by Lynn Emery
“Where did he get this big chunk of cash all of a sudden?” Willa snapped. “Didn’t you think it was strange that he— ”
“Of course he wouldn’t think Jack having that kind of money was strange. Crown Protection is a very successful business,” Cedric broke in. For the first time he glanced at MiMi for help.
“Sure. No reason for Anthony to question him,” MiMi said as if on cue.
“I know my kid. He’s smart,” Willa shot back. “Spit it out, Anthony.”
“He wasn’t a crook no matter what anybody says,” Anthony replied with heat in his voice. “I think he just got caught up.”
“What the hell— ” Willa felt MiMi’s vise-like grip tighten.
“Start from the beginning, son,” Cedric said.
Anthony took a deep breath and let it out. “Dad said he took on a new corporate client, Strafford, Inc, but those guys were too cut throat. So he wanted to protect the business and keep some money separate. That’s all. He was handling it.”
“Then he was killed,” Cedric said carefully.
“I met that deacon from Dad’s church, Ike Nelson. He worked for Strafford, Inc.” Anthony faced his mother. “I always thought the dude looked shady. I bet somebody at Abundant Love Ministries know something.”
“Why do you think that?” Cedric frowned.
“Mr. Nelson hired guys in a program he runs at the church to work for Strafford. Most of those dudes are hardcore gangsters. I could probably find out more from my boys on the street.” Anthony looked at Cedric.
“You’re going to stay out of this or else you’ll have me to worry about. This isn’t a video game. It’s real.” Willa’s voice cracked.
“I know it’s real. Two of my friends were killed in the last three years over stupid stuff. Dad understood how mean it is out here for a young black man. He told me to take care of you and Mikayla, and I will. For him.” Anthony’s mouth set in a tight line. At that moment he so resembled his stepfather. Willa could almost believe Anthony had Jack’s stubborn genes.
“You’ll do what I damn well tell you to do young man or— ” Willa’s threat was cut short when MiMi yanked her out of the kitchen and down the hallway.
“Let Cedric talk to him man-to-man because you’re mouth is about to make him shut up completely.” MiMi pulled a stuttering Willa into the family room, closed the door and blocked Willa’s exit.
“Anthony needs a good kick in the behind right about now.” Willa glared at MiMi for standing in her way.
“If you treat him like a little boy he’s going to rebel. Now is not the time to play ‘the mama’ and order him around. Think,” MiMi said in a firm tone.
Willa couldn’t answer immediately. Instead she paced the length of the room. “If I hadn’t paid so much for this crap I’d break something.”
MiMi looked around. “Go ahead. You could use some updated stuff in here anyway. I like your red and green paisley jacquard sofa. But these lamps can go. And taupe drapes… what were you thinking?”
“I want to kick somebody. Since you’re close by, you might do,” Willa grumbled as she shot a heated look at MiMi.
“I’m a mother, so I understand. Your anger is motivated by fear for your child.” MiMi placed a hand on her slightly rounded belly.
“Now she’s a parenting expert.” Willa continued to pace.
“We won’t let anything happen to Anthony, girl. I think it’s beautiful how he wants to protect you.” MiMi winced then sat down in one of two large forest green chairs opposite the sofa.
“You okay?” Willa studied MiMi’s expression.
“Just had to get off my feet for a minute.” MiMi waved away her concern. “Back to Anthony. He’s a good kid and loyal to his family. Honey, count your blessings. My family isn’t full of warm fuzzies.”
Finally Willa felt the energy drain from her anger. “Loyalty is all well and good, but he’s making decisions that could put him in prison or worse.”
“Well I— ” MiMi stopped when the doorbell rang. “Crap. We don’t need company right now.”
“I’ll get it. Lord, please don’t let it be Detective Miller,” Willa said and looked up to heaven. “A break, please. Just one today.”
MiMi followed her. “Who is it?” she whispered as Willa looked through the window. Ryan looked polished as usual in a Perry Ellis white dress shirt, open at the collar, and charcoal gray slacks
“Thank you, Lord,” Willa said as she opened the door “Hello, Ryan. How are you?”
