by U. E. Wynn
The third day, which was on Friday when the drugs were passed down and the money was collected, he spent most of the day in traffic. First, he went to Harlem, where he parked his Range Rover in front of Princes’ brownstone. He traded the Range out for a Plymouth Voyager, equipped with a large hydraulic powered stash compartment stuffed with drugs.
From Harlem, he drove the minivan back to the Bronx, where he met Joey who won the coin toss. They met up to make a pass off at a Jamaican restaurant on Jackson Avenue. After meeting Joey, he switched vehicles again for a 1938 Pontiac Bonneville. He then drove straight to Joe’s Moving Company and dropped the money off so it could be counted.
Feeling like he was about to starve, he returned to the same restaurant he met Joey at and ordered curry chicken, peas and rice, coco bread, and an apple juice to wash it all down. After grubbing, he took a cab back to Harlem to pick up his truck. This was the first and last time he would hand deliver or have any dealings with drugs period.
Once he and Serenity moved to North Carolina he was college bound. Serenity could be the lawyer, his mind was set on business. With millions to work with there was no limit to what he could build. It would be a legal enterprise worth billions.
When Koran made it back to the Bronx thinking his day was almost over, he remembered the stash in Emma’s apartment which called for another trip to meet Joey. This added to the trip back to Joe’s to pick up the money, then another trip to the stash house.
Finally, at seven o’clock that evening, he made it home tired but happy that he wouldn’t have to put up with Jahad’s job no more after this week. When he walked in Serenity was in the living room staring at the wall, a pensive expression on her face. Koran knew right away, Hector had contacted her.
“What he say?” he asked without bothering to confirm his thoughts.
Serenity gave him an ominous look. “He wants to meet you.”
“What?”
“My mother called me right after you left this morning. My girlfriend Veronica, you probably remember her from Junior High, she was at your apartment wanting to see me.”
“Yeah, I remember shorty. She was part of your little clique.” Koran pictured the pretty Puerto Rican he had swung a few episodes with in high school. Serenity nodded. “But listen, I get to my mother’s expecting a reunion, instead she gives me a phone number telling me Hector said to call him immediately because my life was in danger. Like he really gives a damn.” She rolled her eyes. “When I called he told me everything about you and the Heads. That you’re supposed to kill me because you found out I was his sister. I played…”
“Where’s the shit about him wanting to meet me come in at?” Koran asked, impatiently.
“I’m getting there!” Serenity snapped back. “After he said that, he told me to tell you that he really wasn’t your enemy. I asked him what he meant, but he said it was best for you and him to meet. He said you name a place and he’d be there.”
Caught off guard, Koran sat down and rubbed a hand over his face. This was the last thing he expected. He just knew Hector would take the bait and try and use Serenity to get to him. Then again, this could be just that.
“You know what this means, right?” Serenity asked, breaking into his thoughts. “It’s one of the Heads.”
“Yeah, it’s good to know, but fucked up just the same. I’m trying to figure out what’s up with Hector. What the hell he mean he ain’t my enemy?”
“Don’t trust him Koran!”
“C’mon Sin, you think I just fell off a banana boat? Call him back. If he’s serious about meeting me, he’ll come here. If not, I’ll have to set up something else. Just in case I do get him here, start packing our shit. I won’t rest with him knowing where we rest our Heads at. That’s if I don’t body him.”
Serenity nodded and dialed Hector’s number. Once it started ringing, she passed it to Koran.
“Hello?” Hector answered on the second ring.
“Yeah, Hector, this Koran. What up with you wanting to meet me? You know like I know that could be a death sentence for one of us.”
“Whether you believe it or not, it’s in your best interest that we meet. Trust me.”
Koran laughed mockingly. “Trust you? You got jokes, huh? And what’s this shit about me killing Sin? You must be getting your information from a crackhead.”
“No. My information comes from someone who wants you and Jahad dead.”
“And you’re coming to my rescue? Yeah, right. Save the bullshit for somebody else.”
