Chapter 14
The Present
Caesar stopped talking, and Boogie sat up in his bed. He had an eager look on his face, but what Caesar paid attention to was the drooping of his eyes. He needed rest.
“That’s it? You’re just gon’ stop the story there?”
“I’ll tell you the rest another time. You need to rest.”
“Like I said before, I’ll rest when I’m dead,” Boogie said, leaning back into his pillow. “Wow . . . Marco’s old man was a gangster. He came in and just popped them two niggas like that? And Niles! Is he—”
“Nathan and Nicky’s father? Yes,” Caesar said fondly, thinking of his cousin. “He was my cousin but also my closest friend. I have never known a loyalty like his. When I lost him, everyone thought I took his boys in because it was my duty, and I guess they were right in a way. But you know why I really did it?”
“Love?”
“Of course. But even more so because I could feel his spirit living on through them. Them being in my life helped me not feel his loss.”
“Damn, Caesar, I’m just now realizing how many of your people have died.”
Boogie’s words resonated deeply within Caesar. It was true. Over the years he had lost count of how many of his loved ones had been lost to the game. Some of them died protecting him. But no matter how many people were lost, a person never got used to saying goodbye, especially when it happened out of nowhere. He smiled sadly.
“It comes with the territory. I’m hoping you break that curse.”
“Well, I’m off to a pretty bad start.” Boogie shook his head. “I’m so mad at myself about this mess. I should have killed that motherfucka when I had the chance.”
“Why didn’t you?” Caesar asked, and Boogie mulled over the question for a few moments.
“Because of Amber, I guess. I didn’t know if I would be able to look her in the eyes when she was older, knowing that I killed her biological dad.”
“And how do you feel about it now?”
“That nigga shot me! He gotta die!” Boogie exclaimed. “I’m a man down right now because of him. I can’t even get out there to look for my baby girl. I’m useless.”
“You could never be useless.”
“I am though. Tazz and them are doin’ the best they can to keep everything in my camp in order. There are a lot of jobs on the table, and I’m just hopin’ they can sort them all out.”
“Tazz has been in the game for a while. He’s a hard worker and he’s loyal. You don’t have anything to worry about.”
“I just hate this shit.”
“I would rather you be bedridden than in a coffin,” Caesar told him. “Before I leave, I just want to say that I know things have been hard on you since Barry died. Maneuvering through a world like this one without the person who taught you everything you need to know about it has to be hard. But I for one am proud of you.”
“Caesar, you don’t have to say all this,” Boogie said, blinking the water away from his eyes.
“I know I don’t have to say it, but I want to. It’s long overdue. There aren’t many men who can stand what you have and run an empire effortlessly. And if I’m proud of you, then I know for a fact Barry is.”
“I hope so.” Boogie nodded and wiped his tears away with the palm of his hand.
“I know so. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and the pain you’re experiencing right now is turning you into a titan. And to double back on what you said, we’re going to bring Amber home.”
“I know . . . I know Bentley won’t let me down. He never has before.”
“Keep that faith. Remember that manifestation is just a strong belief in something.”
Caesar started to get up, but Boogie stopped him. “Wait. Before you go, I have one more question,” he said. “Detective Easley—he still around?”
“Yes, he’s around but retired. However, he still works at his beloved ice cream shop,” Caesar said. “His son followed in his footsteps and became a Fed. Luckily for all of us, he did it for the right and wrong reasons.”
“So he works for you?”
“For us.”
At that moment Boogie gave a big yawn, and Caesar knew it was time to take his leave. Even if the boy wanted to keep talking, sleep was winning the battle. His eyes shut and didn’t open again, but a small snore escaped his lips. Caesar patted Boogie’s hand twice in farewell and left the bedroom. Now that he knew Boogie was okay, it was time to shift his focus to Louisa.
* * *
Lorenzo Alverez felt like he was going to explode if he saw one more bouquet of flowers. The entire living room of his family home was filled with them. Different kinds and colors just everywhere, reminding him of what had been lost. No, of what had been taken. The death of his sister Daniella so soon after his father was too much of a blow. So much in fact that Christina, Zo’s mother, decided not to have a traditional funeral. It had been very fast and intimate, and the family who was not in attendance sent their condolences with cards or flowers to the house. Laying Daniella to rest might have been quick, but the mourning process had just begun.
Daniella had been Zo’s first friend. They bumped heads like any normal brother and sister, but the love between them was true. He wished that things toward the end could have been different. But their father’s death had driven an invisible wedge between them. She felt that their father built his empire solely for him to rule one day. She didn’t feel that she had a rightful place. The anger she felt from that clouded her judgment when it came to Louisa. Their aunt had fed into Daniella’s desire for power and tricked her into believing that she would have them. She tricked her all the way up until she pulled the trigger.
