by K'wan
“Talk,” Eve ordered.
“I didn’t kill your friend,” Steve blurted out.
“Bullshit!” She slapped him. “You were spotted dumping the body.”
“I helped to get rid of the body, but I swear I didn’t kill her. It was just so crazy.”
“Tell me a story,” Eve said, pulling out a pistol. “If I believe you, then you don’t get a bullet in the head.”
“It was all so crazy,” Steve said again, lowering his head. “Carlo didn’t like how Cassidy had played him, so he wanted to put her in her place. They argued on the phone, but he convinced her to meet with him and sort it all out. I picked Cassidy up from her block and took her to the hotel where Carlo was waiting. They talked for a while, but then they started arguing. Cassidy took a swing at Carlo, so he punched her. They tussled for a while, but then it turned ugly. Carlo pushed Cassidy off him and she fell. It was an accident.”
“You’re a fucking liar!” Eve raged. “I saw the pictures and read the autopsy. Cassidy was raped and beaten. She died from blunt head trauma.”
“No, no!” Steve shook his head. “The bruises were from her and Carlo’s fight. Cassidy tripped on the carpet and her head slammed into the glass coffee table. She was dead when she hit the ground. We all panicked. Having a dead girl in his hotel room was something even his father couldn’t fix. We all agreed to dump the body, but the seman was Carlo’s idea. She and Carlo had been fucking on the regular, so there were bound to be signs of penetration. He had a few of us jerk off and smeared the seman on her vagina and underwear. He figured if the police thought she was a prostitute, they wouldn’t probe as deep into the murder.”
Eve covered her ears. “You’re lying.”
“On everything I love, that’s the truth,” Steve said. “Lady, you don’t know how much sleep I’ve lost over what happened to that girl. I might not have killed her, but I’m just as guilty for not doing something about it. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I hope that sick muthafucka Carlo gets everything he deserves.”
Eve sat on the edge of the bed and tried to process what she had just heard. The mystery of Cassidy’s death had finally been solved. It might not bring her back, but it would allow the family some type of closure. Accident or not, it still didn’t soften what Carlo had done. He would still pay for the crime, but Steve had to be dealt with first.
“Let him up, Beast,” she said. He reluctantly complied.
“Listen,” Steve said, massaging his arm. “You don’t have to worry about me warning Carlo. I’m on the first thing smoking out of town. I’m through with the De Nardis and everyone like them.”
Eve nodded. “Yeah, you’re through.” She gave Beast the signal and he wrapped his hands around the back of Steve’s neck.
“Wait, you said you wouldn’t kill me!”
“No.” Eve gave him an icy glare. “I said I wouldn’t shoot you. Beast, break his neck.”
Steve tried to struggle, but Beast’s grip was unbreakable. He struggled for about twenty seconds before the bones in his neck snapped. Beast wrapped Steve’s body in a sheet and threw him over his shoulder. A well-placed hundred-dollar bill insured that the desk clerk was out on break while the body was carried out.
Carlo was awakened from his drunken stupor by the sound of his cell phone ringing. His head spun so bad from all the liquor he had consumed that he couldn’t make out the numbers on the caller ID. When Carlo answered the phone, the caller said two words: “It’s done.” After that, the line went dead. Carlo allowed himself a triumphant smile before he drifted back to sleep.
33.
Felon sat in the driver’s seat of his Lincoln Navigator, smoking a cigarette. He was both relieved and worried. The police had their killer, so Franko had opened the lane up for him, which was a good thing. But there was still no sign of Butter. He and Teddy had checked the safe house, but it didn’t look like Butter had been there in a minute. His men had searched all of Butter’s haunts, but they found no sign of him. This made him uneasy.
More and more Felon thought of the man called Johnny Black. Was it possible that he had gotten to Butter? Not likely; someone would have heard something by now. As he glanced out of the window, he saw Teddy walking in his direction holding a newspaper. The expression on the youngster’s face was a grim one.
“Got some bad news,” Teddy said, hopping into the passenger’s seat.
“What’s going on?” asked Felon.
“Take a look at this.” He unfolded the newspaper and pointed to an article on page five. A young Brooklyn girl named Tahlia Deeds was reported missing two nights ago from the Marcy Projects in Brooklyn. The girl’s baby father said that she was supposed to be going to the store, but witnesses reported her getting into a car with a light-skinned man. No one had seen Tahlia since.
“Ain’t that the shorty that Butter used to fuck with?” Felon asked, trying to hide the fear in his voice.
“Sure is.” Teddy nodded. “They’ve been on and off for a minute. She disappeared around the same time Butter did.”
“I don’t like this shit.” Felon pulled on his cigarette. “My gut tells me something is wrong.”
“Don’t jump to conclusions just yet,” Teddy said, trying to calm him. “For all we know, Butter could’ve gotten paranoid and left town. Let’s go out and look for him before we panic.”
Felon gave Teddy a half smile. Butter hated being away from Harlem, let alone New York. Even if he were do decide to go OT he would’ve contacted Felon or Teddy. He would’ve liked to believe that he was just overreacting, but in his heart he already knew that his friend was gone. He might not have been able to save Butter, but he would see to it that Johnny Black was hunted down.
