The Desert Lion's True Colours

by Ikechi Hayden

  ‘Well what?’ The sister in green replied.

  ‘Well who the hell is talking shit?’

  When Leon spoke he made up his face as if he had just smelled something foul. The sister in green saw his unhidden expression and backed away in embarrassment however to Leon’s disappointment she replaced the area she had just stood with her two Desert Eagles. Both of them held straight and aimed steadily at his face. The sister in Yellow came up right beside her twin and assumed the identical position. After a short pause the sister in yellow said, ‘Say goodbye to your friend Perry?’

  Leon’s mouth immediately fell open. “That bastard” He thought.

  Regaining his composure Leon let out a stifled laugh.

  ‘Yo, you need to tell Pyro he can’t believe anything that fool says. He’s a crack head.’

  The twin’s initial intention of killing Leon started to wane. Not because they necessarily believed what he was saying but because he seemed so nonchalant about the whole thing. Giving them another smile he said ‘Black only keeps him around because he’s family. I bet you he just wants you to cut me out of the deal so he can make the same deal behind his uncles’ back,’ Leon paused for a moment then quickly continued ‘But does Pyro really want to make a deal with Perry and run the risk of Black finding out?

  ‘What does that have to do with us?’ asked the sister in yellow.

  ‘What you mean?’ Leon replied faking utter disbelief ‘If Black finds out Pyro made a deal with not only someone within the Syndicate but his own Nephew…’ Leon started to laugh. ‘. . . Well let’s just say I know the fat fuck and I can tell you he’s gonna take it as a personal disrespect to him from Pyro.’

  Leon could tell what he had just said caused the two sisters to pause and rethink their next action, so he took the chance to lower his hands. Still smiling he said ‘Foreal sexy, I can tell you right now Perry is a twisted cat. Pyro would do better to leave that dude alone. He’s bad for business. Let me talk to Pyro myself so I can tell him what’s up.’

  The sister in yellow looked at her twin if she was asking her what her feelings were on the matter. Leon was hoping it was something along the lines of letting him go and starting on a fresh slate however what he heard was ‘Sorry dark and handsome. It’s too late for all that boo. The truth is… Papi liked you. He told us he liked your style.’ She paused for a moment and started to look him up and down smiling.

  ‘He thought you had potential,’ She continued, ‘but your right. He would rather not get involved in any family issues. Pyro doesn’t want it known he’s your new connect. Not now. Not ever. It’s bad for business and since you can’t give that guarantee,’ she paused again to shrug her shoulders. ‘So on that note, he would like to thank you for the gift but no thanks on the deal.’

  Leon could see the index finger of the sister in green start to tighten around the trigger. He balanced himself on the balls of his feet and prepared himself to move at any given moment. Her finger was about to apply the full amount of pressure needed to release the hammer, when her twin let out a sigh that caused her to pause.

  ‘What?’ She grunted, looking at her twin.

  Her sister did not reply but just stood there shaking her head.

  ‘What is it Cinni’ Say what you have to say.’

  Before her sister in yellow could reply someone unexpectedly knocked on the metal grill outside. The sister in the yellow, - who Leon was now hundred per cent sure was called Cinnamon, walked over to the window nearest the door and peered out through the blinds.

  ‘It’s Coli.’ she said.

  ‘Aight, let him in.’ Replied her sister without hesitation.

  The sister in green who Leon now understood to be Chocolate took the keys from out of her cleavage and tossed them to her sister. Once Cinnamon had the keys she opened the main door and looked at Coli through the grill. He however was looking straight passed her and at Chocolate who was pointing two large guns at Leon’s head. Looking back at Cinnamon he said ‘You two got everything under control?’

  ‘Yeah, we gonna get rid of this fool and go meet up with Papi.’ replied Cinnamon.

  ‘Cool,’ Coli replied. ‘. . . Well, let me in then.’

