Montega

by Keon Smith

  “So you saying you don’t want to make no money?” Montega asked, looking over his shoulder at his homie. “You just going to let Allah provide some dough for you?”

  “I never said that, ocky. Allah is the most merciful all knower and the best of planners, but I still have to tie my camel.”

  Montega was confused, but before he could question him, Abdulallah pulled out a bottle with a blue substance in it.

  “What the fuck is that?” Montega asked. “Some kind of syrup?”

  “No, it’s oil. It’s how I make my living. Here, try. Put some on. I sell this for ten dollars. It’s called Blue Nile.” Nino went to grab his hand to put a dab of oil on it.

  “Man, I don’t want none of that cheap shit,” Montega said, snatching his hand back. “Are you fucking kidding me, Nino? You selling oils? Is this what it all boils down to?” He dug in his pocket while shaking his head. He pulled out a wad of hundreds. “Man, here. Take this, yo. You don’t have to—”

  “I don’t want your haram currency,” Abdulallah said, swatting the money away. “I don’t want your poisonous drugs either.”

  “Well, what the fuck are you here for if you don’t want shit then? Why the hell are you sitting in the passenger’s side if you’re too holy for everyone else?”

  Abdulallah looked away from Montega and out the window and said, “I’m here to save you from the Dunya.”

  Montega wrapped both hands around the steering wheel tightly, took a deep breath, and sighed a laugh. “And how do you expect to do that, homie?”

  “The Quran said that Allah tells us to call upon those who do wrong and guide them to the light. I love you like a brother, Kenny, and I will die before I let the Dunya take you. Inshallah, one day, you and the others will see me in a different light and follow in the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad. I hope that one day, you will open your heart and embrace Islam.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope you’re prepared for a long ride because that ain’t happening no time soon,” Montega replied as he turned up Ardleigh Street.

  He rode across Woodlawn, looked up the block, and saw some people out in front of the Chinese store. He drove by and circled around and came up Blakemore Street.

  When he and Abdulallah pulled up to the corner, he spotted Reek and Black talking to Breezy and her cousin Jasmine by the corner house where everyone hung out. Montega parked and calmly stepped out of the car, looking irritated. He was happy Nino didn’t get out with him. He didn’t think he could take a few more minutes of his mouth. He spat to the ground, trying to control his irritation, while he walked into the store with Reek’s eyes following him the whole time.

  Once he grabbed a vanilla Dutch, he headed back out to approach the four of them. Reek was on Jasmine’s phone at the time.

  “Hey, brother,” Jasmine said, beaming when she saw Montega walking her way. She always referred to him as her brother because she and Kia were like sisters.

  “What’s up, Jazz? Long time, no see,” he greeted before glancing at Breezy, who quickly looked away.

  “Yeah, here he go right here,” Reek said before handing the phone to Montega.

  When he put the phone to his ear, Reek stepped off to make another call. “Yo,” Montega said, knowing exactly who was on the other end.

  “What’s up?” Mike replied, not sounding like himself.

  Montega frowned. “What’s up with you? Why you sound like that?”

  “Because, yo, you fuckin’ up shit for us; that’s why,” Mike shot back.

  “What you talkin’ ’bout?”

  “You know what I’m talkin’ ’bout. I’m talkin’ ’bout the foolishness you bringing on me. By you beefin’ with Shug, it’s stopping the block from doin’ business. Now they’re holding out on us. I told ya dumb ass to fall the fuck back.”

  “So what I’m supposed to do, huh? Just let the bol kill me because you worried about him supplying you?” Montega reasoned.

  “I ain’t say that. Don’t start putting words in my mouth. What I’m sayin’ is you gotta roll and stop coming around there. Your beef is affecting my bread.”

  “What?” Montega twisted up his face. “Man, you got me fucked up all the way around the board if you think I’m gonna do that! I come around here because this is where I’m from! I got family around here! This is where I was born and raised! I don’t come around here, steppin’ on y’all toes either! I don’t need Summerville! I got my own strips and houses for that, no thanks to you! Now you gonna come at me, talkin’ ’bout I gotta roll out and stop comin’ around! Fuck you and whoever else think I’m sweet!” he shouted, clicking the phone off and handing it back to Jazz.

