Carl Weber's Kingpins

by C. N. Phillips

  “Kleigh, I know damn well you see all these people back here. If I need help with something—which I won’t—I will ask. Okay? Now, get out there and mingle. You might meet your Prince Charming.”

  Kleigh bit her tongue and swatted Eddy on his arm when he playfully pushed her to the exit. With a small huff, she did what he asked and went back out to the party. She recognized a lot of faces just due to the fact of the bakery being a pretty popular place in town, but that didn’t mean she wanted to speak to them. She thought back to Eddy’s last words, “Prince Charming.” She smiled to herself as she walked over to a man holding a tray of champagne flutes and took one.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “You’re welcome, ma’am,” the young man said and eyed her up and down in her Vera Wang ball gown. “The color red suits you. You look beautiful.”

  She smiled again and walked away. She had to admit, she was in a pretty good mood. Not only did she look good, but she smelled amazing. She’d spent a little extra time on her makeup that night, and she had gotten her long hair done in a silk press. After her date with Tron, even the air around her seemed a little warmer. He just did something good for her spirit. After having dinner the night before, she had gone back to his place despite being skeptical about it. Still, the last place she had wanted to be was in front of Klax’s face after ignoring him, so she went. Tron was nothing short of a gentleman, and the two of them stayed up the entire night talking about sweet nothings. She replayed a conversation from the night before in her head . . .

  “So, who are you?” she asked with her cheek rested on his chest.

  The two were cuddled under the covers of his bed with a movie playing quietly in the background. Her hand gently rubbed his bare chest as she waited to feel the vibrations given off from his vocal cords. She hadn’t really snuggled with a man before, so the fact that she was so comfortable doing so with him was beyond her.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Like, I see who you are on the surface, but I know that’s just who you want me to see.”

  “So you’re saying I’m putting up a façade?”

  “No,” she giggled. “I’m saying that I want to dive a little deeper, that’s all. You know what I do, but I don’t know what you do. It must be something big, right? For you to have the cars you have, and this is a pretty nice place you live in too. I’m not one into artwork, but I can tell the paintings you have all over cost a pretty penny.”

  “Observant, I see,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter what I do.”

  “Why doesn’t it?”

  “Because it just doesn’t. What I do isn’t who I am.”

  Kleigh smacked her lips. “Yup, I figured it out. You’re really a street nigga.”

  “You keep saying that. Why?” Tron laughed.

  “Because I heard my brother use that line on a few females when I was growing up. I’m not judging you. Shit, you have to get it how you live.”

  “Is that right?” Tron said, looking down at her.

  “Yup,” she said, raising her head to look up at him. “I’m not gon’ judge you for that as long as you have a plan. You can’t live the street life forever, unless you’re willing to die for it.”

  “That’s what my pops tells me. He wants me to take his business one day,” Tron said dryly.

  “And what’s wrong with that?”

  “It ain’t lucrative enough for my taste. He had another business awhile ago that was more my speed, but he lost it.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Kleigh genuinely told him. “But we live in a world full of endless possibilities. Just because one door closes doesn’t mean another won’t open.”

  “Look at you, Confucius-ella,” he joked and pulled her closer to him . . .

  Kleigh was jerked back into reality when she felt a hand tap her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw the mayor standing behind her with a smile on her face. It took Kleigh a few seconds to gather herself because she could almost still smell the scent of Tron’s cologne and feel his touch. She cleared her throat and returned the mayor’s pleasant expression.

  “Mayor Brown, you look lovely,” she said, commenting on the baby-blue gown the mayor had opted for.

  The mayor was an older black woman in her late forties. She wore her hair in a cute, short hairstyle, and she had a pretty face. She had the body of a woman who had been an athlete in her earlier days, which made her look good in the dress she was wearing.

  “Thank you. You look quite stunning yourself,” Mayor Brown responded.

  “You’re too kind. This event is just amazing. It looks like everyone is having a good time.”

