by U. E. Wynn
“You don’t really believe this crap do you?” O’Malley asked.
“A man can never be too careful,” answered Brandon.
“I’m not about to make my family pick up and leave because of a “maybe” situation.” Brock frowned. “I’ve been their protector all this time and I’ll continue to be that. They aren’t going anywhere.”
“I can’t make none of you do anything, but I will say this. You all better be ready for shit to hit the fan because this final bust is going to be big. I’m sure they are preparing themselves for anything right now. They may or may not know who is responsible for their loss of business, and we won’t give them time to figure it out. We have to move fast. You got 48 hours to prepare and then it’s go time.”
Brandon left the conference room before any of the men could argue anything else. His mind was occupied with what Devon had said. Was it really a setup or another distraction to knock them off track from what was really happening? Brandon had no clue what was brewing, but he was going to make sure that he and his men were prepared for whatever was coming their way.
As he passed through the precinct in route to his office, Brandon realized that it had been quite some time since he had seen or spoken to his mother. He knew that she was always willing to engage in any conversation that involved his brother Malik. Brandon planned to pay his mother a visit that night and find out what he could about his brother’s movements.
~~~~
Finally the work day was over and Brandon was more than ready to get home and shower. He hadn’t eaten all day and could use a nice hot home cooked meal. He changed into a plain white t-shirt, blue jeans and a baseball cap before heading out to his mother’s house.
The ride over there was faster than normal. It was as if everyone on the road could feel his hunger pains and decided to clear a path for him. When Brandon arrived at his mother’s house he parked in the driveway and made his way to the door. He was greeted by the aroma of collard greens, macaroni and cheese, BBQ chicken and something that smelled like pumpkin spice.
When he entered the kitchen, he spotted his mother standing over the stove, stirring whatever was in the pot. She was dancing along to the music that played from the small radio that sat on the counter. He eased up behind her and grabbed her waist.
“Hey, Ma.” He kissed her cheek and smiled at her surprised expression.
“Oh my gosh Brandon! You can’t be sneaking up on me, boy. I’m getting too old to be surprised like that.” She then turned and gave him a wide smile. “You showed up just in time, though. The food is almost done. You hungry?”
“Am I? I’m surprised the loud growls of my stomach didn’t give me away before I made it over to you.”
His mother tapped him playfully on the arm and laughed. “Why don’t you go and relax until everything is done. I got some pound cake on the table if you need something to hold you over until the food is ready.”
“Ok, Ma.” Brandon went over to the kitchen table and grabbed himself a slice of cake then headed to the living room. He sat down on the sofa and grabbed the remote. His mother didn’t mention anything about his brother coming over. That was a good sign. I’ll have her all to himself to find out what I can.
CHAPTER 19
Malik’s mind was heavy as he made his way to his mother’s house. He kept replaying the footage of his brother over and over in his head. He couldn’t believe that his own flesh and blood could betray him like that.
Ever since Brandon was a kid Malik made sure he was taken care of. He didn’t want his little brother having to want for anything and he made sure of that. Malik spent every waking moment grinding hard for his family. He upheld his responsibilities as the man of the house to the best of his ability, but Malik suddenly came to the realization that Brandon had always been an ungrateful bastard. He never appreciated anything Malik ever did for him. He never so much as said a simple thank you.
Back then Malik thought it was Brandon’s way of coping with the loss of their father. Maybe as he grew older he came to realize how much he really missed him and didn’t know how to channel that frustration. Either way, Malik still didn’t know how he planned to handle this issue.
As he turned on the street where he grew up and came to a stop outside of his mother’s house, he spotted Brandons’ car in the driveway. Malik turned off his car and sat there a few minutes more to gather his thoughts and calm himself down. He glanced over at the glove compartment that housed his Dessert Eagle pistol and contemplated if he would need it.
He shook his head to ward off the thought of ever harming his brother. He could never hurt him. However, the anger he felt was strong and the need for answers overpowered his common sense. He unlocked the car door and stepped out into the cool evening breeze.
When Malik entered the house he spotted Brandon in the living room watching the ESPN channel. The faint sound of music was coming from the direction of the kitchen and he assumed that his mother was probably back there dancing and cooking. He decided to take that moment to confront his brother.
Malik walked into the living room and sat down in one of the recliners opposite of the sofa, and looked at his brother. Brandon frowned as soon as he saw Malik. He didn’t bother acknowledging him. He just kept his eyes glued to the television and tried to ignore his presence. He could feel Malik burning a hole in the side of his face with his eyes and it was annoying the hell out of him.
“Is there a problem, Malik?”
“I don’t know Brandon you tell me.”
“I’m not the one staring you down.”
Malik looked Brandon over and noticed he was wearing a new gold watch. “Looks like life as one of New Jersey’s finest is treating you well.”
Brandon looked down at his watch and smiled cockily. “I have no complaints.”
That pissed Malik off.
“I guess that’s the new wave these days huh? Using stolen money to go on shopping sprees.”
“That’s a good question, you care to answer that one?”
