by Brick
I saw my parents, the people who’d taken me in and loved me when no one else would. I saw Claudette. . . .
I prayed to my ancestors that it would all be over soon....
Chapter 24
Uncle Snap
“Javon, Cory, Snap, come in here for a minute. I need y’all to see something.”
We’d been back at the hospital for about an hour. We’d all been patched up, minus Javon. He’d refused to let anybody touch him. Lucky and I had barely made it out of that damn club. If those blasts and explosions hadn’t gone off, me and nephew would have been fucked with no damn lube. The blasts had created the distractions we needed to shoot our way out of that cesspool.
I looked at Javon and Cory, who looked just as haggard as I felt. Nephew Javon hadn’t been quite right since he hit his head. Cory told me as much.
“I don’t know, Unc. Something off about him,” Cory said. “He keeps mumbling shit about Mama and King. Shit’s freaking me out a bit.”
I looked at Javon as he paced the small space. He’d been reading over King’s and Mama’s journals like he was waiting for something to jump out at him. He had looked up when Lucky came in the room, but hadn’t made any moves to show he’d heard Lucky speak.
“Javon, you good, son?” I asked him.
He looked at me. There was a blank look in his eyes before clarity took root. “Yeah. I’m good. Just thinking. Got shit on my mind.”
“Like what?” Lucky asked. He stood wide legged, then crossed his arms over his chest.
Javon looked at him, then glanced at me and Cory. “This Absolan shit too obvious,” he said.
“What you mean, kuya?” Cory asked.
“Yeah, explain,” I said. “I thought we’d pretty much narrowed it down to him, based on what—”
Javon shook his head, then walked over to stand near us. “Naw. If it’s too obvious, it ain’t right. Forget all that shit I just said back in the club. We’re missing something. They killed Cavriel. Damn near killed Luci, but they wanted it to seem as if Absolan had been kidnapped. Why?”
Cory said, “Well, maybe he set that shit up that way.”
“Maybe he thinks we’re stupid enough to fall for the banana in the tailpipe,” I said.
Javon shook his head in that crazy way again. “Naw, Unc. Someone is fucking with us. Lucky, what did you want us to see?”
I glanced at Cory. I saw what he was talking about. Javon was acting a bit off. Judging by the way Lucky was looking at Javon, he had picked up on it, too.
“We’re prepping to move Uncle Luc—my father—out of here,” Lucky said. “But I need to let you meet a few people.”
We walked through the hall, down to what would have been a waiting area if the hospital were up and running. The room had a long rectangular table with about twelve chairs. There were three people in the room. They saw Lucky and stood. All looked to be biracial in some way.
“You guys, this is Javon. He’s the leader of the Syndicate and is here to help us to sort this shit out. This is Cory, his brother, and Uncle Snap. They’re his left and right hands,” Lucky said.
The men nodded and shot out greetings. Javon stood there, nodding at the men.
“This here is Jules the Gent. We call him that because the nigga is always on some gentlemanly shit and dressed sharp.” The man Lucky pointed out was indeed a pretty boy and smiled as he shook Javon’s hand. “Next to him is Dapper Dan. You can look at him and see why we call him that.”
I nodded. The bald brother was in a tailored suit that caressed the muscles in his upper body and legs. Shoes looked like he had them commissioned in Italy, and he had a smile that I was sure melted the drawers right off any woman he wanted.
Lucky continued as we shook his hand. “That one over there, we call her Switchblade Mary. You really don’t want to catch her in a dark alley at night. She’s hell in heels.”
Jules and Dan chuckled as a short, petite biracial sister walked forward. She had a scar running from the right side of her eye to the right corner of her lip. Her eyes were so black, it was like you were staring into a pit of black ink. She had a low pageboy haircut, and she rocked cowboy boots, hip-hugging Levi’s jeans, and a plaid shirt.
“Damn, Mama, what happened there?” Cory asked.
The boy ain’t never had that much couth.
“Got jumped by some goons in an alley,” she said, voice kind of deep, but it was the sexy kind a man would like to hear in the middle of the night.
