The Family Business 4

by Carl Weber

  He reluctantly walked over to the bar.

  “Damn, LC, that’s one big motherfucker you got there. Reminds me of a smart Levi,” he said, chuckling. Then he leaned forward and asked, “So, how’s Chippy?”

  He was goading me, but I was not going to give him the satisfaction of reacting. “Look, Larry. This has got to stop. You said you wanted to talk, so talk. What the hell is it that you want?”

  The smile had left his face. “You know what the fuck I want. I want what’s mine. I want my fucking company back—no, what I want is my life back that you stole away from me, but I realized on the drive from New York that it’s too late for that.”

  “I didn’t steal anything from you, Larry. I have told you that over and over again. And I damn sure didn’t take your life. Hell, I saved it.”

  “Fuck you, LC,” he spat. “Is that what you’ve told yourself all these years to ease your fucking guilt? Yeah, you and Lou stole my money, my company, and had me locked away to save me? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Suddenly, he laughed so hard that he started coughing.

  I looked over to make sure Vegas, Daryl, Junior, and the other security men were on standby.

  “Larry, this ain’t got shit to do with money. I know you got plenty of cash, because you’ve been buying dope and giving it away like candy on Halloween. But if it’s money you want, then how much?” I stared at him.

  “I don’t want money. I want Duncan Motors,” he said.

  “Duncan Motors?” I almost laughed my damn self. “I’m not giving you Duncan Motors. It belongs to my kids and grandchildren.”

  “What about my children? What about my boys?”

  “When was the last time you looked in the trust?”

  “The what?” he asked.

  “Your family trust,” I told him. “When you sold your share of the businesses, NeeNee had the money put into a trust for you, her, and the boys. There’s probably fifteen million in it right now.”

  He frowned. “You are such a liar. And even if that was true, why would she be staying in that raggedy old house?”

  “Because she loves that farm and she knows you love it too.” I sighed. “NeeNee never needed all the glamour and glitz, Larry. All she ever needed was you.”

  He sat there quietly for a minute, and I thought he might be contemplating what I’d said. I hoped he was realizing the truth in my words. But then looked to his left and spoke: “I know he’s lying, Momma. He could always spin a tale, couldn’t he?”

  Larry raised an eyebrow as he listened to whatever the imaginary person said back to him, and then he turned to me and threatened, “I want Duncan Motors, and if I don’t get it, I’m gonna make your life, and the life of everyone associated with you, miserable by killing them off one by one.”

  “Look down, Larry,” I said, pointing to his chest and shaking my head. Larry dropped his head a little and saw the small red dots that were now glowing, indicating where the bullets would enter his body if the triggers were pulled. “I’ve got at least ten guns on you right now.”

  He looked back up at me with a smirk on his face. “Now, LC, you really didn’t think it was going to be this easy, did you?”

  “It’s as easy as you doing what I tell you to do, Larry,” I told him, “or you die. Simple as that.”

  “Go ahead. Give them the signal to shoot me.” He reached down nonchalantly and picked up the briefcase he’d brought, calmly placing it on the table. “The minute Curtis hears a shot, he’s going to blow this fucking place to smithereens.”

  Curtis

  72

  I sat at a table in the back of the Chicken Shack and waited anxiously. Closing time for the restaurant was hours ago, so it was completely dark. The only sound in the place was the humming of the air conditioning, which wasn’t loud enough to drown out the music from across the street. I stared at the linoleum floors, inhaling the scent of fried chicken, which caused my stomach to growl. I hadn’t even realized I was hungry until then, but I was too nervous to eat anyway. I stared at the two-way radio in my hand, waiting and praying.

  “Take this radio and wait across the street in your momma’s place,” my father had told me as we sat in the parking lot of Big Shirley’s. “You listen while I’m talking to LC, and when you hear the code word, you hit the button. You understand?”

  “I don’t know about this, Pop.”

  He glared at me. “Ain’t nothing confusing about what I just told you to do. What the fuck is the problem?”

