by K'wan
Ghost placed his hands on Shadow’s cheeks. “If only I could. Just know that whatever happens, I’m always gonna make sure our family is good. I just need you to trust me.”
“Whatever you say.” Shadow pulled away and headed to his room. What Ghost was doing was a prime example of why Shadow slid off to Brooklyn every chance he got. His brother and father wanted to shelter him to the point where he felt like a prisoner. How was he to just accept their bullshit? Maybe Millie was right. Nobody seemed to give a shit about what he thought or how he felt. Pain and Fresh might not have had nice homes or expensive cars, but at least they treated him like a person and not some fragile thing that could accidentally break at any given moment.
CHAPTER 16
Shadow showered and dressed in record time. He stood in front of his full-length mirror, admiring himself. The tuxedo fit him tighter than the last time he wore it, but the snugness showed off his body more, especially around the arms. Shadow flexed his biceps. He wasn’t as well built as Ghost, but in time … in time.
He was hitting his braids with a bottle of spray-sheen when a knock fell at his door. “Yo,” he answered. When the door opened and Shadow saw who was standing there, his stomach lurched.
“You’re a hard man to catch up with,” Chance said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He also wore a tuxedo, yet his was silver. His bow tie hung untied around his neck and he held a cocktail in his hand.
“Were you trying to reach me? My fault—my phone died and I didn’t have a chance to charge it until I got back to the house.” The lie rolled effortlessly off Shadow’s tongue. “Everything good?”
Chance sat on Shadow’s bed and peered up at him. “I don’t know. Is it?”
Shadow could feel his palms start to sweat. His father rarely asked a question he didn’t already know the answer to. “What do you mean?”
“Your mother told me where you were today,” Chance said.
The words hit Shadow like a slap. After all he had gone through, his mother had given him up? “Dad, I can explain—” he began, but his father waved him silent.
“No need, son. Look, I get it. I was young once too. I had my fair share of struggles in school and never asked for help because I didn’t want people looking at me like I was stupid. You ain’t got those kinds off hang-ups. I’m proud of you, son, for taking the initiative to get after-school tutoring.”
“I … um … thanks.” Shadow wasn’t sure what else he could say. Apparently, his mother had been on top of the situation after all.
“Listen, if you need me to shell out a few dollars to get you a private tutor, somebody who can come to the house if you feel some type of way about being seen getting the help at school—”
“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’m okay with getting help at school.”
“Good man,” Chance said, taking a sip from his drink. “So, you ready for tonight?”
“I should be asking you that. This is your big announcement.”
“Yes, but it’ll be an announcement that will affect this entire family. Especially you.”
“Me? Dad, everybody knows that Ghost is your heir,” Shadow said.
Chance stood and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Yes, Ghost is my heir, but you will be the future of this family.” He paused, inhaled deeply, and stared directly into his son’s eyes. “From the moment I first laid eyes on you in the hospital, I knew what you would become. It was the same with Ghost, and Lolli too. Your destinies were manifested the moment you came into this world. Ghost is my wrath, Lolli is my spirit, and you … you’re my heart, Sean King. You are every part of me that is good and kind, and that’s what this family will need going forward.”
Shadow was stunned. His father couldn’t possibly be preparing to offer him what he had been certain was meant for Ghost. “Dad, I’m honored that you’d consider me for this over Ghost, but—”
Chance lifted his hand to silence Shadow again. “Slow down, killer. All things involving the monarchy will pass to Ghost when my time is done. This you can be sure of.”
“Then what’s with this heavy conversation we’re having like my role in this family is of any real importance?”
“Your position will be the most important one of all. You will be the family’s last line of defense. If it turns out Ghost was the wrong way, you’ll be the right one.”
“Meaning?” Shadow thought he knew what his father was getting at, but he needed to hear him say it.
“Meaning your power won’t come from being the prince of Five Points, it’ll come from just being Sean King. Do you understand?”
“I think so,” Shadow said, feeling like there was now even more pressure on him than when he’d thought his father was getting ready to offer him the crown.
“Good enough.” Chance clapped him on the back. “Let me go check on your mom and make sure her slow ass is ready to boogie. Be outside in ten minutes so we can head out.” He started for the door, then added, “In the event that something should happen to me, I want you to remember this conversation and your place in the family.” He left without waiting for a response.
Five minutes passed before Shadow completed the challenge of tying his bow tie. He would’ve just gone with a clip-on, but he never would have heard the end of it from his father. One of the first things that Chance taught his son, besides how to shoot guns, was the art of tying different types of ties. Regular ties Shadow could do with no problem; he was even fairly skilled with ascots. It was the bow ties that gave him trouble.
Between Ghost’s behavior and his dad’s cryptic words, Shadow was certain that something particularly serious was going on. The only other time in his life that he could remember the men in his family on edge like this was when they had gone to war with a rival organization. Shadow was fairly young at the time, but he could recall not being able to go outside and play beyond the backyard. Even the local park in their subdivision was off-limits. It was one of the few times he could remember his father being anything close to afraid. Could that be it? Were the Kings on the cusp of another war?
