by Glenn, Roy
Mike and Shy both looked at Bobby, Mike shook his head, Shy rolled her eyes.
"I still didn’t believe that she was bold enough to go in our house. So she described every room. She went in the children’s rooms. The rooms where our children sleep, Bobby," Pam said finally addressing him. "She described our bedroom. She told me how I arranged the clothes and shoes in my closet; she even told me what was in my jewelry box. Then she said that our bed was very comfortable and that she was looking forward to fuckin’ Bobby on our bed. That’s when I hung up on her.
"But then I thought about it. This woman is crazy. Crazy enough to come in our house and not only search it, but call and tell me about it. She wasn’t gonna stop. I told Bobby to stop her, or I would stop her.”
"So I called her back. I told her that we needed to talk face to face. I was surprised when she invited me over. I took the kids to my sister’s house and I came here. When I got here, she asked me to follow her. Said she wanted to show me something and led me straight to the bedroom. She opened the door and pointed to the bed. She said this is where her and Bobby fuck every day. That’s when I shot her."
Chapter Forty-four
Mike and Bobby looked at one another. "The parlor?" Bobby asked.
"No doubt," Mike replied.
"The parlor?" Shy asked. "What’s the parlor?"
"Funeral parlor, we owned it for years. It comes in handy for occasions like this," Mike answered his still confused wife.
"Come on, Mike, you can explain that shit to her later. We need to get Pam and this body outta here," Bobby said and Mike had to agree.
"We’ll come back later and clean up this place. Cassandra, take Pam to the car and take her home."
Bobby threw Shy his keys. "Pam, where’s your car?"
"At home."
"How did you get here?"
"I took a cab and had the driver drop me off two blocks from here. I walked the rest of the way," Pam said and Bobby looked at her.
"Okay, just take Pam to the car and wait for us," Mike told her.
"Shy, there’s an alley that leads to the back of the building, meet us there," Bobby said and went back in the bedroom.
"Come on, Pam," Shy said and led Pam by the arm out of the apartment.
After Shy left with Pam, Mike followed Bobby into the bedroom. He found Bobby kneeling beside the body. When he saw Mike come into the room, Bobby stood up. "Damn, I didn’t think Pam had it in her to do something like this."
Mike went to the bed and grabbed the bedspread. "I didn’t think she did either."
Bobby continued to stare at Cat’s lifeless body.
"You were really feelin’ her?"
Bobby nodded in response.
"You wanna get outta here, go home with Pam? I’ll get Freeze and Nick to take care of this."
Bobby took the bedspread from Mike and laid it out on the floor next to her body. "No, Mike. This is my mess, I have to be the one to clean it up."
"You sure?" Mike and Bobby both knelt down and placed the body in the bedspread.
"Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll be alright. Besides the last thing I wanna do is go home with Pam. Let her and Shy bond, spend some more time together."
"Maybe the two of you should go away for a while, spend some time together." Mike suggested as they wrapped up the body.
"Maybe." Bobby paused. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Mike said and together they carried Cat out of her apartment.
Once they got her downstairs and in the trunk, Bobby started to take Pam home, but she insisted on going to her sister’s house to pick up the children. Shy was able to convince her that she shouldn’t be around her children in her current state of mind. Once Pam finally agreed to that, then she didn’t wanna go home.
"I keep thinking about you and her in our bed," Pam said.
Bobby remained quiet.
"Take her to my house then," Mike suggested and Pam agreed. Mike asked Shy if she would mind staying with her until they took care of things. Naturally Shy agreed and said that they’d be fine. Bobby drove to Mike’s house and took Pam inside. He stood by and watched in silence as Shy and Mike took her upstairs to his room and put her to bed. When they came back downstairs, Bobby went up and tried to talk to Pam.
"Bobby," Pam said without opening her eyes. "I think you should go help Mike. I know we need to talk, but this is not the time."
