Grand Opening

by Carl Weber

  “Look, fellas, I’m not trying to screw up no family legacy or anything. I’m just trying to get paid, and expansion is the answer to that. What we build together could be way bigger than anything your pops even thought of. Why don’t you take a little time to think about it and come up with a price for me to buy in?” Sam suggested. “I’m going out of town for a few days, so we’ll talk when I get back, okay?”

  Lou and I looked at each other, and seeing no concern in my expression, he nodded to Sam..

  “Just keep an open mind.”

  “Sure, Sam. We’ll talk to LC and get back to you,” Lou said, grabbing a breast of each of the girls. “Hell, there could be a lot of benefit in going into business with you.”

  Lou

  17

  “You sure you want him coming with us?” Larry glanced back at Levi, who damn near took up my entire back seat. Larry had my back. He was trying to make sure that I didn’t do anything stupid, but it had been a long time since I’d lived my life looking backward. I’d already made up my mind how this was going to go down, so anything else was going to be a huge disappointment.

  “Yeah, I got a feeling he’s going to come in handy,” I replied, checking out my ’fro in the rearview mirror before I opened my car door to head inside and deal with this bullshit. “Come on, Levi. Let’s go say hello to our old friend.”

  Levi and Larry stepped out of the car as I looked around. There wasn’t a customer in sight at this hour of the day, which made me wonder how the hell this place stayed in business at all. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought it was a front for something else. That’s just how my mind worked.

  Larry liked to get the most for his money, and since he didn’t believe in paying for most things, his next thought didn’t surprise me at all. “Want me to fill up the tank first?” he joked, pointing to the two gas pumps we passed as he followed me inside.

  There was nobody behind the counter, so I let Levi ring the bell. He seemed to get a real kick out of it.

  Old Man Byrd looked about ready to shit himself when he spotted not one, not two, but three Duncan brothers waiting on him when he walked in from the garage, especially since the nicest Duncan brother was the only absent one. He threw up his hands like we’d entered with guns blazing. I guess our reputation preceded us.

  “Now look, fellas. I don’t want no trouble.” His voice came out all shaky and scared. I was afraid his old ass was going to have a heart attack before I got a word out of my mouth.

  “Trouble?” I turned to Larry as if Byrd’s words were unwarranted and downright offensive. “Why would you think we’re looking for trouble, Mr. Byrd? We just came for a little visit. Isn’t that right, Levi?”

  Levi nodded, and poor Mr. Byrd’s bald head broke out in beads of sweat. That old man was scared to death—but you know what they say about cornered rats.

  “Well, your brother ain’t here,” he snapped, pulling out a shotgun from under the counter like that would be enough to send us on our merry ole way. Unfortunately for him, he barely had time to point the damn thing before Larry had a .45 pointed at his head.

  “That’s ’cause you fired him, ain’t it?” Larry shouted, pulling back the hammer. “Now put down the damn shotgun, old man.”

  Byrd placed it on the counter.

  “You wanna tell us why you got a problem with our brother?” I asked, all nice and polite, leaning my arms on the counter to get a little closer to him.

  “Look, fellas, I . . . I really don’t want no trouble.” Mr. Byrd comically shook his head and waved his hands like that would reinforce his stance and get us moving along. “LC is a good kid, but he’s become less reliable lately. I’m trying to run a business here. I’m just one person, and if I hire someone, I really need them to show up on time. I can’t be around like I used to.”

  “You see, now you’re speaking my language. I get that you’re running a business. Hell, I run a business too, and I depend on my employees to be reliable.”

  “Uh-huh!” Larry chimed in, lowering the gun.

  I kept my eye focused on Mr. Byrd as I continued. Hell, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that a part of me—no, all of me—was enjoying this game. “Mr. Byrd, how old are you?”

  The look on his face almost made me burst out laughing. He didn’t know where the hell that question came from or where I planned on going with it, and he looked like he was about to die from fright.

