Carl Weber's Kingpins

by C. N. Phillips

  “He always does,” Eddy said speaking fondly of his husband. “Speaking of which, he wants you, your mom, and your brother to come to the house sometime soon. It’s been awhile since we all had dinner. I don’t know why your mama is acting like we aren’t forever family.”

  “She took Daddy’s death really hard,” Kleigh said, unable to hide the brief sadness in her voice. “I mean, we all did, but she lost the love of her life. I don’t know if you ever get over that.”

  “You don’t. But staying cooped in the house doesn’t help either. It’s been two years. It’s time for her to breathe some fresh air again. Can’t change the past; only can live for a better future.”

  “I’ll tell her you said that, wise guy,” Kleigh said to him and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Please do. We really miss y’all. I pray for that hotheaded brother of yours every day. I don’t want him to end up like his daddy,” Eddy told her and snapped his fingers toward her feet. “But you, Miss Thing, are working those heels, honey. I’m so proud of you. If I ever had a daughter, she would be just like you. I love you, honey.”

  “I love you too,” she said. “I’m going to let you get back to doing your thing. I need to go check last week’s numbers.”

  “All right, honey. Oh, and you need to check your girl, Jasmine. She thinks that little title of hers means she can talk to motherfuckas all crazy. I’ma show her crazy the next time she comes at me funny.”

  “Oh, no!” Kleigh said, laughing at his serious expression. “Don’t worry. I’ll talk to her because I do not need my godfather going to jail, even though we do have bail money.”

  “Mmm-hmm,” Eddy said, turning back to his cake mixture. “You better.”

  Kleigh left the kitchen and finished the journey to her office in the back. It wasn’t huge, just big enough for a desk, a computer, and all of the files she kept back there. She wasn’t shocked to see Jasmine already back there sitting at the computer. An excel spreadsheet was open on its screen, and she had a pen and notebook, jotting things down.

  “Well, hello, there,” Kleigh greeted her with a smile.

  “Hey, girl,” Jasmine said, not looking up from what she was doing. “I didn’t know what time you were going to be in today, so I wanted to have these numbers from last week ready for you to view when you got here.”

  “See, this is why I hired you. Always on top of things, especially the money,” Kleigh said, taking a seat in the chair on the opposite side of Jasmine. “That is, unless you’re scheming your own cut of bread from the top.”

  “Oh, now I know you’re crazy,” Jasmine said, not batting an eye at Kleigh’s bad joke. “I would never do that to you. I value my life too much to play those kinds of games. There! All done.”

  She slid Kleigh the notebook with the final number from the previous week’s sales. When Kleigh saw it, she was more than impressed. They were up 15 percent from the previous week, and the mayor’s order was going to put them at a solid 20.

  “Good work. I love what I’m seeing,” Kleigh said, nodding her head approvingly. “But you do know we have a computer that would have done all this in like five minutes, right?”

  “I like math.” Jasmine shrugged her shoulders.

  Kleigh had known Jasmine since high school, but the two weren’t really close back then. They only knew each other because Jasmine’s father, James, was Kameron’s accountant. James suffered a stroke a few years before Kameron died, and since Kleigh knew he was the primary source of income for the family, she hired Jasmine on at the bakery. She put her in the kitchen at first, but the girl couldn’t bake a cake if her life depended on it. In fact, Kleigh was pretty sure that was when the tit for tat between Jasmine and Eddy started. Kleigh soon found out that Jasmine had her father’s business savvy and a knack for numbers. Jasmine was made the manager of Turner’s Bakery and the person in charge whenever Kleigh was away. It was one of the best business decisions she’d ever made. Although Jasmine and Eddy constantly butted heads, they were all a family, and that’s what families did.

  Jasmine was not all brains, either. Her beauty wasn’t as “in your face” as Kleigh’s, but it was there and made her all the more charming. Her tiny nose paired with her deep dimples gave her sandy-brown eyes more of a pop. She had pretty light brown skin that set the tone for the blond highlights she rocked in her pixie haircut.