  He leaned on the wall and began to empty the contents out of the Dutch. It was how he got by when he was stressed. Getting high was the only way he knew how to make the pain go away. Breezy looked at him and could see his rage. She couldn’t believe he had just cursed Mike out like that.

  Suddenly, the dark-tinted backseat window rolled down from his Charger, and Abdulallah leaned back from the passenger’s seat. “Still smoking that green devil,” Abdulallah said, shaking his head.

  “Not right now, yo,” Montega said with clenched teeth.

  Abdulallah got his drift and rolled the window back up.

  “Let me smoke with you,” J-Black said, watching him dump out a jar of Haze. As the two shared the Dutch, Reek crossed Woodlawn and called Jasmine over as Breezy got into her car to wait for Amber to come up the street.

  “Yo, don’t trust bol. He’s a fuckin’ snake,” Black said.

  “Who?” Montega asked, glancing at Abdulallah.

  “Reek,” Black replied. “The other day, I seen him ridin’ with one of Shug’s hitmen.”

  Montega’s eyes went dark. “His hitman? What bol look like?”

  “Brown skin, ’bout your height with dreads…”

  That was all Montega needed to hear, not just because he’d seen him before but because the man who J-Black just described was now getting out of a Lincoln with a Mac-11, holding it by its suppressed muzzle. “What the fuck! Black, get down!” Montega shouted as Maniac aimed the gun in his direction.

  Black hit the deck while Montega tripped. But before he touched the concrete, he caught his fall, injuring his finger.

  “Ahh, fuck, man!” he shouted as glass shattered over his head from the parked car he hid behind. The muzzle did no justice when it came to silencing. Maniac had a full fifty-shot clip of hollows. The copper shower from the machine gun splattered into the wall behind them, digging chunks out of the red brick of the Chinese store.

  “Oh my God!” Jazz screamed in a panic as she rushed to get into Breezy’s car.

  Car windows shattered as bullets trailed Montega, who was sprinting to get away. He had him in plain sight. There was nowhere Montega could escape now. His time had finally come. “Allah-who-ackbar!” someone else shouted before a gun started firing.

  Maniac ducked after hearing three big quakes coming from Abdulallah’s P-89 Ruger. Seeing this, Maniac dipped and scrambled low and ran back to the car to shield his head. As he started his engine, Taliban appeared, jumping on the hood of the Lincoln with two Glock 40s firing at the windshield. Bullet after bullet smashed inside at the driver.

  “Ahhh!” Maniac squealed as he got hit in the side.

  To avoid getting hit a second time, he dipped low under the dash and stepped on the gas pedal. The car bolted forward as the tires ate up the street.

  Eeeeeeerrrrrbbb!

  Taliban tumbled over the roof top and rolled to the ground as the Lincoln sped down the street. When he got back to his feet, he fired a few more rounds until the car was clearly out of sight. Montega looked up to see Abdulallah’s hand offering to help him up. He took it.

  When Montega got up from between two parked cars, Jasmine and Breezy were gone, and so were Reek and J-Black. The only person still outside besides Abdulallah was his brother, who was approaching him with two smoking guns.

  “Y’all two aight?
” Taliban asked.

  “Mashallah,” Abdulallah said. “All praises due to Allah, the most merciful.”

  “Naw, I ain’t aight, man. I fuckin’ broke my finger,” Montega complained with his arm around Abdulallah’s shoulder.

  “Let me see,” Taliban replied, taking his brother’s hand.

  “Man, I swear I’ma kill bol when I catch him,” Montega said with anger, watching his brother inspect his hand. “That’s probably the muthafucka that pushed Gutter’s shit back that night at the club. Damn, this shit hurts. How the fuck am I gonna shoot now.”

  “Calm down, yo. Your finger ain’t broke. You just jammed it. All you need is some ice.”

  “You see?” Abdulallah said, stroking his thick beard. “Allah is the best of planners. That was a sign.”