  “I’ma be sixty-seven my next birthday come June.” Of course he left out the second half of his sentence—“if I have a next birthday”—but we could all feel his concern about his lifespan hovering in the air.

  “You been around a long time. How long you been running this place?”

  “Damn near forty years. I bought it when I was twenty-seven. Back then they ain’t let us barely own anything, but they didn’t want us coming into their gas stations neither.” He said it in that way that let me know he was doing the dance for his life. “After all these years, I done made my peace with the reality that I’ma work in this place till I’m in the grave.” As he finished, Byrd’s eyes grew wide at the realization that he’d been the one to utter the first mention of death.

  “Well, you’ve done your part,” I answered seriously. I even smiled at him real friendly, anxious to throw off the scent of eagerness. “I’m sure you and your wife want to retire.”

  “Heck yeah, but who in their right mind is gonna want to buy a broken down gas station on this side of town?”

  “I don’t know. My brother seems to think this place would be a good investment. How much you wanna sell it for?” I was finished with all the foolishness and ready to get down to brass tacks. The bug-eyed look he gave told me I’d surprised the hell out of him with my question. He had seemed a whole lot more comfortable with the idea of me coming to kill him, but then he took a few steps closer.

  “You serious?” The old man raised an eyebrow.

  “As a heart attack,” I responded, knowing good and well that I had damn near given him one.

  “Ten thousand dollars,” he said weakly.

  “Ten thousand?” I repeated.

  Larry and I turned to each other, but neither of us said a word. Instead, I tossed him the keys to my car. Larry went out the door, while I did a little show of checking out the place, looking under the hood, so to speak.

  “Here’s your money,” Larry announced, handing him the ten thousand dollars he’d gotten from the trunk of my car.

  The thing that old man would never know was that I would have paid twice what he asked to get what I wanted. In my business, an initial offering is just that: the first step to open up the negotiations. I’d learned that from my trips up north, where everyone seemed to be up for bargaining and no first offer was ever considered. Lucky for me, the South was still running behind the times.

  Old Man Byrd gingerly counted out the cash and then recounted it. Didn’t take a genius to realize that he’d never seen that much money in his life. After he finished, he held out his hand and we shook on it.

  “Now I’m gonna need a bill of sale for that. You know, to make it legal and all.”

  “Course.” He went scurrying around the counter to write one up before I changed my mind. If he wasn’t so damn old, I was sure he would have clicked his heels.

  “And I’m also going to need you to do me a favor.” My voice dropped and got real respectful, like it did when I was feeling generous, which I was at the moment. Nothing pleased me more than not having to resort to violence to get what I wanted, and since this shit had gone even smoother than I had hoped, I was feeling magnanimous.

  “Sure, sure. Anything you like.” Geriatric or not, he would have damn near dropped down on all fours after unloading this spot for that much cash.

  Twenty minutes later, when I’d returned from the old man showing us around our new place of business, I heard a car pull up. Byrd was already packing his shit, getting ready to get on with his new life. Through the window, I could see LC an
d Donna in her fancy-ass debutante mobile, with him behind the wheel. It made me wonder if the whole reason he dated her stuck-up ass was to get himself an automobile upgrade.

  “What the hell are y’all doing here?” LC shouted the moment he hit the door, looking straight at me. He shut it just as quick, glancing around nervously. “And where’s Mr. Byrd?”

  Deciding to have a little fun with him, I winked at Larry and said, “I told you I’d straighten things out with Old Man Byrd if he fired you, didn’t I?”

  LC walked over to the counter and picked up the shotgun as he confronted me angrily. “Oh my God, what did you do? Where’s Mr. Byrd?”

  “This wasn’t just on Lou, little bro, Old Man Byrd had to go. You’re just going to have to get use to that, LC,” Larry said simply.

  LC’s hands went up to his face with horror etched all over it. He crumpled to the floor in some kind of agony, like he’d just lost his father or something.

