by Glenn, Roy
Although she’d originally supported Black’s decision to put Nick in charge after Freeze was murdered, she didn’t agree with it. And had Black consulted with her first, she would have told him so. At that point she knew her power was slipping away from her. When Black left the country and eventually married Cassandra, she was the boss. Freeze and everybody else answered to her and she liked it that way.
When Black came back to the city, he let Cassandra play like she was in charge. But everybody knew that she was just a puppet mouthing the words Black was putting in her mouth. When Cassandra was brutally murdered, Black was distraught and put Freeze in charge. But Freeze always turned to her for advice and counsel, so she still had the power. Then Freeze was murdered.
Wanda always thought it was too soon to put Nick in that position. He wasn’t ready for it. But she went along with it because, at the time, she was in love with Nick and knew that she would still have influence.
If she chose to be honest with herself, and at the time she didn’t, she would have to admit that she still was in love with Nick, and that that’s what all this was really about.
But none of that changed the fact that Nick wasn’t ready to lead the organization. “But Black is so fuckin’ loyal to Nick that he can’t see that. Men can be so blind.”
Nick had just returned from a ten-year absence and was just getting back into things. He ran off and joined the army when Bobby Ray threatened to kill him over Camille Augustus. And then he stood by and let Freeze get killed. Wanda knew that there were more than enough people in the organization that blamed Nick for Freeze’s death, and just as many who were dissatisfied with the way Nick ran things. She was going to meet with three of them now.
James parked the car in front of Cynt’s and got out to open the door for Wanda. “Thank you, James. I’ll be about an hour.”
“Do you want me to wait?”
“No. I’ll call when I’m ready to go,” Wanda said and went inside.
Since she didn’t like walking through the crowd of horny men and naked women, Wanda used her card key to gain access to the steps leading directly to Cynt’s office. When Wanda walked in the office, Cynt, Doc, and Grant were all waiting for her.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long,” Wanda said as Cynt got up from behind her desk and let Wanda sit down.
“That’s okay, Wanda. It just gave us a chance to talk among ourselves,” Grant said as he got up and refreshed his drink.
“Not talking about me I hope,” Wanda mused.
“Of course not,” Cynt said and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “You know damn well what we been talkin’ ’bout.”
And she did. Over the last few months, each of them had come to her individually to express their displeasure at the way Nick was running the show. More to the point, the way Rain treated them.
Rain was queen now; and she conducted herself that way. Nick let Rain make the rounds to collect the money from all of their spots. When Rain showed up, she always traveled with four men. They had become known as The Purple Gang. At first Rain didn’t like it; then she thought it was funny. But when she saw the type of reputation they had developed, she ran with it. They were feared and they did whatever she told them to do.
“I’m sick of that bitch Rain,” Cynt said.
“You got to do something to get that bitch off my neck, Wanda, before I have to kill her young ass,” Grant added.
“She was in here last night with that gang of hers. Disrupted the whole house,” Cynt said.
“Them niggas ain’t got no respect for shit,” Grant said. “What they did to Pegram was unnecessary.”
Wanda’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Grant. “Pegram was a thief and a liar who deserved to die.”
There was silence in the room. No matter what Rain did, or how she did it, Wanda had no use for thieves.
“You need to talk to Nick and get him to do something about her,” Cynt said.
“There’s no talking to Nick. He doesn’t see anything wrong with what she’s doing,” Wanda said.
“That young bitch got that nigga so pussy whipped that he can’t see things for what they really are,” Grant said, then he realized he was talking to Wanda. “I’m sorry, Wanda.”
“That’s all right. Sad to say that you’re right. He can’t or doesn’t want to control her.”
“So what we gonna do about her?” Grant asked.
Wanda looked at Cynt. “We all know what needs to be done. Wanda, you need to take over,” Cynt said, just as Wanda wanted her to. She didn’t want to be the one to suggest it. “Things went a lot smoother when you ran things.”
Wanda knew that Grant would go along. The one she was worried about was Doc. “You’ve been very quiet, Doc. What do you think?”
“I agree that something needs to be done about Rain, but I’m just not sure this is what we need to be doing. Have you talked to Black about this?”
“Yes, I have,” Wanda lied. “And he is busy in Nassau. With Jamaica expanding his operation on the island and CeCe expecting a baby, he doesn’t have time to be bothered with this.”
“I know all that, but what did he say?” Doc asked.
“He said to do what I think is best,” Wanda lied again and looked at Cynt to back her up.
“I’m sure that Black will support what we’re doing here,” she said quickly. “And I know each one of you know enough people who are tired of Nick’s shit that we won’t have any problems making this move.”
“That’s right,” Grant said quickly. “My people are behind me and ready to make a move.”
“What do you say, Doc?” Wanda asked and wondered if she could have Doc assassinated if he wouldn’t go along.
“As long as Black don’t have a problem with it, I’m in,” he said somewhat reluctantly. “Me and my people will support whatever we decide here.”
“Then it’s settled,” Wanda said.
“Where do we start?” Grant asked.
“Before we do anything, I think it would be a good idea if all of us beefed up our security,” Doc suggested.
“I think that would be a wise move,” Cynt added.
“I don’t have a problem with that,” Wanda said.
“Okay; after we add some new faces, what then?”
“When Rain comes around for the money, don’t pay her,” Wanda ordered. “And tell her that if Nick has a problem with it, that he needs to take it up with me. I’ll take all the heat.”
“Agreed,” Cynt said quickly.
“Agreed,” Grant said.
“Doc?” Cynt asked.
“Agreed.”
“Thank you all for coming,” Wanda said and everybody stood. They shook hands on their new alliance.
“Come on, Doc,” Grant said and patted a still reluctant Doc on the back. “I’ll buy you a drink.”
After that, Doc and Grant got up and left Cynt’s office. Once they were gone, Cynt turned to Wanda. “What are you gonna do when Black finds out what we’re doin’?”
“If we do what we gotta do and do it right, it will be over with before he finds out.”
“Don’t you think Nick will tell him what’s going on?”
“And admit that he can’t handle his business? I know Nick. He would die before he admits to Black that he can’t handle little old me,” Wanda laughed.
“I hope you’re right. I’m just glad that Bobby is still down South runnin’ behind Pam’s crazy ass,” Cynt offered.
“Me too. If Bobby were here, we couldn’t do this.”
Cynt laughed. “Yeah, I know. Bobby would shoot all of us for being disloyal to Black.”
“We’re not being disloyal, Cynt; not at all. The way I see it, we’re doing what is necessary to protect his interests,” Wanda said.
And if she destroyed Nick in the process of protecting Black’s interests, that was all the better.
Also by
Roy Glenn
Three the Hard Way
Comm
it to Violence
Killing Them Softly; An Erotic Tale of Murder
The Cost of Vengeance
Coming Soon . . .
Going Down; An Erotic Tale of Murder
The Mike Black Saga Book Two
Out Of control