  No sooner did Cinnamon unlatch the grill she heard a sound that literally came out of nowhere, just a few inches away from where she stood. It sounded like a very large book hitting the floor after falling from a high shelf. She was not scared but the sound caused her to blink and shrink back however when her eyes opened, fear engulfed her whole body as she saw the right side of Coli’s head explode. Blood and pieces of brain matter flew onto her face, breasts and arms. Cinnamon was shaking she wanted to scream but the ability to make any noise was being killed by the sight of Jay by-passing Coli’s falling body and pointing his own 9millimetre Berretta with silencer, at her head. Jay’s movements were so fast Cinnamon had no choice but to drop her weapons to the floor. Chocolate knew the sounds she heard were not good, but she was trained well. She wasn’t about to turn her back on Leon but she had to make sure her sister and fellow killing partner was ok.

  ‘Buns, you ok?’ She called over her shoulder.

  ‘No.’ Came the reply.

  The way her sister sounded caused Chocolate to think this might just be the last stand-off. Turning her body so that she was standing sideways on from Leon, she quickly swivelled her head to take a look at her sister but in the split second it took for her to register Jay in the doorway of the apartment with a gun pressed up against her sisters skull, Leon had lunged forward, knocking the gun out of her right hand and expertly twisted the Desert Eagle out of her left.

  Cinnamon screamed out, ‘No! Please don’t shoot her.’

  Jay moved in closer and in a low voice said, ‘You shout like that again and I’ll kill you.’

  However when he finally recognising the facial resemblance between the two women Jays expression turned into a smile.

  ‘Damn… Twins?’ He said after a slight chuckle.

  The two sisters gave him a look as if to say “Nahh really. Tell us something we don’t know” before kissing their teeth in unison.

  Smiling Leon said ‘No one is getting killed today. Well not us anyway.’

  Then turning to his partner said ‘Thanks for looking out bro.’

  ‘No worries.’ Jay replied. ‘These itches must think they were gonna catch us slipping.’

  Leon nodded. Holding a Desert Eagle in each hand, Leon kept his focus on Chocolate and said ‘So, Chocolate, Wait, I’m sorry. You don’t mind me calling you that do you?’

  She shook her head.

  ‘Cool.’ Leon replied. ‘Well if you don’t mind I really do need my gun back. It has sentimental value.’

  Leon was speaking about his own P-266 she had taken and placed between her back and the elastic waist of her French cut shorts. Chocolate had been held up before. She was tough and had killed her fair share of men but she knew there was no way out of this one. Seeing she was stalling, Leon once again indicated to Chocolate to remove his gun from where she had stored it. Slowly she did as he had asked and threw his gun at his feet. Still keeping his eyes on her he picked up the gun, loaded another bullet into the chamber and cocked it. He then pushed both Desert Eagles down the front of his pants leaving their handles showing above his belt, then motioned both sisters’ to walk over to the couch. Once they were sitting down, Jay went back out the doorway to bring the almost decapitated body back into the apartment. As Jay brought Coli in, the two sisters looked at the lifeless body. Leon watched Jay impatiently throw Coli’s body in a corner and then asked what outside was looking like.

  ‘It’s all gravy. I got a friend watching the place.’

  Leon was a little surprised by that statement but decided not to bother ask. Just walked over to where the couch was and stood up in front of the glass coffee table. Jay follow
ed and stood next to his partner, while Chocolate and Cinnamon just stared at the body Jay had left in the corner. Leon thought how convenient these two sisters changed from paid killers to shy, meek ladies in the blink of an eye. Jay on the other hand was thinking how they both looked sad, almost as if Coli were a family member or something.

  Despite what he was thinking Leon smiled at each of the sisters reassuringly and said ‘You two girls are too fine for us to leave you like your man over there.’

  The both of them turned their attentions away from Coli’s body and looked up at Leon.

  ‘You don’t have to worry.’ Leon said calmly. ‘Even though you tried to kill me, I’m actually in a good mood.’

  Jay started to laugh.

  ‘See, I’m gonna do you chica’s a favour and in return you two are going to do us a favour.’

  Chocolate spoke first. ‘Let me guess. Give you some ass?’

