Chapter Six
Sweat dripped off of Boomer’s brow as he pumped feverishly, pounding the small white girl who bent over in front of him. He leaned over and sniffed the coke that was put on her back by Fruit. The small-framed blond hooker threw her ass back, smacking it against Boomer’s pelvis. Fruit sat at the table across the room watching as he periodically used a card to shove cocaine into his nostrils. He watched closely as his partner aggressively sexed the cheap whore.
“Yes! Yes!” she yelled as she bent over the bed while getting thrashed.
Boomer had cocaine residue on the tip of his nostrils and the drug had him horny as ever. The smell of sex was in the air, and the lavish hotel room had coke everywhere. Boomer had purchased nine ounces of pure coke and a hooker, all at the expense of Macy’s drug money.
Boomer let out a loud grunt and began to shake vigorously as he was experiencing his fifth orgasm in a matter of an hour. He was on a total rampage, and the more coke he did, the bigger rush he got. Never once did he think about the consequences of his actions. He robbed one of the most ruthless men the West Coast had ever seen. Although Macy had left the street life and gotten into politics, his gangster was still buried deep inside of him.
Boomer pushed the girl out of the way and walked over to the table completely naked. He dipped his whole face into the coke pile and sniffed deeply. He quickly jerked his head up and held it back to prevent his nose from running.
“You need to ease up on that shit,” Fruit suggested, noticing that Boomer had sniffed three times more than him. They had been in the hotel room for three days straight getting high, and Fruit was beginning to come to his senses.
“Nigga, I got this! I am just getting started,” Boomer said as a crazed look formed in his eyes. “I wish I could see that nigga’s face when he went home to an empty safe,” Boomer said as he smiled from ear to ear.
Fruit shook his head in resentment as he thought about what they had just done. “He’s not going to know we did it, is he?” Fruit asked, trying to make sure that he didn’t get any backlash from the caper.
Boomer didn’t answer. He just focused his attention on the hooker, who was left lying on the bed, breathing heavily.
“You want some of that?” Boomer asked Fruit as he pointed at the stripper’s pink middle.
“Nah, go ’head,” Fruit said as he avoided looking in the direction of Boomer, who was completely naked and sweaty. Under normal circumstances, he would not have turned down a piece of ass, but he was too nervous to even get erect.
Boomer then grabbed a card off the table and scooped some of the coke off of the pile. He sprinkled a line on his erect pipe and carefully walked over to the bed and stood over the hooker. She rose up and sniffed the blow off of his rod. She fell back on the bed and let the drug run its course. Boomer wasted no time. He got on top of the girl and began to sex her once again.
Macy was in deep thought as he paced his office back and forth and rubbed his goatee. “I can’t believe that li’l nigga crossed me like that,” Macy said to his head bodyguard, who went by the name of Edris, aka, Big E.
“How do you know it was him? Are you for sure?” Edris asked as he stood by the door with his hands crossed in front of him.
“I’m telling you, it was him. He was the only one who knew where the safe was. The combination was his mother’s birthday and he knew that. You saw the shit he pulled at the anniversary dinner,” Macy said, refreshing Edris’ memory.
“Yeah, the li’l nigga was bugging out. What do you want to do?” Edris asked, as he was prepared to do whatever for his boss.
“The way I’m feeling right now ...” Macy said as he walked over to his cabinet and pulled out the expensive bottle of Scotch and poured himself a shot. He tossed the shot back and continued his sentence. “I could whack his ass.” An uncomfortable silence filled the air as Macy’s temperature began to rise. He felt more disrespected than he ever had. He honestly believed that Boomer wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if the opportunity presented itself. Boomer had been disrespecting him ever since he got the position as mayor, and it got worse with time. Macy had to make a big decision.
“We have to find him before he blows all of that money,” Macy said as he slammed the shot glass on the desk.
A knock on the office door sounded just as the glass hit the table, and both of their eyes shot to the door. Macy looked down at his watch and noticed that it was just a tad past five o’clock. The receptionist shouldn’t have let anybody in after business hours.