Bobby told Pam that he understood and gladly left her alone. After Mike and Bobby left, Shy went upstairs to check on Pam. She told Shy that she was fine, and that she just wanted to get some rest. As Shy was about to go back downstairs Pam said, "Shy."
"Yes, Pam."
"Where’s my gun? I need my gun back."
"Michael has it. I’m sure he’ll take care of it," Shy promised. "What do you need a gun for?"
"In case she comes back. She may try to get in the house again."
"I don’t think that’s possible," Shy said and let out a little laugh. "Michael and Bobby are taking care of that right now."
"Do you have a gun?" Pam asked.
"No, Pam I don’t have a gun."
"Okay," Pam said and rolled over.
When Mike and Bobby drove off, they drove right past Melinda, who had been following them all night. After she left Freeze at Cuisine, Melinda went to Impressions to establish her alibi. She would stay there until the club closed and go home to find the body. Once she found it, she planned to scream at the top of her lungs until one of her nosey ass neighbors came to see what she was screaming about.
When Melinda got to the club, who was the first people she saw on the dance floor? Black and that bitch Shy. It made her think about her great plan. You mean Diego’s great plan. Diego had realized the first time he met Melinda that she controlled D-Train. When Diego came to her and asked for her help in destroying everything that Black worked so hard to build, she gladly accepted. Black was never coming back to her, so why not? It all was gonna be so easy, Melinda thought. She was going to get back at Black for dumping her. She would take apart the organization that she thought she knew so much about, piece by piece. Melinda would do it slowly and methodically, the way Black would do it. And it would have worked if D-Train’s people hadn’t fucked everything up.
But her plan changed the day that Sal Terrico dropped that bitch Shy in her lap. Melinda begged Diego to kill her, but he had other plans for the bitch. It was only after Melinda promised Diego that she wouldn’t to kill her and a little something else, at least he was quick about it, that Diego told Sal to deliver the bitch to D-Train. Now she had a new plan. She would convince D-Train to kill her. Once the bitch was dead, she would tell Black. Black would kill D-Train and take him off her neck. Which would leave her free to be there for Black in his time of need. He would need me again.
When D-Train slapped the shit outta her, Melinda knew that she had lost control of him, but the plan was still a good one. That night after she left The Spot, Melinda drove to 151st to the place where they were holding Shy. She would kill Shy herself and still tell Black that D-Train did it. But nobody was there when she got there.
It made her mad as hell to see them together, out on the dance floor that they used to call their own. She hated that bitch Shy with a passion. Melinda decided that whether she got Black back or not that, bitch didn’t deserve to live. Even if it meant killing Black too.
When she saw them leaving the club with Bobby, Melinda followed them. She knew that there was a warrant out for that bitch Shy’s arrest. It would be easier to simply call the police and tell them where she was. But that wasn’t good enough. With Black’s power, Wanda’s think she’s so fuckin’ smart ass, that bitch Shy would be out in no time. No, killin’ her was the only way she could come home.
Melinda almost lost them when Bobby made that u-turn, but she was able to keep up. When she saw that bitch Shy leading Pam out of the building she knew something was up. When she followed them around to the alley and saw Black and Bobby put what she was sure was a body in the tr
unk, she not only knew she had something, but she knew where Black and Bobby were going next. The parlor.
Mike and Bobby realized very early in their line of work that dead men do tell tales when you leave the bodies laying around for the cops to find. With that thought in mind, Mike bought a funeral parlor with a cremation furnace. It was a very efficient way to dispose of their enemies without a trace. The entire process usually takes about two hours. Melinda knew she had plenty of time.
With Pam resting comfortably, Shy went back downstairs. Even though it was late, she wasn’t tired, or maybe she was just too hyped over the events of the evening to sleep. So, she stretched out on the couch and turned on the television. While Shy channel surfed her mind drifted to thoughts of Pam. There was still a part of her that couldn’t believe that Pam had killed that woman. But why not? You killed somebody when they pushed you to your limit. Pam did the same thing. Imagine how many women wished that they could kill their man’s other woman? The line would be long.
