by Roy Glenn
In the past year, Shy had gotten her Masters in Corporate Finance from the Columbia Business School. CAMB Overseas Importers, the import-export company that Shy started, had expanded to where she now had a small staff of four employees.
She was still doing business with Cebrián Sandalio, importing medicinal and pharmaceutical products from India, and had negotiated deals to import women’s apparel from Honduras and Italy into the country. It really did seem as if they’d finally gotten what the two of them had always wanted. They were together, they were out of the game, and they were a family. All that Shy had to do was to name her son.
After expressing to any and everybody who cared to listen, her displeasure with CeeCee and there being no way in hell that anybody other than her was going to name that baby, when it came time to name him, Shy drew a blank. When Black stared at his newborn son and asked, What are we going to name him? Shy heard herself say, I haven’t decided yet.
And that had been her answer to that question each and every time somebody asked her.
What are you going to name him?
And yes, everybody asked her; and yes, everybody, including Shy, was getting frustrated with that answer. It was Easy that gave Shy the inspiration to come up with a name for their son.
One afternoon while Shy was feeding him, Easy came running in the room and sat down next to his mother and new baby brother.
“Hey, little Prince.”
“I thought that you were the little Prince?”
“I was, but now he’s the little Prince. Daddy’s the king, and one day I’m going to secede him as king of The Family, and the little Prince will secede me,” Easy said, repeating the words that RJ had said to him the night before. “And we are going to be great and powerful kings of The Family,” Easy said emphatically, with his arms extended.
Although she shook her head in amusement, it gave Shy an idea. Her son would be king, and she set out to do some research. That’s when she came across Mansa Kankan Musa, The Richest African Warrior.
Mansa is the Mandinkan word meaning king, sultan, or emperor. It was particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. The powers of the mansa included the right to dispense justice and to monopolize trade, particularly in gold.
During his reign, the extremely powerful leader was able to conquer twenty-four cities. By the time of his death he had amassed a fortune which, adjusted for inflation, would have set Mansa Musa’s net worth at well over four hundred billion dollars.
“Yeah,” Shy said, nodding her head. “That’s my son.”
So, despite the fact that the name began with an M, something else Shy said she wasn’t going to do, she named their son Mansa.
“It works, especially since everybody calls him Man anyway.” Black laughed when she told him.
As for Valencia, the meeting, which turned out to be more than just a formality to address any final concerns and answer any open questions, was attended by Meka, Donald Anthony, the vice president of operations, and James Cox, the director of information technology. Also, in attendance was Jaila Bell, the head of the finance division. Although she spearheaded the initiative, they were talking about spending money now, so Jaila asked the majority of the questions.
At the conclusion of the nearly three-hour meeting, Valencia and her associates left the conference room. Although she was blindsided by Jaila, the meeting went well and she may have made the deal, but she left there knowing that she hadn’t even scratched the surface of her real objective—bringing Mike Black to the table.
As they walked away, chatting about how the meeting went, Valencia saw Shy come out of her office and head toward the reception desk. She quickly told Drew and Christian to go ahead without her.
“I’ll meet you back at the office and we’ll discuss final thoughts and next steps,” she said, and slowed her pace to wait for Shy.
“Are you finished for the day, Mrs. Black?” Lenecia asked as Shy got closer.
“Yes, I have a meeting this afternoon,” she said, and that was when she saw Valencia walking toward the exit.
“Have a good afternoon.”
“You, too, Lenecia,” Shy said and waited for her. “How did your meeting with Michael go?” she asked, as Valencia held the door open for her, and they walked out of the building together.
“I think that it went fine.” Valencia let out a little giggle. “I didn’t get a chance to meet with your husband.”
“Yes, and I’m so sorry about that. I understand that Michael had another meeting that he couldn’t get away from,” Shy said, knowing that the meeting that he couldn’t get away from was with her.
What actually happened was that he’d spent most of that time in her office, talking about where they wanted to take the family on vacation.
“He did stick his head in the door, said ‘Morning everybody; good to see you, Valencia,’ and then he was gone again.”
Shy knew that too because it was her idea that he stop in for a minute. “That sounds like Michael,” she laughed.
Seems like she’s really looking forward to talking to you. The least you could do is stop in and say hello, Shy encouraged.
“Well, it was truly a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Black,” Valencia said, quickly fishing a business card from her satchel.
“Good to meet you, too, Ms. DeVerão.”
“Please, call me Valencia,” she said, as Shy handed Valencia her business card. “Import—export business.” She paused. “I would love an opportunity to sit down with you and talk about some of the things that we could do for you and your business, Mrs. Black.”
“I’m sure that we could set something up. You have my card.” Shy held out her hand.
“I am looking forward to getting together with you,” Valencia said, shaking Shy’s hand and thinking that when one door closes, another one opens.
“Same here,” Shy said and walked away.