  “Did Eddy tell you about this morning?” Jasmine asked and rolled her eyes. “That sassy motherfucka always wants to fight, I tell you.”

  “What happened now?”

  “He got mad at me because I told him that one of the customers said their cake was dry.”

  “Oooh,” Kleigh said, forming her mouth into an “O.”

  “I mean, what was I supposed to do?” Jasmine said, putting her hands in the air. “I told him, and he got to cursing me out and telling me ‘You think you’re Princess Jasmine, but you’re more like Apu!’”

  “No, he didn’t say that!” Kleigh said and began hollering with laughter.

  “He did! I couldn’t believe his rude ass. I’m just the messenger. And I was going to tell him the customer was tripping. I tasted the cake, and it was delicious to me, but you know what? Fuck him and his cake now.”

  Kleigh was holding her stomach because she was laughing so hard. Those two were definitely a trip. If she didn’t know any better, she would think they were blood related by how much they got on each other’s nerves.

  “You know what, Jas, just stay out of the kitchen today. You know Eddy’s ass is crazy. He doesn’t play about his cakes.”

  “Obviously,” Jasmine said in a dry tone.

  “Y’all will be OK. I need everyone in good moods if everything is going to go smoothly tomorrow evening. I want to make a good impression on the mayor, not just for my sake, but for my brother’s.”

  “Why for him? Is Klax in trouble or something?” Jasmine asked, trying to mask the concern in her voice.

  “No. I thought I told you that he’s tryna buy that old theater in the Bronx and turn it into a museum. But the council wants to turn it into an apartment complex.”

  “He wants to turn it into a museum?” Jasmine asked with a wondrous look on her face. “I never pegged Klax as someone interested in that kind of art.”

  “There are a lot of things about my brother people don’t know,” Kleigh said.

  “I wouldn’t mind finding out about them.”

  “Ooh, girl! I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,” Kleigh said with a laugh and took another look at the notebook. “I’m going to say it again; I’m loving these numbers. So much that I think I’m going to take a trip to the bank early today. You already did morning count, right?”

  “Yup. The bag is in the top drawer,” Jasmine said, pointing to the file cabinet against the office wall.

  “Perfect!”

  Kleigh got up and went to the tall, metal gray cabinet. Sure enough, there was a bag of cash right there waiting to get deposited. Kleigh didn’t like more than $5,000 to be in the shop at a time. In the morning and early afternoon, there was always double that for a few hours because the deposit didn’t get made until two in the afternoon.

  “I’m about to make the run,” she told Jasmine. “I may or may not be back.”

  “The joys of being the boss.”

  “I was going to get in the kitchen for the event tomorrow, but Eddy ain’t gon’ do nothing but kick me out.”

  “You have a point there,” Jasmine said with a grin.

  Kleigh blew her a kiss in farewell before exiting the office. She was about to leave the way she came in, but suddenly, she began to crave a glazed donut. Turning the opposite way, she started toward the front of the bakery and to the hot-and-ready section.

  “Hey, Amy, girl,” she called to the young lady behind the cash register when she emerged from the back.

  “Hey, boss!” the 19-year-old college student shouted back. “I aced my math test!”

  “I told you that you would!” K
leigh said, beaming.

  Amy was the only white girl in the establishment, but she was raised in the projects and had just as much heart as the rest of them. She even had some spice to her tone and a little booty to match. She was a petite and pretty redhead with a sprinkle of freckles across her nose. Kleigh liked her because she didn’t try to be anybody but herself.

  “You did,” Amy said, leaning against the counter. “I’m not gonna lie, though. I was scared. This was a test that counted toward my final grade.”

  “Well, you don’t need to worry about that now, do you?” Kleigh said, walking around to the hot-and-ready treats and opening the small glass door. “Here, I have something for you.”

  After she grabbed the donut that she wanted, Kleigh reached into her purse and pulled out two $100 bills. She held them out for Amy to take, but she hesitated.

