When Shai woke up the next morning, he felt like he died twice. His head was spinning and damn near every muscle in his body ached. He figured that was the price he had to pay for spending his night boozing and brawling, and some other things he wasn’t quite sure where to classify just yet.
Instinctively, he reached over to the other side of the bed and found it was empty. He looked over at the clock and saw it was already passed noon. Honey was likely up and about her day already, which was fine by him. This would give him enough time to think up a good excuse as to why he hadn’t made it home until just before sun up. Shai was generally very honest with Honey about his comings and goings, but this was one of those situations where the truth just wouldn’t do… unless he wanted to get his head knocked off.
He wasn’t exactly sure why he had dialed Lady Monet’s number that night, or what he would say to her when she picked up. There was a part of him that hoped she wouldn’t, but she did. She didn’t seem surprised that Shai had called, or at least that’s how she came off. She told him that she and some friends were in the city getting drinks and invited him to come and join them. Still not ready to go home and having nothing better to do, Shai agreed. And this is when his night really got interesting.
When he’d arrived at the address Monet had given him, he’d expected it to be a bar or restaurant, but instead it was a strip club. It wasn’t hard to find her once he got inside. She was sitting at a table in the corner, tossing dollars at a big-booty dancer while the other girls from her group, Genie and Lisa, cheered her on. When she spotted Shai, she dismissed the fifty-inch ass that was in her face and waved him over.
“Well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Chicken Grease,” Monet greeted him. “Glad you could make it.”
“I ain’t staying long. Just figured I’d pop through to get a drink and see what’s up with you,” Shai said coolly.
“As you can see, everything is up on this side.”
Monet tossed some singles in the air and watched the strippers who had been circling her table scramble for them. From the glassy look in her eyes, Shai could tell she was tipsy. “Well don’t just stand there looking like a love-struck puppy! Sit your fine ass down,” she said, patting the seat next to her. “What you drinking? It’s on me tonight,” she told him once he was seated.
“Oh, you rolling like that, huh?” Shai asked.
“It ain’t on me, it’s on Big Dawg,” Monet replied as she flashed the company credit card.
“In that case, I’ll take a shot of Henny.”
“Yo ma,” Monet grabbed a passing waitress, “bring us a bottle of Henny, and some more ice. Don’t take all day this time!” she ordered as she slapped the waitress on the ass.
“You wild shorty,” Shai laughed at her antics.
“So says the man with blood on his shirt.” She poked him in the chest. “What’s that all about?”
“Nothing,” Shai said, noticing the blood for the first time. “My night just started out really rough.”
“Well, I hope you checked your troubles at the door. From here on out, nothing but good vibes,” Monet promised, and she was right.
Monet’s girls hung around until about 1A.M. before calling it a night, leaving Shai and Monet to continue the festivities. They smoked, drank and slapped asses all through the night. Monet was way more fun than he expected her to be, and after a while, he had forgotten about the fight with the dudes outside the bar and his argument with Honey, and was totally focused on her. The club shut down at about 3A.M., but neither of them wanted to go home, so they drove up the West Side Highway and parked in a little cove off of 96th street that gave them a view of the Hudson. Shai rolled up some more weed and the two of them sat and talked, getting to know each other better.
Monet’s story was just as interesting as her personality. She was the product of a black mother who worked as a maid, and her white employer, who was involved in all sorts of criminal activities. Eventually the man’s wife found out about her husband’s indiscretions and fired Monet’s mother. Her dad could never claim Monet openly due to the closed-minded circles he ran in and the scandal it would create for his family, but he remained in her life as best he could. He sent money every month faithfully, and even visited a few times per year. Things changed a few years ago when her father was killed in a car accident. With the checks no longer coming, things got tight for Monet and her mother so the young girl had to take it to the streets to help make ends meet. Monet dabbled in different hustles, but after getting arrested for possession, she decided the life wasn’t for her, so she turned to what she was passionate about - singing. Monet started doing shit gigs in bars, lounges and even street corners when she had to; anything to help keep food on the table. This was how she was discovered by Don B., and her life would be forever changed.
Shai was almost moved to tears by the end of Monet’s story. He knew better than most what it was like to carry that kind of weight on your shoulders at such a young age. That night he felt closer to Monet than he had any other woman, even Honey. He couldn’t say that he was in love with Lady Monet, but he felt her on a different level.