  “I just . . . ” I tried to formulate the numerous thoughts in my head into coherent sentences, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know how to tell him that I didn’t want to be a part of his suicide mission that would result in not only his death, but the deaths of my uncle, cousins, and plenty of other innocent people who didn’t even know their lives were in danger.

  “Look at me, Curtis,” he said.

  I turned and looked at him. “This ain’t the time for you to punk out on me. Your brother done already did that. Now is the time to man the fuck up. You’ve always been the strong one in the family. Hell, even stronger than me. And besides, if LC cooperates and does what the hell I tell him to do, I won’t even have to say the code word. Okay? I just need you to be ready, just in case.”

  “But, Pop, what if he doesn’t cooperate? You know what you’re asking me to do?” I tried to get him to see my point of view and the reason behind my hesitation.

  “I know, but it can’t be no worse than what they will do to me if you don’t, son. You know what they say: death before dishonor. Now, come on. We both gotta get in position before LC and his boys get here.” He held the small walkie-talkie out, and I took it. We got out of the Explorer, and he reached into the back and took out the brown leather briefcase.

  “You remember the code word, right?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I remember.” I nodded.

  He gave me one last look, and said, “I love you, Curtis.”

  I grabbed him and held him tight. “I love you too, Dad.”

  He headed inside Big Shirley’s through the back, while I broke into the restaurant owned by my mother.

  “Gimme a bourbon,” my father’s voice came blasting through the small speaker in my hand, and I jumped. I turned the volume down low, and then, unable to sit any longer, I stood up and began pacing around the small dining area. A part of me wanted to just walk away from everything the way Kenny had, but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to abandon my father. He had been let down by too many people once his mental illness got worse—which, if I had to honest with myself, started happening after Grandma Bettie died. And Grandma wouldn’t have died if I hadn’t picked up that gun. My father had taken the blame for me, and now I had to be strong for him, the way he expected me to be. The way he raised me. I owed everything to my dad.

  Sweat began forming on my brow, and I picked up a napkin and wiped it.

  “What are you doing here, Curtis?”

  The voice startled me, and I spun around. Standing at the entrance to the kitchen were my mother and brother.

  “Momma, what? How?”

  “Boy, this is the twenty-first century. Don’t you think I have cameras and a security system in place that lets me know when someone is in here?” She walked toward me. “What are you doing?”

  “I . . . nothing.”

  The walkie-talkie crackled, and Pop’s muffled voice came through the speaker.

  “What the hell is that?” Kenny rushed over and tried to snatch the radio, but I moved away from him.

  “Curtis, what is going on?” my mother asked.

  “He’s meeting with Uncle LC, and I’m listening, that’s all,” I told her.

  “Why are you listening? What is he about to do?” Kenny sounded angry. “I know him. If you’re here, he’s about to do something real sneaky.”

  “Curtis, listen to me. Whatever your father has you doing, you have to stop.” My mother put her hands on each side of my face and stared me in the eye. “You have to.”<
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  I looked at her and didn’t fight the tears that formed. “I have to. I’m the only person he has. I’m all he has left.”

  “Baby, you’re not. He still has family,” she said.

  “His family put him away all those years ago. They locked him away. And it’s all my fault,” I cried.

  “It’s not your fault, Curt. It was an accident.” Kenny came and put his arm around my shoulder.

  “You . . .” I shook my head and pushed his arm off me. “You don’t know what I’m talking about.”

  Kenny didn’t leave my side. “Mom told me everything. I know what happened. It was an accident. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “Your father is sick, Curtis, and that has nothing to do with you. He’s a sick man, and he needs help, but not the help that he’s asking from you.”

  The speaker crackled again, and this time my father’s voice was clearer, “Maybe not all of them, but I see two key figures, Vegas and Junior, in this room. Throw in your death, and Chippy can cancel Christmas!”

