to do our due diligence to get to know him the best way that we can. As a matter of fact, I was thinking that sometime this summer we can all go to Atlanta and spend some time with him. By that time Dante` and Dalliah will be home from Harvard, and I want them to meet their brother as well. So whether you two like it or not,” she said pointing at Daniella and I, “that is how we’re going to handle this.”

  It was clear to me that my mom didn’t understand how deep of a vendetta I had against Darius. We had the perfect life before he came into the picture, not to mention the fact that I was supposed to be next in line to be the CEO of Kingdom Enterprises. But just like that he came along and stole that from me and I wasn’t willing to let that go. For me, there was only one resolution: Darius had to die.

  “Look, whatever,” I said solemnly as I rose to my feet. “I have some business to take care of so I’ll catch up with you all later.” I kissed each of them before leaving and heading to my next destination. Since I knew that Francisco was in town, I had to go meet with the one man who I considered to be this city’s gatekeeper: Armando del Montez.

  *******

  I arrived at American Airlines Arena, the home-court of the Miami Heat. There was a game that night so I knew that was where I would find Armando. He was a huge Heat fan and never missed a game. As a matter of fact, he had his own skybox at the arena. Armando was a man with many business ventures, both legal and illegal, but I wasn’t one to judge. The man was doing what he needed to in order to build his fortune.

  It was Armando’s illegal activities that made him a valuable source of information. He was one of the main suppliers for many of the local drug gangs in the city. Because of that, he was in the know about just about everything and everyone foreign that came to the city. I asked him earlier that day to get me some information on Francisco Baptìste and to find out why he was in Miami. So I was anxious to meet with Armando and find out what was going on.

  I entered the arena through the back entrance that the players used. The game was already half way through the third quarter, so there wasn’t much security around which allowed me to go right in and up to the skyboxes. I found box 15, knocked on the door and waited. A few seconds later a tall black guy came to the door wearing a black t-shirt and with a gun visibly tucked at his waist.

  “What’s up?” he nodded and said.

  “I’m here to see Armando,” I said, getting straight to the point.

  “Who you?”

  “I’m D.J.,” I said simply.

  “Let him in, Ty,” I heard Armando say from inside the skybox. Ty looked me up and down before stepping aside and letting me enter. I walked in and saw Armando and his boys sitting up close to the glass windows enjoying the game. Off to the side they had half-eaten trays of food along with soda, beer, and water. There were a few females lounging around as well but they clearly were only there as eye-candy and not for the game.

  “What’s up homie?” Armando said as he got out of his chair and met me over near the door. Armando had Hispanic roots like I did, and as always he was dressed in designer silk and expensive loafers. We slapped hands and embraced briefly before he pulled me to the side.

  “You hungry or thirsty or anything?” he asked.

  “Nah, I’m good,” I told him. “I came to holla at you about that thing we talked about.”

  “Yeah, I did some checking on the dude that you told me about.”

  “And?”

  “And there’s really nothing to tell,” Armando to
ld me. “The only ties that he has to Miami is a few business properties that he owns but rents out to local business owners. A couple of them are vacant. But I did find something out that could be beneficial for both of us if you’re willing to go in with me.”

  “Oh yeah?” I said. “I’m listening.”

  “Word on the street is that Francisco is going to be holding a card game tomorrow night,” he said. “We’re talking about the potential to make some serious cash. Somewhere in the ball park of half a million if you play your hand right.”

  “Francisco is hosting a card game for half a million?” I said. “You serious?”

  “I’m dead serious, man. Some of the biggest ballers in the city are going to be there.”

  “So what’s your plan? You want to go in there and take your chance at the money?” I asked.

  “Nah. I’m gonna stick-up the game,” he informed me with a mischievous glare in his eyes. I wasn’t surprised that Armando was planning something like this because he was all about getting money. But clearly he didn’t know what kind of dude Francisco was.

  “You might wanna slow your roll on that one, man,” I advised. “You don’t know about this guy, so trust me when I tell you that he’s not one that you want to cross.”

  “What?” Armando said. “You must not remember who you’re talking to. This is my city, and anybody who wants to come here and do anything involving this much money should already know that I’m coming to get my piece of the pie.”

  “Armando, you know I got respect for you, bruh. But if you walk up in there trying to go at this dude, I guarantee that you gon’ end up being rolled out in a body bag. This dude is dangerous and he has a whole army of men backing him.”

  “All that does is give me more motivation,” he replied arrogantly. “So are you down or what?”