The Reign of Rain Robinson

by Roy Glenn

  “Tell Jake you wanna fly on the way back.”

  The following morning, Black, Shy and the children all went to the doctor’s office together. While Shy was being examined, Black sat in the waiting room with them until the nurse called him back to see the doctor with Shy.

  “How’s our baby growing?” Shy asked.

  “The most dramatic development is your baby’s reflexes. His fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements,” the doctor said. “In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response.”

  “I know, Michael pokes my stomach and talks to the baby all the time,” she said excitedly, and Black poked her stomach.

  He laughed a little. “You won't be able to feel it though.”

  “Which sucks,” Black said, and they all laughed.

  “It really does. Your baby is doing amazing things in there and you can’t see it,” the doctor joked. “Like, at this point, his intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.”

  “Is it a boy?” Shy asked.

  “The suspense is killing us, Doc,” Black said. He wanted another girl, but Shy wanted a boy.

  “It is torturous; am I having a boy or a girl?”

  Shy heard that she could tell by the way she carried the baby. If you’re carrying high, you’re having a girl. If you’re carrying low, it’s a boy.

  “We won’t know that until your eighteen to twenty weeks. But meanwhile, his nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and synapses are forming furiously in your baby’s brain. His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long and weighs half an ounce.”

  “That’s good,” Shy said.

  “Your baby is doing just fine, Sandy.”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  While Mr. and Mrs. Black were being awed by images and discussion about their baby, Rain was picking up the phone to call Carter.

  The night before, she made a perfect landing, and the children, as well as Shy, cheered. When they exited the Cesena, Chuck Henry, the head of the Black’s security detail was there to pick them up.

  Since the children were with them, and knowing of the concerns about their safety, Chuck went to Chance at the body shop and had him modify a Cadillac Escalade, with a ten-speed transmission.

  “Reinforced steel, bullet resistant glass; hell, if you can make the tires bulletproof, I’d like that too,” Chuck told him.

  “Anything else?” Chance asked.

  “A little extra leg room for Mike.”

  “That comes standard for the boss,” Chance said, and Chuck laughed.

  Once they arrived at J.R.’s, Rain said good night to Shy and the children, then she got out. When she did, Black got out too.

  “You coming in?” Rain asked.

  “No, but I wanted to tell you something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Go home. Get some rest. I’ve known you long enough to know that you’re mad and ready to go after David.”

  “You wanna ride with me?” Rain asked and hoped he’d say yes, because they were unstoppable when they ride.

  “No.”

  “I understand, this is family time.”

  “Right. And I don’t think you need to ride either. I think you should go home, clear your mind. This way, you’ll be thinking clearly when you go after him. I’d hate for him to get lucky and kill you because you’re mad, tired and not focused on what you need to be.”

  “You’re right.”

  “We’ll talk in the morning,” Black said, got back in the Cadillac and Chuck drove them home. Rain watched them drive away before she went inside and went to her office.

  “What’s up, Yarissa.”

  “Hey, Rain.”

  “You seen Carter tonight?”

  “He was here, but he left with Mileena.”

  “She not feeling well again?” Rain asked as she took a step toward her door.

  “She’s fine. That’s not why she left,” Yarissa said and told the story. And as it turned out, it was all Rain’s fault.

  When she left the city for Freeport, Rain caught a cab to the airport and didn’t tell anybody where she was going. A few hours later, Carter got a call from Alwan, saying that he had lost Rain, again. He found her car valet parked at The Empire Hotel, but there was no sign of Rain.

  Hearing that, Carter sprang out of bed and went in the bathroom. When he came out and started getting dressed, Mileena was awake.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Rain’s missing.”

  “Send somebody else,” Mileena said without any inflection in her voice.

  “I can’t. I gotta go.”

  “Why?”

  Carter looked at Mileena and knew that this wasn’t the time to tell her that he was now Rain’s consigliere, but he had no choice.

  “Because if Rain is missing, I gotta step up and take the reins,” Carter said and walked out of their bedroom.

  Mileena got out of bed and followed Carter. “Since when?”

  Carter stopped and faced Mileena. “Since Rain made me her consigliere.”

  “All the more reason to send somebody else,” Mileena said, but she knew when she said it that it would fall on deaf ears.

  Carter got his guns and some ammo. Then he turned to face Mileena. He put his hand on her shoulders. “I gotta go do this. We’ll talk about it tonight,” Carter said and tried to go around her, but Mileena quickly blocked his path.

  “You coming by the club?”

  “Yeah, I’ll see you there.”

  “You mean after you get through flirting with Fantasy?”

  Carter’s eyes narrowed. “Fuck is you talkin’ about?”

  “I see how she is around you, the way she looks at you, always up in your face.” Mileena paused. “And you all up in hers.”

  He stood there for a while not speaking. Why we gotta do this now?

  “There is nothing going on between me and Fantasy. I love you, Mileena. I am not interested in any other woman.” Carter paused. “You understand me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Carter kissed her. “Now, I gotta go.”

  This time, Mileena did nothing to stop him, but when he was just about to close the door on his way out, Mileena shouted. “Don’t expect me to be here when you get back!”