  Cinnamon followed with, ‘Suck your dick?’

  Leon knew they were obviously being sarcastic however he was still a little offended they said what they did. So with a sigh Leon replied, ‘Well I ain’t gonna lie. That would be kinda nice but the truth is I don’t know if you two chicks have had your shots.’

  As the word ‘shots’ exited Leon’s mouth Jay released a double tap from his 9 millimetre. The first, entering Chocolate’s left thigh and the other into the opposite right thigh of Cinnamon’s leg. Instantly the room was filled with two identical cries of pain.

  ‘Damn boo!’ Cinnamon shouted.

  ‘Shh!’ Jay replied

  Like her sister Chocolate was squirming around on the couch trying her best to come to grips with the pain she was in.

  ‘I thought you were going to do us a favour?’ Cinnamon gasped.

  ‘We did.’ Leon replied.

  Jay quickly followed with, ‘You’re alive ain’t you?’ Then looking at Leon he said ‘See that’s what I be saying about these chicks these days. They be ungrateful.’

  Leon smirked, turned his attention to Chocolate and said, ‘So we cool right? We got a deal?’

  After a short pause Chocolate replied ‘What do we have to do?’

  Without hesitation Leon replied ‘Well, I want you to go back to Pyro and tell him that despite this little miss-understanding. I still want to do business with him. Tell him he can keep the gift and that I won’t tell anyone about our little deal - if he doesn’t. Oh! And tell him my first payment is keeping his two fine mamacita’s alive. I think that should be more than enough to let him know we’re foreal.’

  The sisters looked at each other as if they were discussing the decision subliminally. However their unspoken conversation was cut short by Jay raising his gun and pointing it in their direction.

  ‘Ladies - It’s not like you have a choice.’ He said dryly.

  Still grimacing, Chocolate nodded her head and said, ‘Ok.’

  ‘Ok, what?’ Jay replied impatiently

  ‘Ok, we’ll set up the meeting.’

  ‘Cool.’ Leon said with a smile.

  ‘Oh and as for Perry, tell Pyro to avoid that nigger’s calls or the only chance of making some real paper is gone. You can also tell him I know about his little hold up at the wharf. Lucky for him we know some peeps at the docks that would be able to help out.’

  The two sisters thought about the offer for a moment longer then nodded in unison. While Leon headed towards the door, Jay kept his gun aimed at the two sisters. Once he was outside, Leon took a quick look to his right, then his left and then over the edge of the balcony to check their surroundings. Everything seemed clear. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Sure a man had just been shot in the head but that was O.T. People would go missing from that area every-other-day but it did not matter who you asked, no one saw anything.

  Confident there were no other men like Coli lurking around; Leon called back into the apartment for Jay. A short moment passed and Jay exited the apartment door, - back first, with his aim still pointed at the sisters on the couch. Once he was fully outside he smiled at Cinnamon and said ‘May be in another life.’

  She shot him a scowl to which he replied ‘I am sorry about your leg girl.’

  By the time Jay closed the door and pushed up the grill, Leon was already at the top of the staircase near the other end of the balcony. Within seconds they were both downstairs and quick footing it past the burnt-out Cadillac and through the whole in the fence towards Leon’s Mercedes. Leon opened the drivers-side door and noticed the same pretty twenty-something sitting in the doorway of her apartment with the baby resting in one arm and a mobile phone in the other hand. Leon was about to approach her as he knew she must have been playing watcher and sent Coli after him but after seeing Jay waive and then blow the same girl a kiss he stopped in his tracks.

  ‘What the hell was that?’ asked Leon, visibly perturbed.

  Jay let out a hearty laugh. ‘She’s one of Pyro’s walkers…’ He said. ‘. . . the whole building is a whore house. The dude with the all-new reconstructive surgery to his face was supposed to be the look-out slash muscle for the girls. He had put Trina on look-out.’

  Leon smirked. ‘Trina huh… ? You had enough time to get to know her name too?’