  “It was a sign, alright,” Montega said, brushing by him. “It means for me to smarten up. This war ain’t over. So come on and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  The three got into the Charger and drove off with another enemy added to their list: Reek.

  Chinatown

  “It will make us all billionaires…”

  MASTER WONG LEE

  When Diamond’s private G-600 landed in the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, a maroon, stretch Range Rover awaited at a nearby hanger. Philadelphia weather was the polar opposite from the West Coast this time of year. It was windy and cold, and the skies looked gray, threatening more snow.

  Diamond wore a leopard-print Valentino dress. It was wool and rippled around the edges and rose halfway up her thighs. She matched it with a gold, silk, long-sleeve blouse, peek-a-boo toe Versace heels, and a leopard fur overcoat. Her hair was pulled straight back in a ponytail and reached down the small of her back. Fancy, intense, butterscotch, pear-shaped diamonds sparkled in her ears and around her neck.

  As the hatchet extracted, Diamond picked up the custom Taurus off the seat beside her. It was a .380 ACP with a pink body and black stainless-steel slide. She placed it into her Tory Burch bag, stood, and then headed for the exit of the plane.

  When Samuel stood, she stopped him. “No, Priest. I want you to stay here with the pilot. This city needs more than a prayer to save it,” she said.

  The priest nodded. “As you wish, Madam White.”

  The driver of the stretch Range Rover got out and opened the back door for her and the bodyguard, Bain, while the others got into a rented Suburban. Inside of the luxurious vehicle sat Shug dressed in a tailor-made black Brioni suit with a white collared shirt and a black, red, and white, hand-printed tie. He was accompanied by his underboss, Gee, who was just as stylish. Both observed Diamond as she sat across from them. The whole limousine blossomed with the scent of her perfume.

  As she fixed her dress and crossed her succulent, tanned thighs, Shug peered at her then scanned her legs down to her pretty feet that captured his attention. He imagined tasting those feet, along with other hidden body parts that he knew he couldn’t have. Even Gee found it hard not to stare at her. She barely wore makeup, yet her face shined as if she had been drowned in the fountain of youth.

  Once Bain placed the luggage into the trunk, he got in with his boss. “Planning on stayin’ a while?” Shug asked.

  “Clyde suggested I take a vacation, which is bullshit. He just wants me out of his hairs,” she replied dryly.

  “Well, you can stay at my condo at the Murano. No one barely goes there,” Shug said, hoping she would accept the invitation.

  In your dreams, Diamond thought as she smiled ever so politely. “No thanks. I’ll be residing at the Phoenix. My father still owns a penthouse suite there,” she said, shutting him down.

  Shug nodded fraudulently and said, “Well… the Phoenix it is.” He then had the driver pull out of the airport and head for Center City, Philadelphia. Diamond marveled at the boathouses on the Schuylkil River as they turned off the expressway and into the land of the skyscrapers. Once she passed the art museum, she made a mental note to do a little sightseeing while she was in town and maybe even meet a nice guy.

  Yeah right, she thought.

  “How’s Wong Lee holding up in Chinatown?” Diamond asked.

  “I’ve never seen anything like it. Wong Lee brought his entire gang to Philly, and just like that, they were able to pull out the weeds and blossom. They didn’t even have to use force. Wong Lee’s Black Cloud has long been feared. Stories from China have been traveling over the ocean. Now that they are finally here, people have just fell in line. It’s not just in Philly either. We’re talking New York, L.A., Miami and other major cities.”

  Diamond nodded as she observed City Hall. “That’s interesting,” she said.

  Crouched and coiled on the shoulder of Center City like a bad influence was Chinatown.

  When they got to 10th and Cherry Street in Chinatown, the vehicle stopped in front of a line of restaurants tattooed with Chinese symbols. Diamond and her companions stepped out of the limo and frowned. The environment smelled extremely weird to them. The area looked confusing, unusual and alternately exotic but ugly. Aside from the steam coming out of the street grates, it was surprisingly quiet. Diamond looked down the street toward the Gallery then back at the place she was supposed to meet Master Wong Lee. Everything was so close together, it reminded her of Manhattan, New York.

  “He wants to meet here? It looks like a hole in the wall,” she said irritably, crossing the one-way street.

