Chapter 12
It was midday when Caesar got to Sugar Land, the candy store he now owned along with everything else that was once his father’s. He got out of his car, chewing a piece of gum, and took a look at the old building. When he was just a boy, Sugar Land was the business that he couldn’t wait to own one day. The thought of being able to eat all the candy in the world was the most appealing thing to him. Things were simple back then. He looked around and noticed there was an Oldsmobile Cutlass parked outside despite the CLOSED sign in the window.
“Someone here?” Niles’s voice sounded when he got out of Caesar’s passenger seat.
“Should be. Come on,” Caesar answered and spit his gum out.
With Niles close behind, he stepped into the store and headed toward the back office. Although he was supposed to be meeting Damián that day, there were a few people he needed to talk to first. He opened the door to the office to see Ed and Joseph waiting impatiently for him. They were seated against the wall on the lime green sofa that Cassius had seemed to love so much.
“Ed, Joseph! I wasn’t expectin’ to see you two here,” Niles stated, genuinely taken aback.
“Well, I for one wasn’t expectin’ to be here. I have important business to tend to, so I hope you plan on makin’ this snappy, Caesar.”
Joseph didn’t try to hide the irritation in his tone, and Caesar didn’t like that. The way he spoke was in a way he would never dare to speak to Cassius. Caesar inhaled an even breath and offered them a smile. He took a seat at his father’s desk, and Niles stood beside it.
“I called you two here today because I know you two used to be my father’s closest friends. I just wanted to ask you if you know anything about who might have done this to him.”
“Instead of askin’ us, you should be out there tryin’ to find his killers yourself,” Ed said in the same kind of condescending tone as Joseph.
“That’s what I’m trying to do right now. Since the two of you were his friends and bodyguards, I figured I would start with you. What were his moves the day he was killed?”
The two men glanced at each other before Ed sighed. “We were gonna handle it ourselves,” he said.
“Handle what?”
“Get back.”
“Explain.”
“The day your father died, he took us with him to meet with the Mexicans. We told him it was a bad idea, that there was too much blood in the field for it to be safe. But he wouldn’t listen.”
“Caesar, you of all people should know how hardheaded Cassius could be when his mind was set to somethin’,” Joseph chimed in. “And he was set on con-trollin’ the five families. He’d been talkin’ about it for months. He was convinced that once it was done, it would make him the most powerful man on the whole East Coast.”
“Because it would have,” Caesar stated, and Joseph nodded.
“This is true. But he was talkin’ about a hostile takeover from people who had the same God complex as him. It was a crazy idea, but he thought he could pull it off especially with the Mexicans being under Fed radar. He thought they would come over quietly. I loved Cassius like a brother, but his thirst for ultimate power led him down the wrong rabbit hole and to a snake.”
“So you’re saying that the Mexicans murdered my father?”
“That’s what you heard, isn’t it?” Joseph asked. “I say we hit them where it hurts.”
He and Ed stared at Caesar like he was stupid. The vibe they were giving off was cold, and it was one he’d never felt from them before. In fact, they shared the same look of outright dislike of him at the moment.
“I think that before any rash decisions are made, we should explore all our options.”
“What other option could it be?” Ed exclaimed and threw his hands up into the air. “He met with the Mexicans and wound up dead. It ain’t rocket science what needs to be done, but maybe for you it is. I always told Cassius that you were too naive to be in charge. You don’t have the gall to do what needs to be done to take Cassius’s place. In fact—”
“You better think wisely on the words you’re about to say,” Niles warned him, and the men glared at each other.
“It’s all right, Niles. Let him say what he was going to say. In fact what, Ed?” Caesar made a circular motion with his hand, urging Ed to continue.
“We don’t think you’re the right or smart choice to take over for Cassius.”
“Oh, really? Then who is?”
“Someone who’s been here since you were in diapers. You can run the legitimate side of the operation like a good boy. But the heavy stuff will be left to us. Plus, you have to know that the only reason the others in the operation listened to you was because Cassius was alive. What do you think they’re gonna do now? You’re just a kid.”
“I don’t need to explain to you my qualifications to run my father’s entire operation. I also don’t care about who agrees with you about said qualifications not being good enough to run my family legacy. Understand? The flawed will always fold, and the loyal will never waver.”
“It isn’t about waverin’. It’s about makin’ an executive decision. And it’s been made. You’re out, Caesar.”
“You probably really believe that, don’t you?” Caesar asked.
“I know it,” Ed said as he and Joseph exchanged a look.
At the same time, they began to laugh. It was a sinister laugh, one that said they’d put Caesar in his place. To them he was just a little boy who could be easily bullied since his father wasn’t around. But it was that same little boy’s laughter joining theirs that made them stop.