Eve sat at her kitchen table picking at a plate of bacon and eggs. She appreciated her uncle going though the trouble of preparing breakfast, but she didn’t have much of an appetite. There was too much going on. All through the meal Uncle Bobby tried to make small talk, but she only half listened. Seeing the disturbed look on his niece’s face, he decided to cut to the chase.
“Eve, what’s been wrong with you lately?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said, chopping her eggs with the fork.
“Don’t feed me that. I know something is bothering you. Talk to me.”
“There’s nothing to tell, Uncle Bobby. I’m just trying to live my life. Why does something have to be going on?”
“Anytime my niece is stealing old military equipment from me, something is definitely going on. Now, you gonna tell me what’s up?”
“There’s just a lot going on right now.” She sighed. “I’m trying to stay focused, but it isn’t easy. A lot of people are depending on me right now.”
“Depending on you for what? Eve, what are you into?”
“Tell me something. Back in your army days, if someone messed with one of your squad, what would you do?”
“Well, I’d do what I could to protect him. In the trenches, all we had was each other.”
“So that same rule applies to the streets, then?”
“That’s different. We were at war.”
“And we’re not?” she asked. “Uncle Bobby, I know you don’t spend a lot of time on the streets, so you really don’t understand what’s going on. There are people out there preying on young girls and nobody seems to give a fuck. Every time you look in the paper, somebody’s daughter or sister is falling victim. When is somebody gonna stand up and say enough?”
“Eve, they got the police to handle that kind of stuff.”
“But what happens when the police can’t or won’t do anything about it?”
“Baby girl, sounds like you might be getting into something that’s way over your head. I know you’re hurting about what happened, but in time the pain will fade,” he tried to console her.
She chuckled. “Uncle Bobby, this ain’t just about Cassidy. This is about a little girl’s nightmares and finally being able to put them to rest.” Eve kissed him on the forehead and le
ft the apartment.
Uncle Bobby sat there pondering the conversation with Eve and wondered what he should do next. No matter what the girl said, he knew something was up. She was hardly ever home, but when she was, she was walking around whispering on her cell phone. A definite sign that something was going on. Not only was her attitude different, she was different. Eve had dyed her hair and brought a whole bunch of clothes that did not fit who she was. Bobby might’ve been old, but he wasn’t a fool.
He thought about their exchange over breakfast and his wheels began to spin. “A little girl’s nightmares finally being put to rest” is what she had said. Ever since she was a little girl, Evelyn Panelli was never one to fear anything. There was only one thing he could think of that had ever caused his niece to lose sleep.
Bobby wheeled down the hall and removed the picture of Eve and her parents from the wall. He ran his fingers across the photo and smiled. “Looks like the game ain’t over just yet,” he whispered.
“Where the fuck is this guy?” Carlo flipped his cell phone closed.
“Trouble, cousin?” Sal asked.
“Fucking Steve isn’t picking up his phone. I’ve been trying to get him on the line since this morning.”
“Maybe he’s still laid up with the Black broad?”
“Probably.” Carlo scratched his chin. “Speaking of broads, what do you think of that redhead number from last night?”
Sal smiled. “You know I don’t do dark meat, but I’d like to do her.”
“Did you check that sweet ass?” Carlo clutched his heart. “I’m getting a hard-on just thinking about her.”
“So, when are you gonna try to pop her?” Sal asked.
“As soon as possible. Sally, I gotta have that broad!”
“I don’t understand you, Carlo.” Sal shook his head. “All of the white women in this city and you chase Black tail. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“It’s an acquired taste,” Carlo said, resembling an addict thinking of a fix. “I mean, I’ve screwed my fair share of white broads, but they don’t match up to Black pussy. There’s nothing like crawling between a pair of warm brown thighs.”
“If you say so.” Sal frowned. “I’ll stick to my own.”
“Suit yourself.” Carlo shrugged. “But don’t knock it till you try it.”
Carlo flipped his phone back open and dialed the redhead’s number. After the third ring, Eve answered. “Guess who?” Carlo sang.
“What’s going on, big time?” she said, as if she was overjoyed to hear from him. “I thought you had forgotten about me.”
“Never,” he told her. “I’ve just been busy. Got a lot on my plate.”
“So I hear.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked curiously.
“I do my homework, Carlo De Nardi. I hear you’re the man to see,” she said in a sultry tone.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.” He grinned. “Enough about me, let’s talk about us. I wanna see you.”
“I don’t know, baby. I’m a pretty busy girl myself,” she teased.
“Well, make yourself unbusy.”
“Carlo, as bad as I wanna see you, I have a very hectic schedule. A girl’s gotta eat, ya know?”
“If money’s all that you’re worried about, I got enough of that to keep you occupied for a while,” he boasted.
“Carlo, I don’t know what kind of girls you’re used to dealing with, but money don’t make me moist. Only hard dick motivates me.”
“Well, I got that for you too,” Carlo said excitedly. “Come on, Evelyn. Don’t make me beg.”
“Of course not, boo. The begging comes later. Tell you what, let me handle what I need to handle and I promise to see you sometime this week.”