E clicked his gun off of safety that rested in his holster and opened the door. He saw that it was a cleaning lady and immediately covered his weapon and let her in.
“Oh! I am so sorry. I thought you guys had left. I’m with the cleaning service,” the lady said. She held a bucket and broom in her hand.
“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. We were just on our way out,” Macy said as he grabbed his suit jacket and put it on. He and E headed toward the door, and Macy began to put the plan together in his head on how he would handle Boomer. Macy waited until they got in the hall to speak on it.
“Put the word out on the street. Ten stacks to whoever can tell me where he is. I don’t want anybody to touch him. I just want him brought to me before he blows through my fucking paper. I need to find that nigga before he does something stupid. His mother is at home going crazy, and I need to settle this bullshit,” Macy stated as they headed out of the back entrance and into his tinted truck.
“I am on it, boss,” Edris said as he opened the door for Macy and then headed to the driver’s side to chauffeur. Macy still had pull in the streets, so it wouldn’t be long before Boomer was caught.
Aries threw the broom and bucket down in frustration as she snatched off the wig that she wore. She was so close to Macy but couldn’t do anything because of the bulky security guard that was present. She had finally gotten close to Macy and she couldn’t do a thing.
“Fuck!” she said under her breath as she realized that she would have to be more strategic when dealing with Macy. He never was alone, and that made her job a difficult task. Aries headed out of the office.
She would have to go back to the drawing board. She had to find a way to finish the job—for her family’s sake.
Boomer watched as the blond hooker danced for him completely naked. She stumbled as she tried to balance herself on the six-inch heels. Her hair was wild and her nose was bright red, and her white skin seemed to be burned because of the blow she had sniffed. Her red stilettos tantalized Boomer as he licked his lips while in complete ecstasy.
“Daddy, give me another hundred,” she begged as she sloppily played with her vagina.
Boomer, without hesitation, reached into the bag and pulled out a stack of money. He threw it in the air, making it rain fifty and one hundred dollar bills.
Fruit sat in the corner smoking weed and observing his friend being careless. “Yo, you bugging right now,” Fruit yelled from across the room as he witnessed his partner become frivolous with the dirty money.
“Nigga, mind your own business. I got money to blow,” Boomer said as he sat back in his chair like a fat cat without a care in the world. The hooker went into her purse and pulled out a pipe.
“Do you mind?” she asked as she held the pipe up in the air.
Fruit’s eyes instantly got big as he realized that the girl was about to smoke crack.
“Do your thing,” Boomer said as he began to stroke his dick and lick his lips.
The girl then cocked her head back and placed the rock in the tip of the pipe. She closed her eyes and lit up the crack cocaine. The sound of crackling filled the air, followed closely by a burning aroma. She walked over to Boomer and put the pipe in Boomer’s mouth.
Under normal circumstances, Boomer would never even entertain the thought of smoking crack, but the high volume of coke that he had just sniffed had him feeling invincible. He took a deep pull and inhaled.
Fruit jumped up and threw his hands up. “Yo, you on some other shit right now, son. I ain’t fucking with that shit. What are you doing?” Fruit asked as he shook his head in disgust. Boomer was so busy elevating to another level that he didn’t even hear Fruit’s words.
Fruit didn’t want to be a part of what Boomer was about to get into, so he stormed out, regretting the past three days. All he could think about was getting made an example out of by Macy. Fruit grew up admiring Macy, and for him to be a part of robbing him really didn’t sit well with him. On top of that, Boomer was completely wilding out and seemed to be losing his mind.
Fruit still felt high as he jumped into his car. Paranoia grew by the minute, and he decided to go pay Macy a visit and try to exonerate himself before he got in too deep.
Boomer, on the other hand, had just sold his soul to the devil. He loved the feeling that the new drug had given him, and karma was fast approaching.
