by Gregg Burton
“Just as long as we understand each other,” I said, looking at the driver through his rearview mirror.
“Damn,” said Malik. “I love a strong black woman. Did they teach you that in NYU?”
“No, smart ass. I learned that at home, from the school of M.O.M.”
I poked him in the ribs with my elbow and cracked a flirty smile.
Chapter 10
We drove over two bridges to get to Shi, an upscale Chinese and sushi joint in Long Island City.
The place gave you a great view of New York City and had a gentle atmosphere. The lights stayed dimmed there, and everyone minded their own business.
The rude driver made thirty dollars taking us and got lucky because as soon we were exiting his cab, someone else jumped right in.
As we stepped inside the restaurant, a hostess with a full-blown Afro, a small, pointed nose, and a long chin greeted us. Like most places in New York, she had on the standard wardrobe, which was all black.
“Reservations?” she asked.
I replied, “No. Will that be a problem?”
“No, not a problem at all. I counted five, correct?”
“Yes, you are,” I said. “But, if you don’t mind, we would love to sit in the lounge area.”
“Certainly. Would you like coat check?”
I spoke for everybody. “No, thank you. If you could please send a waiter over to our area - that would be great.”
We were seated toward the front, which allowed us to see who came in and out of the place while we remained unseen.
After ordering our drinks, I got down to business.
“Tell them everything you told me at Leblac’s place,” I said to Big Mike.
Simon interrupted. “Leblac owns that place, too?”
We had only been in our seats for five minutes, and Simon was already sitting uncomfortably on the edge of chair. He finger-combed his hair and started mumbling under his breath before directing his attention towards me, “Linda, how did you know it was his place?”
“Because Mike told me while you were busy losing all your money. That’s how I knew. Anymore questions, Sherlock Holmes, or can Mike talk now?”
Satisfied with my explanation, Simon eased back into his seat. “My bad, Mike,” he said. “What were you about to say?”
Big Mike began telling his story. “I used to be a great fighter back in the day. My trainer, Santo, told me that one day I would be champion of the world. I believed him, too. Santo taught me everything I know about boxing…everything except controlling the beast inside of me. So, when I used to get in the ring to fight, I would lose control. I tried to control myself, but something inside of me would just click. I would beat my opponents until they couldn’t move. I even put one man in a coma and left another eating through a straw for the rest of his life. The boxing commission didn’t think too highly of my results, and...
“They suspended you for a year?” asked Simon, while holding up his iPhone. “And, when you got back in the ring, you broke a man’s collarbone. That’s when they banned you for life. How am I doing so far?” He smiled. “I Googled you. So, since we got all of the boring stuff out the way, can you please tell us your plan, Linda? If it involves me getting back at that bastard Leblac, I’m in.”
“Stop being rude, Simon,” I said. “You didn’t even let Mike tell us his problem.”
“It’s my brother,” Mike spoke up. “I need to get back to South Carolina to take care of my brother. My mom just passed away, and now there’s nobody there to take care of him. I mean, sure, I have my father, but he doesn’t give a damn about us. I need to get home. But, Leblac will not let me out of my contract, unless I come up with the hundred and fifty thousand he would make off of me in the next three fights. He says I owe him that.”
Malik whistled at that amount. “That’s a lot of bread, man.”
I shook my head in disbelief and inquired, “Well, how much do you have saved?”
“Nothing. Whatever money I did have saved up, I spent it on my mom’s funeral.”
“Why don’t you bring your brother up here? Or why don’t you go back home and just say forget Leblac?” Malik asked.
Big Mike’s eyes sadden. “My brother has stage three cancer. I don’t see how bringing him here would do any good. And Just up and leaving Leblac…Well, that’s not good for my health. You guys really don’t know who this man is, do you? I would be dead before I crossed the New York state line.”
Simon was curious. “So he’s some kind of gangster or something?”