  “Boss, I—”

  “Girl, if you don’t take this damn money so I can go!” Kleigh told her. “You’re off tomorrow since we’re closed to do last-minute things with the mayor’s event. Go have some fun with your friends on me. And if y’all get a bottle, ’cause you’re a college girl, and I know you be drinking. Just be careful.”

  “Thank you,” Amy said and took the money. “I love working here.”

  “And I love having you here,” Kleigh told her, and with one final wave, she was gone.

  She decided to leave through the front of the building instead of cutting back through the kitchen. She didn’t feel like hearing anymore of Jasmine and Eddy bickering at each other and would rather avoid it at any cost. As soon as she stepped outside, she saw one of Klax’s goons parked a little ways away facing the bakery. Sighing, she tucked the metallic gray ziplock bag under her arm as she made her way to the back of the building where her car was parked in the alley. It was a chilly March day, but the beaming sun made it tolerable. Her four-inch heels stabbed the concrete as she walked, making a “clicking” sound as she went down the alley. She saw a few cats run wildly away from behind the bakery’s dumpster. The sound of her heels must have startled them since she was the only person there.

  Kleigh was almost to her car when a figure jumped from behind the tall dumpster and stood in front of her, blocking her way. She could instantly tell that he was a petty thug, probably from around the way, but still, she was a little nervous since she was alone. She stopped in her tracks and even took a step back to put more distance between them. He wore an all-black hoodie and dirty jeans with a pair of Tims on his feet. It was daytime, but his skin was black as night, and the baby locs on his head stood straight up, making him look like an off-brand Kodak Black.

  “Damn, baby, you look and smell like money,” he sneered, stepping closer to her. “Why don’t you go ahead let me take that bag off ya hands?”

  “Nigga, get the fuck out of my way,” she said and gestured with her hand for him to move aside. “Some people have shit to do.”

  She tried to walk around him but stopped when she saw him pull a firearm out from behind his back. She’d seen enough guns to know that the one in his hands was a Mini Draco. Kleigh looked at the gun and then back up at him before turning her lip up.

  “Are you dumb? I hope five bands is enough for you to die over. Do you know who my brother is?”

  “I know exactly who ya big brother is, bitch,” he said and spat on the ground next to her feet. “And I don’t give a fuck. I’m here to give that nigga grief, starting with you.”

  Kleigh’s nerves suddenly shot to the roof as she remembered Klax saying that somebody was causing him trouble. The thug aimed the gun at her head, making Kleigh duck slightly and put her hands over her head, preparing to hear a gunshot. The split second her eyes were closed, she felt a rush of air as someone came rushing behind her, and the sounds of a tussle began. She opened her eyes to see that someone had come to her rescue—and not just someone. It was the guy from the club the night before.

  “You like robbing women, huh?” the newcomer said and hit the thug so hard in his shoulder that he was forced to drop the weapon.

  He landed a few more punches before the thug had finally had enough and scurried off down the alley with his blood leaking on the concrete. The guy who saved her bent down and picked up the gun. He examined it for a few moments and chuckled to himself.

  “It’s not even loaded,” his husky voice said. He shook his head. “These young niggas be wilding.”

  Kleigh stood there and took a few moments to take in what had just happened. Her life had just flashed before her eyes, but there she was . . . still alive and kicking it. She placed a hand over her chest and felt her heart racing. Nothing like that had ever happened to her before, even when she sneaked off from under Klax’s watchful eyes. Even though the thug’s gun wasn’t loaded, she couldn’t help but think that he would have found another way to hurt her, and it made her shiver.

  “Thank you,” she said and checked to make sure she still had all of her belongings. “I don’t know where you came from, but I’m glad you showed up.”

  “No thanks needed,” he said, flashing her a dazzling white smile.

  “Was this just a right place, right time moment?” she asked.

  “I guess you can kind of say that. I actually came by looking for you, and the girl at the register said I’d just missed you, but you parked in the back.”

  “You came looking for me? How did you even know where to find me?”

