by Glenn, Roy
“Come open the door.”
It was Black. I looked at the clock. It was ten ’til ten. What the fuck was he doin’ up, first of all; and here so early? I opened the door for Black and Kevon.
Black came inside wearing a suit and a tie. He hates ties. Kevon nodded his head, turned around, and folded his arms. I closed the door.
When I got in the living room, Black was at the bar making a drink. Kind of early—but what the fuck.
“Pour me one too.”
I sat down and Black brought me my drink. He sat down and smiled. “Did I wake you up?”
“Yeah, yeah you did,” I said and laughed a little.
“I know it’s early, but shit, I’m up. You might as well be up too.”
“Thanks.” I raised my glass and drained it.
“I’m gonna be busy the rest of the day and I wanted to talk to you. See how things are going.”
“Last night I talked to Howard.”
“You get that thing straight for him?”
“I sent Jap and Kenny to get his fifty back from the construction guy, Charles Watson, but he ducked out on them. Now he’s got another problem.”
“What now?”
“He said a couple of nights ago his brother was forced into the limo at gunpoint by three men. They beat him pretty bad and dumped him out of the car.”
“He all right?”
“Howard says he’s in the hospital, but he’ll be all right. But last night somebody took a shot at him. Howard walked into the lobby of his building and somebody was waitin’ there pointin’ a .38. Howard ducked and the bullet grazed his right shoulder. Since he went down from the impact, the shooter thought he was dead. But Howard saw the guy get into a black Lexus. He recognized the car. Thinks it belongs to a guy that works for Watson. His name is Clay Barksdale.”
“This nigga wanna play gangster?” Black laughed.
“Looks that way.”
“What’d you tell him?”
“Don’t worry about it. That he should go on with his business like this wasn’t happenin’.”
“Good.” Black finished his drink and put the glass down. “Anything else I need to know about?”
“No, everything else is smooth. What do you want me to do about Charles Watson?”
“It’s your house to run, handle it however you think you should. But if you’re askin’ for my advice, I think you should handle it personally and as violently as possible.”
“Establish myself.”
“Make sure people know who you are and things ain’t no different. But do it in a way that leaves us an opportunity to cut into his construction company.”
“I’ll take care of it, but I got a question. What exactly am I establishing myself as? What I’m askin’ is, are we stayin’ in or am I overseeing us getting out?”
“That’s entirely up to you. We’re moving to be more legitimate, but as long as we’re making money, I see absolutely no reason to give up that money. So what I’m tellin’ you is this, it’s your house to run as long as you want to and as long as you make us money.”
Black looked at me for what seemed like a long time. Then he stood up and went to the bar. I thought that he was thinking about the best way for me to do what he wanted done.
“Do you remember when you used to run that crap game?” he asked while he poured.
I had no idea where he was goin’ with this. “What were we, sixteen, seventeen then?”
“Something like that.”
“Made a lot of money runnin’ that game.”
“You damn sure did. You remember Big Willie; used to always wanna fight everybody?” Black said and laughed.
“Yeah, that muthafucka was crazy,” I laughed. “Talkin’ ’bout killin’ niggas when he lost.”
“Like that night he lost all that money and said you was usin’ loaded dice.”
We both stopped laughing.
I hadn’t thought about that night in years, but now it was like it had just happened the day before. Everybody was bettin’ Big Money, and this kid named Ricky Wells was on a roll. Big Willie starts screamin’ about how much money he lost and how the dice must be loaded.
I told him to shut the fuck up and take his broke-ass home. Then I handed the dice back to Ricky and I took my eyes off Big Willie. Before I knew it, I was on my back, and he was standing over me, pointin’ a gun.
“Nobody talks to me like that!” Big Willie yelled and cocked the hammer. Just then, Black comes out of nowhere and hits Big Willie so hard that it broke his jaw.
Willie dropped the gun and grabbed his face.
Black pulled out a gun and held it to Willie’s head. I didn’t even know Black had a gun.
“You ain’t killin’ nobody tonight; especially him. Get the fuck outta here and don’t ever let me catch you ’round here.” Black told him that night.
I sat there nodding my head, remembering that night. “Glad you were there ’cause I was sure he was gonna kill me.”
“You’re my like a brother to me, Nick. Just like Bobby. I wouldn’t let him kill you.”
“I know that.”
I never knew that Black looked at me that way. I moved to the block when I was eleven. It was always him and Bobby who were like brothers. They’d been tight since the second grade. I always felt like an outsider around them. I guess I was wrong, but it felt good to know.
“Then why would you think I’d let Bobby kill you?”
Now why he wanna go there with this?
I dropped my head and buried it in the palms of my hands. I hadn’t thought about that night with Big Willie, and I try not to think about that night.
Her name was Camille Augustus. She was Bobby’s woman, but I was in love with her. Bobby found out and lost his mind.
I remembered it all.
“Bobby, put the gun down,” Black yelled.
I felt Bobby's hand tighten around my throat.
“I’ll kill you!” Bobby screamed.