  “That’s because everyone is going overboard on the free champagne,” Mayor Brown joked with a laugh. “Now, where is that brother of yours?”

  “I’m not sure,” Kleigh said glancing around. “I haven’t seen him, but then again, I’ve been in and out of the kitchen since I got here.”

  “Always hands-on. I like that. I’m so glad I chose your bakery to do the desserts. Everyone has been raving over them. Especially those chocolate-covered strawberries and the red velvet cake! A few have even asked if you are available to cater their next events.”

  “Send them my way, and we can make it happen!”

  “Perfect,” Mayor Brown said.

  A tall man came up to her, leaned down, and whispered something in her ear to make her giggle. She lightly tapped him on his arm and turned back to Kleigh.

  “This is my husband,” she explained. “Always a goof. But before I’m whisked away to the dance floor, please extend my apologies to Kevin.”

  “Apologies?”

  “Yes. I saw that the theater he wanted to turn into a museum was blown up yesterday. You don’t want to know the loads of paperwork that have been dropped on my desk in a measly twenty-four hours. So far, terroristic activity has been ruled out since no one was killed in the explosion, thankfully. A few federal agents have been sniffing their noses around, but I told them that I don’t think Kevin had anything to do with it. After all, I was going to sign off on his ownership of the property next week. Whoever did this has a personal vendetta against your brother, so please tell him to watch his back. He’s done a lot of good for this community. I would hate to see another young black soul lost,” Mayor Brown said and squeezed Kleigh’s hand. “But I said that tonight, I was going to enjoy myself and go back to work tomorrow. I’m so sick of the people in New York not knowing how to act. Explosives? Really? Have a good night, dear!”

  The theater had gotten blown up? Kleigh stood there with her glass in hand, looking stupid. That was probably why he had gone overboard on the calls and texts the day before. He must have been genuinely worried over her whereabouts. Downing the rest of the champagne, she stepped to the side and pulled her phone out of the black shoulder clutch she had. She scanned the ballroom to see if she could find her brother in the crowds, but he was nowhere to be found. Where was he? She called his phone and listened to it ring before he answered.

  “Now you want to call,” he answered rudely.

  “I’m sorry,” she started. “I was just feeling a little overwhelmed yesterday. I needed to get away.” Pause. “I heard about the theater.” Pause. “Hello?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Did you hear what I said?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “And you aren’t gon’ say nothing?” Kleigh asked, feeling herself getting frustrated.

  “For what? You don’t give a fuck that I’m out here tryna build an even bigger legacy for our name. You’re too worried about running the streets and having fun, girl. That shit’s dead. Especially when everything you do directly affects me.”

  “Klax, I wasn’t the one who asked to be the boss. You did!” Kleigh said glancing around to make sure nobody was listening to her conversation. “When Daddy said, don’t let nothing happen to me, he didn’t mean try to control my life. I’m sorry about the theater, but I’m not sorry for ducking y
ou and the babysitters you always have watching me. It would be different if you had niggas watching me as I moved around on my own free will. But you got these niggas trying to tell me what I can and can’t do because you said so. I’m not going for that anymore.”

  “I can feel that, and after all this fire goes out, you have my word that I ain’t gon’ be all on your neck like I have been.”

  “And when will that be? Neveruary?”

  “Hopefully, everything goes well tonight.”

  “Tonight? Where are you anyways? I thought you’d be at the mayor’s birthday celebration.”

  “Nah,” Klax told her. “That’s where I’m expected to be. I’d rather be incognito tonight.”

  “Is everything all right?”

  “It will be after I handle this business.”

  “I don’t like the way you’re talking, brother. Are you good?”

  “Yeah. And by the way, I got my niggas on you right now too. You look nice in that red dress. Mama musta picked that out. I’ma holler at you a little later, OK?”

  “Klax!”