Hector exhaled a frustrated breath. “I’ll level with you. That was my people who tried to kill you and Jahad on story Ave, but my information had to come from someone in your circle. He’s too well informed not to be. And truthfully, he’s not only a serious threat to you. I feel he may be a serious threat to me also. That’s my reason for wanting to meet with you.”
“Let me see if I understand this right. You wanna call a truce. You for real?”
“Yes, whoever this person is, he’s crazy as hell, but smart. So think about it. It would be best for both of us if we knew his identity.”
Koran stayed quiet a moment, his mind working, trying to decide how to proceed. Then something from ‘The 48 Laws of Power’ struck him. Selective honestly.
“Since you say you’re keeping it hands up with me, I’ll keep it hands up with you. Only four people had that information to give you, so I half ass believe you. This is how it’s going down though. If you wanna meet it’s gonna be here at my crib. You can bring two of your people. They stay outside in the hallway while we meet though.”
“Now you’re being the comedian. You think I’m…”
“Breathe easy Duke and listen,” Koran cut in. “I’m bringing you to my crib where I rest my head at. If I body you, then I gotta body your men and most likely that’s gonna draw too much damn attention. How can I explain that to Jake?”
“So you’re asking me to walk into the lion’s den?”
“Listen man, let’s cut through the bullshit. There’s a muthafucka close to me and my brother trying to kill us. This same nigga will probably body your ass too after he get’s us. So it’s only common sense that we dead our beef until we find out who this bastard is. After that we can go back at it if you want.”
“Now I’m about to give this phone back to Sin so you can tell her where to pick you up from. She’ll escort you here and back so you’ll have a safe pass.” Koran paused. “On a show of good faith, I’ve been expecting your call. I deliberately fed that information to whoever gave it to you thinking you would try to use Sin to set me up. My plan was to get the information outta you, then body your ass. Your willingness to help even though I know you ain’t doing it for me changes things. You never know. This could be the turning point in our beef.”
Hector chuckled. “Maybe. And since you put it in plain English, I believe you.”
After Hector gave Serenity his information she hung up, grinning. “Damn you slick baby. He went for it.”
“Went for what? I’m serious about not killing him here unless he makes me.”
“You can’t let that bastard live!” she shouted outraged. “He’ll only end up trying to kill you when this other stuff is out the way!”
“I said I wasn’t gonna kill him here. Before I leave New York that muthafucka gonna be dead! You think I forgot that he bodied my pops? This first meeting will open his trust. The second I’ll open his chest!”
Chapter Twenty Five
Koran sat in the kitchen fumbling trying to open a Heineken with his cast hand when he heard the apartment door open. Despite his effort to stay calm his heart began to race. Here he was about to meet Jahad’s nemesis. Not to kill him, but to his own disbelief, work with him. Jahad would probably flip when he found out. Placing his beer on the table, he grabbed his gun and held it against his leg just in case Hector tried something slick. There was no way in hell he would let Hector walk right into his apartment and kill him.
“I’m in
here,” he called out as Serenity and Hector walked passed the kitchen headed to the living room.
A second later, Hector entered the kitchen behind Serenity dressed in a white Arani silk suit with a black silk shirt opened to the middle of his chest exposing a large platinum diamond crusted cross. On his feet were a pair of black Salvatore dress shoes. Koran stared, taken back by the resemblance between the brother and sister. Both had the same exact haunted green eyes and high cheekbones. However, Hector favored Janet more with his sharp straight nose. His wavy black hair was like Serenity’s and hung well past his shoulders. He wore his facial hair in a neatly trimmed five o’clock shadowed beard that added definition to his angler shaped face.
Hector sized Koran up with a slight smile, then his eyes lowered to the gun and narrowed suspiciously.
“Nah, Hector, it ain’t like that,” Koran said, reading his thoughts. “I’m just cautious.”
“I understand, but I’m not here under any false pretenses. We both have a mutual enemy, so like you said, let’s work together and eliminate our problem.”