  “You fucking murderer! I’m calling the police!” Donna screamed out at me, but LC wisely grabbed her arm and shook his head.

  “Murderers?” I echoed. “You know what, Donna? If I were you, I’d stick to sucking dick and not Duncan business, ’cause you don’t know what the hell you’re talking ’bout.”

  “Everything all right in here?” The back door swung open and Byrd walked in from the back of the shop. Donna damn near fainted. Seeing his old boss, LC let out a sigh of relief then turned angrily toward a laughing Larry and me. “Why’s everyone look like they just saw a ghost?” Byrd asked.

  “We were just playing a little joke on LC before we told him the good news.”

  “You bastard,” Donna sassed, hand on hip, as she glared at me. When LC turned his back, I stuck out my tongue then slowly ran it across my lips suggestively. She jumped like I’d actually been playing with her clit.

  “What do you mean, good news? You giving me my job back, Mr. Byrd?” LC was all smiles, but not for long.

  “No, son. I can’t do th—” Byrd said before I cut him off.

  “But I can.” I handed LC a piece of paper, which Donna quickly snatched out of his hand.

  “Oh my God, this bill of sale is in your name, LC.”

  LC removed it from her hands. “What are you taking about?” He began to read the paper, and his eyes grew big. “Get the fuck outta here! We own this place? You bought this place, Lou?” LC was damn near jumping up and down by this time. How quickly shit turns around.

  “No, little brother, you own the place. Larry and I are going to use that building in the back with tires in it for our offices, maybe open a title loan shop like the white boys across town. But the gas and service station belong to you. Now you can work for yourself, put that college education to use like Ma wanted.” I could see LC’s wheels already turning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the kid happier.

  “Are the tow trucks included?” he asked. He was walking around touching things like it was all a dream.

  “Everything’s included,” I replied

  “Well, I’m going to leave you fellas. Good luck.” The old guy looked ready to cry.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Byrd. I’ll take good care of her and make you proud,” LC declared.

  “I’m sure you will. Now’s the chance for you to make all those changes you been talking about.” Mr. Byrd shook everybody’s hands then headed out the door.

  “So what are we going to call it?” LC asked.

  “I think we should call it Duncan Brothers.” Larry smiled in approval of his own suggestion. “It makes all the sense in the world, especially since LC’s gonna be fixing the cars up front, and we’re going to be running the other businesses out back.”

  “I hate to burst everyone’s bubble, but this just isn’t happening. LC is going to school to be a respectable businessman. He’s not running a gas station. It’s beneath him. Ain’t that right, baby?” Donna looked over at LC, expecting him to agree. She was too dumb to realize her words were falling on deaf ears. Guess that pussy wasn’t as good as either of us thought it was.

  “Donna, go sit in the car and let me talk to my brothers.”

  “LC, I don’t plan on marrying a goddam grease monkey!” she shouted as she slammed out the door and jumped in her car. “Wait till Daddy hears about this.”

  “You sure about this? She might take off in the car.” Larry glanced at LC, who was sliding his hand down the side of the wall, feeling this new opportunity.

  “I ain’t worried about her. She ain’t going nowhere.” LC showed us the car keys as he went behind the counter and pulled out a bottle of Johnny Walker Black and some paper cups. He filled each cup halfway then handed them to us, raising his in the air and making eye contact with each of us, including Levi. “To my brothers, the Duncan brothers: I know I never say it, but I love you more than life itself, and no one will ever come between us.”

  I couldn’t help but get a little emotional. Maybe, just maybe, that boy was starting to learn just what it meant to be a Duncan.

  Chippy

  18

  “Lovin’ you is easy ’cause you’re beautiful, and making love with you is all I want to do.” I sang Minnie Riperton’s big hit at the top of my lungs, feeling every minute of it, and I didn’t give two shits which one of these girls banged on my door to get me to stop. It had been almost a week, but my man was coming home, and far as I was concerned that was reason enough to sing.

