Chapter 14
“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” Boogie said and slapped the bottom of Bentley’s Timberland.
Bentley had passed out on Boogie’s couch when they got in at one in the morning. Normally he would have gone home, but he was just too tired. Boogie hit his shoe again and made his way to the kitchen, where his girlfriend, Roz, had just gotten done with breakfast.
“I haven’t seen my brother that worn out since he used to work the block,” she commented, looking at Bentley, who was still sleeping with his mouth wide open. “And are those last night’s clothes?”
“We had a long day yesterday,” Boogie said, snagging a piece of bacon. “It’s been a long week actually.”
“I still can’t believe Caesar is alive. You see they announced it on the news?”
“Nah, I haven’t watched much TV lately. What they say?”
“They said . . . Aht! Get a plate.” She popped his hand and made a face at him.
“My bad, baby.” Boogie grinned and went for the cabinet.
“Boy, you better get a paper plate, because I do not feel like doing any dishes other than these pots or pans. Here.”
“Fine, Miss Mean Girl,” Boogie teased. He took the plate and began loading it up with French toast, eggs, and bacon. “Okay, now what did they say on the news?”
“That they had made some sort of freak mistake by assuming the body was his. But what they don’t understand is why he waited so long to come out and say he was alive.”
“The streets know,” Boogie said, grabbing a fork and going to sit down at the dining room table.
Roz made her plate and followed. She sat across from Boogie and eyed him down. He could feel her gaze burning a hole in his forehead, but he ignored her. Or he tried to anyways. But if Roz wanted your attention, she was going to get it one way or another.
“What?” He finally looked up at her.
“You think I ain’t noticed the fact that you doubled up security on the block? You ain’t slick havin’ them niggas posted up the street either. You’re worried about something. What is it? I thought the noise died down after your mom died, who I’m still glad I didn’t get to meet by the way.”
“Shit’s cool,” Boogie lied through his teeth. “But it’s not died down all the way. I just want to be cautious. I made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people. Some understand the rules of the game, but others want to make their own.”
“Are me and Amber good?” Roz asked with concern in her voice and eyes.
Boogie reached across the table and grabbed her hands in his. He rubbed them with his thumbs and tried to send some reassurance through his touch.
“As long as I’m breathing, you and baby girl gon’ be safe. And I plan on being around for a long time. Understand me?”
“You better be. Yo’ ass made me fall in love with you and shit.” Roz jerked her neck and pointed her fork at him. “Don’t play with me, Boogie.”
“I’m not playing with you, girl,” Boogie said and kissed her knuckles. “And I think it was you who made me fall in love with you. I think you got some voodoo in that pussy or something.”
“I’ll beat your ass,” Roz said, laughing. “Don’t say I have voodoo pussy.”
“You got to have something, ’cause I’ll bleed the streets behind you, girl.”
Her smile went from ear to ear. Boogie loved being able to do that. She was such a beautiful woman inside and out. He didn’t know what he had done for her to have been brought into his life. Whenever he was in the field, all he thought about was making it home to her and their daughter, Amber. And that thought alone ensured he always would. He would never disappoint them. He especially would never put Amber in the position to be parentless. It was what he was going through, and it was something that he hadn’t dealt with. But he knew that when he took the time to finally sit with it, it was going to hit him like a ton of bricks.
At that moment, he heard the sound of a baby panting. He glanced down the hallway, and sure enough, he saw Amber crawling in her pink sleeper toward where she smelled food. Her eyes were still puffy since she’d just woken up, and her hair was all over her head. He watched, amused as she started toward the kitchen but stopped when she saw Bentley asleep on the couch. Her excitement could be felt throughout the house, and she crawled as fast as she could toward him. Boogie almost got up to get her when she pulled herself up on the couch and raised a hand to smack Bentley. The girl didn’t know her strength, but Boogie thought better of it. A thunderclap from Amber was just what Bentley needed to finally wake up.
Slap!
“I’m up, damn! I’m . . .” Bentley sprang to life and sat upright, prepared to curse somebody out. But when he saw Amber standing there cracking up, his face instantly softened, and he swooped her up. “Uncle’s baby! Was that you who slapped me? Girl, I thought you was a grown man!”
He tickled her until her squeals became breathless, and he let her get some air in her lungs. He hugged her and kissed her cheeks. Amber was the only girl Boogie had ever seen Bentley have a soft spot for besides Roz. If he didn’t love anybody else, he loved them.
“Finally you’re back in the land of the living.” Boogie grinned.
“Man, fuck you. Both of y’all. Y’all know you seen her over here about to slap the black off me.”
“And did,” Roz laughed. “It wasn’t nothin’ but a love tap.”
“Love tap my ass. Y’all better put this girl in boxing. I’ma probably have a black eye,” Bentley said, wiping a hand down his face and sniffing the air. “You cooked, sis?”