At some point, they must have fallen sleep in the car. Shai was awakened by a cop tapping on his window. He looked for Monet, but there was no sign of her. She had vanished, leaving him to wonder if it had been real or all a dream?
*
Shai pulled himself out of bed and stood. His legs were shaky and his stomach lurched, but he was functional, which was the best he could ask for. It took him roughly a half hour to shower and dress to tackle what was sure to be an incredibly long day. The prior night he had spent with Monet, watching her move, left him feeling inspired. Their talk had also put several things into perspective that he had been on the fence about. It was time for him to boss up, and put his house in order.
His first call was to Sol to have him set some things in motion that would grease the wheels of fate. Next he got their lawyer, Scotty, on the line. He was more skeptical of Shai’s plan than Sol had been, but reluctantly agreed to do as he was asked. Last but not least, he had Angelo go out and meet with Chance King. The message would be short, sweet and to the point.
The dominos had fallen, and now all that was left for Shai to do was sit back and watch how they fell.
On his way out of the bedroom, he snatched his pants off the floor and proceeded to empty his pockets. There wasn’t much in there except his wallet, some loose weed flakes and a wad of singles he had totally forgotten about. He shoved them in the pocket of the pants he was wearing, making a note to swap them out for some tens and twenties when he passed a store. Honey would take one look at the loose bills and know he’d been in the strip club. It wasn’t that she forbade Shai from going to strip clubs, but she wasn’t exactly a big fan of the outings either, and he could always expect some type of grief on those rare occasions he did go. This was no doubt due to how they’d met.
When Honey and Shai first hooked up, she was still dancing among, among other things he cared not to speculate on. In the beginning, neither of them expected the relationship to get serious. They were just having fun with each other, but as Shai began to peel back the layers and see more than just a fine ass dancer, he fell hopelessly in love with the person he discovered underneath it all. He plucked her from her from the hustle and made a square of her, and Honey secretly feared that history would repeat itself. The girls he tossed money at and occasionally fucked were fun and nothing more, but from time to time he did have moments of weakness, such as what happened during his night with Monet. They hadn’t done anything more than talk, but he still felt guilty about it; probably because he wanted to do more. Had she not vanished, there was no telling how far he would have gone with the girl. He was weak for her, and that rattled him. This had him now more determined to take the meeting with Don B.; not because he wanted to finish what he started, but because he needed some type of closure.
According to Devil, Don B. was trying to add owning a franchise of nightclubs to his already-extensive resume. He had Code Red up and running, which was quickly becoming a hot spot for the younger hip-hop crowd. Don B., being a visionary, saw the potential profit in monopolizing on that success and wanted to spread his wings. Opening one club and getting it running smoothly was one thing, but creating a franchise was an animal Don B. wasn’t prepared to handle; at least not on his own. The outline of the plan was supposed to be enough to wet his beak, but if Shai wanted to hear the rest, it would have to be in person at the memorial celebration. By agreeing to attend, Shai could kill two birds with one stone; hearing Don B’s proposal and seeing Monet again. If for nothing else, he needed to see if the hold she had on him was real or a lapse in judgment.
Shai finally made his way downstairs, and found the house surprisingly still for that hour of the day. He rolled towards the kitchen, stomach growling and starving, and ready to grub. He was sure he had slept though breakfast, but by then Elsa should have been preparing lunch. He pushed through the double doors, expecting his nose to be greeted by the smell of whatever was on the lunch menu. To his surprise, there was nothing but the scent of Pine and dish soap. The kitchen was sparkling as if it had just been wiped down, and there were no signs of his staff or his family.
He walked through the first floor, peeking inside different rooms for signs of life, but found none. As he crossed the living room en route to his man cave, Shai picked up on the sounds of muffled whispers coming from behind the door. He immediately thought the worst. What if someone breached the estate’s defenses and the place was under siege?
He tapped on the edge of the fireplace, exposing a hidden panel on the side and the small gun hidden inside. Now armed, Shai stormed into his Man Cave. What he saw made his jaw drop; the mystery of the missing maid had been solved. Elsa was inside Shai’s private room, bent over his pool table with her uniform skirt hiked up. Behind her, pumping away like a dog in heat, was Swann.
“What the fuck?” Shai’s voice startled them.