Black put his gun to Bobby’s head. “Bobby, please,” he said quietly. “Take the gun out of his mouth and put it down.”
Black moved his gun away from Bobby’s head. Bobby let go of my throat and slowly eased his gun out of my mouth. I reached for my throat and took a step away from Bobby.
“Don’t think this is over.”
I remember walking away, trying to catch my breath; hearing Bobby screamin’ “I’ma kill you. And that bitch!”
I lifted my head and Black was still looking me. I guess he was waiting for an answer. When I had none to offer, Black continued. “Why didn’t you come to me?”
“The way it turned out, I should have.”
Black slammed his glass down on the coffee table. “Fuck that, Nick! No matter how it turned out, you shoulda never left like you did. You shoulda came me. I woulda settled that shit. You didn’t have to join the fuckin’ Army. We had just made our big move, things were ’bout to change and you’re gone.”
“I was wrong, Black. I know that. I thought Bobby killed Camille and would be coming for me next. You woulda been in the middle of it. I couldn’t put you in that position: having to choose between me and Bobby.”
“That wasn’t your choice to make.”
“What would you have done if Bobby shot me?”
“I don’t know. I’m glad I never had to find out,” Black said and I heard my cell phone ringing in the bedroom. I got up quickly and went to answer it. I was glad that it rang and hoped when I got back he would be done with it and moved on to something else.
“Hello.”
“Mr. Simmons, this is Roslyn Phillips speaking. How are you today?”
“I’m doin’ fine, Mrs. Phillips. How are you?”
“I’ll manage. I was calling for two reasons.”
“What’s that, Mrs. Phillips?” I already knew what one of them was.
“I wanted to know if you had found who killed Zakiya.”
“Not yet, but I’m workin’ on it.”
“I see. W
ell, I know these things take time. But I just thought I’d ask. But the main reason I was calling was to make sure that you would be at her funeral today?”
I hadn’t planned on going. Hadn’t given it any thought at all, to be honest about it. But I promised that I would be there. Mrs. Phillips gave me the address of the church and I hung up. I went back to the living room and hoped that Black wanted to talk about Charles Watson and not me runnin’ out on him.
“That was Mrs. Phillips on the phone,” I said when I got back in the room.
“Wants to know about Zakiya?”
“That and whether I was comin’ to her funeral.”
“Are you?”
“I told her I’d be there. Since you’re dressed for it, you wanna come with me?”
“No.” Black said definitely. “I have a lunch meeting with Wanda and somebody else with a name I can’t pronounce. After that, I gotta meet Bobby at the club to talk to P Harlem and his agent about some shit P did to lose his record deal. Then I have a dinner meeting at Cuisine with our investment banker.”
“Meka Brazil?”
Black looked at me like he was surprised I knew that. Then I guess he thought about it. “Wanda.”
I nodded my head.
“Tell me about Zakiya Phillips?”
“Word I got is that the shooters were Jasper Robinson’s people.”
“JR?”
“I talked to him and I don’t think he knows anything about it.”
“How’s he doin’?”
“He looked all right to me, but his daughter says he’s been sick.”
“I haven’t seen Lorraine and Miles since they were kids.”
“She likes to be called Rain now. I didn’t meet Miles yet.”
“Jeff Ritchie still with him?”
“Yeah. What’s his deal?”
“Jeff Ritchie is JR’s right hand; been with him for years.”
“Why do they call him by his whole name all the time?”
“That’s what JR always called him. I don’t know why. I do know I wouldn’t mind havin’ JR’s gambling operation, but I hear Lorraine’s into more than just gambling,” Black said and got up to leave. “If JR’s involved, kill him.”
Chapter 23
After Black left I hit the shower and got ready to go to Zakiya Phillips’s funeral. On the way there Black’s words rolled around in my mind.
Then why would you think I’d let Bobby kill you?
You shoulda came to me.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe I shouldn’t have left the way I did, but I wasn’t about to let Bobby kill me over Camille.
I’ll never forget that night. Bobby with his gun in my mouth, screamin’ he was gonna kill me; Black with his gun to Bobby’s head. He just kept sayin’ “Bobby put the gun down.” I remember lookin’ at his face; his eyes. I could see the pain he was in. My two best friends. Bobby was ready to kill me. And Black, shit! I can’t even imagine where his head was, with a gun to Bobby’s head.
I called Camille when I left there that night to tell her what happened. She didn’t care. Camille told me to come fuck her, and that was all she had to say. I was on my way, but I needed a drink first. Camille was dead when I got there. Two shots to the head. I was sure that Bobby had killed her and I was next. And I knew that if Bobby wanted me dead, Black wouldn’t have been able to stop him.
The truth was I ran out on Black when he needed me most. We had just killed André and his partner Ricky Combs. After the job, Jamaica, who at the time was strung-out on heroin, went MIA. And then I disappeared.
I thought this was over when I made peace with Bobby, but I was wrong. Me and Black would have to talk about this again; there’s something I gotta say.