Malik slid closer to the edge of his chair. “Check this, aight? I’m tired of fucking around with you Brandon. I’m trying to give your simple-minded ass a chance to fess up and return my shit.”
Brandon nonchalantly sat back and crossed his left leg over his right. “I’m curious to know what you think you’ll be doing to me if I don’t oblige you.”
“You keep playing games and you’ll find out.”
“I'm sorry, is that a threat?”
“Take it how you want.”
Just then Gloria entered the room.
“I thought I heard another voice in here,” she said, smiling as she started across the room to where Malik was sitting. As she got closer she noticed the deep frown on Malik's face and her smile changed to a look of concern. “Malik, baby, are you ok?”
Malik ignored his mother’s question and continued the stare down with his brother.
“You’re a joke,” said Malik.
“And you're a lowlife wanna be that will never amount to anything.”
“This coming from the punk ass officer who steals from his own brother.”
“That's detective to you bitch.”
“Hey, whoa. Now watch your mouth Brandon. What’s going on in here?”
“Nah, Ma. He already thinks he can do whatever he wants. He thinks that whack ass badge makes him untouchable. I'm only gonna tell you once more to return what belongs to me.”
“And if I don't return whatever it is that you think I have, what do you plan to do?”
“Brandon, what did you take? What's happening with y'all?”
“Don’t push me, Brandon.”
“Or what Malik? What are you going to do? I don’t care who you portray to be to those lowlifes out in the streets, but you better remember that you’re talking to an officer of the law. I can and will lock your dumb ass up. Now, threaten me again motherfucker!”
“Brandon what has gotten into you? Somebody better get to talking and tel
l me what is going on before I raise hell up in here.”
“Ma, stay out of it,” said Malik. He didn’t want his mother to get involved with his and Brandon’s argument.
“Don’t talk to her like that,” growled Brandon. His eyes narrowing.
“Brandon, you really have no clue do you?” Malik shook his head in disgust.
“Is that so? Well, why don’t you enlighten me,” said Brandon with a sneer.
Malik knew Brandon was always trying to impress their mother with his bullshit accomplishments so he thought putting him on blast was the best way to go at him.
Malik gave him a half smile, half sneer. “Go ahead and let Ma know what kind of nigga you really are. That you having a badge don’t mean shit.”
Suddenly, a loud crashing sound took over the room and both Malik and Brandon looked in the direction of the noise. Gloria stood in the entrance with her hands on her hips. There was glass on the floor from where she threw a plate to get their attention. She looked at her boys with the same look she used to give them when they were young to let them know she meant business.
“Now that I have your attention, I would like to know why you two are in here bickering and carrying on like this.”
“Your son seems to have a problem with meddling in business that doesn’t concern him and stealing things that don't belong to him.”
“Stealing? That’s a funny word.”
Gloria looked over at Brandon. “Brandon is that true?”
Without taking his eyes off of Malik, Brandon said. “Ma, it’s impossible to steal from someone who was never truly the owner to start.”
“It really doesn’t matter what you say Brandon. I saw you and your crew. I know you’re responsible for the raids and I got tabs on every last one of your men. They won’t be an issue anymore because at this very moment my boys are taking care of those bastards.”
“Are you admitting to an officer of the law that you are planning to kill other officers?”
“Malik, tell me that you’re not serious,” Gloria said looking at him. “You won’t have those people killed, right?”
Malik didn’t respond.
“See, Ma. There you have it. That’s your real son. The one you love to praise. This lowlife, trigger happy piece of shit,” Brandon said with a smirk. “I guess I missed the part where being a drug dealer and a murderer was a good thing. Nah, fuck you Malik. You ain’t nothing but a wannabe King Pin. You ain’t no better than the people you sell those drugs too.”
Malik looked over at Brandon with complete disgust. “You know what? You’ve been a thorn in my ass since you were a kid,” he said as he stood up from his seat, anger radiating through his body. His heart was racing and the rage he felt was growing stronger and stronger. “You got a whole lot of nothing to say, but the reality is that you are no better than me. All those years in college gave you book smarts, but when it comes to this street life, you’re dumb ass fuck. You turn your nose up at me being a dealer, yet you wanna be me.”
“Pops may not have been proud of the decisions I made, but he would have been understanding as to why I made them. I did what was necessary for us to survive. I kept you out of the hood and tried to keep you away from the street life so you could have a better chance. But you were a waste of time.”
“You may wear that badge, but there ain’t no honor in a damn thing that you do. A man takes responsibility for his actions. A boy makes excuses to justify those actions. Sound familiar lil’ bro? Those are the words of a great man. A man who would despise you if he could see what you’ve become. You’re nothing but a crooked ass pig and Pop would be doing somersaults in his grave right now if he knew about this shit.”
“I know what I am. I’ve never denied it. I embraced it. You?! You claimed to be one thing and ended up being something else entirely.” Malik huffed sarcasticly. “A detective that makes no arrest because he kills everyone and then turns in most of the drugs and keeps the money to split with his boys. Yeah. Real honorable,” he said in disgust.