Eisa’s head whipped around so fast it was a wonder it didn’t fall off her shoulders. “Mr. Clark!” she hurriedly pushed her skirt down. Her yellow face was now a deep shade of red from embarrassment.
“I pay you to wax my floors, not my homies!” Shai snarled.
“Mr. Clark, I…I…”
“Yo, don’t say shit. Just go get yourself together before Star sees you,” Shai dismissed her. He turned to Swann, who was sitting on the edge of the pool table, fixing his pants with an amused look on his face. “Please tell me what the fuck is funny about this?”
“I seen your face when you walked in. I wasn’t sure if you were gonna knock her head off, or join in,” Swann laughed. “But it ain’t her fault, Slim. I conned her into giving me a quickie. After all you went through last night, I figured it’d be at least another hour before you rose from the dead.”
“What do you mean by that?” Shai asked defensively, wondering if Swann knew about his secret rendezvous.
“The scuffle, remember? Man, I still think you should’ve let me blast on them niggas,” Swann told him.
“Nah, one murder is hard enough to clean up. Three would’ve been too much of a headache. Now getting back to the subject at hand, where’s your sense of respect? You know how crazy that shit would’ve made both of you look if Honey had caught you?”
“Relax, Slim; Honey been gone since this morning. Elsa told me before I deflowered her,” Swann told him.
“Where’d she go?”
“Does it look like I bothered to ask? Say, man, I hope you don’t plan on firing shorty. She got a way better shot of pussy than the girl you had decorate this place,” Swann boasted.
“Swann, how many of my employees have you fucked on my furniture?”
Swann held up his right hand as if he was being sworn in. “I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that it may incriminate me further.”
“Fucking dick!” Shai laughed.
“On another note, I got something that you might not find so funny. You read the paper today?” Swann grabbed the copy he’d brought in with him from the pool table and handed it to Shai.
Shai scanned the headline on the page Swann had folded over. “Mafioso Found Murdered…” Shai continued to read the article that detailed the execution-style killing of Nicholas “Nicky The Gent” Bucco, Capo in the Meloni crime family. “Damn, they strangled and shot him? That sounds more like a hate crime than an execution.”
“Tell me about it. I heard they had to identify him by his prints and dental records,” Swann recalled what his informant at the department told him.
“A tragedy to be sure, but why should I give a shit that some guinea got his wig split?” Shai tossed the newspaper back onto the pool table. “We didn’t clip him, nor are we involved with any business deals with the Melonis.”
“But we’re in bed with the Cissaros,” Swann pointed out. Seeing that Shai still wasn’t following his line of thinking, he elaborated. “Nicky was killed on Cissaro turf. There’s already been tensions brewing between their two families and having Big Joe’s son-in-law turn up dead in their backyard is likely gonna kick off a very nasty war. The blow-back is going to be serious, and it could hit us smack in the face because of our relationship with the Cissaros.”
Shai hadn’t thought about it like that. “Hit Angelo and Big Doc. Have them put the soldiers on yellow alert just to be on the safe side.”
“Two steps ahead of you. I did that as soon as I found out what happened. Everybody from the corner boys to the street bosses will be armed at all times. If them Jersey wops so much as take a piss in Harlem, we’re cutting their dicks off,” Swann assured him.
“That’s why you’re the eyes in back of my head,” Shai said as he patted Swann on the shoulder reassuringly. “Now let’s get our day started. It’s gonna be a long one,” he said, and headed out of the Man Cave.
“Shai,” Swann said as he fell in step behind him, “in light of this new development, maybe we should cancel that thing with Don B. later. Until we find out exactly where everyone stands with this Nicky murder, maybe having you in a club full of gangsters isn’t such a good idea.”
“That’s all the more reason for us to take this meeting with Don B.,” Shai said, much to Swann’s surprise. “Wars are time and money. If this thing goes down with the Melonis, the Cissaros are going to have their hands too full with survival to concentrate on our business interests. We need to start exploring alternative avenues of income to offset those losses.”
“And you think investing with Don B. is going to be the difference maker?” Swann asked suspiciously.
Shai shrugged. “Never hurts to hear him out.”
Swann still wasn’t convinced. “Shai, please tell me this ain’t about that broad.”
“C’mon, Swann, you know me better than that.” “I do, which is why I asked,” Swann shot back. “Did you check on that thing with our guy in N.C.?”