  ‘Hey, you know me dawg…’ replied Jay with a smile. ‘. . . If she got a body like an hour glass and her 24' hour clock is past nine, then I always got time.’

  Leon shook his head but allowed his face to give way to a smile.

  ‘You stupid.’ Leon said jokingly.

  Once inside the car, Jay replied ‘That may be. But correct me if I’m wrong; it was Mr Stupid here who got her to give up Coli.’

  Leon could not deny the point Jay had just made, so he just ended the conversation and settled into the driver’s seat.

  Knowing they would be receiving a phone call from Perry soon, they decided to make the most of the time they had and headed over to H.Q - a secret location tucked away underneath the parking lot of a co-op building on Collins Avenue. There they would have a chance to meet up with the chief, make him aware of their intentions and for Leon to officially meet Kevin Carter O’Neal.

  CHAPTER 6

  Under the co-ops underground parking lot, Leon pulled up to a barrier and waited for the red light above the entrance to turn green. After a few seconds the barrier moved upwards and the door behind it opened from left to right. Leon didn’t drive through it but got out of the car went round to the back and took the Gucci bag holding the money out of the trunk. Jay followed behind and as soon as they walked through the main door that had just opened they were met by the Chief who had been in Leon’s Kitchen Earlier that morning.

  ‘Good day to you Detective Ferron.’ he said. ‘It’s so nice of you to come down here and fit us into your busy schedule.’

  Not quite sure how to take his Chiefs welcome Leon just smiled.

  ‘I know you haven’t been here for some time, so I thought it would be a good idea for me to show you around.’

  Leon smiled at Chief Edwards and allowed himself to be lead down a corridor with offices on both sides, partially filled with fellow FBI agents dressed in either blue, black or grey suites. When they got to the end of the corridor the Chief stopped in front of a door and ordered Leon and Jay to wait outside. Entering the office the Chief closed the door behind him. Leon looked up at Jay.

  ‘Do you know what this is all about?’ he said under his breath.

  ‘Nahh, your guess is as good as mine.’ Jay replied.

  No sooner did the words leave Jay’s lips when they both heard the Chief call them into the room. Leon opened the door and entered with Jay following. Once inside both of them stood erect when they saw ‘Special Agent - Kelly Upson’ - the Superior Director of the whole FBI division. He was well known within the Agency as an out of date, crazy, old man that was more of a politician than a F
BI Agent. He would refer to himself as the “Superior” and expected everyone to call him as such. He was very tall, about 6'7, Caucasian, with slightly blood shot cheeks that made him look like he was embarrassed all the time. With the wrinkled bags under his eyes and completely bald head, Leon figured he had to be in his mid-seventies probably pushing eighty, which made it unclear to Leon as to why or how he was still able to work for the Agency. However he was 6 ranks higher than their own Chief - who was only the ‘Special Agent in charge’ of their case; so Leon knew for him to come around, things were worse than bad.

  Special Agent Upson cleared his throat and said ‘At ease gentlemen.’

  They both complied.

  ‘Before I go onto MORE IMPORTANT things,’ He said. ‘How have you both been… ? Good?’

  Leon thought about how much he hated his superiors. He knew Upson never liked the idea of the “two homies”, (That is what he called them after Jay got shot, three years ago) heading the biggest drug investigation the FBI had ever undertaken. From the beginning he made it very clear he was never going to be a hundred percent on board with this mission.

  Yeah; Leon disliked the Superior with a passion. He hated his haughty expression and the outright fake sincerity of the question. He was not concerned in the least, in regards to how they were doing. Leon wished he could say what he really felt but then ironically came to the realisation that working for the FBI was just like being undercover. He was always put in situations where he could not be himself. He always had to play the roll the circumstance demanded. Basically, give up his own moralities to become someone else, just so he could maintain the status quo.

  Leon looked over at Jay to gage his reaction to Superior Upson’s question; however he did not see anything register on his friends face. Jay was just standing there in silence, - expressionless, eyes open but inert. Leon smiled to himself. ‘He’s doing what I do.’ he thought.