  Shug ignored her and headed for the front door. Diamond looked up at the sign that read ‘PENANG’ and headed for the entrance.

  When two of her henchmen opened the two doors for her, she walked inside and saw that the place was beautiful with its Chinese essentials and accents. The whole place made her feel as if she weren’t even in America.

  “A hole in a wall, huh?” Shug asked with sarcasm before following the waiter to the back.

  Diamond followed Shug and Gee back to where Wong Lee and his underboss, Kim Angeo, were sitting, sipping tea.

  Wong Lee was an average-size man with flaky, tan skin, a pie face, and straight, shoulder-length, dark hair. He wore a black Hermés suit, a white, button-up shirt, and a blue tie. His slanted eyes were black and cold but not as cold as his beautiful underboss. She was extremely young, perhaps three years younger than Diamond. She had soft, high-yellow skin, high cheekbones, and dark, beautiful Asian eyes. Her hair was long, straight, dark, and shiny. She, too, wore a suit much more fitted than her boss. She had Black Cloud foot soldiers surrounding her.

  Diamond bowed her head respectfully and took a seat with the others. Bain and the henchmen stood nearby as Shug and Gee joined her at the booth. “Would you like to order something?” Wong Lee asked after shaking everyone’s hand.

  “I’ll eat later,” Diamond responded. “Right now, I want to get down to business. It was brought to my attention that you wanted to speak with me. So here I am.”

  Master Lee looked across the table at his beautiful but deadly underboss then back at Diamond. “I’ve known you since you were a teenager and long enough to know when you’re in way over your head. Everyone knows that was your ship that got busted a year and a half ago, and soon, the Feds will close in on us all. That’s not how business is supposed to operate. Yes, you brought us into the Underworld, but you are trying to destroy it for your own selfish reasons. I’ve admired your willfulness and your passion to learn, but lashing out every meeting is not the way of the Ninja. By showing your anger, you dishonor everything you were taught and stand for, including yourself. And if this continues, I’m pulling out, and so is the Black Cloud.”

  Diamond looked at the man across the booth from her, contemplating whether or not he was fast enough to catch a flying knife intended for his throat. She knew from experience that he was. He had once beaten her with his hands tied behind his back. She could still remember her tainted ego, and sighed.

  “You know, it’s funny how you can point out all of my faults, Master Lee, but then go behind our back and schedule a meeting with Ver
ningo Castor,” Diamond said with a poker face.

  “What are you talking about? I’ve done no such thing,” Master Lee retorted, looking back at Kim for verification.

  “Is that so?” Diamond asked, reaching into her bag and pulling out photos of him in Miami on Castor’s three-hundred-foot yacht.

  Master Lee looked at the pictures and knew he could no longer continue to lie. Shaking his head, he sighed before explaining. “Okay, Castor invited me and a few other men on his yacht. He claimed he had been working on a new drug that is processed into a pill. Says it will make us all billionaires. Of course, I didn’t believe him at first. That is until we saw first-hand what the drug does.”

  “What kind of pill are we talking about?” Shug asked.

  “I don’t know for certain. All I know is that it is manufactured with a combination of drugs like cocaine, heroin, PCP, and a whole lot of other ingredients, forming one black pill. It gives a high like no other.”

  “It’s impossible to interlace all those drugs,” Diamond stated emphatically.

  Master Lee placed his hands on the table and folded them. “Do you remember when you first came to me as a young student? You told me you were one of the favored few who didn’t have any enemies. Do you remember what I said?”

  “Yes,” Diamond responded, glancing at Shug. “How can I forget? You said that the devil’s greatest trick was convincing the world that he did not exist.”

  “This is no different,” Wong Lee explained. “Castor gave us a demonstration. Turns out that there’s a genetic chemical that balances every compound. With it, the pill is extremely effective. It’s not just a high; it gives a person amazing awareness and energy… energy that can be dangerous if placed in the wrong hands or used with the wrong mindset.”

  Diamond considered this startling piece of news. “Is this drug ready for the market by any chance?” she asked.

  “No, not yet,” Master Lee vindicated.