Shai changed the subject.
“Yeah, the truck left Charlotte this morning and should make it to Port Amboy sometime tonight where Big Doc and a few of the boys will liberate the driver of his goods. You know, I gotta admit that when you first came up with the idea of jacking cigarette trucks, I thought it would be a waste of time, but I was wrong. We’re making damn near as much money off tobacco as we do drugs.”
“Everybody smokes, baby boy,” Shai said with a wink.
“You be sure to tell Big Doc to check and double check the details. I got something else lined up and I can only make the play in cash,” Shai told him before heading out of the room.
“So what’s the plan for the day, boss?” Swann fell in step behind him. “I know you didn’t have me come out here two days in a row at the crack of dawn for nothing.”
“Of course not. We’ve got places to go and people to see. Today is the day we set the wheels in motion to usher this family into a new era,” Shai said proudly. He was about to elaborate further, when something in the window caught his attention. Shai moved closer and peered out. Hope was out on the front lawn, but she wasn’t alone. There was a young man snapping pictures, while she struck various poses. Upon closer inspection, Shai realized that he recognized the photographer.
“I swear if this girl ain’t got the hardest fucking head,” he huffed before storming out the front door.
*
When Hope saw Shai come out of the house, she cut her photo shoot short and moved to intercept him before he could reach her guest. “Shai…” she began, but she was cut off.
“Shai shit! Didn’t we go over this yesterday?” Shai looked passed her at Snake, who was standing there looking awkward.
“You said don’t bring him to the house, and I didn’t. We’re on the lawn,” Hope tried to joke, but Shai wasn’t in joking mood.
“Don’t be cute, Hope. You graduated at the top of your class, so I know you ain’t stupid, even though your actions say otherwise.”
“Hey, Shai…” Snake tried to interject.
“That’s Mr. Clark to you, lil’ nigga!” Shai said sharply. “Now the only reasons I can see you coming back around here after my brother told you to stay away is you’re plum fucking stupid, or you really don’t understand what kind of family your little girlfriend comes from.”
Snake tensed as Swann moved forward. It wasn’t a hostile gesture, but he planted himself close enough into the young man’s space that he had a clear shot of his jaw. Snake ignored Swann and spoke directly to Shai.
“I know who you are, Mr. Clark, and that’s the reason I came back. I owe you an apology for yesterday. Not because I’m trying to score points, but because as someone who claims to care about your little sister, I shouldn’t have let her get that drunk, let alone brought her to the baby shower in that condition. Still, I don’t think one lapse in judgment gives you or anyone else the right to treat me like shit whenever I come around. As a man, I can’t accept that,” he said with a straight face.
“Well, I guess you just volunteered yourself for the first broken jaw of the day.” Swann stepped forward, but Shai stopped him.
“I got this,” Shai ensured him, eyes locked on Snake. “Take Hope with you.”
“Wait a second! Let me talk to you, Shai,” Hope tried to intervene, but Swann placed a firm arm around her waist.
“Let the grown folks talk, sweetie. C’mon, I’ll show you the secret stash of weed Tommy doesn’t know that I know he’s growing around the back,” Swann said as he steered her away from the confrontation.
“Your mama drop you on your head or something when you were a kid?” Shai asked him seriously.
Snake chuckled. “Nah, man. I just ain’t never been big on holding my tongue. I know you don’t know anything about me and I understand why you and your brother are dealing with me from a distance, but honestly I ain’t trying to get close to you or anything you got going on. I’m just trying to get to know Hope a little better. I hope you don’t feel like I’m being out of line, but I got too much respect for your family name to be anything but straight up with you.”
Shai measured the young man’s words. He still didn’t like Snake, but respected his honesty. “My sister is a good kid and on the right track, and the last thing I need is somebody else’s bad habits rubbing off on her and derailing this life we’ve laid out.”
“Mr. Clark, I don’t drink and I only smoke once in a blue. I’m a second-year accounting major, with a 3.6 GPA, who likes to take pictures of pretty things,” he said, hoisting the camera for Shai to see. “I ain’t nothing to worry about.”
“That remains to be seen, but until such time, just know that I’ve got my eye on you.”