You’re bugging, Shadow, he said to himself, patting his cheeks and trying to snap himself out of his thoughts. The days of open warfare in the streets were over, the monarchy had seen to that. So long as there was a king on the throne, the threat of his family going to war was slim to none.
After making sure his bow tie was straight, Shadow applied the finishing touches to his outfit. It wasn’t enough for him to look like money, he had to smell like it too. He rummaged through the different bottles of cologne on his dresser until he found the one he was looking for: Creed. It was his favorite scent. Women went crazy when they smelled it on him, which was his aim with Orlando Zaza’s daughter tonight.
Out of curiosity, he searched for Josette Zaza on social media. She didn’t seem to have a Facebook or Twitter account, but he found her on Instagram. Her most recent picture, though, had been posted two years ago, a poor-quality shot of her shopping with some friends. She looked okay—long hair, decent figure, and a cute face—but nothing to write home about. Still, his mom had insisted that he be nice, so he would give her nice. By ten p.m., Shadow planned on having the girl in one of the bathrooms at the banquet hall with her legs in the air.
When he picked up the bottle of Creed he was disappointed to find it empty. He could’ve gone with another fragrance, but he had his heart set on Creed. There was no way he would be able to make a run to the mall to pick up more, but he did know where he could score some. Creed happened to be Lolli’s favorite scent too, so he would just borrow from her.
He made his way down the hall to Lolli’s room and knocked softly. He waited a few seconds but didn’t hear a response. Knowing Lolli, she probably hadn’t come home yet. She knew better than to miss her mother’s birthday dinner, but it wouldn’t be unlike her to show up late and probably tipsy. He envied his sister’s life. Unlike the others, Lolli was a free spirit and did as she pleased.
“What are you doing?” Shadow asked.
Lolli nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of his voice. “Damn, don’t you know how to knock?”
“I did, but nobody answered.”
“Then you should’ve knocked again! What do you want, Sean?” Lolli asked, clearly trying to suppress the anxiety in her voice.
“I only wanted to borrow some of your cologne, but forget about it. I don’t know what’s going on with everybody in this house tonight, but I’m tired of being the whipping boy!” He started to stomp off.
“Wait, Shadow,” Lolli called after him. “Look, I’m sorry about snapping at you. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
“Seems like that’s the theme with everybody today. I thought Ghost was gonna knock my head off earlier and Dad just left my room acting really strange, talking all cryptic and shit like he might not be around much longer.”
Lolli seemed taken aback. “Sean, I want to talk to you. Close the door and come sit with me.”
Shadow did as he was told and sat on the bed next to his sister. A coldness stained her normally playful eyes, a coldness that reminded him of Ghost. Shadow put his hand on his sister’s knee and asked, “What’s wrong Lolli? What am I missing that people keep trying to hide from me?”
“Change,” she said flatly. “Dad is planning to vacate his throne and dive headfirst into politics, and there are people on both sides who aren’t cool with this idea.”
Shadow nodded; things were starting to make sense. “I can understand the monarchy being in their feelings about dad leaving, but them white boys that he plays politics with don’t have any skin in the game. They’ve been okay with it up until this point, so why would they be against it now?”
“Let me paint a picture for you, little brother. A young man from the ghetto, born with nothing, pulls himself up by his bootstraps. Today, he wants to run for borough president, tomorrow he wants to be the mayor, and ten years from now? Maybe we find ourselves relocating to DC. Dad has become a threat because of what he represents. Chancellor King is on the cusp of living the American Dream. If he climbs high enough in office, it sends a message to every kid in the ghetto who comes from nothing that anything is possible. This makes him a threat to the good old boys in power. These people never want another Obama to ascend to the Oval Office, and I’m afraid they’ll try to find a way to cut Daddy down to prevent it.”
“Then we can’t just sit and hope for the best,” Shadow said. “We need to do something.”
Lolli cast her eyes at the plastic bag by her feet. “I already have, though I’m afraid I might’ve hurt the situation more than helped.”
“What did you do, Lolli?”
“Nothing for you to worry about. I just wanted to prove to Dad that I’m not useless just because I’m a girl.”
Shadow placed his arm around his sister’s shoulders. She turned away so that he wouldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes, but he forced her to face him. “You’re not useless, especially not to Daddy. He values you more than you give him credit for. Do you know what he calls you?”
Lolli raised her eyebrows.
Shadow placed a hand over his heart. “His spirit.”
“Shut up. No, he didn’t,” Lolli said, smiling and shoving him. Shadow raised his right hand. “Swear to God. I think we’ve been underestimating our father, Lolli. He sees us as valuable members of this family. I know that Ghost is the heir, but I suspect we’ll all need to play our respective parts if we want to keep this family together.”
Lolli laughed. “You sound like Uncle Colt.”
“If only I was strong in the streets like he was,” Shadow said, thinking of the Reapers. If they were still around, the Kings would have nothing to fear from their enemies, neither in the monarchy nor in politics.
