Chapter Thirteen
As Bobby drove away from the Watering Hole, he looked in his rearview mirror. “We got a tail, Mike.”
Black looked back. “Looks like they’re keeping their distance. They just wanna follow us, find out who we are.” He smiled and shook his head. “I don’t think so, Bob. They wanna follow us, so let’s lead them somewhere.”
“Anyplace in particular?”
Black thought about it. “Let’s go see Chance,” he said and took out his phone as Bobby drove toward Clay’s Garage, the chop shop and auto junkyard that was run by Chance.
“Clay’s,” Chance answered.
“What’s up, Chance? This is Mike.”
“Sup, Mike, how’s it going?”
“It’s lovely. Listen, me and Bobby are coming, and we’re coming with company. They’re in a Toyota Highlander. Be a good man and open the gate for us.”
“I’ll make sure they feel welcome.”
“Thank you, sir. See you in a while,” Black said and ended the call.
“You’re in a good mood,” Bobby said.
“No, Bob, I’m not. Rain and Monika tried to return the fuckin’ drive, and these muthafuckas shot Priscilla. Dishonorable people don’t get to be treated honorably.”
“You don’t have to explain to me. I was just saying that you’re in a good mood, that’s all. But you say you’re not. Even though you’re sitting over there, smiling like a little kid, you’re not in a good mood.”
“I’m mad, Bob, but I’m having a good time. We don’t do this type of shit anymore.”
“You’re the one deep into playing legitimate businessman.”
Black turned slowly and looked at Bobby.
“That’s right, I said it. You and Shy are both playing at being legitimate. But let some shit happen, and all of a sudden Clair Huxtable turns into Pam Grier, and out comes the PLR22.”
“And she’ll be looking for a big purse that matches her outfit to put it in.”
“And you. This is who you are, Mike, not some fuckin’ businessman. You are vicious muthafuckin’ Black,” Bobby said, pounding the steering wheel to emphasize each word. “You kill people. That’s what you do.”
“I am not even going to attempt to argue with you.”
“Because you know I’m right. Every time I come to the office, you are sitting there bored out of your goddamn mind.”
“Not all the time.”
Bobby shook his head. “Do you know how weak that shit sounded? ‘Not all the time.’ Yes, Mike, all the muthafuckin’ time. Admit it.” Bobby pointed at him. “You’re a killer. That’s who you are, not a businessman.”
“Why don’t you tell me how you really feel, Bob?”
“I just did.”
“And you’re right.”
“I know I am.”
“Most days I’m just there, or I’m hanging out in Cassandra’s office, talking.”
“Y’all might as well go home and talk.”
“Most days we do.”
“You’re proving my point, Mike. That shit y’all are trying to do is nice, and I’m sure M and Joanne are happy as peaches that y’all are”—Bobby took his hands off the wheel long enough to make air quotes—“quote unquote ‘retired,’ but the only one y’all are fooling is Mansa.”
Black laughed as they approached a darkened Clay’s Garage.
“Everybody else knows who the two of you really are.”
“Who are we really, Bob?”
“Mr. and Mrs. I’ll Kill a Muthafucka,” Bobby said as the gate at Clay’s Garage opened, and he drove into the darkened yard. As they hoped, the Highlander followed them in, and the gate closed behind them.
Inside the Highlander, the two men looked out their windows and saw the heavily armed men standing on either side. They knew they had made a mistake following them in. And now they were about to die for that mistake. There was a car carrier blocking their path, so they had to stop.
Black and Bobby, along with Chance, came around the car carrier as their men moved in on the vehicle. Once their men had taken the men from the Highlander and disarmed them, they walked them in front of Black and Bobby, and they were made to kneel before them.
“There are two ways this can go,” Black began. “I could send one of you back to deliver a message, or I could just shoot you both now and go have a drink.” Black took out his gun and shot them both. “Let’s go get a drink.”
“That’s right! That’s vicious muthafuckin’ Black!” Bobby shouted as they walked back to his car. “Now ain’t you having fun? I know I am.”
“More fun than we’ve had in years,” he said, knowing that the thing to do was to let one go to deliver a message.
“Damn right. Where you wanna go drink at?”
“I don’t know. Where haven’t you been in a while?”
“I haven’t been anywhere in a while, Mike. I haven’t even been to Impressions in a while.”
“You wanna go there?”
“No. Crowd’s too young, and that’s why I haven’t been there in a while. What about you?”
“I go to Conversations all the time.”
“So I hear.”
“What you mean?”
“That I hear you and Jackie spend a lot of time alone together in her office.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“I ain’t trying to say shit. That’s just the word around The Family.” Black looked confused and a little annoyed, so Bobby explained. “Jackie is the teacher’s pet, and the teacher spends a lot of time with his pet.”
Black laughed. “Seriously?”
“You know muthafuckas ain’t got shit else to do but talk. You ain’t been retired long enough to forget that.”
“True. Niggas ain’t got shit else to do, especially in peacetime.”
“Especially since niggas got tired of making shit up about you, Jada, and Shy.” Bobby laughed because the stories ranged from threesomes to murder plots. “Which reminds me, I haven’t seen the lovely Ms. West in a while. How is she?”
“You haven’t seen Jada up here because she got shot,” Black laughed. “She says we play too rough up here.”
“Then Nassau’s the best place for her.”
“For so many reasons.”
“What you mean?”
“I mean, Cassandra is happier when Jada is in another country.”
“I thought they got along now.”
“Both of them are great at playing nice, but I know for a fact that Cassandra would rather shoot Jada in the head than talk to her.”
“Then why didn’t she just leave her to die instead of insisting that you couldn’t leave her?”
“I have asked her that question more than once.”