Cory pointed. “And they did that to you?”
She nodded, with a sheepish grin.
Jules said, “Don’t let that shy shit fool you. When they found those men, the families had to have closed casket funerals.”
Mary dropped her eyes and looked away, like she was embarrassed.
Lucky said, “Let’s just say if I had to choose between a gun battle with Shanelle and a knife fight with Mary, I’m going to just walk up and punch Javon in his shit.”
Cory laughed. So did I, for that matter.
Javon smirked and nodded before saying, “Point made. So why are they here?”
“We’re the throwaways,” Jules said.
“Not all our dads are like Mr. Acardi,” Dan added.
“We didn’t get so lucky to have our fathers accept us,” Mary said. “If not for Lucky, we’d be ass out.”
Javon nodded his understanding, but the look in his eyes still asked what the fuck was the importance of them being here.
“They’re my best killers, and I need you, Cory, and Uncle Snap protected at all times while here. You went into that club with only a few Thieves at your disposal. That can’t happen again. Mama was good to me,” Lucky explained. “She loved me in a way my own mother can’t match. On those days when I didn’t understand how to navigate between my Italian side and my black side—when my mama was too busy being selfish—Mama Claudette gave me lessons. She said I reminded her of King in a way she couldn’t put her finger on. And because I loved her, and because I know without a doubt she loved the three of you, you can’t get killed on my watch.”
I respected him for that. I really did. And the kid was right; Mama had loved on him like she had with Javon and the rest of the kids. She loved all her children, but Javon was her favorite son, and we all knew it. Don’t get me wrong. She favored them all, but Javon she kept close to her heart. Maybe it was because he was Toya’s oldest child, and Mama had loved that girl until she couldn’t anymore. When Toya had first birthed Javon, it was Mama who had to do the mothering.
Toya had wanted only to get back in the streets as soon as she could. Her husband at the time, that old Nam vet, couldn’t do much of nothing for the boy. But Mama was right there, rocking and nursing him until Toya decided to bring her hot ass back in the house at three and four in the morning. When Toya yanked Javon out of Mama’s life the first time, my woman was depressed as ever. Then Toya came back with another baby in her. This time it was Cory. Mama repeated the cycle all over again.
Lucky continued talking. “And you have a family to get back to. With a new baby, no way I’d be able to explain to Shanelle how I let you get killed while trying to help save me and my pops.”
Javon nodded. “Thank you, fam. I appreciate that. No doubt. They’re right on time too.”
Cory looked at his brother. “Two things, bro. First, if you throw yourself in front of me again like you did in that club, once we get out, I’m busting you in ya jaw. Second thing, what the fuck you planning right now?”
Javon gave a slick smirk. “Just follow my lead. Lucky, I need to see the old man again. Is he up to it?”
Lucky nodded. “Yeah. The transport team won’t be here for another thirty minutes. We’re trying to be as incognito as possible.”
“Good. I need a few minutes with him.”
“Go ahead. Ma’s in there, so . . .”
“No worries, my man. I got no words for her at the moment,” Javon said. “Uncle Snap, walk with me. Cory, get acquainted with these
three and then give me your feedback later. Lucky, something in this sewer smells like shit, and I intend to find out what.”
Mary said, “Wait. If it’s a sewer, it’s supposed to smell like shit.”
Javon smiled and said, “Exactly. You’re smarter than a motherfucker right now.”
Lucky and Cory quirked their brows. My head tilted to the side as I studied Javon. He paid us no mind and walked out of the room ahead of me. Cory was on to something. That hit to the head had nephew acting strange as hell.
I followed Javon down the hall toward Luci’s room, wondering if nephew needed to see a medic himself.
“Nephew, you should let one of the docs check that hit you took on the dome,” I said.
“I’m fine,” was all he said. He had a brisk walk, and he kept running his hand across the back of his head.
I touched his shoulder to stop him. “Either you get checked out, or I’m calling Shanelle, nephew. I’m not jiving.”
Javon glanced down at me. “Now, why would you do that? What have I done to you to cause such treachery?” he asked jokingly, then laughed as he pushed the door to Luci’s room open.