“Sometime this week?” he asked, disappointed. “Baby, Carlo De Nardi doesn’t wait for anything.”
“Not even for this sweet pussy?” she asked, her voice low and soft.
“Hmmm, that’s a hard one.”
“Tell you what. For you being such a good boy and waiting, I promise to make it worth your while.”
“I’m gonna hold you to that, and it better be worth it,” he told her.
“Oh, it will be. I’ll give you a call later.” Then Eve ended the call.
Carlo sat back on the sofa, touching himself. Evelyn was a prime piece of ass. Of all the Black girls he had laid, she was the most prized catch. Cassidy was good, but she had mileage and a reputation. Evelyn was a fresh face. Suddenly he forgot all about Steve’s abrupt disappearance and focused on what he wanted to do to young Evelyn.
After hanging up with Carlo, Eve pulled out her regular cell phone and dialed Kiki to put the next phase of their plan into action. Eve knew that there was no way to make Steve disappear without raising suspicion, so she planned for it. Not only had she had Steve murdered, but she was going to destroy his credibility. Just as they had done to Cassidy.
“Sup, Twenty?” Kiki said when she answered the phone.
“Chilling, sis,” Eve replied. “How’d everything go?”
“As smooth as you said it would, ma. I passed by two barber shops and three hair salons with Rah. We made sure the story got out. The rest is on the rumor mill.”
“Good looking, sis,” Eve said.
“You know Twenties look out for their own. I wish I could be there to see the look on Carlo’s face when he catches wind that his bodyguard was sharing information with the Feds.”
Al & Son’s car lot in Jamaica, Queens, was usually pretty quiet. They did enough business to keep their doors open, but there was never an overabundance of activity. That morning was quite different. Police tape blocked the entrance to the lot while plainclothes officers swarmed the place, looking for clues.
A customer had come in that morning wanting to purchase a car that was on the lot. When the salesman looked at the tag, he realized that it wasn’t one of theirs. After a brief search of the car, they realized it was a rental. Upon further inspection of the car, they found two bodies in the trunk. One belonged to the missing girl and the other was an unidentified man. They both had bullet holes in their heads.
34.
Carlo sat and listened as Tony recounted what he had heard. Tony was one of his most trusted friends, so he knew that he wouldn’t bring him that kind of information unless there was some truth to it. Even though he was hearing it, he found it very hard to believe. Steve had worked for the De Nardis for quite some time. Carlo trusted him with his life. The man had always been loyal and diligent in his work. Steve’s usefulness had never come into question until then.
“I can’t believe it!” Carlo slammed his fist into the wall. “How could Big Steve turn on us?”
“Hey, I’m just as shocked as you are,” Tony said, “but that’s the word. They said the police picked him up in connection with that hooker who got clipped. This is bad.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that!” Carlo snapped. “Jesus, he could hang us all. We gotta get to him.”
“Not likely. I called some of our people downtown and no one knows anything. My guess is that the Feds got him and they’re keeping things real hushed.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Carlo screamed. “We gotta call a meeting. Tony, we gotta get this thing cleaned up before my father finds out.”
“Don’t worry, Carlo.” Tony patted him on his back. “Franko will understand. We’re gonna straighten this whole thing out.”
Carlo wished he shared his friend’s confidence, but he didn’t. Steve knew some of his darkest secrets. Carlo had said and done things in front of Steve that not even his father was aware of. Because of him, the whole De Nardi empire could take a hit. Son or not, if Steve implicated Franko because of something Carlo let slip, he was a dead man.
Eve watched Beast as he frolicked with a stray puppy he had found the night before. He had such a childlike innocence about him. Eve had involved him with Steve’s murder when she knew she shouldn’t have. She had already caused hi
m so much grief that it was selfish of her to have him risking his life for her vendetta. A tear almost escaped her eye as she thought of never seeing him again.
“What’s the matter, Eve?” he asked, noticing the sad look on her face.
“Nothing, just thinking.” She smiled. “I got a lot to do.”
“Are we going out again? Like the other night?”
“No. I’ve got to do this alone.”
“Eve, you’re my friend. I wanna help,” he said, protesting.
“You’ve already helped me more than you know.” She patted his hand. “This will all be over soon, and I’m going to have to leave.”
“But why? If you make all the bad men go away, then you don’t have to leave, right?”
“I wish it was that simple. Even after I take care of these bad men, more will come. They’ll keep coming until I’m dead.”
“Then we’ll fight them,” he said with conviction.
“No, Beast. I’ve already lost one friend. I don’t want to loose another.”
“I won’t let you go,” he cried, hugging her leg.
“You have to.” She fought back the tears. “I’ve come too far to turn back, but its not too late for you. I’m sorry, Beast, that’s just the way it has to be.”
Unexpectedly he jerked away from her and stormed across the room. He hefted his twenty-seven-inch TV off the stand and hurled it against the wall. Glass and sparks flew all over the furniture and carpet. Next he moved to the wall and proceeded to punch holes in it. Eve felt for the big man. He just didn’t seem to understand.
“Beast, you have to calm down!” She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Eve, if you leave, who’ll take care of me?” He looked up at her through tear-filled eyes.