  “You’re a popular girl, Kleigh. Everyone around these parts seems to know who you are. All I had to do was describe your pretty face, and they pointed me to this here bakery.”

  “Uh-huh,” Kleigh said suspiciously.

  “Now, I think it may have been fate,” he said, and that time when he smiled, Kleigh felt the butterflies in the pit of her stomach flutter.

  Had he been that handsome the first time she saw him? No, not handsome. The man was fine. She could tell that he had a fresh line up and retwist in his hair. The light from the sun was hitting the diamonds around his neck just right and made them gleam. He was dressed in a Versace sweatshirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of black Tims.

  “I see you figured out my name, but I still don’t know yours,” she said.

  “That’s because I’m a little more low-key than you. I’m Tron.”

  “Tron?” she asked and made a face.

  “Yeah, what’s wrong with that?”

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I guess I’ve never met anybody with that name before.”

  “And I’ve never saved a damsel in distress before,” Tron teased.

  “I was not in that much distress,” Kleigh said in denial and walked to the driver door of her car. “But I do appreciate you for showing up when you did. I’m assuming you want some kind of reward now?”

  “Nah, not a reward. But I’d say the score would be settled if you let me take you out to dinner tonight.”

  Kleigh was annoyed with herself by how fast the smile came to her lips. It was so fluent with his question that she couldn’t even stop it if she wanted to. He stood back and waited for her answer with the thug’s gun in his hands. The slightly smug look on his face told her that he knew her answer before she said it. And she hated that he was right. And she also knew that if her car didn’t pull out of the alley soon, the goon Klax had posted outside of the bakery would come looking for her. She sighed and gave in so she could leave.

  “All right,” she said, pulling her phone out of her purse and handing it to him. “Put your name and number in there, and I’ll hit you up if I’m free up. Okay?”

  “That’s a bet. I’m expecting to hear from you,” he said, taking her cell phone for a few moments before giving it back to her. “Now, let me go in here and see what Turner’s Bakery is hitting for. If it’s trash, I’ma let you know.”

  “I’m not worried,” she said with a wink. “In fact, you might get addicted.”

  “Is that right?” he asked and licked his lips.

  She heard the question but ignored it. I
nstead, she got in her vehicle and started the engine. When she drove off and glanced in her rearview mirror, she saw him still standing there watching her. The butterflies in her stomach didn’t let up until she was on the main street and headed toward the bank. And even then, the smell of his cologne lingered in her nostrils, and his smile flashed in her mind. She grabbed her phone to make sure he really had saved his number there and noticed it was still on the contact screen. When she saw what he saved his number as, she almost swerved the car from laughing so hard.

  “Sexy Chunky Peanut Butter,” she read out loud. “What the fuck.”

  She was glad that her windows were tinted because if they weren’t, everyone driving next to her would be blinded by her smile. Her teeth were showcased the entire drive to the bank, and in her mind, she knew for sure she wasn’t going back to work. She was going to go home and go through her closet to find something to wear that night.

  Chapter 6

  “Sometimes after a storm, people say there was no

  warning. There was a warning, but nobody was

  listening.”

  —Jeff Last

  Tron

  It was all staged. The robbery. The rescue. Even him asking her on a date. However, he’d made his young soldier use an unloaded weapon in fear of it going off during the whole altercation. Tron didn’t want anything to happen to Kleigh while he was trying to get close to her. When the coast was clear, and he was sure Kleigh was gone, he placed two fingers on his lips and whistled twice. On his call, the young thug who had attempted to rob Kleigh came running back to him. Tron gave him his weapon back and looked at the damage to his face.

  “My bad, Rello. I had to make it look real,” Tron said, pulling out his wallet.

  “No pain, no gain,” Rello said and watched Tron count $500 and hand the money over.

  “Y’all been staying low?” Tron asked, and Rello nodded his head.

  “Yup. Just waiting on your call so we can take this nigga down, G.”

  “Word,” Tron said. “Just let me work my magic, and it’s gon’ happen for sure.”