Snake gave him a smug grin. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
*
Shai rolled back around to the front of the house to find Swann and Hope having a heated debate. When she spotted Shai walking up alone, a look of dread crossed her face. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when she finally noticed Snake bringing up the rear. She rushed passed her brother and hugged Snake tightly.
“Damn, Hope. What did you think I was going to kill him and burry him in the yard?” Shai asked sarcastically.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Hope mumbled. “Watch that shit,” Swann warned.
“Look, I’m gonna leave you good people to it and take my ass back to the city,” Snake announced.
“What?” Hope was surprised. “I thought we were gonna have lunch today?”
“I know, and I’m sorry to disappoint you, ma, but I think it’s best for all parties involved if I take a rain check,” Snake said as he cut his eyes at Shai. “I’ll call you later.” He kissed Hope on the cheek and walked towards his bike, which was near the foot of the driveway.
“You be careful riding that thing on the highway! I’d hate to hear you mysteriously got hit by a truck!” Swann called after him mockingly.
Hope stood there, watching sadly as Snake rode off. When she turned back to Shai she was furious. “Are you happy now? You ran him off!”
“Hope, I did you a favor. You’re lucky it was me instead of Tommy, because he doesn’t make it a practice to warn people about shit twice,” Shai told her.
“Amen to that.” Swann added.
“You mind your business, Swann! And Shai, I keep telling you and your asshole brother that I’m not a little girl anymore. I can make my own decisions!”
“Then make them wisely,” Shai replied. “Hope, I don’t know why you’re so head-over-heels for this slum ass nigga, but you need to knock it off. Now I’m not judging Snake, because I don’t know him well enough to form an opinion about his character, but I know he’s not right for my sister. You represent the Clarks, and anybody you choose to lay with is a reflection on this family.”
“So says the man who wife’d a stripper!” Hope snapped. The words were sharp, but she was angry and emotional.
“Hope, you’re about to cross a line,” Swann warned her, seeing where the argument was headed.
“Nah, this conversation is long overdue,” Shai said. “Let me tell you something, little miss. I’m about sick of you running around with your nose in the air, like you’re better than everybody else in this family. You always got some slick shit to say about what and how I do things, but I didn’t see you balking when I paid the whole four years of your tuition in advance, nor do I recall you returning any of those checks I send you once per month so you can stunt with your dizzy ass friends.”
“You know what? Fuck you and this!” Hope rolled her eyes and tried to walk away, but Shai grabbed her arm. When she looked into his eyes she saw something that she had never seen in them before: rage.
“You ungrateful little bitch, how dare you give me your back!” Shai rained spittle in her face. “Do you have any idea what I had to sacrifice to keep this family together when they killed Daddy? I live every day of my life as a walking target and an indictment waiting to come down, and I do it with a smile because I love my family, even if they’re too damn dumb to realize it!” Tears danced in the corner of his eyes. “Hope, I understand that you don’t like some of the decisions I make, just like I didn’t like some of the stuff Daddy did, but you have to understand that I do these things from a place of love. I don’t want you pissing away your formative years and end up having to play whatever life has left to offer you.”
“You mean like you did?” Hope jerked loose of his grip. “Shai, we might share the same genes, but we are nothing alike.” She stormed back into the house. Shai attempted to go after her, but Swann stopped him.
“Let her be, Slim. Give her some space and revisit the conversation when cooler heads can prevail,” Swann told him.
Shai’s shoulders sagged like he was carrying the weight of the world on them. “I just want Hope to have a shot at being something better in life, Swann. Why doesn’t she understand that?”
“They never do until it’s too late.”
*
Shai and Swann were just about to pull out when they saw Honey’s SUV turn into the driveway. Brutus got out from behind the wheel, dressed in his black suit. He gave a nod in greeting to Shai and Swann, before walking around to the passenger’s side to help Honey out. Shai took one look at her face and knew that he was about to deal with another angry woman.
“Give me a sec,” Shai told Swann, before walking to meet Honey. “Sup, babe?” he asked as he kissed her. Her lips were flat and passionless. “Damn, who kicked your dog?”
“Nobody, I’m just tired. I’ve been running around all morning and I need a nap,” Honey told him.
“Yeah, I see you were up and out early. Where you been, Penny?” Shai did his best Chip Fields impersonation.
“In Woodlawn. I had Brutus take me to the gun range.”
The revelation stole the mirth from Shai’s voice. “What you need to go to the range for? I pay Brutus to catch the bodies.”