  “I have to do it,” I said to my mother and brother, reaching into my pocket and taking out the phone my father had given me.

  “Baby, please don’t do this. You can’t!” my mother pleaded.

  “You heard what the fuck I said, LC. You can cancel Christmas!” Pop repeated.

  I looked down at the phone in my shaking hand.

  Larry

  73

  “Now, LC, let me tell you how things are gonna go down, because if you don’t, no one in this motherfucker will live to tell about it.” I laughed, looking down at the red dots on my chest. With Vegas and Junior less than thirty feet away, and half the patrons being LC’s men, I had him right where I wanted him. Yes, it was pretty much a suicide mission from this point on, but maybe, as the Klingons on Star Trek used to say, Today is a good day to die.

  I’d never been afraid of dying. Hell, after Vietnam there wasn’t much that could scare me. My only fear was not being able to leave my boys their proper legacy. But with LC and his brats gone, all Curtis would have to do was get his brother back on board. I was confident that the two of them could finish off whoever was left of LC’s brood and start their own empire. I’d already given Curtis the locations of my last few stashes, and with the four hundred kilos we got from Vinnie, they’d be off and running.

  “Larry, there are innocent people in here. This is between you and me. Let them out,” LC said. Just like always, he was trying to tell me what to do, but fuck him. Those days were over.

  “You’re not worried about these people. You’re worried about your boys, and maybe a few of your men.” I glanced over at the front door and the bar.

  He tried a different approach, since ordering me around wasn’t working. “So, what do you want? What’s going to resolve this?”

  I shrugged. “Truth is, I think we’re past resolution.” I said as sincerely as possible, “You know, your wife made a statement the other day that really stuck with me. She said that our kids and grandkids were going to be fighting like the Hatfields and the McCoys. And that really bothered me.”

  “Bothers me too,” he said.

  “Yeah, but probably not for the same reasons.” I sat back in my seat. “You see, you have six kids, plus Lou’s daughter and a few grands. And me, well, I only have my two boys.”

  I could see the old wheels turning in his head as he tried to figure out where I was going with this.

  “You know I never ran from a fight, and neither have my boys, but these odds just aren’t in their favor, so I decided to even the odds.”

  “What are you saying, Larry, that you’re going to kill my children? I’m never going to let you do that.”

  “Maybe not all of them, but I see two key figures, Vegas and Junior, in this room. Throw in your death, and Chippy can cancel Christmas!” I emphasized the last two words and then held my breath in anticipation.

  Nothing happened.

  “Didn’t you tell that boy the code word was Christmas?” Momma yelled in my ear.

  “Yes, Momma.”

  “Then why the hell are we still here?”

  “I don’t know,” I replied as I felt my anxiety rising. Something wasn’t right. This wasn’t the way Curtis and I had planned it.

  “What did you say?” LC asked.

  “You heard what the fuck I said, LC. You can cancel Christmas!” this time I yelled it, and LC’s brats and a few others stood from their seats.

  “Hold off,” LC said to his men. They stayed where they were but didn’t sit back down. I could see Junior flexing his muscles like he wanted to jump across the table to strangle me, but he, too, followed LC’s orders. His family revered him; I’d give them that.

  A few of the regulars who weren’t interested in sticking around for a fight started heading for the door. The dancer who’d been on stage grabbed her tips off the floor and headed to the back, and the bartender turned up the house lights. Between the sudden commotion around me, the bright lights, and the fact that my plan was backfiring, I was confused for a minute. LC sat and stared at me while I pulled my thoughts together to figure out my next move.

  Finally, I pounded my fist on the table and shouted, “Dammit, Curtis, stop being a damn coward and make the call!” I took hold of the lapel of my shirt and yelled directly into the microphone attached there, “Cancel Christmas!” I stared at the briefcase, waiting.

  “Larry.”

  I looked up, and there was my wife. My boys were standing on either side of her.

  “Time to stop this, Larry.”

  “What the hell is she doing here?” Momma shouted.