“Doing great, and you?” Ryan looked over Willa’s shoulder at MiMi. His amber eyes registered surprise “Good afternoon, Ms. Landry.”
“Call me MiMi since we’re practically family.”
Ryan offered her nothing more than a cool smile as his reply. He faced Willa. “I hope everything is okay. I went by Anthony’s school to pick him up, but learned he’d left early.”
“We picked him up. Family matters,” MiMi piped up first. She pursed her lips tightly when Willa gave her a look.
“He’s fine. Why did you go to pick him up though?” Willa said.
“Not to worry. I planned to stopped by your office first and ask your permission to take him to one of my fraternity meetings. We mentor young men.” Ryan kept glancing curiously at MiMi.
“Being involved in positive activities would be a big help.” Willa let out a sigh of frustration.
“Anthony is okay,” Cedric said as he walked toward Willa. His expression went stiff when he noticed Ryan. “Hello, Ryan.”
“Hello, Cedric.” Ryan barely glanced at him before speaking to Willa again. “What’s going on with Anthony?”
“Jack opened a bank account with money from Lord only knows where. Anthony won’t be straight with me about that, or anything. I don’t know what to do. Cedric, did he say anything more?” Willa put a hand to her forehead and massaged her tension headache.
“Nothing.” Cedric cleared his throat.
“A bank account,” Ryan said quietly and rubbed his chin.
“Yeah, you know anything about Jack’s deal with Strafford, Inc. or dealings with Ike Nelson?” Cedric asked.
Ryan seemed not to hear him. Instead he smiled warmly at Willa. “Let me talk to him. We’ve developed a rapport. And Anthony obviously feels more comfortable keeping this in the family.”
“I’m hoping for any help at this point. He’s in his room.”
“You just relax. I’ll talk to him.” Ryan gave Willa’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He brushed past Cedric without looking at him.
“Elitist chump,” Cedric mumbled once Ryan disappeared around a corner.
“Don’t be a hater, Cedric. Ryan obviously has realized that the Crown family should be more sensitive. I give him credit for being a support to Anthony.” MiMi lifted her nose in the air.
“You snobs stick together,” Cedric tossed back. While MiMi fumed he turned to Willa. “You think it was a good idea to tell him about the account? I don’t trust the guy.”
“I’m desperate for answers right about now. Jack and Ryan fought, but they did spend time together. Maybe he’ll tell me something useful.” Willa glanced down the hallway. “But just in case, we need to do some digging. See if that money is connected to Strafford, Inc.”
Cedric nodded “Okay. What about Jazz? I can track her down and use my contacts in Houston to— ”
“No,” Willa said. “Houston is enough of a lead. My brothers can take it from there.” Willa frowned at the space where Ryan had stood moments before.
“Okay. No problem.” Cedric jammed his hands into his pants pockets.
“I appreciate your help, Cedric. Really I do. But I shouldn’t have pulled you into my family mess.” Willa tried to put an apology in her tone.
The deep furrows in Cedric’s forehead stayed put despite his words. “I don’t mind. In case you’re wondering I have software on my computer that wipes clean stored keystrokes. So I don’t have your sister’s personal info. I’d better get back to the office.
Goodbye.”
“Thanks.” Willa said.
She watched him walk out the door thinking she’d done something wrong. She could tell he wanted to help more, but Willa just couldn’t be so sure of his motives. Or how much she was willing to open her heart to a man right now.
“That man has a serious love jones for you, girl. I was suspicious, but now I don’t know. He seems sincere.” MiMi walked to the window and studied Cedric as he prepared to leave. When he glanced back at the house before getting into his car, MiMi nudged Willa with an elbow. “Look at the sad puppy dog face. Oh yeah, he wants you.”
“Oh please.” Willa made sure the door was locked then went to the kitchen with MiMi following.
“What?” MiMi sat down at the breakfast table.
“I won’t bother cause it would be wasted on you.” Willa sat down at the kitchen table.