  “La la la la la . . . la la la la la . . .” I kept going, and even though I couldn’t hit the high notes, I tried ’cause I felt that way about Sam. Hell, I’d been working from sun up to sun down to make enough money so we could fly away from this spot and do some of the things we’d been talking about. I was certain that I’d made double or triple what those other girls brought in. Sam was gonna be real proud of his girl Chippy, I thought as I slathered Palmer’s cocoa butter cream all over my body, down my long legs, flat stomach, and nice round breasts. Boy, I couldn’t wait till it was his hands rubbing all over me.

  I went over to the mirror and fixed my hair so that it looked exactly how Big Sam liked it. Since we’d met, nothing gave me more pleasure than seeing him pleased with me. There was so much I had to do to get ready so that we could celebrate our future together. Hopefully this would be the night when we could finally leave this place. I dabbed some perfume behind my ears and in between my breasts so that when he stuck his face there he’d get a nice big whiff that would drive him wild. I caught my expression in the mirror, and even I could see how beautiful I looked, like a woman in love. That’s when I heard the unmistakable sound of Sam’s car pulling up to the building.

  “Sam’s home! Sam’s home!” I shouted as I raced down the stairs.

  The click-clack of my heels must have sounded like a herd of wild elephants and not at all ladylike, but I didn’t care. My man was home, and I couldn’t wait one more minute to set my eyes on him. As I came in the main room I damn near had to push through the bodies to get to him.

  “There’s my Chippy,” Big Sam called out. Yeah, he was certainly something. Damn if that man wasn’t looking better than ever and more fuckable with every moment. The way he stared at me as he caught my eye made me go weak in the knees. Sure, I’d been mad at him for the last three days for leaving and not taking me along on this trip, but the moment I set eyes on him, I couldn’t be mad anymore, and he knew it. That man had me wrapped around his finger, but as long as he kept loving me the way he did, I preferred it that way.

  “Sam!” I squealed, almost jumping in his arms.

  He hugged me and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before letting me go, which seemed weird. It was the first time he’d ever done that. Guess he was trying to keep the drama down since the other girls could be so petty and jealous.

  “Honey, I went way over my quota ’cause I wanted you to be real proud of me,” I announced, expecting him to show me just how much he appreciated my hard work in front of all the others like he always did.

  “I’m always pro
ud of you, Chippy,” he mumbled. When I went to grab his hand, he actually shook me off. That’s when I noticed him taking the hand of a girl a little younger than me who was standing behind him. She was a pretty, caramel color, with an Afro, big tits, a small waist, and short but shapely legs. She was giving him googly eyes and holding onto him like he was all hers.

  “Ladies, I want everybody to meet my new special someone. Her name is Crystal, and she’s going to staying with us a while.”

  “Hi, y’all,” Crystal answered shyly, clinging to Big Sam as she glanced around and took in her surroundings. “This certainly is a pretty place.”

  “Now, I want each and every one of you to treat her real nice, ’cause she means the world to me,” Sam announced flamboyantly as he wrapped his arms around the little heifer like she was me.

  Big Shirley turned with a big smirk to gauge my reaction. “Well, well, well, looks like there’s a new sheriff in town.”

  “What the fuck? That’s exactly what you said about me!” I shrieked more out of shock and hurt than anything else.

  He leaned over and gave her a kiss like I wasn’t even standing there in front of his face dying.

  “Crystal, let me show you to your room,” he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the stairs—but not before glaring at me with pure hatred.

  None of this was making sense. To add insult to injury, that bitch had the nerve to be carrying all these shopping bags, showing off that he had taken her out on a spree the same way he did me—except this time he was using the money I’d been earning for our future. I swear seeing that made something in me snap. Before I could stop myself, I dove on top of that girl and commenced to beating her ass. I grabbed handfuls of her hair in my fists and tried my damndest to rip the pretty straight out of her. If she thought she was going to come into my world and take my man, she had another thing coming.