Fruit sped down the highway, swerving in and out of lanes as he made his way toward Macy’s home. He rehearsed what he would say to Macy and had gone over it in his mind dozens of times. He actually thought that Macy would appreciate the fact that he would rat out Boomer. Fruit didn’t want to feel the wrath of Macy, and he was about to try like hell to save his own ass.
Fruit pulled into the Sigel estate and quickly pulled in the driveway and hopped out. A guard stood outside and quickly went to the car when Fruit pulled up, stopping him in his tracks.
“Hold up, li’l nigga,” the guard said as he put his hand on Fruit’s chest.
“Get yo’ fucking hands off of me. I need to holla at Macy!” Fruit said as he pushed the guard’s hand off of him. Another guard heard the yelling and headed toward them.
“Don’t get shot!” the guard threatened as he walked up on Fruit and put him in a full nelson. Fruit was slim-built, so he was no match as he got manhandled. One of the guards gave him a shot to the gut, making him bend over in pain as he clutched his stomach.
“I ... just need to ... see Macy,” Fruit pleaded as he knelt down on one knee and breathed heavily.
Macy heard the chaos and stepped outside and saw Fruit. “Help him up!” Macy ordered as he slid his hand in his pocket and looked around, hoping to see Boomer. “Are you alone?” Macy asked as he frowned up.
“Yeah, but I know where Boomer is at,” Fruit said as he stood up and winced from the pain.
“Step in, young man,” Macy said calmly as he took a glance around and reentered the house.
Fruit mugged the guards and then proceeded to follow Macy into the house.
Macy didn’t waste any time. “You got something to tell me?” Macy asked as he went for his glass jar of Scotch and poured himself a shot. Macy patiently waited for a response as he handed Fruit a shot of liquor. Fruit accepted the glass and Macy noticed that Fruit’s hand shook nervously as he put the glass to his lips, trying to seem as if he was calm. Macy knew at that moment that Fruit had something to do with the robbery.
“That nigga is out of control. I tried to tell him not to do the shit, but he wouldn’t listen,” Fruit said as his voice shook in fear. Macy’s presence was one of power, and it seemed to reek off of him like expensive cologne.
Macy clenched his teeth and his body began to sweat as Fruit confirmed what he had already known. Macy knew that Boomer was behind the robbery for sure, and that only added fuel to the fire as his trigger finger began to itch. Although he was the city’s mayor, he still had his hustler’s instinct.
Macy played it cool and didn’t show his cards because he had to find out where his money was. “Where is Boomer and where is my money?” Macy asked calmly but firmly.
Fruit downed the rest of the drink and took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe that he was ratting out his friend, but the fact that Boomer was smoking crack and living life on the edge made Fruit not want to be a part of an inevitable bad ending.
“I’m not a snitch or anything ... but that nigga is wildin’,” Fruit said. He was convincing himself that he wasn’t being disloyal to his friend. He took another deep breath and continued. “He’s staying at the Hilton. Room three-thirty,” Fruit said as he pulled out a room key and handed it to Macy.
“Are you sure, son?” Macy said as he slightly frowned and looked deep into Fruit’s eyes, trying to feel him out.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I just left him about a half an hour ago.”
“You know if you are lying to me ...” Macy said as he stepped closer to Fruit and placed his hand on his shoulder. Macy continued, “If you are lying to me, I will kill you. Believe that,” Macy said as his gangster mentality began to rear its ugly head.
“I wouldn’t lie to you, Mr. Sigel. He’s in there and the money is there too,” Fruit confessed as his heart began to pound. He saw the menacing stare in Macy’s eyes and he grew uncomfortable standing in his presence.
Macy quickly walked to the door and waved for his bodyguard Big E to come in. E quickly came in, and Macy leaned over and whispered something in Edris’ ear while Fruit stood and watched, not knowing what to expect next. Macy then walked over to Fruit and put his arm around him.
“Thanks for what you did. I will never forget this,” Macy said as he walked Fruit toward the back.