  Carter stopped and started to go back in there, but then he looked at Mileena, shook his head, and then Carter shut the door behind him.

  He had everybody in The Family out looking for Rain, until she called him from the airport. Secure in the knowledge that Rain was safe, Carter went straight to J.R.’s like a man on a mission. When Demi told him that Mileena was in the office with Yarrisa, Carter went there.

  “Hey, Yarissa,” Carter said, but his eyes were burning into Mileena’s flesh.

  Carter took her hand in his. “Come on,” he said and literally dragged Mileena out of the area, down the steps, into the club and through the crowd.

  Fantasy had seen him when he came in and went to the office. She positioned herself, so she’d see him when he came out. What Fantasy wasn’t expecting was for Carter to burst through the door with Mileena in hand. He didn’t look her way, but Mileena did. She gave Fantasy the finger and tried to keep up with Carter.

  Fantasy simply smiled at her and enjoyed his fierce and passionate eyes and hoped one day, and one day soon, that those eyes would be looking down at her while he was deep inside her. “Yeah, come get this pussy,” Fantasy said aloud and was glad that Jada wasn’t there to hear her say it.

  With Carter unavailable, Rain went in her office and poured herself a drink, thinking about what Black said. She started walking toward her desk but stopped.

  “Fuck it.”<
br />
  Rain drained her glass, left the office and went out in search of DP. She went to all of the places that Carla told her that she might find him and did not find him anywhere. After that, Rain went home, got in bed, masturbated and tried to go to sleep. But she was on edge, so she couldn’t sleep. Rain wanted to kill DP so bad that she could taste it.

  “The sweet taste of revenge,” she said, imitating Rodrigo.

  For the rest of the night, Rain drifted in and out of sleep. It did give her a chance to calm down and think through what she was going to do until she finally crashed for good around four in the morning. Now it was almost eleven and Rain was ready to go execute her plan.

  When Carter’s phone rang, Mileena rolled over and wished she had taken the battery out like she had planned, but Carter didn’t give her a chance. He had her stripped down and screaming before she had the opportunity. Her thinking was that she would do it once they got finished making love, but that didn’t happen either. After they finished making love, Mileena rolled over and it wasn’t long before she was on her way to the place where well-fucked women go.

  As the phone rang, and Carter began to stir, Mileena thought about the other part of her plan. She had hoped that now that Rain had been found safe, that they could have that talk she’d been wanting and not wanting to have. But when Carter softly said, “What’s up, Rain?” she knew that wasn’t gonna happen. So, she settled into the pillow and pretended to still be asleep. That way, Carter could sneak out, again, to go be with Rain, instead of talking to her.

  This is not what I wanted for us, Mileena thought.

  When Carter got to J.R.’s, Rain was standing outside waiting for him. When she got in the car, she told Carter what Rodrigo Iñíguez said about Damián Custodio having Reese killed being a personal matter, because Reese was fucking his wife and Smoke and Geno getting shot were collateral damage.

  “Then Rodrigo assured Black that there would be no future animosity.”

  “What did Mike say?”

  “He moved on to another matter.”

  “Then fuck that!” Carter said. “Unless you tell me not to, I’m killing Custodio.”

  “I consider you killing Custodio for having Reese killed a personal matter. But right now, we need to drop by the bank.”

  Carter smiled. “I guess Pop gave him up?”

  “Served him up like he was the main course. And I ate it up,” Rain said and told Carter everything Milton said about DP.

  Milton told her that DP had a strip club, a small gambling spot that he runs his bookmaking and number bank, and also did a little loan sharking out of. He ran a crew that specialized in high-end car theft and of course, there was the online porn that fed their human trafficking operation. He gave her as much detail as he could about the locations for all of them, except the car drop. Rain had declared war on DP, and they went looking for him, but once again, he was not to be found at any of his legitimate businesses.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “Time that we stop fuckin’ around and start taking the shit to this nigga,” Rain said.

  “What did you have in mind?” Carter asked.

  “We gonna go to that bitch-nigga’s number spot, kill everybody and burn the bitch to the ground.”

  “Didn’t Mike say something to you about that?”

  “He did, but I’m gonna take that as him talking about El Decreto de Guerra, and they ain’t got nothing to do with this nigga,” Rain said, and it was on … until Carter had a better idea.

  “Why don’t we take over the joint?” Carter paused. “Take over all his shit. This way, you don’t have to go against Mike’s wishes.”

  Rain looked at Carter as he drove. “You’re right.” She paused. “That’s why I need you with me,” she said, and Carter thought about Mileena.

  “Let me make a call,” Carter said and pulled out his phone to call Chao Hassan and told him to round up some guys and meet him at J.R.’s and then he called Ryder. “And make it quick. I need you.”

  “I’m on my way,” Ryder said, and since she was close by, she headed in that direction thinking about the words, I need you, and wondering what he needed her for. And if I’m meeting him at J.R.’s, then Rain must be involved. And to Ryder, that meant her feet were back on solid ground with her captain and the boss of The Family.