“Denial is your fave coping mechanism. Back to our brother-in-law. Something is up with Ryan.” MiMi switched gears. “Funny how he shows up just at this moment.”
“MiMi— ” Willa broke off when she heard voices coming down the hallway. “We’ll talk about it in a minute.”
Ryan came into the kitchen. “Anthony’s okay, and I don’t think he knows much more than he told you. You have any indication that Jack was moving around large amounts of cash?”
“Why would you ask that?” MiMi jumped in before Willa could respond.
Ryan looked startled for a minute. “Jack put money in an account under a minor’s name. People do that when they’re hiding assets.”
“Hmm, sounds like you know all about that kind of thing,” MiMi said with a raised eyebrow. “Anyway maybe Jack just wanted Anthony to have his college fund early,” MiMi replied.
Ryan glanced at MiMi only briefly before answering. “I seriously doubt that’s why he opened that account. Willa, I have business and banking contacts all over. Give me a list of clients Jack dealt with in say the last six months before he died. Maybe all this is connected to one of them.”
“Try Strafford, Inc.” Willa tried to go on, but MiMi made wild hand gestures behind Ryan’s back. When he started to turn around MiMi stopped gesturing and smiled at him.
“Strafford, Inc., huh?” Ryan nodded slowly.
“Yes, I believe you’re familiar with the company and Ike Nelson,” MiMi put in.
Ryan ignored her. Instead he gazed at Willa intently as though trying to detect some sign. “I’ll check it out. Now this may sound crazy but Jack went to the Caribbean several times. Have you found any account information? If he was hiding money here, Jack might have put money in an island bank.”
“I’ll look through his papers and files again,” Willa replied and wondered how Ryan knew about Jack’s Caribbean trips.
“Right, right. I’ll be in touch.” Ryan turned to leave.
“I thought you were going to hang out with Anthony,” MiMi said.
“Obviously this isn’t the best time. I’ll call you soon, Willa.” Ryan gave her brief smile then left using the back door.
“Ryan is coming around here for more than quality family time.” MiMi strode to the kitchen door and locked it once Ryan was gone. “He brings up Jack’s trips, then asks about offshore accounts.”
“Yeah. Something ain’t right.” Willa stood. “I’m through with this crap about a man being able to talk to Anthony.”
“Lord, being a single mother is rough enough, but trying to deal with a half-grown male child? I hope I have a girl.”
“Just ask Mama Ruby about trying to deal with me and Jazz as teenagers. Trust me, having a girl won’t give you a free pass from big trouble,” Willa tossed back over her shoulder.
“I’m going to take control the minute she arrives on this earth, baby,” MiMi said.
Willa just grunted at her assertion. MiMi was silly enough to think she could control her kid. She’d learn. Then Willa decided it was time to turn her attention to Anthony. She walked down the hall. With only one sharp rap on his bedroom door Willa went in. Anthony was sitting on the edge of his bed. Both hands hung between his knees. He looked up at Willa after few a seconds. His cocoa eyes filled with unshed tears. Willa felt her heart skip, but then she put steel into her back and marched up to him.
“I want to know what is going on. No vague explanations. I’ve had it. You may be a couple of inches taller than me but I will whip your butt this day if you lie to me. Talk.” Willa crossed her arms.
Anthony wiped his eyes with the back of one hand. “Do they think Jazz killed that dude?”
“I said talk, not ask,” Willa replied firmly.
He let out a noisy breath. “Okay. I told Mr. Ryan the truth. I don’t know where the money came from. Dad said it was from his business. He put it under my name so we could do some deals together.”
Willa sat down on an ottoman that matched a chair in his bedroom. “What kind of deals?”
“You know, security jobs. I’m taking computer classes already, and I’m pretty good at it. A lot of private security work involves computer these days. Dad said we would be partners one day.”
“Start from the beginning on how this whole account idea came about.” Willa leaned forward.
“One day Dad came to school and picked me up before I got on the bus. We went to Smoothie King, you know, and just hung out. Then he told me about a business proposition. This big company was paying him a lot to help them find safe ways to transport their products.”