Both Zo and his mother were taking the losses hard, but Christina had become a shell of her former self. She hadn’t eaten or gotten a good night’s sleep since she saw Daniella in a pool of her own brains and blood. All she wanted to do was be alone, so much so that she temporarily relieved all the hired help. Zo didn’t want to leave her alone. He wanted to say it was solely to comfort her, but another reason was because he didn’t know the true depths of her despair. She hadn’t given any signs of self-harm, but there was a big difference between having a broken heart and it being ripped out of one’s chest. The truth was he didn’t know what she would do.
The two of them were sitting in the kitchen, and he was trying to get her to drink something. She was pale in the face, and her long, beautiful hair was disheveled. Her eyes were open but didn’t seem to see anything, and she barely spoke more than five sentences a day.
“Mamá, you have to eat something,” Zo said, holding a piece of a sandwich up to her lips, but she turned her head away.
“I’m not hungry,” she said.
“You haven’t eaten anything in days. Please, just one bite.”
“I . . . I can’t.” She shook her head. “I just can’t, Lorenzo. Please leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that, Mamá. I won’t do that.”
“Why won’t everyone just leave me be? I don’t need anyone to check on me and remind me . . . remind me that they’re gone. Stop asking if I’m okay or trying to get me to eat. I can’t! I can’t.”
“We’re all we have left. We have to look out for each other.” Lorenzo took her hands in his and kissed them.
His words made tears come to her eyes. She took in a quick breath like she was trying to stop a sob from coming out. He’d never seen her look so defeated before. Her hands trembled in his, and Zo felt a strong surge of love for her. He understood why she’d sent everyone away. She was one who needed strength, not pity. She didn’t need anyone to patch up her wounds. She needed someone to remind her there was still something to live for.
“Why did she go with that evil woman? Why did she trust her?”
“Daniella felt . . . I don’t know. I think she wanted to be seen.”
“But I saw her. I loved her.”
“I know you did, Mamá. This isn’t on you. If anything, this is on me.”
“No! This is on Louisa. She preyed on you both, and she killed my baby. I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything.”
“When you kill that bitch, don’t make it quick.”
Christina’s eyes pierced his, and he nodded his head. He already had plans on bleeding Louisa dry, but now he was even more motivated to do so. He wasn’t just carrying his pain anymore. He was carrying his mother’s as well.
Ding-dong!
The loud ringing of the doorbell filled the entire home, and Zo knew he would have to be the one to answer it. He got up and went to the front door. When he opened it, he expected it to be another bouquet of flowers since the men watching the gate were only letting mail through. And he was right. In front of him was a deliveryman holding a dozen roses inside of a crystal vase. The only difference between those flowers and the rest was that the others were colorful. These roses were black as death.
“Just sign right here and I’ll be on my way,” the older deliveryman said, handing Zo a small clipboard.
Zo signed on the line and took the flowers inside. He watched the deliveryman get back in his truck and pull off before shutting the door again. Zo walked to the living room to place the flowers with the rest, but he noticed that there was a small note card attached to one of the stems.
Sunday evening at eight o’clock. The Blues fishing dock.
The note was signed with the letter L, and he knew the L was for Louisa. Zo instantly saw red. He threw the vase across the room, and it shattered against the wall, sending glass everywhere.
“Lorenzo! What is it?” Christina shouted and rushed to the living room.
There was a look of pure rage on his face. He turned to her frightened face and crumpled the note in his hand. He let out a breath like a brazen bull and flexed his muscles, envisioning everything he was going to do to Louisa.
“Lorenzo?” Christina asked again and pried the note from his hands. She read it and clenched her jaw. “She’s trying to kill you too.”
“No . . . she still wants me. She wants to have me around her finger like she had Papá.”
“Over my dead body!”
“The only dead body will be hers. I’m tripling security around the house. And I’m calling the help and telling them all to come back tomorrow.”
“Lorenzo—”
“Mamá, you don’t heal by running away from your life. You heal by continuing to live it. And I need to make sure you’re not alone while I’m gone.”
“I don’t need anyone to—”
“It’s not up for debate. I’m asking you to respect me the way you did Papá. And I’m only asking before I have to tell you. The roles have switched. You already took care of me. It’s my turn to take care of you. I’m calling Rosaline to come now.”
He realized he would have to put his mourning for Daniella on pause. There was another war at his feet. And that one had his name written all over it.
The past always comes knocking.