I shook my head. He was going to see a fucking doctor, and I didn’t give a fuck what he said. I walked into the room behind him to see Giana lying on the bed with her father. The Old Italian had his arms wrapped around his daughter, and she slept beside him. How she could sleep during a time of turmoil was beyond me.
Deedee sat in a chair next to the window. On a small table next to the window was the picture I’d seen earlier of a younger Luci, his siblings, and his father. Deedee had been sleeping until we walked into the room. She jerked awake and sat up to her full height when she saw us.
“Are we leaving now?” she asked.
“No,” I said.
“What’s taking so long? I feel like we’re just sitting here, waiting to be attacked.”
“Ask your son,” was my response.
I didn’t really have a lot to say to the woman. I still had a beef with her for what she used to do to Claudette. I’d never forgive her for breaking my woman’s heart over and over again. Couple that with the fact she had known members of the Commission were in town on the day King was killed, and hadn’t said a word to her sister about it. A dog had a higher place in my life than she did.
“Hey, old head,” Javon said to Luci.
There was something kind of odd about the way he said this, but I just shook it off as him needing to see a doctor about his head.
Luci opened his eyes, then looked at Javon. He gave something of a smile. “Javon, I’m surprised you’re still here and haven’t run off yet.”
“Why would I do that?” nephew asked. “Someone’s trying to kill you and Lucky and tried to kill us all earlier. We got some toes to tag. Anyway, do you remember anything else about the day King died? Where were you? And before you ask, I’m starting to think all this shit is connected somehow.”
Luci frowned, then coughed. “I . . . I was in Columbia. We had a big deal going down that day. I wanted to see it through by my own hands. Back then Columbia had pure, uncut white heat. I didn’t want any fuckups.”
“The first time we met face-to-face, you said Mama chose King over you,” Javon said. “You didn’t have any beefs about that?”
Luci frowned at Javon. “Are you crazy? Of course I did. When Claudette and I were doing what we were doing, it was an open thing. She was okay with that, as I didn’t have no wife at the time. The moment King saw her, though, I seen something in Claudette’s eyes I’d never really seen before.”
“Which was?”
“Life. She came alive that night. That smooth motherfucker plucked her right out from under me,” Luci said, then laughed. “Me and some of the guys who kept black jawns on the side often joked about how it was much easier to control black men married to white women, as opposed to trying to control black women who were with us. That’s why we never put up too much fuss when our daughters marry the ones with money. It becomes our money then. She has his son, and the son becomes the heir. The son then marries white, and we get that fortune to stay right with us.”
Luci stopped, coughed, then took haggard breaths before continuing. “Black women, on the other hand, they have this almost sick sense of loyalty to black men. Once King had Claudette, wasn’t nothing I could do to sway her. She had no problems committing to him. And he loved her. So yeah, I was slighted about that, but Claudette had a way of making a man see things from her point of view,” the old head said, then looked at me. “Right, Raphael? I lost her to you too . . . for a while, anyway,” he said, then chuckled.
I didn’t miss the jab he threw at me. I was well aware of what had happened between them on the day she was shot. Me and my woman weren’t right for almost a year behind that. But, like Luci said, Claudette had a way of making men see things from her point of view.
I didn’t respond to the old man’s low blow, though. The nigga was damn near dead, anyway. And what the fuck did he mean by a “sick sense of loyalty to black men”? I could just take my gun out right now and blow that bedridden ma’fucker to hell. Claudette wasn’t here to stop me this time.
Javon must have picked up on my mood. He nodded his head to the left, telling me to move away from the bed. I chuckled, thought about shooting Luci, again, and then moved so as not to cause my nephew problems.
Javon smiled, then said to Luci, “That’s nice. Anyway, why is Fabian O’Neil just chilling in a sex club when the man who adopted him has been kidnapped? Shit make much sense to you?”
“Fabian?”
Javon nodded.
“Is here?” Luci asked.
“Uh-huh,” Javon said. “Now, why wouldn’t he be out looking for the man who’d taken care of him his whole life?”