  But it was too late. He’d already disconnected the call. She groaned to herself, hoping with all her might that her brother wasn’t about to go and do something stupid. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. There was something about Klax’s tone that seemed off. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she tried to push it to the back of her mind and send positive thoughts up into the universe to keep her brother safe.

  Chapter 10

  “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.”

  —Oscar Wilde

  Klax

  It was later in the evening when Klax found himself two hours away from his home and outside of a boxing gym. He checked the address in the email that Adonis had sent to make sure he was at the right place, and sure enough, he was. From the outside, it looked like a nice gym. Like whoever the owner was had put a lot of time and money into it. He sat outside waiting for a while, watching men, young and old, enter or leave. He was supposed to be at the mayor’s dinner but had decided at the last minute not to go. Once he saw Adonis’s email, there was no way that he was going to wait another second to take action. He also figured that at the dinner, he would be something similar to a sitting duck. Now that he had arrived, he realized he had no idea what he was going to say to Sunny. He just knew he had to tell him to call his son off, whatever the cost. Klax had been playing nice so far and hadn’t shown his hand yet, although he wouldn’t have a choice if things didn’t go smoothly that night.

  He removed the key from the ignition of his Range Rover and got out of the car. Dressed for the occasion, Klax was wearing a black hoodie, a pair of gray joggers, and a pair of black Nike Air Max sneakers. He sauntered into the gym and hung back while he looked around. There was a ring in the middle of the floor high off of the ground. Around it was all types of workout equipment and people using them. It wasn’t hard for him to blend in as he skimmed the place for the person he was looking for. The only photo Adonis could find of Sunny was an older one, but hopefully, he hadn’t aged too much.

  “Keep that right arm up! You’re leaving your face wide open!”

  The loud, gruff voice came from the ring, and Klax rested his eyes there. A boy who couldn’t be much older than 16 was in the ring sparring with an older gentleman. They both had on boxing gear, so Klax couldn’t really make out their faces. He watched amused as the boy kept getting frustrated when his jabs didn’t land on the intended target. He was hitting all air. However, the older guy was laying into him.

  “You did better than last time, Jake,” the man said to the boy when they finished. “But you still have a long way to go. Hit the showers. Your mom is going to be pulling up in a moment to get you.”

  “Thanks, Sunny,” the boy said and stepped out of the ring.

  KIax watched as Sunny too climbed out of the ring and headed over to a water bottle sitting on a nearby bench. He waited until he saw him head into what looked like a back office. Klax maneuvered through the gym, keeping his eyes on Sunny until he reached his destination. Not wanting to surprise him, Klax knocked on the open door.

  “If your mom is here, tell her she doesn’t need to worry about paying this month, Jake. I’ma go ahead and cover that tab for her,” Sunny said with his back turned toward the door.

  He was in the middle of rummaging through some papers when the door shut.

  “That’s nice of you, but I ain’t Jake.”

  Not recognizing Klax’s voice, Sunny spun around to face him. He sized up the newcomer by looking him down, then up. When finally he got to Klax’s face, a look of recognition crossed over his eyes. He rushed and reached for a pistol underneath the desk. When he went to aim it, Klax disarmed him easily and tucked the gun in his own waist.

  “I take that as you know who I am.”

  “You better have a damned good reason to bring your ass up in here, boy,” Sunny said with a glare.

  Klax invited himself to sit down in the chair on the client side of the desk and motioned Sunny to sit down as well. Sunny sneered at him and shot daggers with his eyes.

  “You aren’t welcome around these parts, and I’m going to give you five seconds to leave.”

  “You’re causing problems for my business, so, nah, I can’t do that. Sit down. Let’s talk about the bulldog you’ve released into Harlem and my other places of business.”

  “I’m not doing anything,” Sunny spat. “Now, you have four seconds.”

  “You can continue to count down all you want, but until you order that son of yours to stop making noise where I make my money, I ain’t going nowhere. Feel me?”

  “My son? My son isn’t in Harlem.”

  “Is that right?” Klax said and pulled up the security footage from the night Tron showed up at Diamonds on his phone. “That ain’t LaTron?”