“I know, and Brutus is exceptional at his job, but there may come a point when he’s not around and I gotta handle a situation on my own.”
From the tone of her voice, Shai knew there was something she wasn’t saying.
“Honey, what’s going on?” Shai asked. She looked to Brutus as if she was waiting for him to give her the greenlight to answer. “What the fuck are you looking at him for when I’m the one talking to you?”
“Your cousin Hammer paid us a visit,” Brutus answered for her.
“What? When? What did that nigga do to you?” Shai fired off questions.
“He didn’t do anything. We were at the mall shopping and he showed up at the store we were in. He told me to tell you that it was urgent that the two of you spoke,” she said, replaying the conversation between her and Hammer.
“I’m gonna kill that nigga!” Shai began pacing back and forth.
“Shai, it wasn’t that serious. He wasn’t rude or threatening; just a little creepy,” Honey explained.
“And where were you when this bitch ass nigga was having my woman play messenger?” Shai spun on Brutus.
“I sent him to get coffee,” Honey answered for him.
“Coffee? Nigga, do I pay you to get coffee or keep my wife safe?” Shai was angry.
“Shai, I was only gone for five minutes,” Brutus explained.
“And it only takes half a second to pull a trigger!” Shai shot back. He invaded Brutus’ space. “Let me tell you something, and please be clear on this; you’ve got one job and that’s to keep Honey out of harm’s way. Now if you don’t feel like you’re capable of doing that, speak now and I’ll get a more qualified soldier to replace you. Do you understand me?”
Brutus didn’t trust himself to speak for fear of what might have come out of his mouth, so he simply nodded.
“Don’t blame him because the men in your gangster ass family don’t know their places. Maybe if you hadn’t been so busy with your new little friend, I wouldn’t have had to depend on the next man.” Honey pulled Monet’s business card from her purse and flicked it at Shai.
Shai was stunned and his face said it.
“Honey, it isn’t what you think,” he said honestly.
“Oh, that’s painfully obvious. You just can’t keep your dick from straying can you? This shit with you is getting old, Shai…real old. The bitches, the late nights,” she shook her head. “I don’t even know why I continue to get mad at you. A leopard never changes its spots. I knew you was a dog when I got with you, but I chose to stay. That’s my fault, but I got a trick for your slick ass, Slim.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll find out right after I drop my load,” Honey said slyly, and started towards the house.
Shai grabbed her by the arm and spun her to face him. “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you!”
“Get your fucking hands off me!” Honey yelled as she jerked loose of his grip. “While you out here trying to get all buster bad ass on me, you need to put some of that same aggression into them niggas who are in the streets pissing on your name like you soft. On his worst day, a nigga would have never had the balls to get next to anything Tommy Clark held dear, but I forgot - you ain’t Tommy, you the little brother!” Honey had only been talking shit to get under Shai’s skin, but she wasn’t ready for what would happen next.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Shai’s voice was calm… too calm.
“What? You got some frog in you?” She pressed, seeing that she now had his attention. “Jump, lil’ nigga. I dare you.”
Shai took her up on her offer. He reached for her, not quite sure what his intentions were. Honey wisely moved back, but when she did, her feet got crossed up and she fell hard to the concrete. Quicker than she should have been able to move in her condition, Honey was back up and on Shai’s ass like a wild woman.
“Nigga, you think I’m soft?” she questioned as she started raining punches on him.
“Honey, chill out!” Shai tried to restrain her, but she was too far gone. She managed to get one hand free and clocked him in the lip, busting it. Shai looked from the blood dripping into his sneaker to Honey. “Bitch, you must have lost your mind!” He raised his hand, but Brutus grabbing him about the wrist stopped the blow from falling.
“I’m going to need you to calm down, Shai,”
Brutus said. His tone was soft, but his eyes were hard.
“You sure about this?” Shai challenged. Before Brutus could answer, Swann’s shadow loomed behind us.
“I’m gonna need all three of y’all to chill the fuck out before we make a mess out here that nobody wants to clean up,” Swann said. It wasn’t a threat, but there was no misunderstanding about what he meant.
Brutus waited until he was sure Shai wasn’t going to take a swing at him, before releasing him. “We good?” Shai didn’t reply, and simply walked away; too stunned to speak. It was a bad sign and Brutus knew it.