“So there is no bad blood between us?” Fruit said, slightly surprised by Macy’s reaction.
“No. None whatsoever. Actually, I owe you a favor. Maybe I can give you a job or something,” Macy said as he patted his back.
No quicker had the words left his mouth than a bullet left his bodyguard’s gun. The guard had walked behind Fruit and gave him a fatal blast to the head. Blood splattered everywhere as his body fell to the ground.
Macy wiped the blood off of his face and looked down at Fruit, who was still breathing. Macy looked at Edris and said, “Yo, give me that.”
Edris followed his orders, and then Macy sent two more shots to Fruit’s head, silencing him forever. Macy then spit on his body. He was tired of playing games, and he was in rare form. Stealing from him was a no-no, and Fruit had just learned the hard way.
“Clean this mess up and have this disappear before I get back. Fatima will be here in a minute, so make it quick,” Macy instructed as he tucked the gun in his waist and headed out the door. He was on his way to pay Boomer a surprise visit.
Boomer lay in the bed and stared at the ceiling fan as it slowly spun. The hooker had just given him the best blowjob known to man, and he was in a daze. His mind raced in circles as he thought about nothing in particular. The drugs had him stuck and unable to move, and he never expected what was about to happen.
The lamp that once sat on the nightstand came crashing down on his head and dazed him. The hooker stood over him and moved frantically as she gathered all of the money that was spread on the bed and floor, putting it in the duffle bag with the other cash. She had decided to rob him once she found out how much money he had.
Her pimp was downstairs waiting outside for her. She had slipped in the bathroom and told him what caper she had stumbled upon, and he put the idea in her head. She waited for the right time and gave Boomer the business, knocking him nearly unconscious.
Boomer moaned and held his head as he saw nothing but stars. The hooker gathered her belongings and the duffle bag just before darting out of the room, leaving Boomer there alone. Boomer staggered to get up but fell right back down, not able to regain his balance.
“No, no, no,” he moaned as he realized what had just happened. He grabbed the bed and used it as a crutch to get himself to his feet. He grabbed his gun from the nightstand, but once again he fell straight on his ass. He tried for a third time to get up, and the third time worked like a charm and he slowly walked to the door.
Just as he touched the door handle, the door swung open and Macy, along with two of his bodyguards, barged in. The guards rushed to Boomer, relieving him of his gun and holding him up for Macy to punch him. Macy’s bodyguards were all ex-goons, so they were built for situations like that. Macy rolled up his sleeves and gave Boomer a hard punch to the gut, making him bend over in pain.
“You stole from me? Nigga, I raised you! Look at you. You high as ever! Off my money!” Macy said as his rage took over. All Macy saw was red, and he was steaming mad the more he thought about Boomer’s audacity.
Boomer felt like a ton of bricks had hit him as he thought about who was standing in front of him.
“Where my money?” Macy asked as he scanned around the room, only seeing small piles of coke on the tables.
“She took it. The girl took it all,” Boomer said as he swayed back and forth in agony.
“Who took it? What girl?” Macy asked as he frowned up and tried to figure out what Boomer was talking about.
“The bitch that I had in here. She hit me over the head and jacked the money,” Boomer answered.
“Where the bitch at? Huh! Boomer, answer me!” Macy spat.
“I don’t know. She ran out of here about five minutes ago,” Boomer said as he breathed hard, trying to catch his wind.
“Don’t fucking play with me. You better find that bitch, or the police going to find you on the side of the road slumped,” Macy stated. “I want my damn money.”
“Okay, okay. I will find her,” Boomer said, trying to get out of the sticky situation.
“You better find her!” Macy said as he pointed his finger in Boomer’s face. “You need to get yourself together and go see your mother. She worried about your sorry ass,” Macy said as he fixed his collar and signaled for the guards to turn Boomer loose. The guards unleashed their grip on him and headed toward the exit.
“I want my damn money by tomorrow morning!” Macy said as he approached the door, preparing to exit.