Chapter Seven
As soon as Valencia got in the car, she called Adrianna and once she recapped the meeting for her, she told her to get Pooja Rajani started on putting together a suite of services that they could offer Shy in her import-export business.
“And tell her to have something ready to brief me in the morning. I want to move quickly on this.”
“Who’s the prospective client?”
“CAMB Overseas Importers.”
“I’ll get her started on the research.”
“No need for that. I’m going to handle this account myself,” Valencia said as she left the parking lot, thinking that cultivating a relationship with Shy wouldn’t be a bad thing, and might prove to be beneficial in the long run. And besides, selling her on their services was never a bad thing either.
The following morning, Valencia met with Pooja. In the short time allotted her, she had put together a detailed presentation that would focus on agility, planning, integration, scalability, and competitiveness.
“It will highlight the advantages cloud computing provides in having the real-time ability to predict possible disruptions within the supply chain, and be responsive to them,” Pooja explained.
At the conclusion of that meeting, Valencia had Adrianna make an appointment for her to meet with Shy. The meeting was set for Thursday morning at eleven o’clock. That gave Valencia a little less than forty-eight hours to become an expert on the subject. Two days later Valencia was in Shy’s office presenting her proposal.
“Import-export businesses globally have realized the potential for applying cloud-based solutions into their supply chain strategies and activities, in order to increase profitability,” Valencia began, after a bit of small talk.
“Increasing profitability is the reason we’re in business,” Shy said.
“Small to intermediate sized import-export companies like yours, Mrs. Black, need visibility over the movement of their international trade. You need transactional systems with dashboards that provide im
mediate visibility and alarms that go off when an issue transpires.”
“That’s valuable information to have in real time,” Shy commented.
“It gives your team the ability to quickly analyze the data to find the cause of the problem, and it provides simulations of each situation, and key performance indicators that give management insights to assist in making administrative decisions.”
“What I’m looking for is the ability to drill down on the information that I need quickly. From the tally of cargos for individual shippers, to consignees, right down to the details of each transaction.”
Valencia smiled. “What I’m prepared to show you today is a way for you to have the data that you need to take your business across borders at your fingertips,” she promised, and their meeting began in earnest.
“Very impressive, Valencia. You seem to have an amazing grasp of the industry and exactly what I’m looking for.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Black.”
“Do you always make the presentations for your firm?”
“No, I don’t. Although I am involved in every step in the process, I have an excellent team that generally makes client presentations. Under normal circumstances, Pooja Rajani would be making this presentation, and she will be your client services manager once we find the right suite of services to meet your unique business needs.”
“And yet, here you are.”
“You are not just any client, Mrs. Black. I am trying to close an important deal with your husband.” Valencia smiled. “I thought that currying favor with his wife wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
“True.”
“You said that I should be honest with your husband. I imagine that advice applied to you as well.”
“You would be correct.”
Shy paused to decide if she were going to give Valencia what she was fishing for. Despite Black’s apprehension about her, Shy liked Valencia; respected her for the things that she had accomplished in business. But at the same time, she understood that Valencia definitely had an agenda. One that involved her husband; therefore, Shy was curious about what it was.
“I can tell you that Michael is meeting with his board next week and your contract is on the agenda.”
“Well, thank you for letting me know that, Mrs. Black,” Valencia said, and began gathering her materials to leave. “And thank you for letting me spend this time with you.”
“It was time well spent. And trust me, I promise that I won’t take as long to make a decision as Michael,” Shy laughed. “I’ll probably get back to you sometime late next week.”
“That sounds good. But please, feel free to call me with any questions that you have,” Valencia said, as Shy stood up and took her purse out of the drawer. “And if it’s all right with you, I’ll give you a call to follow up in a day or two.”
“That would be fine,” Shy said, moving toward the door to escort Valencia out.
Sensing that she was being rushed out, she said, “I’m sorry that our conversation ran quite a bit longer than I originally expected.”
“That’s not a problem at all. Actually, I didn’t have breakfast this morning and I’m starving.”
“I haven’t eaten today either.”
“I’m going to Lusardi’s, and you’re welcome to join me,” Shy said as they walked down the hall.
“Lusardi’s? I’ve never eaten there before. What type of food do they serve?”
“Lusardi’s serves authentic Mediterranean cuisine.”
“In that case, I gladly accept your invitation. I love Mediterranean cuisine,” Valencia said as they walked, her eyes scanning the halls for any sign of Black.
“The food is great, you’ll love it,” Shy said, waving to Lenecia as she passed the reception desk, and Chuck stood up.
After getting shot saving Shy and Jada’s lives, he was back on his job as head of the Black’s security detail, and Shy’s personal bodyguard.
“Chuck, this is Valencia DeVerão. She’ll be joining me for lunch at Lusardi’s today.”