As she flipped from channel to channel and tried to get comfortable, Shy thought about all the times she’d accused Mike of flirting too much, or having what she considered an inappropriate friendship with, or flat out accused him of cheating with another woman, it had never came to anything like this. No woman had ever called her or broke into their house.
"You might as well turn that off, cause there ain’t ever anything on at this hour." A voice came from the shadows.
"Pam is that you?"
"Don’t you wish it was Pam?"
"Who’s there?" Melinda stepped into the light, and her gun was pointed at Shy. "You." She thought that she recognized the voice, it was her that wanted to kill her while she was kidnapped. Shy stood up. "How did you get in here?"
"I used to live here until you came along, bitch," Melinda said and took another step closer to Shy.
"What do you want?"
"I’m here to take back what you took from me."
"What are doin’ talkin’ about?"
"I’m talkin’ about Black, you stupid bitch."
"And you think —,"
"Shut up, bitch," Melinda said calmly. "You ruined everything. I was happy, we were happy, happy with each other, bitch. Do you understand what that means? Do you understand how I felt?"
Shy remained quiet.
"No, I didn’t think so. You couldn’t possibly understand what this feel like."
"Yes I can."
"Then you shouldn’t have been fuckin’ with my man. My man! Not yours, mine!" Melinda took a step closer and Shy backed into a corner. "Look at you. What does he see in you? What do you have that I don’t? What the fuck is so special about you?"
Shy wanted to say, whatever it was, it was enough to take Michael away from you with ease, so you oughta check yourself. Not wanting her smart mouth to get her killed, she looked around the room for a weapon or a way out.
Melinda looked at the clock on the wall and knew she had to get this over with and get back to the club to reestablish her alibi. "Here’s what’s gonna happen now, bitch. I’m gonna kill you and that bitch upstairs. Black and Bobby are gonna think that D-Train’s boyz killed y’all in retaliation for Freeze killin’ D-Train and they’ll wipe them off the face of the earth. Once that’s over and Black starts to grieve over the loss of your bitch ass, I’ll be there to help him put it back together."
"You don’t have to do this," Shy pleaded with Melinda.
"Oh, yes I do. You don’t deserve to have him. You don’t deserve to have my man."
"We can talk about this, can’t we?"
"Talk? Talk about what? How you snuck behind my back and stole my man? Is that what we should talk about bitch? I don’t think so. What do you think? If you keep me here talking that Black will come and save your worthless bitch ass? Well you can forget about that. I saw the body him and Bobby carried out. What, your girl Pam do, kill somebody?"
Shy didn’t answer.
"It doesn’t matter. You don’t have to answer me, bitch. I know they took that body to the parlor and if they did it’ll be at least two hours before they get finished, so nobody is coming to save you."
If that was the case, Shy figured since she was going to die, that she might as well speak her mind and die with dignity. "You know what," she paused. "Damn, I don’t even remember what your name is. Never was all that important. But I guess it doesn’t matter now. I guess nothing matters now. So let me tell you something. Mike Black is my man, bitch, not your man, my man." Shy held up her left hand. "This big ass fuckin’ rock on my finger proves that he’s my man. He may have been your man, but you weren’t woman enough to hold him and that’s why he’s my man. And by the way, you never lived here. You may have got fucked here, but live here, in my house, no I don’t think so. So go ahead and kill me you dumb bitch, ’cause even if you kill me, Mike Black will always be my man!"
Melinda grabbed the gun with both hands and cocked the hammer. Shy heard the shot, closed her eyes, and prepared to die.
But nothing happened.
Shy opened her eyes in time to see Melinda drop the gun and fall to the floor.
Pam stepped out of the shadows with a gun in her hand. She stood over Melinda’s body. "These bitches got to learn to stop fuckin’ with somebody else’s man."
Shy smiled. "Where’d you get the gun?" she asked as she kicked the gun away from Melinda.
"I know where Mike keeps his guns."