Brandon’s face grew hot from embarrassment. He could see his mother looking at him with disbelief. As far as she knew, before this moment, Brandon was a stand up cop with many decorations and awards to show for it. He never let on what he did outside of that. Now the cat was out of the bag, he hated Malik ten times more than before. Seeing that look in his mother’s eyes pained him more than anything.
In anger, Brandon dug his hand in his pocket and pulled out a large knot of money. He threw it in Malik’s face and the bills sprung apart, scattering all over his lap and on the floor.
“What? You short on cash, bro? No money left to pamper that slut Terry? Here, take this and hit up your connect. I’ll just run down on another one of your stash houses and get it back later.”
Malik had enough of Brandon. He moved across the room so quickly that Brandon didn’t even have enough time to block his face from the right hook that Malik landed. Brandon flew back into the chair in shock at first, then he snapped back to reality and charged Malik. They both fell hard to the floor, throwing blow after blow at each other. Gloria screamed for them to stop, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.
“You done fucked up now,” yelled Brandon, as he tried to stomp his size thirteen boot into Malik’s stomach. But Malik was too quick and rolled out of the way.
Hopping to his feet, Malik threw another right jab hitting Brandon in the ribs. Winded, Brandon stumbled back and fell over the couch. Malik went over and grabbed him up by his collar. The menacing look in his eyes and the snarl on his face was a look mean enough to scare the piss out of anyone, but Brandon was not phased. He began to laugh hysterically at how riled up his brother was at the hands of him. That made Malik even more heated.
He threw a few more blows at Brandon and released his grip on him. Brandon fell to the floor gasping for air. Gloria stood in the corner of the room still screaming, but Malik was in such a rage that he paid her no mind. He reached for the waistband of his pants, but his gun wasn’t there. He remembered he’d left it in the glove compartment.
Looking down at the bloodied mouth of Brandon, Malik fought with his other self trying to gain control. If he hadn't left his gun in the car he would have finished the job. It would have been one swift pop to the head and lights out.
Looking down at his brother, all he could see was the kid he used to be. He knew that his father would have never wanted things to end this way. After all the years that had passed since his death, Malik still respected his father and tried to honor him the best way he knew how. Killing his brother would not only have his father turning over in his grave, but it would hurt his mother as well.
Frustrated, Malik growled and kicked Brandon. “You better be thankful you’re my brother and be grateful Ma standing here!” He stepped back and walked over to where his phone lay on the floor and scooped it up. “Next time, there won’t be a next time. Stay out of my business, Brandon. I mean it.”
Malik staggered towards the front door and stopped when he saw his startled mother standing in the corner of the room with her hand over her heart.
“I’m sorry for disrespecting your house, Ma, but you needed to know.”
With that being said, Malik walked out of the door and headed for his car. Once inside, he attacked the steering wheel in frustration. He had come very close to ending his own brother’s life. He was glad that he decided to leave his gun in the car. It was nothing to pop a nigga who crossed him, stole from him or came up short on his bread. He’d done it plenty of times and slept like a baby afterwards.
However, when he was looking down on his brother in the house, he realized that he would never be able to live with himself or face his mother again had he killed Brandon. Walking away was the best decision he’d made. He just hoped that Brandon took heed to his warning.
CHAPTER 20
Brandon clenched his teeth in pain as his mother dabbed a cotton ball soaked with rubbing alcohol over the bruises on his face.
“I swear
, the two of you are going to be the death of me one day. I just don’t understand how two brother’s can hate each other so much.”
“No disrespect Ma, but none of this concerns you.”
Gloria placed her hands on her hips and took a few steps back. “Excuse me? When ya’ll fighting in my house and breaking up my belongings you made it my concern.”
“Ma, please. I really don’t want to hear all of this right now.”
“All I’ll say is this, whatever it is that your brother thinks you have of his, give it back. Nothing in life is worth losing your brother over. You are grown men. You should be able to work things out without having to turn to violence.”
Brandon was irritated. He didn’t care about his mother’s words. He was already planning his revenge on Malik. He remembered how the mere mention of Terry’s name got him all riled up. Brandon knew how much his brother loved that whore. She was his weakness.
After he was all patched up, Brandon turned to face his mother. “Look Ma, I’m sorry for fighting in your house and messing up your stuff. Whatever got broken I’ll replace it. Now this thing between Malik and I, it’s got to play out. You’re right, we are grown and we’ll handle this in our own way.” He stood and wrapped his arms around her giving her a gentle squeeze. When he released her, she looked up into his troubled eyes.
“What’s this about Brandon?” For some reason she knew trouble was brewing and it was more serious than she first thought.
Brandon stared at her long and hard, but then smiled. “Don’t worry, Ma. I’ll end it,” he said and walked out the door, leaving Gloria with a sick feeling in her stomach.
Once he got back to his car, the first thing he did was check his phone. He had a few missed calls from Brock and a couple text messages all from his other men. He already knew what they were calling him about. He knew Malik wasn’t putting up a front when he said that his men were out handling business. Right now, they were the least of his worries. They were all specially trained officers and could handle themselves. His sights were focused on his brother. He needed bait to get Malik alone and finally do away with him once and for all. There was only one person he could think of that would make his brother drop everything. Terry.