  “I don’t know,” I said, looking past NeeNee to Curtis. “Curtis, where is that phone I gave you?”

  “You mean this?” NeeNee held up the phone that Vinnie had given me.

  “Nee, I’m going to need you to give that to me, honey, and you and the boys need to get outta here.” I stuck out my hand, but she took a step backward.

  “LC, get everyone out of here, please,” she said to my brother. He didn’t hesitate, jumping up from his seat and rushing his people and any remaining bystanders out the front.

  “Come on, everybody out! There’s a bomb in here!” LC shouted, and folks started to scramble. That is, except for my wife, sons, and brother.

  “Nee, please, honey. I need you to give me that phone. It’s still not too late.”

  “You’re right, Larry. It’s not too late. Not too late for you to get some help.” She turned to LC. “This is between me, my husband, and my boys. Stay out of it.”

  LC took a step back.

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I yelled.

  “You need help, Dad. And we’re going to make sure you get it,” Kenny said, and he and Curtis took a step toward me. “Now, put your hands out so we can tie you up.”

  I searched Curtis’s face for some sign of loyalty to me. “Curtis, after all we’ve been through, are you going to be part of this?”

  Curtis lifted his hand and showed me the rope they meant to tie me with. “Sorry, Dad, but Kenny and Mom are right.”

  “Right about what, you ungrateful bastard?” He came closer, and I took a swing at him. Within seconds, the two boys were on me, using the skills I had taught them to subdue me.

  “Don’t struggle, Dad! This is for your own good,” Curtis said.

  “Fuck you, you traitorous son of a bitch!” I screamed and fussed until NeeNee managed to stuff a sock in my mouth. They ended up hog-tying me and removing me from the building.

  On my way out, I saw LC and his family staring at me, their faces full of pity. But they had no idea. I knew how to fool those people in the hospital, and one day, I’d be back to kill them all.

  Chippy

  Epilogue

  I sat back and buckled my seat belt in preparation for takeoff. I was more than ready to go home and see my grandchildren, who I missed dearly, along with my pregnant daughter-in-law. With Vinnie dead and Larry in a new mental facility,
I looked forward to our lives returning to a sense of normalcy.

  I swiveled my seat around to make sure everyone was accounted for. Rio and Paris sat near the front, already sipping on mimosas and chattering. London was in the far corner of the plane, staring out the window. The tension between her and Daryl, who sat on the opposite side next to Vegas, was too thick not to notice. I was worried about my daughter, who was now in a constant state of frustration. Her leaving with Sasha and going after Vinnie had given her a convenient excuse to run away from her husband, his medical crisis, and their failing marriage, but now she would have to go back home and face reality. I didn’t know if I should intervene or allow whatever happened to do so naturally. I loved my daughter, and the last thing I wanted to see was the pain she was in, whether it was caused by Harris or anyone else.

  Across the aisle from her was Sasha, who sat beside Junior. I found it ironic that the two of them had suddenly become so close. Neither one realized that they were biological siblings. Since her mother’s death, I had found comfort in knowing that he was there for her. I had to wonder if their strengthening bond was Donna manipulating things from the grave. It certainly didn’t mean I was ready to reveal the truth to them, but I was happy that they had each other during this very difficult time for our family.

  LC boarded the plane and took his seat beside me.

  “Everything okay?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we’re ready to take off,” he said. “You spoke with Orlando?”

  “Yes. He and Ruby decided to stay in Florida. He didn’t want to overwhelm Vincent by bringing him to a house full of Duncans. That poor baby is still petrified because Vinnie told him that the Duncans wanted to kill him and his mother.”

  “I can’t believe he told that child that.” LC sighed. “He needs to bring him home so we can show him otherwise.”

  “Baby steps, LC. They’re gonna spend some time together so they can get to know one another. They’re headed to Disney World, so I’m sure he’ll like that.” I smiled as I leaned back against the headrest. I looked forward to the day my newest grandson could be with us.