“You can sit down.” Koran nodded towards the chair across from him. He sat the gun on the table beside his beer as Serenity walked around the table to stand beside him. “You say we have the same enemy, but how can you say that when he’s trying to help you? Seems like a win-win situation to me.”
“That's what I thought until I realized, ‘The Operator’ as he calls himself, is crazy. He thinks he’s playing a chess match and we’re the pawns. I’m serious. He also made it known that I could be next. Went so far as to prove it,” Hector said bitterly.
“How?”
Hector explained the incident with Melody.
“Oh word!” Stunned, Karon sat back in his chair. Whichever Head was behind the plot, he had put a lot of planning into his twisted game. Why, was the question Koran still asked himself. “This chick, she couldn’t tell you nothing about him? Give you a description at least?”
“The worthless bitch claimed she didn’t know nothing,” Hector spat venomously cutting his eye at Serenity. “Sort of reminds me of another worthless bitch I once knew.”
Serenity shot Hector a look of pure hatred, then walked off with her hands bunched into fist. Koran followed her with his eyes without a clue of what was about to happen before turning his attention back to Hector.
“You told me only four people had the information we spoke of,” Hector continued. “So it has to be one of the four, right?”
“Three… What you do to her?” he asked, changing the conversation to Serenity.
Hector looked confused until he realized who he was referring to. “Oh, my baby sister doesn’t like my honesty. She asked about Janet and I told her the truth. If that puta would have stayed loyal to me, she’d still be alive. She chose Jahad over me and look what it got her.”
Koran frowned. “Damn Hector, I thought I was cold hearted, but you the worst. That was your sister man.”
“That puta never meant nothing to me.” Hector waved his hand dismissively. “Back to what’s important. The logical thing for you to do is to call whoever had the information and let me hear their voices. I’ll never forget that voice… Never!”
Koran nodded and reached for his cell phone. At the same moment, Serenity entered the kitchen with a look of burning malice in her eyes. Koran was on the verge of asking her what was wrong when she stepped behind Hector and raised her orange box cutter. The words froze on his lips. Without saying a word she snatched Hector’s head back by his wavy hair and slashed his throat repeatedly before stepping back. Hectors hands went immediately to his neck just as a stream of warm blood skeeted across the table directly into Korans face.
“Goddamn, Sin! What you do that stupid shit for?” he roared pushing away from the table. Hector’s pitiful eyes locked with Koran’s while he tried to stop the blood from gushing, but it was obvious he only had a few more seconds to live. Finally, his life force bled out and his head hit the table with a loud thud.
“I hope you know what the fuck you just did.” Koran’s voice was deadly calm as he glared at Serenity. “I was so fucking close to finding out who was on the bullshit, then you come along and fuck it up.”
“Fuck him!” she yelled spitting on the back of Hector’s head. “He killed my damn father and shot my sister. Fuck him!” She turned to walk off, but Koran quickly circled the table and grabbed her by the arm.
“Bring your ass back here!” He roughly turned her around. “I don’t give a fuck what he did, you coulda waited. He killed my damn father too, but did I cut his damn throat? Now I got to kill innocent niggas on my own fucking team because of this stupid shit you just did. Did he bring anybody with him?”
His words seemed to sober her up. “Koran, I’m sorry. I…”
“I don’t want to hear that sorry shit! Did he bring anyone with him?”
“Two guys. One stayed by the elevator, the other by the staircase door.”
Koran muttered a curse under his breath. “Go turn the stereo on and play some music.” He looked her up and down forming a strategy. “Take them jeans off too, and put on one of my T-shirts, nothing else. Then tell them two dudes Hector wants to seem them.”
“Koran, I…”
“I ain’t trying to hear that shit. Now go!”
Silently, Serenity walked off while Koran grabbed his gun off the table. A few minutes later Dreams, ‘Shorty Is a Ten’ came booming from the stereo speakers. He waited by the kitchen entrance, gun by his side, until he saw light spill into the hallway. As the shadows drew closer he took a deep breath, then bent the corner with his gun extended in his left hand. Serenity walked a few steps in front of the two men, one black, the other Puerto Rican. Their eyes were focused on how Serenity’s ass jiggled beneath the thin t-shirt. Catching sight of Koran, neither had time to blink before he shot them both in the head from only two yards away. As the two men fell Serenity covered her ears and screamed.