  Carter turned the car around and headed back to J.R.’s to wait for his people to arrive. By the time they got there, Ryder was already there.

  “Told you she was gonna do good for you. That bitch there a soldier for real,” Rain said and the three went inside.

  While they waited for Chao to arrive, Rain told Ryder everything that Milton told her about DP’s legal and illegal businesses. Ryder listened intently and by the time Chao arrived with his men, Ryder already had a plan of how she wanted to do it. Rain and Carter listened as she talked.

  “I would have much rather scoped these places, so I know exactly what I’m dealing with. Especially the legit joints, there may be some contingencies in place that I can’t anticipate,” Ryder said.

  Carter looked at Rain, and she nodded her head. “Do it,” he said, “but we go at the gambling joint, tittie bar and the online porn spot today.”

  Rain sat back and watched her consigliere handle the situation and knew that she had chosen wisely.

  Ryder looked at Chao and knew that there was a question that needed to be answered before things went any further.

  “If I’m putting in the work, who gets the spots?” she asked.

  “Fair question,” Rain said, and she looked at Carter.

  “You put in the work, the spots are yours,” he said.

  “Hold up now,” Chao said quickly. “It’s my people putting in the work−”

  “I got my own people,” Ryder said. “So, you can go.”

  “You heard the lady. Send your guys on,” Carter said and leaned close to Chao. “But you come back. I wanna see what she got, so I want you with her every step of the way. Understand?”

  “Understood.”

  “That means you take orders from her.” Carter leaned forward. “Got that?”

  “I got it,” Chao said, and Carter had known him long enough to know that he wasn’t happy about that.

  “Look, Rain made me her consigliere. That means, at some point, somebody has to step into the captain seat, and I expect it to be you.”

  “Understood,” he said and then Chao went into the club to tell his waiting men that they weren’t needed. When he left the office, Ryder made a call to get her people to meet her at the first spot.

  Bennie’s Bodega was the spot where DP ran all of his gambling operations. You could play a number up front, but if you wanted to bet on a game or a pony, or you wanted to gamble, the back of the store was where you wanted to go.

  Ryder walked in the store along with Chao and her people. While she and Chao looked on, Chee-Chee walked up and stood in front of the counter.

  “Can I help you with something?” the cashier asked.

  “No,” Chee-Chee said as Ledell went behind the counter and Natrick stood by the back door.

  “You can’t come back here!” the cashier shouted, and that was when Chee-Chee pointed her gun at the cashier.

  “You want a job, or do you want to die, honey?” Chee-Chee asked.

  “I want a job,” she said.

  “Good girl. You work for me now.” Ledell sat down behind the counter. “What’s your name, honey?”

  “Denise.”

  “You just keep doing what you always do. Ledell is just there to make sure you behave yourself,” Chee-Chee said and then she walked to the back door that led to the gambling with Ryder and Chao right behind her. Natrick opened the door for them and after walking down a short hall, they were confronted by a man. He stood up when he saw them coming

  “You can’t be back here,” he said as Chee-Chee raised her weapon and pointed it at him. He put his hands up.

  “Don’t shoot, I don’t have a gun,” he sai
d, and everybody laughed at him as they passed.

  Natrick opened the door for Chee-Chee and she walked into DP’s gambling room. There were two tables with men playing poker, and there were three guys that were throwing dice against a wall in the corner of the room.

  The house man stood up when they walked in, but when he saw their guns, he quickly surrendered his and put his hands up quietly.

  “You want a job, or do you want to die?” Chee-Chee asked.

  “I want a job,” he said.

  “My name is Chee-Chee. You work for me now,” she said and Natrick sat down in what was the houseman’s chair and that was that. They had taken over DP’s gambling operation without firing a shot.

  It was the same thing at the strip club. Without attracting any attention from the customers, the dancers, and most of the staff, Chee-Chee waltzed in with Otis, Patrice and Reidel and took over the club. But there was an added bonus when Ryder came in with Chao and they searched the club.

  “What do we have here?” Chao said as he opened the door and Ryder came in the room.

  “I’ll be damned, another gambling spot,” she said, and as it was at Bennie’s Bodega, the houseman and his associate relinquished their weapons without discussion. Chee-Chee followed Ryder in, and she informed her new employees that she ran shit now. She left Otis to run the club, Patrice was assigned to handle the dancers, and now that there was gambling in the house, Chee-Chee put Reidel in charge of the operation.

  And now, it was on to the prize, the warehouse where DP ran his online and human trafficking operations. When she heard from Milton that DP had moved the operation before Carmen and the police could raid it, Rain came along to make sure that this time that the trafficking was smashed for good. The rest of the operation was another story.

  When they arrived at the warehouse, Rain, Carter, Ryder and Hassan got out of the car and went inside; when they did, Bart stood up. “What y’all want here?” he asked, as Carter came toward him quickly. He pulled his gun and raised it.

  Carter knocked the gun out of his hand, grabbed Bart by the back of the head and slammed his face into the wall. As Bart’s body slumped to the floor, Carter reached for the doorknob and opened it.