“You know,” Caesar said, still laughing, “the show you put on yesterday at the funeral was almost believable. The tears were a great touch. I want to double back on the sentence I started with when I said I know the two of you used to be my father’s closest friends. I just want to know when that changed.”
“What the hell are you talkin’ about?” Ed spat.
“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“We grew up with Cassius. He was one of our greatest friends.”
“Then why the fuck are the two of you sitting in front of me. Living . . . breathing . . . when my dad is dead? The two of you don’t even have a scrape or bruise on your body. If you were there, how could that be?”
“Their aim was off that day.” Joseph lowered his eyelids at Caesar.
“Aim was off, that’s a good one. Okay, then answer me this—does the business that you so greatly need to tend to entail going to all of my father’s stash spots and cleaning out the safes?”
“What?” Niles’s eyes grew wide as he looked from Caesar to the other two.
Joseph’s and Ed’s silence was all the confirmation Caesar needed. He took in the anger spreading across their faces, but nothing compared to the rage welling up in his chest.
“Yes, Niles, these two slimy motherfuckas were planning to steal millions from me and snatch the drug game from right underneath my feet. Isn’t that right, fellas?”
“We wouldn’t do nothin’ like that to our brother!” Joseph jumped to his feet and balled his fists.
“Still putting up the act, I see. But let me tell you what I know so you can cut the shit. The morning he was murdered, my dad made mention of business that he had to handle. I put two and two together and figured he was planning to meet with Damián Alverez. So I put a call into him myself, and guess what he told me?”
“What?” Joseph humored him through clenched teeth.
“He told me that in fact he did have a meeting with my dad. The only thing was, he never showed. And later Damián found out he’d been killed.”
“He’s lying. He killed Cassius!”
“That was something that ran across my mind, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was at play. I couldn’t stop thinking that the men who swore their lives to protect my dad didn’t have one single bullet hole in them, yet my father had ten. I had forensics run a few of the shells found at the scene, and guess what? They were a match for the exact kind used for a handgun purchased in Ed’s name earlier this year.”
“Caes, what are you sayin’?” Niles asked slowly.
“You know what I’m saying,” Caesar said and turned back to the other two. “I’m going to ask you both again, when did you two and my father stop being friends? Why did you kill him?”
A chill came across the room, and it was taking everything in Caesar to stay seated behind the desk. Both Ed and Joseph were frozen in place, seemingly trying to find their words. Finally, Ed gave up attempting to search for a lie in his brain. In the end, he just shrugged his broad shoulders carelessly and smirked.
“I stopped being Cassius’s friend a long time ago. I mean, you really can’t be friends with your boss, can you?”
“So you killed him?”
“We did. Cassius was a madman, talking crazy ideas. What he proposed would have caused more bloodshed. When we got the chance to knock him off the chessboard, we took the opportunity. When you think about it, we saved many lives by taking one.”
“Don’t try to make what you did sound all noble. You killed him out of greed, nothing else.”
“Oh, my God, Ed! Can we stop talkin’ to this jive nigga and just kill him? We got shit to do!” Joseph exclaimed, whipping out his pistol.
“You should have just taken our offer.” Ed shook his head and stood up.
Caesar didn’t notice the gun in Ed’s hand until it was pointed at his face. Niles tried to go for his own weapon, but Joseph had his on him before it could happen. If looks could kill, the hate in Caesar’s eyes surely would have surely murdered them.
“You killed a great man, do you know that? Your greed led you to make the worst mistake of your life.”
“From where I’m standing, it feels like the best one I’ve made.” Ed smiled big and showcased the gap between his two front teeth. “All this time bein’ Cassius’s sidekick, I think I’m due for a reward or two. You bein’ out of the way is just the icin’ on the cake. And don’t worry, we’ll find the new safe houses, get the money, and continue business as usual. You should have come here with more than this nigga. Maybe you would have stood a chance.”
“The first mistake you made today was assuming that I didn’t know what you did.” Caesar could tell that Ed thought his final speech would have more of an effect on him, but Caesar didn’t bat an eye. In fact, he felt no fear in his heart as he spoke. “The second was assuming I didn’t figure you would try to kill me once you knew that I found out the truth. So that would make your third mistake assuming that I would ever walk into that without a plan.”
“And what plan is that?”
“Him.” Caesar nodded his head at someone behind the two of them.
They’d been so high on the thought of their victory that Ed and Joseph hadn’t even heard the armed Mexican men enter, Damián Alverez being one of them. He wasted no time in motioning a bored hand toward Ed and Joseph.
“Kill them,” he said coldly.
Boom! Boom!
The shots rang out, and the bullets from the guns met their mark. When Joseph’s and Ed’s bodies fell, Damián stepped over them like they weren’t even there. He took a seat on the green sofa, crossing a leg over the other, and faced Boogie.
“All right. Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
Even if it is unpleasant, always play your position.