“Transport their products,” Willa echoed. A sick feeling grabbed hold of her stomach.
Anthony shook his head hard. “I know what you’re thinking, but it wasn’t drugs or anything illegal like that. This is legit biz. Jack wasn’t into those kinds of games. You know him. Sure he liked being slick, but risk getting locked up? Oh hell no.”
“Watch your language,” Willa said on autopilot as she considered his argument.
“Yes, ma’am. But you know what I mean. Jack told me how it was when his dad went to prison. He never forgot how bad things were for his family.”
Willa nodded. Jack had always spoken with bitterness about his father’s jail time. The elder Crown had been convicted of malfeasance in office and mail fraud. He’d used his high-level job in state government to get kickbacks on contracts. Jack had never proclaimed his father’s innocence though. Instead he’d spoken with anger about the double standard applied by the justice system. Mr. Crown had served almost two years in a federal prison back in the early eighties. He’d never been the same since. Neither had Jack.
“Anthony, I don’t blame you. But you gotta see that this looks like Jack was hiding money. He took trips to Grand Cayman, a place where lots of folks who are up to no good stash money.” Willa looked at Anthony. “You’re old enough to hear some straight talk.”
“I know it looks bad. But I think it went down like this-- Jack got in on some sorta business deal. He never gave me all the ins and outs. I guess he was protecting me. Anyway, I think he was planning to walk the line on something a little shady, find a loophole to avoid paying taxes. Some companies register in foreign countries to do that, right?”
“Yeah, but I’m wondering how you know so much about shady business deals, hiding money overseas and playing close to the edge.” Willa placed a hand on one hip.
“Jack had this obsession about beating the system at their own game. He always said that anybody who thinks justice is blind is just plain dumb.”
“Sure, and to hear him tell it his daddy was a saint,” Willa retorted.
“No, mama, it wasn’t right the way that went down.” Anthony waved a hand. “His dad was the scapegoat ‘cause he was a successful black man.”
“Let me school you for a minute. A player is a player no matter what kind of social pedigree he has. If his daddy hadn’t been dealing in dirt he wouldn’t have gotten convicted. People who dance on the edge end up going down.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Anthony pressed his lips together.
“You better listen to what I’
m saying, son. Why is the prison population about eighty-percent black men? The system doesn’t care about history or the plight of the Black man. You do the crime you are going to do the time.” Willa stabbed a forefinger at him. “Your best option is to not give them any excuse to get their hands on you.”
Anthony raked his fingers through his thick tight curls like soft wool. “I hear what you’re saying, Mama, but— ”
“Don’t give me ‘but’, Anthony. I’ve been at the mercy of judges, lawyers and social workers who decided about my life. I can’t rescue you for the rest of your life. You’ve got to make the right choices.”
Anthony stood to face her. “I get it. Really.”
“Then be straight with me. Is Jazz and her boyfriend part of the mix?”
“Jack and some other guys hung out at Candy Girls a lot, used to have business meetings there. I know because he caught me there one time, gave me hell. Pardon the expression.”
Willa waved a hand dismissing his lapse. “Ike Nelson, too?”
“Yeah, him and Felipe with his crew. I don’t know what they talked about and Jack never told me. I just wish Jack hadn’t gotten jammed up with those guys.” Anthony let out a heavy long breath, sat down and covered his face with both hands.
Willa heard the anguish in his voice. She sat next to him. “We’ll find out the truth. Between Cedric, your lawyer and I we’ll make sure you don’t get jammed up. You hear me?”
Anthony sat straight and lowered his hands putting on a brave face. At least he tried to. Willa saw the fear in his dark eyes. She wrapped an arm around him and pulled Anthony close. Now all she had to do was live up to her big words.
“I’m gonna work on my science paper,” Anthony said finally.
Willa brushed back a tear. Then she smiled at him. “That’s my boy. Don’t let this stuff worry you.”
“Mr. Ryan has been real nice, too. He says I should think of him as my uncle. I used to think he didn’t like me at all.” Anthony pulled out his books. “We’re gonna be hanging out more. Funny how people change.”