“What does she say?”
“She says she doesn’t know why and gets mad at me.”
Bobby shook his head. “So where we going?”
“The West Coast games are still on. Roll by Romans. Let’s see what’s up there.”
It was twenty minutes later when Bobby parked down the street from Romans. They got out and were walking to the pizzeria when Black’s phone rang. “Hello, Rain.”
“Where you at?”
“I’m at Romans.”
Fuck! “I’m on my way,” Rain said.
“Bring Monika with you.”
“Yes, sir.” Rain glanced at Monika and ended the call. “He wants me to bring you with me.”
“Good. Let’s go,” Monika said. “All I’ll get outta Black is a stern look.”
“But I’m the boss of The Family.” Rain felt the weight of the power and responsibility that she carried. “I’m supposed to keep the peace so everybody can keep making money.”
“It’s what we get up every day for.” Monika paused and shrugged her shoulders. “At least, that’s what they tell me.” She giggled because she wasn’t in the moneymaking end of The Family.
Rain shook her head because Monika could be foolish when she wanted to be. “Let’s go.”
After one last look at the warehouse, she and Monika got in the car and went to meet Black at Romans. Now Rain had two reasons not to be looking forward to this.
Why did he have to want to meet at Romans? she asked herself as Monika drove off.
Romans exploded when Black and Bobby walked in the door. Everybody in the joint wanted to shake hands or bump fists or just be around the true bosses of The Family. Everybody wanted to buy Black and Bobby a drink—drinks they didn’t turn down—and everybody wanted to talk. Some members of The Family there had never actually seen Black or Bobby. They stood in awe of the legends they’d only heard about.
Of course, there were those who wanted something that they could only get from Black, or at least that was the way they made it seem. Naturally, there were those who needed a favor. They were buying drinks too, while some others just spoke so others would know that they were in the room the night Mike Black and Bobby Ray came to Romans.
Carter had been sitting alone, thinking about the situation with Kojo’s men, when he heard the commotion. He flipped on the monitor, and he saw Black and Bobby. Surrounded. He got up and went out there to greet them, but the crowd was thick, so he decided that it would be easier to wait for them to make their way to him. Therefore, he had no idea that Rain had come to Romans.
“There must be something big about to happen tonight!” Black heard somebody shout when Rain and Monika came in and began pushing their way through the crowd.
“There they are,” Bobby said when the pair made it to the table.
“What’s up, Black? What’s up, Bobby?” Monika said and sat down at the table.
“What’s going down, Monika?” Bobby said.
“What we drinking?” she asked and looked around. “Somebody bring me a drink.” She was having way too much fun with this.
Black hadn’t said a word. He just sat there looking at Rain, and she stood there looking at him. He got up and stood in front of her. “Let’s talk in the office.”
“Yes, sir,” Rain said and looked at the crowd surrounding them. She took out her gun and fired one shot at the ceiling. It got everybody’s attention, including Carter’s. “Make a hole!” Rain shouted, and the crowd at Romans erupted in cheers and laughter.
“Rain Robinson is in the house!” one or two of them yelled and began barking, but they made a hole as she requested.
Black looked at Monika. She was still sitting down at the table. “You too, Monika.”
She stood up. “But nobody brought me a drink yet,” she said, and a man rushed up and handed her one. “Thank you. Lead the way.”
As Rain led the way to the office, Carter saw her coming and took a deep breath. He was glad she was there because they needed to talk about what was going on with Kojo, but he knew, knowing Rain the way that he did, that she would find a way to slip out of there without talking to him. Especially with Black and Bobby there.
“What’s up, Mike? What’s up, Bobby?” Carter asked and shook their hands. He nodded at Rain, and she rolled her eyes. “What brings you two to Romans?”
Black looked at Rain. “Seems that I came here to talk to her.”
“We need to use your office,” Rain said and walked by Carter.
“Be my guest,” he said and followed everybody into his office.
“You wanna tell me about it?” Black began when Carter closed the door.
Rain told Black and Bobby what happened to set the events in motion, from that first call from Millie and having to fight off somebody at Sapphire’s apartment, to the fire they set at Overseas Air, to blowing up the Tirana Gentlemen’s Club, to the shootout they’d just left. “They shot my aunt, Black. We were there to return the drive and get my aunt back, and they shot her. I know that I should have done something to deescalate the situation, but I was mad, so I made sure they knew that my family ain’t to be fucked with.”
“Carla says that you’re on these guys too,” Monika said.
“They might be responsible for the death of a friend of mine. The drive that they are so desperate to get back was taken from them by Elias Colton, and that’s what got him killed.”
“Who the fuck is Elias Colton?” Rain asked.
“The dead muthafucka who set all this in motion,” he said and told them what he’d been able to piece together. Then he told them what he and Bobby had been doing.
“No wonder you ain’t mad at her,” Monika said. “You two been acting up.”
“Acting like we grown or some shit,” Bobby added, laughing.
“So from now on, nobody does shit. We got what they want. Sooner or later . . . probably sooner after tonight,” Black said, and everybody laughed. “But they’ll come to us. Is that understood?”
“Understood,” Rain said.
Black stood up. “Come on. Carter’s buying,” he said and led everyone out of the office.
As everybody went to the bar to get a drink, Rain told Black that she wanted to drop by the hospital to check on her aunt and cousin.
“After all we did tonight, I just want to make sure they’re all right,” she said, and Carter watched her and Monika leave Romans without her saying a word to him, just as he expected.
So Carter told Black and Bobby what he’d found out about Kojo, and then he spent the rest of the night getting drunk and telling old stories. But Carter was thinking about Rain, her pregnancy, and the fact that she wouldn’t talk to him.