Chuck smiled and paused for a second or two to admire the way that Valencia looked in the Monse multi-plaid double-layer jacket and cascade suiting mini skirt she was wearing, before he said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. DeVerão. Will she be riding with us, Mrs. Black?” he asked, still looking at Valencia.
“No, I’ll drive. I have my car here.”
“After you, ladies,” Chuck said, extending his arm toward the door and winking at Lenecia before he left.
A delicious lunch consisting of Vitello Martini, a Veal scaloppini dish, prepared with Parmigiano cheese, served with a white wine-lemon sauce and French beans for Shy; and the Salmone al Mango; a salmon filet with marinated mango salsa, served with sautéed spinach for Valencia, was enjoyed.
Chitchat over lunch revealed that other than being two businesswomen of color, they both had graduated from Syracuse with dual degrees. Shy in marketing and management, while Valencia earned her dual degrees in information technology and finance.
That, and cocktails, allowed what started out as a rehash of the meeting they’d just had, to become more of a relaxed conversation. That gave Shy the opportunity to ask the question she’d invited Valencia to lunch to ask.
“Why is making this deal with Michael so important to you?” Shy asked, and Valencia had to think quickly.
Although she should have been prepared, Valencia wasn’t expecting Shy to ask her that question.
It does look like you are aggressively trying to get with this woman’s husband.
Valencia decided that it was time for a bit of truth.
“I met your husband a little over a year ago at The Rainbow Room at an Association of Black Businesses banquet to honor their man of the year. Now I don’t know if you know this, but it’s pretty much the same group of people that attend those events. He was there with Meka; she’s a fixture at these things.” Valencia took a sip of her Bellini, a cocktail made with Nettare di pesca, which is peach nectar, and Spumante Brut. “At the conclusion of the event, Meka, who is an excellent networker by the way, walked him around the room, introducing him to some people that I’m sure that she thought would be good business connections. Since then, he has been all they’ve talked about.”
“Really; why is that?” Shy asked casually, but fully expecting to hear stories about their gangster past.
“Since that time, your husband has been making alliances and forming partnerships with people who are doing big things.” She paused to signal a close to the bit of truth that she was telling. “Mr. Black has his hands in a lot of businesses, and some of those are international businesses.”
Shy smiled. “Yes, I know. I’m his partner.”
“I’ll be honest with you, Mrs. Black, I believe that he is perfectly positioned to do even bigger things in the future. That’s the type of person I like to be in business with.” She finished her drink. “And frankly, some of those international business connections are business connections that I may find opportunity in.”
“A mutually beneficial relationship,” Shy said and raised her glass, satisfied with the answer, but still feeling that there was a deeper agenda hidden just beneath the surface, and she was determined to find out just exactly what that was.
“As all business relationships should be,” she replied, and they sipped their drinks, with Valencia hoping that her answer satisfied Shy’s logical curiosity about her interest in her husband. Like Black, she found that Shy was hard to read. All that she could do was hope that she hadn’t closed this door to getting to Black too.
“I understand, and I’ll tell you what I will do for you.”
“What’s that?” Valencia asked, excited that she hadn’t over played her hand.
“Tomorrow night we’re having a birthday party for one of my friends. It’s being held at a club called Purple. If you’re not doing anything, stop by and have a drink. I can’t make you any promises, but I’ll see about getting you some face time with Michael.”
>
“That would be excellent, Mrs. Black. Thank you.”
“You can call me Shy.”
Chapter Eight
Purple, a restaurant and lounge that was owned and operated by Mileena and Yarissa, was the site of Ryder’s birthday party. With Rain as a silent partner and financial backer, the club had opened nine months ago and was just starting to take off. Mileena’s decision for it not to become just another gambling spot for The Family meant that they had to build their clientele the old-fashioned way.
“By providing food, entertainment, and outstanding service in a comfortable and relaxed environment,” was what Mileena told Ryder when she first showed her the place.
It had been a good year for Ryder, so she had more of a reason to celebrate. When Rain got out of jail, she stepped down as acting captain of Carter’s crew, but she didn’t step back, not one step.
“I do expect you to step up and assume more responsibility,” was what Black told her, and that was what she did.
The always ambitious Ryder put together her own crew that specialized in high-value robbery, and big money cons. There was even talk in some circles about her being made a captain, but since none of those circles included Mike Black or Rain Robinson, it was just talk, so Ryder ignored it for the most part. The truth was that Ryder wanted to be a captain, and everybody knew it.
But Ryder wasn’t the only one who had stepped up to meet Black’s expectations. One of those people was Money Marv. The night that Black reorganized The Family, after their war with Rona King, he decided that Marvin was more ready to step-up than either RJ or Judah and moved him over to work for Jackie. Her crew had been all but decimated when Rona targeted her for interfering when she was going after The Four Kings. Marvin going to work for Jackie also signaled the end of The Four Kings.