  Sunny took a quick glance at the phone when Klax held it up to his face. He looked genuinely shocked to see Tron sitting across from Klax in the VIP section. The sound wasn’t on, but Sunny watched him move his lips like he was trying to read what he was saying.

  “No need to strain your eyes. I can tell you exactly why he was there,” Klax said, putting his phone away. “He came to pay me a visit at my club to tell me that he wants the throne, and I’m here to tell you that’s not gon’ happen. I’m here to stay. I don’t give a fuck about no birthright shit. That doesn’t apply to the streets. What happened back then was between you and my pops. That eye-foran-eye shit ain’t gon’ fly with me. He done made a little sound in Harlem, I’ll give him that. I’m sure you heard about the bombing of the theater. That was your son’s doing. That was also the last straw. Because if I show my hand, I’m gon’ make the little bodies he’s dropped look like a few grains of salt. Call him off.”

  “I can’t do that,” Sunny said, looking Klax square in the eye.

  “What you mean you—”

  “I can’t call him off because I never sent him in the first place,” Sunny said, shaking his head.

  “And I’m supposed to believe that?”

  “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you believe, boy!” Sunny said shooting Klax another glare. He sighed and took a seat across from the young man. “I wouldn’t send Tron to Harlem. Especially after seeing what your father did to it. Back when I was on top, I ran things the right way. Of course, drug money was what kept the lights on, but it was also what fed the children. Bought books for libraries. Provided shelter and counseling for women dealing with domestic violence. That list goes on. Something told me to get out while I still could and take my family with me. But your father never gave me that chance. I knew he was no good when he approached me about doing business, and the only thing I heard come out of his mouth was how much money we could make together. That’s all he cared about. Money. To me, money was a given, and I was making enough of that by myself. Had he come to me with a plan on how we could be fruitful to our community on top of making money, I might have considered it. H
owever, I could see the greed in his eyes. That same greed led to my downfall.

  “After that, I didn’t want anything to do with Harlem. I packed my son up and started a new life here. I tried my best to keep that boy out of the streets, but fate tempted him. The operation he started here was good, but I guess not good enough for him if he’s in Harlem trying to take down your empire.”

  “My empire? Not yours?”

  “No, it hasn’t been mine for a very long time. I’ve made peace with the past, and it is something that I will never seek again.” Sunny paused and stared at Klax for a few moments. “However, just because I don’t get my hands dirty anymore doesn’t mean I don’t keep my nose in the streets. I know who you are Kevin Klax Turner. Who you really are, I mean.”

  “Enlighten me then, Old School.”

  “I know that you are ten times the hustler your daddy was. I knew that when I heard about the trade school you opened up for convicted felons. I also knew that you put up a façade that you’re just a kingpin.”

  “Of course, I’m not just a kingpin. I’m a businessman too,” Klax said with a smirk.

  “You have jokes, I see, but you know what I mean. You have these people thinking that you just run Harlem. You’ve been hiding in plain sight for years.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t you? You, my dear boy, are the buyer, but to New York, you are the connect.”

  Klax felt his blood run cold at the words that came out of Sunny’s mouth. He was not only stunned but confused at how the old man could know something that nobody, not even Adonis, knew. The silence coming from Klax was the only confirmation Sunny needed. Klax could not combat the truth, but he was left to wonder how Sunny had come up on that kind of information about him. He assumed it was because he was once the head honcho and probably still had the same contacts. Still, he was right. Klax was not just Harlem’s kingpin. Thanks to a fateful trip to Mexico the year his father died, Klax had become the sea of life to every hustler in New York. Nobody knew who the connect was. They just knew when and where to pick up their new shipments. To save face, Klax had many different grades of cocaine circulating the state, because if all of the same were floating around, he wouldn’t be able to keep his secret. He even set it up so that he would receive a shipment from himself, so no one would ever even think he had as much power as he truly did.