Boomer’s ego got the best of him as he burned up inside, thinking about how Macy was talking to him like he was a flunky. In his mind, he was a boss, and the thought of being disrespected was too much to let slide. Maybe the cocaine had him braver than usual. Nevertheless, Boomer couldn’t help himself; he had to say something.
“I’ll have your money,” Boomer said as he stood up and wiped the blood that trickled from his forehead. “Bitch,” he added, to add insult to injury.
He would forever regret those words. That single word sent Macy over the edge, and he turned around, drew his gun, and put a hollow tip through Boomer’s head. Macy didn’t even think twice about what he had just done.
Just as quickly as rage had entered Macy’s mind, guilt crept in. As he saw his son lying on the floor staring into space, he began to think about Fatima. Fatima and Boomer shared the same eyes, and that was the hardest thing he had ever done. But he knew that if he didn’t do it, Boomer would have eventually killed him. Boomer’s hate for Macy was deep, and it wasn’t a secret.
The guards were totally taken off guard by Macy’s actions, never thinking that he would or could kill his own son. Macy slowly knelt down and gently kissed Boomer on the forehead. He then ran his hand over Boomer’s face so that he could close the eyes that seemed to be staring directly at him. Macy had just done something that he could never take back.
Macy knew that he was slipping. He was moving so sloppy and jeopardizing his entire life over money. He had never shed a tear in his adult life, but as he sat parked in his driveway, watching his wife’s silhouette as she moved around in the upstairs window, he cried. Silent tears ran down his face as he thought of how he had singlehandedly ripped his family apart. He had killed his son, and despite the fact that Boomer was in the wrong, Macy was far from right.
Macy was usually a calm and collected man. He barely moved if his actions weren’t strategic or well thought out. Everything that had occurred since his anniversary dinner was chaotic, sporadic ... stupid. He hit his steering wheel, wishing that he could take back the past hour of his life. Dazed, he watched his wife’s shadow move around their room.
“I can’t go in there right now,” he said aloud, knowing that when he looked into her eyes, he would see Boomer staring back at him. He pulled out and immediately called Edris.
“Everything’s in order,” Edris stated as soon as he picked up the phone. “I cleaned up that mess. Fatima will never know anything.”
Macy stopped him. “I fucked up. I need you to meet me at my office.”
“Yeah, I’m on my way,” Edris stated as he looked over to ensure that his wife was fully asleep.
“Bring me a change of clothes and hurry, E. It’s important,” Macy said.
Macy sat with his executive leather chair turned toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. He was deep in thought when he heard Edris enter the room.
“The clothes will be a little big, but they should fit okay,” Edris stated as he stepped toward the desk. He had no idea why Macy needed the clothing, but he had learned a long time ago not to ask questions.
Macy turned around, and Edris’ eyes bugged out as he noticed the blood that stained his slacks and shirt.
“I found Boom,” Macy stated.
“What did you do, boss?” Edris asked. He could tell that things had gone bad. Macy’s red eyes and solemn demeanor told Edris so. “What did you do?”
“I snapped,” Macy replied in a low tone. “I fucked up. I forgot who he was, and I just snapped.” Macy knew that if he was in his right frame of mind, he would have never killed Boomer, but anger was like a drug to him. He was never clear when pushed to the edge.
“I can’t tell Fatima this. She will never forgive me for this. He was our son... . He was family.”
Macy shook his head and looked at Big E. “I need you to get that tape from the hotel. I was messy. I slipped out of an emergency exit after I shot Boomer. I can’t be tied to this murder. Housekeeping doesn’t come around until ten, so they won’t discover the body until morning. After that the police will be knocking on my door. No one can know that I was anywhere near that hotel. If they ask, I was with you tonight. We were here at the office working late. Without the surveillance video, no one will ever suspect me of killing my own son.”
Edris nodded. He was speechless and in utter disbelief that Macy had taken it to this point. He had witnessed the tension firsthand between the father and son duo. Boomer had been a problem child since he hit puberty, rebelling every chance that he could. Macy had pegged it as teenage rebellion, until the drug use entered the picture.