“You may not have his mean streak, but you definitely have his heart. That’ll serve you better than a gun. Remember I told you that.”
“Right,” Shadow said, nodding. “I better let you finish getting dressed before Mom comes up in here flipping.”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Lolli said, grabbing her Creed from the nightstand and tossing it to him. “Don’t use up all my shit!”
“I got you.” He walked to the door and rested his hand on the knob. “Do you think we should be worried?”
“Between me and you, Shadow, I’m always worried. That’s the price we pay for being born into royalty.”
CHAPTER 17
The ride to the venue was unusually quiet. Everybody seemed to be lost in their own thoughts. Ghost busied himself staring out the window, an agitated air hovering about him. Shadow wasn’t sure if it had to do with what they had discussed at the house, or the fact that his fiancée, Kelly, hadn’t bothered to attend the event with them. Shadow had never known the girl to miss an opportunity to grandstand with the royal family, so her being MIA was unusual. He was tempted to ask Ghost where she was, but decided against it—some things were better left alone. Ghost would talk about it when he was ready, or he wouldn’t.
Shadow’s parents did a good job of acting like everything was fine, but it wasn’t hard to tell that something was going on between them. Chapman sat quietly, legs crossed and foot twirling, watching everyone from behind his sunglasses. Every so often he glanced in Shadow’s direction and smirked, like he knew something that Shadow didn’t and couldn’t wait to tell it.
Lolli was the only one who acted as if she didn’t have a care in the world. She raided the vehicle’s minibar for nips of bourbon while scrolling through her phone. Lolli could drink with the best of them, but it wasn’t like her to indulge so heavily before an event with their parents, especially a birthday. She normally waited until they got the formalities out of the way before getting shit-faced. She adjusted herself on the seat and Shadow thought he saw the handle of a gun sticking out from her garter belt.
“Don’t get so drunk that you get in this place and show out,” Chance warned her.
“I ain’t getting drunk, I’m getting nice,” Lolli said, rolling her eyes and helping herself to another nip.
“You sound like Millie,” Chance joked. No one laughed.
Maureen and Shadow exchanged looks at the mention of Millie. Chance didn’t seem to catch it, but Chapman did. Shadow could feel his uncle’s eyes glued to him from behind those sunglasses. Shadow remembered Millie remarking on Chapman’s love of gossip.
“C’mon, why all the long faces?” Chance said, his eyes sweeping over his children. “It’s your mother’s birthday, for crying out loud! We’ve got this nice venue, great food, and top-shelf liquor. Can we at least act like we’re going to a party instead of a funeral?”
“Let them kids be, Chance,” Maureen interjected.
“I, for one, am happy to be getting out of the house,” Chapman said. “It’s been far too long since the royal family has made a public appearance. I think it’s long overdue that we remind people just who we are.”
“This ain’t about the monarchy, Chapman,” Chance said. “This is about Maureen.”
“Which would explain why all of your playmates got invitations, though half of them probably aren’t going to show?” Evidently Chapman was in a shit-stirring mood. And while Chance wouldn’t feed into it, his oldest son couldn’t resist.
“Watch yourself, nigga,” Ghost threatened. “You open your mouth out of pocket one more time and you’re gonna find yourself in a bad way.” With everything going on, Ghost was a powder keg that had yet to explode. He was clearly spoiling to hurt something.
“No, C.J., let the idiot speak,” Maureen instructed. “It’s better to be
thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” Her eyes locked on Chapman. “You’ve had them forty-thousand-dollar fangs of yours bared all night and most of us here know why. I’ll say this to you once and no more: You can keep snapping at the hands that feed you, if you have a mind to, or you can sink your teeth into the real enemy if and when the time comes.”
“And who is our real enemy in all this, Madam Queen?” Chapman responded.
Maureen placed her hand on Chance’s lap. “Any who would stand against my king.”
Chapman couldn’t help but be impressed by his sister-in-law’s dedication. “For richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health …”
“Until death do us part, and you better damn well know it,” Maureen finished, nestling herself against Chance.
Shadow watched in amusement as his mother and uncle traded swipes, his father helplessly trying to defuse the situation. It was better than a prime-time sitcom. His mom and Chapman were worse than oil and water; sometimes, Shadow thought that the only reason she hadn’t tried to kill his uncle yet was out of love for his father. But he wouldn’t put anything past Chapman.
Shadow’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he quickly fumbled for it. He looked at the screen and saw that it was Fresh. He was about to answer when Nefertiti’s voice came over the intercom.
“We’re here,” she announced.
“Okay, y’all. It’s time to get right,” Chance said formally. “All petty grievances and squabbles we leave in this car. When we walk into this joint, we will present a unified front, even if it’s just a front. Infighting is a sign of weakness, which is just what our enemies will be looking for. Afterward, y’all can go back to insulting each other or rehashing whatever bullshit you got going on. For the next few hours, though, we will be a family. All for the family.” He extended his fist.