“Yeah, give her here and make you a plate,” she said and held her arms out.
Bentley brought her the baby and went to wash his hands. After he was done doing that and making his plate, he joined the rest of them at the dining room table. Boogie gave him a look that Bentley recognized, and he nodded. They had business to discuss, but Boogie would wait until Roz was gone. Fortunately for him, Roz was no fool. She rolled her eyes and gathered her food.
“Come on, baby girl. The boys don’t want us around. They have stuff to talk about,” she said, and when Boogie opened his mouth to say something, she winked. “It’s all right, boo. Just come find me before y’all leave.”
“Will do,” Boogie said and watched her ass jiggle in her plaid pajama pants as she walked away.
“Nigga, I am right here, you know that? And that’s my sister,” Bentley said, making a face.
“My bad.” Boogie smiled sheepishly. “That’s my shorty though.”
“Whatever. What’s the word though? You heard from that nigga Gino?” Bentley asked, stuffing his mouth with French toast.
“Nah. He was supposed to call me this morning and let me know where he wanted to meet to drop off that package.”
“His ass probably went back inside the Sugar Trap to get his dick wet when we left.”
“Probably. I’m sure he’s gon’ be calling soon though. Because we’ll be needing those explosives.”
“Word.” Bentley nodded. “On to other shit though—the Italians. What we gon’ do about ’em? I know they ain’t feelin’ us settin’ up shop all around the Island. They killed Li’l Freddy and his whole crew last week, man. I don’t want no more bodies racking up.”
“Me either. We have to come to a common ground with them before the Chinese do,” Boogie said with a sigh. “Fighting two wars at the same time just isn’t what I’m tryin’a do.”
“I feel you. So what do you want me to do? Go down there and lay down the law?”
“Nah, I tried that. It just made shit worse. We need to offer them something.”
“Like what? Money? Positions of power?”
“Both,” Boogie said. “Make them feel important, valued.”
“I like how you think. I’ll get a crew together and be right on it,” Bentley said and tried to finish scarfing down his food. As he was eating, he felt Boogie’s eyes still on him. “Somethin’ else on your mind?”
“Yeah, there is actually,” Boogie said, rubbing his chin. “I gotta tell you somethin’.”
“A’ight, what?”
“It’s about the night Li was killed.”
“What about it?”
“I never told you how I knew Li was gon’ be at Fortune at the exact time he pulled up.”
“I thought you said it was a known fact that Li went there often around that time.”
“But I personally didn’t know that before . . .”
“Before what?”
“I got a tip and a random phone call from somebody I didn’t know. And when I play the voice back in my head, I still don’t recognize it.”
“What did they say?”
“They tipped me off about Li, about where he would be and when. I guess back then I was so blinded by rage that I didn’t care who the information was from, just that I got it. I hadn’t thought about it again until recently when . . .” He let his voice trail off. “Anyways, somebody else wanted Li dead.”
“Damn.”
“I don’t know who though.”
“I would rather know who all my enemies are than have a ghost after me,” Bentley said, and Boogie agreed. “You tell Caesar?”
“Nah. But he thinks that if my mother and Julius weren’t the ones to break the Pact, the Chinese would have.”
“That’s heavy. Aren’t they supposed to be the most loyal motherfuckas?”
“I guess not,” Boogie said and checked his phone for a missed call from Gino. There was nothing there. “Hey, when you go to the Island, I want you to do somethin’.”
“Wassup?”
“I want you to take Morgan with you.”
“Morgan? As in your sister?”
“Yeah,” Boogie said and nodded. “Ain’t really shit she can do with Harlem right now, and even when there is, Diana is gon’ show her those ropes. But in the meantime, I want her to see how shit really goes in the field.”
“A’ight, man.” Bentley let out a breath. “I ain’t never worked beside no girl though. So we’ll see how it goes.”
“Thanks, man. You’re doing me a favor.”
“I know, nigga. You ain’t slick. This is shit you’re s’posed to be doing.” Bentley stood up and made like he was heading back toward the bedroom area of the house. “And your payment to me can be you lettin’ me shower here and wear one of them fly-ass suits in your closet.”
“Go right ahead,” Boogie said with a laugh. His phone started to buzz in his pocket, and he answered it without looking. “This is probably Gino right now. Hello?”
“Ay, cuz, where the fuck are you at?” Tazz’s frantic voice came through the other end of the phone.
“Tazz, what’s wrong?” Boogie asked, sitting up straight.
The sudden change in tone of Boogie’s voice made Bentley stop in his tracks and tune into the conversation. Boogie could hear a lot of commotion in Tazz’s background, and he didn’t understand what was going on.
“Man, cuz. It’s Gino.”
“What about Gino?” Boogie’s brow furrowed.
“He’s dead, man. He’s fuckin’ dead! They got him.”