“Shut the fuck up Sin!” Kora shouted in her face. “This is your damn fault! Pull yourself together and clean this shit up. You can start in the kitchen.” He turned abruptly and walked off toward the bathroom mumbling curses while Serenity stared after him in shock.
Koran locked himself in the bathroom after taking a quick shower. Serenity had him so mad that at the moment he couldn’t stand to be around her. Never once had he ever hit a woman. Never had the urge to. But the way he felt right now made him want to beat the shit out of Serenity. This led to another thought. She had to leave. As soon as he figured out what to do with the three bodies, he was sending her back down south. Tonight!
He was deep in thought an hour later when there was a soft knock at the door. Serenity stood before him when he opened it, sweaty with blood stains on his t-shirt. Her eyes held an empty hollowness that made him want to wrap her in his arms. Instead, he covered his emotions with a cold stare.
“The kitchen and hallway are as clean as I can get them. Koran I…”
“Go take a shower Sin. Get all our bloody clothes together too. Mine is on the bathroom floor. We’ll talk about this shit later,” he said, then walked into the bedroom before she could respond.
“Forgive me baby,” she said quietly to his back.
Koran sat on the edge of the bed with her words ringing in his ears. How could he not forgive her when he understood her rage? Tupac said it best: revenge is the sweetest joy next to getting pussy. Still, it didn’t change the fact that she fucked up.
A half hour later she returned wrapped in a large towel holding a large black trash bag. After she dressed, she sat beside Koran and took hold of his hand. For a while they sat without speaking. Koran was staring at the wall while Serenitys’ eyes were glued to his face.
“You fucked up Sin,” Koran said after a while without looking at her. “You fucked up big time, but I forgive you. I want you outta here, though. Take my truck down south tonight. If something happens to me, I have some dough stashed in Mrs. Harris’s apartment. Get it and
make sure Kay wants for nothing.”
“I’m not leaving!” Serenity stood and backed away from him.
“Yes the fuck you are! This shit is about to get real dangerous and you’ll fuck around and get me bodied with that crazy shit you on.”
“Please Koran, I…”
“Please my ass! You getting the fuck outta here.” He grabbed her by the arm while she tried her best to pull away and dragged her to the front door. “Now leave!”
“Koran don’t do this! Please baby, don’t push me away!” she cried, clinging to him as he opened the door.
Koran shook his head. “You gotta go, Sin. When this shit is over I’ll meet you down south. I promise. Now stop making this harder for me than it already is,” he said, pushing her out the door.
Chapter Twenty Six
Right after Serenity left Koran called the Heads and told them to come to his apartment immediately. He called Sha’ last with instructions to bring one of the largest suitcases he could find. To his surprise no questions were asked by none of them. Now all he had to do was think of a believable story. He didn’t want to involve Serenity, but saw no way around it. He decided to tell parts of the truth and make up the rest. There was a knock at the door an hour later that drew him from his thoughts. When he looked through the peephole all four Heads along with their lieutenants could be seen pacing the hallway impatiently.
“What's up with this urgent shit?” Prince asked as soon as Koran opened the door. “We thought nigga’s were trying to get at you.”
“Just come in, you’ll see.” Koran stepped aside holding the door open.
Prince took two steps inside before he noticed the two bodies. “What the fuck!”
“Oh shit! What the hell happened?” Lord asked, looking over Prince’s shoulder.
“Come in before somebody walks by and see this shit,” Koran snapped before he walked off towards the living room leaving others to follow.
In the living room the Head’s and their lieutenants filled the sofa, loveseat, and recliner. Sha’ and Crook stayed posted by the doorway with three large brown suitcases. All attention was focused on Koran as they waited for him to speak from where he stood near the window.