Swann stood there, and watched his friend walk to the car seemingly in a daze over what happened. He waited until he was out of earshot before addressing Honey and Brutus. “You good, sis?” he asked Honey.
“Yeah, but something is wrong with your boy,” Honey replied as she brushed herself off.
“That we can agree on; something is definitely not right in this equation,” Swann said as if he knew something they didn’t. “Why don’t you go in the house and get yourself cleaned up.” He waited until Honey was gone before turning to Brutus.
“Swann, I…”
“Whatever you were about to say, why don’t you hold onto it until I’ve spoken my piece,” Swann cut him off. “I’m going to say some things that you’re probably not going to like, and after I’m done, you’re welcome to react to them however you feel the need. You, my friend, are a snake. When we got busted for selling weed in high school, and I know for a fact that it was you who told, Shai wouldn’t let me put hands on you. When you fucked the girl you knew he was sweet on, he gave you another pass, and let’s not forget one of my personal favorites; when you allegedly saved his life when old man Miller ran up on y’all shooting. But I think you and I both know who that bullet was meant for and who orchestrated the whole thing.”
Brutus’ eyes went wide.
“Don’t look so surprised. I know the whole story. You were fucking the bitch too, but when the shit hit the fan and she wound up pregnant, the two of you concocted that lame ass plan to blame Shai because you thought nobody would be stupid enough to try and lay hands on Poppa Clark’s kid. I guess old man Miller proved the both of you wrong, huh? If it’ll make you feel any better, I killed old man Miller not long after that. Took me a little longer to track his whore of a daughter, but she eventually got what she deserved too. They always do in the end.”
“You gonna tell Shai?” Brutus asked.
“I’d thought about it for a long time, but Shai has had a rough enough go of things. Better to let sleeping dogs lay than heap more heartache on him. I don’t like you, Brutus. I never have and probably never will, but right now you’re in Shai’s good graces, which is why I’m expressing myself with words instead of the business end of my strap. But your slip is starting to show, my friend. Sometime real soon, that hold you got over Shai is going to waver, and when that time comes, I’m going to take extreme pleasure in erasing you from existence. Tick-tock, my nigga, tick-tock,” Swann warned as he ambled off.
“You good?” Swann asked once he was in the car with Shai.
“Yeah, I’m straight,” Shai said, but it was a weak lie. It wasn’t the first time that Honey said some fly shit to Shai, but it was the first time he let her words cut deep enough to pull him out of character. Besides Swann, he had never confided in anyone else about his insecurities about not being as good a leader as Tommy, and she had thrown it in his face. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything, Shai. You know that,” Swann said, hoping he was finally going to give him the green light to off Brutus.
“Get somebody in the streets and have them track down my cousin Hammer.”
From the tone of Shai’s voice, Swann knew something was wrong. “Everything okay?”
“It will be once I put this nigga in his place. I want him standing in front of me before the day is over.”
“You got it,” Swann agreed. “Speaking of niggas being put in their place, what you wanna do about Brutus?”
“Nothing.”
“What you mean nothing? That cat was out of pocket.”
“Nah, it ain’t his fault. I brought it on myself. I shouldn’t have raised my hand to Honey.”
“That we can agree on. You played yourself, bro, but who the fuck is this nigga to get in the middle of family business? That cat is forgetting his place and needs a reminder,” he said as he brandished his gun.
Shai shook his head. “Whether he overstepped or not, I owe that man my life.”
Swann looked at Shai in disbelief. “Shai, you’ve paid that debt a hundred times over. How long you gonna carry that? I promise, I can go in and get it done and over before Honey even knows what’s going on.”
“I said leave him!” Shai’s tone was stern.
“Fuck it.” Swann put the gun away. “So what’s up with this master plan you were telling me about earlier?” he asked, changing the subject. “You gonna keep an asshole in suspense or what?”
Shai let the faintest hint of a smile touch his lips. “For that, I can show you better than I can tell you. Head over to Newark.”
As Shai and Swann were pulling away from the estate, Shai noticed a car sitting right outside the gate. Behind the wheel was a white girl with blonde hair. She was turned away talking to someone, so he couldn’t see her face. Swann was going too fast for Shai to get a good look at who was in the car with her, but if he didn’t know any better, he would have sworn it was his brother, Tommy.