"Well, where ever you got it, Pam, thank you. You saved my life." Shy walked over to the phone and dialed Bobby’s cell phone number. "Hi, Bobby, it’s Shy. I know y’all are busy but it’s important. Can I speak to Michael?"
Bobby handed his phone to Mike. "Hello baby, what’s up?"
"Like I told Bobby, I know y’all are busy, but when you get finished with that one, Pam’s got another one ready for the parlor."
After Shy called, Mike left Bobby to run the cremation furnace, while he went to see what Shy was talking about. When he got to his house Mike was more than surprised to see a woman’s body laying on his living room floor, and was shocked to see that it was Melinda. Mike turned as Shy walked up behind him.
"Friend of yours?" Shy mused. She wrapped her arms around his waist.
"What was she doin’ here?"
"I didn’t invite her, all of a sudden she was just there." Shy handed him a blanket.
"What happened, baby?"
"She came to get her man back."
Chapter Forty-five
Eight o’clock was fast approaching, and it found Diego Estabon sitting by the phone waiting for his father’s kidnappers to call. He took a moment to consider the fact that earlier today he had five million dollars deposited in his account and now he was waiting to pay five million for the safe return of his father. Just another one of life’s little ironies. It wasn’t about the money. He could and most likely would get the money back from Gomez. He’ll probably insist on giving me back my money. He wouldn’t want me to have that type of power over him.
Finally the phone rang and Diego quickly answered. "This is Diego."
"Bring the money to the pier at Sag Harbor. Come alone or your father dies violently," the same digitally disguised voice said and quickly disconnected the call.
Diego put out his cigar, finished his drink and thought one last time about not paying the ransom. Since he knew he had left himself no choice to the matter, Diego picked up the briefcase with the money and drove out to the Sag Harbor. Before he left, Diego instructed his men to give him a ten minute head start and then head out to the harbor, just in case.
When Diego arrived at the pier, he got out of his car and walked up and down the pier, with five million dollars, but his phone never rang. He never was a patient man and he hated being kept waiting. All he wanted to do is get this over with.
Then a very pretty Latino woman dressed in a very short skirt and a very tight tee-shirt began walking toward him. Diego’s smile widened as she got closer to him. "Hello, Diego," the woman said and stopp
ed in front of him, but before he could speak to her, Diego felt the gun in his back. "Hello, Diego," the gun man said, while relieving Diego of his gun and handing it to the woman.
"You will come with me," the woman said and led Diego to a small boat. Diego’s men got there in time to see the small boat sail away. While the men watched Diego, the woman piloted the boat out to sea. As they got closer to it, Diego could tell that he was being taken to his father’s boat. "You are holding my father hostage on board his own boat?"
The man and woman looked at each other and laughed. Once they reached the boat, Diego was taken aboard and brought to the upper deck. When they got there, one man stood on deck waiting. "Mike Black."
"Hello, Diego, my friend," Mike said.
"I should have known it was you, but I didn’t think you were this stupid. Of course you know that I am going to kill you for this?"
"That remains to be seen."
"Kill you the way I should have a long time ago."
Quickly becoming bored with Diego’s threats, Black said, "Whatever, Diego, just put the money on that table and back away from it."
"Where is Gomez? I want to see that my father is safe first."
"Diego you are in absolutely no position to even think about callin’ any shots."
"Where is Gomez?" Diego shouted.
"Calm down and stop shouting, Diego. I’m right here."
Diego turned quickly and saw his father, Gomez, coming out of the cabin with drink in one hand and a woman on his arm.
"Papa?" a very confused Diego said as Gomez stood next to Mike.
"He was always very excitable as a boy," Gomez said to Mike. "Don’t look so confused, Diego."
"What is going on Papa?"
"It should be obvious, even to you, what is going on, Diego," Gomez said and turned to Mike. "He was a slow learner as well. I would always have to explain things two or three times before he would understand me."
"Why are you telling him these things, Papa?"
"A whiner, too," Gomez whispered.