Giana sat up. “My guess is because Absolan is behind this madness. I do not believe he was kidnapped or taken or anything. He killed Uncle Cavriel and tried to kill my papa,” she fussed, her voice croaking, as if she was about to cry.
I looked at Javon, and he was now looking at Deedee. Deedee looked uncomfortable. Javon knew something he wasn’t telling me.
“Well, Luciano Acardi, you were wrong about one thing,” Javon said.
Luci wiped at his daughter’s eyes and then looked at Javon. “What’s that?”
“Not all black women have a sick sense of loyalty to black men,” Javon said, then smiled coolly at Deedee. “Some have only a sick sense of loyalty to themselves. Ain’t that right, Ms. Deedee?”
Chapter 25
Shanelle
I sat in that dimly lit room, studying Mama’s and King’s journals. After I had a panic attack, I went on the offensive. Jojo had been right. We were sitting ducks, but we were also a team of crazy-ass kids who had come from violent and crazy-ass childhoods, until Mama took us in. I was also the wife of the head of a criminal enterprise. I didn’t have time to have a mental breakdown when my husband was in trouble.
I looked at Honor as she slept in a bassinet next to the bed. Next to her lay Justice. In the room with me were all my siblings, Jai, Ms. Lily, Nighthawk, Creed, Montego, and Ming. I had called every last Syndicate member in. Lucky for me, they had all been in the United States and had made their way to me as soon as they could.
Ms. Lily sat stoically in a rocker right next to Honor and Justice. The old woman looked harmless, but I knew that with the blink of an eye, she could kill anybody dead.
“You sure about this?” Creed asked.
“I wouldn’t have asked you here if I wasn’t sure,” I said.
Ming’s light, melodic voice rang out. “Going up against the Commission could come back to haunt us.”
“We’re not going against the Commission. We’re backing Javon. Think of it that way.”
Montego said, “My men are in position. Ready when you are.”
Montego was the head of what had once been his father’s empire. He ran the Mexicans in the West and South, and he was the Syndicate’s connection to
the Mexican cartel. He’d come to assist me in aiding Javon, and he’d brought his best men along with him.
I looked at Creed. He nodded. Creed was the head of the MC Federation, which had connections on the East Coast and the West Coast.
“My men are good to go,” he assured me.
“Of course, my people are ready to move when you say,” Nighthawk said.
Nighthawk was our connection to the rez, and his men were best at hunting. Since I felt like my husband was being hunted, what better way to go from prey to predator?
“As are mine,” Song added.
Song was a feisty little woman, but she packed a lot of heat. She was the leader of the Chinese crime ring, having taken over where her mother left off once she succumbed to her injuries a year ago. So I knew the men she’d come with were just as deadly as they were thorough.
I stood, then looked at my siblings and Jai. We were all dressed in black, with skull masks covering the bottom halves of our faces and hoodies covering our heads. I grabbed the sling to my assault rifle and threw it over my shoulder.
“If any of you get killed, I’ll kill you,” I said.
Jojo said, “We’re like German cockroaches. It’s going to take a whole lot more than Raid to get rid of us.”
Chapter 26
Uncle Snap
Javon didn’t give Deedee time to confirm whether or not she was loyal only to herself. He signaled to me, and we walked out of the room, then headed out of the hospital. The night was a bit windy for the summer. The air was humid. Rain was coming. Even though no one really knew where we were, standing outside that abandoned hospital made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Before he turned to me, Javon looked at his watch.
“He’s lying, Unc,” Javon said. “Just like he lied to me about—”
I turned to give him my full attention. “About what?”
“He wasn’t in Columbia that day.”
“How do you know?”
“King made an entry in his journal that said he’d spoken to Luci the day before. Said Luci had sent his best men to Columbia for a shipment. However, Luci stayed back to attend to his sick father. The old man is lying, and the only reason I can think of is that he’s protecting somebody. Before I tell you what I think, you tell me what’s got you spooked about me reading King’s journal. It would be fucked up if you had anything to do with his death, Unc.”