I arrived at the funeral just as Mrs. Phillips got out of the limo. She told me that I looked very handsome in a suit and asked me to escort her in. When we got to the first pew, she insisted that I sit next to her. She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
I didn’t mind.
I couldn’t begin to imagine what she was feeling right now. She had raised Zakiya just like my grandmother raised me. Being with her reminded me of the times I spent with my grandmother. If my being there with her made her feel any better, I was glad to be there for her.
I don’t like funerals. I’ve been to too many. I felt out of place sitting there. I didn’t know Zakiya. I’m just the guy trying to honor an old lady’s request to find who killed her granddaughter. I thought about Freeze and felt myself getting mad. I guess it showed on my face. Mrs. Phillips nudged me. “Stop looking like that,” she whispered.
After the funeral, I drove away thinking about what I was gonna do next to keep my promise.
When I got to Monika’s apartment, she looked surprised to see me. “I’m honored that you’re here,” she said when I mentioned it.
“What are you talkin’ ’bout?”
“How I hear you cappo da dog or some shit now.”
“How’d you hear about it?”
“Jackie told me.”
“You and Jackie ain’t . . .” I had to ask.
“No. It ain’t like she ain’t tried me. But I like dick too much.”
“What’d she say about me being boss?” It felt funny sayin’ it.
“I just told you. I’m just glad to see that even though you the man now that you still got time for your old friends. But you’re probably here because you need something.”
“You’re right, I do need something, but that don’t mean I can’t come see an old friend.”
“So what’s it like?”
“I’m gettin’ used to it.”
“I just never thought it was you, you know, all that gangster shit.”
“What makes you say that?”
“When I met you, you were a soldier. I remember the stories you used to tell about what you used to do, and you always seemed like you were glad to put all that behind you.”
“This was my life back then. Maybe this is who I really am, and I was trying to run away from it.”
“Maybe. I didn’t know you when this was your life. That’s why it just seems funny to me.”
“A lot’s happened since then.”
“You’re right about that. ’Cause back then I never imagined I’d be doin’ what I’m doin’. ”
“You have any luck with those e-mails?”
“Of course I did. Like I told you, I may not be as good as Jett, but I have skills too. This was easy, I got something goin’ and I sure could use his help.”
“What you workin’ on?” I asked, but she didn’t answer me and gave me one of her looks. Whatever she was into she didn’t want to tell me. I respected her privacy. We talked for awhile after that and I got out of there. What I got from Monika came as a bit of a surprise, but it shouldn’t have. The pieces were starting to fit together.
Monika told me that the e-mails were sent from a computer at JR’s club. What she couldn’t tell me just who the account holder was, or more to the point, what their real name was.
“It was set up last October with the first name, Nice; middle name, N; and the last name, Slow,” Monika told me.
When I got to JR’s it was early in the evening. They didn’t have much of a crowd yet. It gave me a chance to talk to the staff and show them the picture I took from Zakiya’s apartment.
I had shown her to a few people before I found one who thought she recognized her. “Yeah,” the waitress said and looked at the picture a little closer. “I seen her before. This picture was taken here,” she said and pointed to the spot where Zakiya posed for the picture. She called over one of her co-workers. She looked at the picture; she had seen Zakiya there too. “Yup, she be up in here all the time.”
“You ever see her with anybody?” I asked as Jeff Ritchie came into the club. He stopped in his tracks when he saw me.
“I don’t remember her being with nobody, but she be in here all the time.”
I looked at Jeff Ritchie again; he turned away and went in the bac
k of the club. It couldn’t have been two minutes later when Rain came out of the back and headed in my direction.
She was wearing a purple mini-skirt that showed off some very pretty legs, and a white silk blouse that was tied just under a healthy set of titties. As she got closer, I wondered where she was hiding her gun.
When the waitresses saw Rain coming, they dropped their heads and left me standing there to face her alone.
I smiled when I saw the, what the fuck are you doin’ here, look on her face. The question now was how was I gonna play Rain? Since she played me, it was only fair that I returned the favor.
Since the e-mails were sent from somewhere in this building, I assumed that whoever this Nice N. Slow was that they worked there, or had access to whatever computers they had. The question for me was does Rain know who it is.
I think she does.
If that was the case, I know she had to be thinking that she had gotten rid of me with her bullshit and I would look someplace else for Zakiya’s killers.
If she didn’t it would make things more interesting.
“Couldn’t stay away from me?” Rain said when she got close enough for me to hear her over the music.
“That’s one way of lookin’ at it.”
“Whatever it is, Nick, I’m glad to see you. Maybe this time you’ll have a drink with me.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“What you drinkin’?”
“Johnnie Black, straight up.”
Rain signed for one of the waitresses I had just talked to. She tried not to even look in my direction. Rain told her what I wanted. “And bring me a shot of Patron.”
After the waitress went to get our drinks, Rain turned back to me. “You find your shooters yet?”
“Not yet. But I heard from some of her friends that she liked to hangout here.” I took out the picture. “I got a picture of her,” I said and handed Rain the picture. I was anxious to see the expression on her face and the look in her eye when she saw Zakiya’s picture, but there was none.