“You all right?” Edris asked.
Macy nodded his head and reached into his desk. He removed a large yellow envelope filled with money. He tossed it on the desk toward Edris. “When you get that tape, I’ll be fine,” he replied.
Edris entered the hotel and walked directly up to the desk clerk. The young Asian girl flipped carelessly through a magazine as she worked the night shift.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have any availability. All of our rooms are reserved for the night,” she said without looking up.
Edris leaned into the counter. “I’m not here for a room.” He went into the inside pocket of his pea coat and pulled out the money-filled envelope. He placed it on the counter and slid it to the girl.
“What’s this?” she asked as she grabbed the envelope.
“Take a look inside,” he urged.
The girl opened the envelope, and when she saw all of the Ben Franklins staring back at her, she dropped it as if it were hot to the touch.
She leaned over the counter, and her chinky eyes peered at him suspiciously. “What is this?”
“It can be yours if you cooperate,” Edris responded. Macy had already acted irrationally, and Boomer’s murder was going to blow up the spot. Edris couldn’t bring more conflict to the situation. It was sometimes more effective to put a little sugar in the game, as opposed to shit. He was going to sweeten the pot for the young girl so that she would help him cover up Boomer’s murder.
“Cooperate how? I don’t understand what you want from me,” the girl replied with a slight tremor in her voice.
“Relax, sweetheart. If I wanted to hurt you, you would have never seen me coming. I just want to talk. You understand?” Edris asked. “Can we talk?”
She nodded her head, still nervous as she looked around the empty lobby. She had no choice but to hear Edris out because there was no one in sight, in case she needed help.
“Now, something happened inside this hotel tonight, and I need the surveillance tapes,” Edris stated. “How much would I have to give you for you to give me the tapes and forget that you ever saw me?”
“I ... I ...” The girl stammered, unsure of what to say or even what number to throw out.
“I’m trying to talk business with you, baby girl, so just calm down and put your big girl panties on,” Edris stated. “What’s your price?”
The girl knew that she could be fired for even thinking about giving over the tapes, but she had a feeling that this could be a bigger payday than she would ever see in a week’s check. She thought of all the bills that were stacking up at her house and of the college tuition that was due in a few weeks. “Five thousand dollars,” she said, feeling as if she were reaching. The girl never expected Edris to pay her that much money for one measly tape, but she had no clue who she was dealing with. Edris did not immediately respond, and she was worried that she had gone too high.
“If that’s too high ...”
“There is twenty thousand dollars in that envelope. You can have it for the tapes and for you to forget about this little conversation,” Edris proposed.
The girl slid the envelope behind the desk and was too excited to contain the sly smile that spread across her thin lips. “What conversation?” she asked.
Edris chuckled and nodded his head. “My girl. Now, the shit is going to hit the fan soon, and when it does, you don’t know shit and you didn’t see shit,” Edris schooled. “Now, show me where the surveillance is.”
The girl led him to the back, where the recording system was set up. Edris had the girl leave him alone, because he did not want her to notice Macy’s face on the tapes. He didn’t need her looking over his shoulders. He ran the tapes back and watched as Macy walked through the lobby and up to Boomer’s room. He could only imagine what had gone down inside. He immediately popped the tape out of the recorder and then erased the data on the system for the entire day. He pocketed the tape and then emerged from the room.
“Give me your license,” he told the girl.
“What?” she questioned.
“For insurance. You will be completely safe as long as you keep up your end of the deal. If you talk about this to anybody, especially the police, I’ll know where to find you, and I’ma come see you. My next visit won’t be so friendly,” he warned.
The girl removed her license with hesitance. She made a copy of it behind the desk and slid him the copy. “I won’t say a word.”
He folded the paper and put it in his pocket with the tape and replied, “You better not.”
He walked out of the hotel like a ghost. It was the first and last time that the place would ever see him.