“Or something,” Big Mike replied. “He owns one of the largest construction companies on the east coast, and you don’t get that successful by playing nice. I’ve heard stories about his enemies ending up as part of his buildings’ foundations. I don’t want to become cement mix. So, either I come up with the money, or I stay and leave my brother helpless.”
I patted Big Mike softly on the back. “Look, I think there is a way out of this for you.” I turned to Simon and Malik. “Look, guys, maybe it’s time for you to leave. I don’t want to mix you up in any trouble.”
“What do we get if we stay?” Simon asked.
“It depends on how much money you bet on the fight.”
“I don’t get it. What are you talking about, Linda? What fight?” asked Malik.
I sat on the edge of my seat and lowered my voice. “The plan is simple. The next fight Mike has––”
“I get it,” said Simon in an excited whisper, cutting me off. “He’s going to take a dive. Now that he beat Manuel, the odds are in his favor. My guess would be three or four-to-one, depending on who his next opponent would be.”
“That’s actually pretty good, Simon,” I said. “And since he basically beat the brakes off of Manuel, I think if we can convince Leblac and Daniels to let them fight again. Everybody will bet on Mike except us, and we will make a killing.”
Malik looked puzzled. “Linda, how do you plan on doing all of this? What makes you think Leblac is going to let Mike fight Manuel again?”
I guess everybody was wondering the same thing, because all eyes turned on me and awaited my answer. I closed my eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and quickly went over everything in my mind. Then, I reached in my pocket and pulled out Mr. Daniels business card.
“With this,” I said with a smirk.
“A card?” Malik asked. “What are you going to do with that?”
“Look,” I said, “Daniels passed me his card when Mike busted through the door and confronted Leblac. He wants me to call him. Now, I’m betting he would love to take Leblac’s money. All I--or shall I say we--have to do is convince him that the fight is worth setting up, and that he will make a killing off of it.”
Big Mike voiced his concern. “But, what if he decides to let Leblac know what you have planned? If that happens, all of us will be cement mix.”
“Did you see the look in his eyes when Leblac took his and Simon’s money? Trust me, Daniels will go along with it. Simon, what do you think?”
“I don’t know if I want Daniels to be a part of this. I say we take both of the fuckers.”
Malik threw up his hands. “Now she has you talking crazy. Okay, where are we supposed to get the money to pull this off, huh, Simon? Think about it. Daniels won’t put his boy in the ring just to get his ass beat again. He clearly knows that Manuel is no match for Mike.”
Simon agreed. “Maybe you’re right, but I don’t want him to finance this. I want to be the one who looks in Leblac’s eyes and sees defeat after I take all his money.”
“But where will we get the money?” Big Mike asked. “I already told you that I’m broke. You guys are just college kids. Let’s just forget about the whole thing before somebody gets––”
“I’ve got the money. Well, I can get the money.” Simon leaned toward the edge of his seat again. “I can get the money. Linda, see what you can do to set up the fight.”
Malik tugged at Simon’s shirt. “Man, I have a bad
feeling about this. I’m starting to feel bad that I took you to the fight in the first place. I don’t think you know what you’re getting into. For one, if this thing backfires, the best scenario is that you would be out of your money. The worst case could mean your life. I don’t know about you, but I value my life.”
Simon patted Malik’s shoulder. “Thanks for the concern, my friend, but I’m doing this, man. If this is too much for you, I get it. Trust me, I do. So, you could leave right now and there will be no hard feelings. But, I think you could make a lot of money if you stay. Right, Linda?”
“Yes, we all can. Do you really have that kind of money to pull this off?”
“Don’t worry about the money. What we need you to do is find a way to convince those two to let Mike and Manuel fight again.”
“It would be a lot easier if I had to convince Daniels to sponsor this event, but just to get him to put his boy back in the ring for another beat down? Now, that’s going to be challenging.”
Malik snapped his fingers. “Guys, I’ve got it! We tell Daniels the truth. We tell him that we got Mike to throw the fight, and all he has to do is put his money on his man. He doesn’t have to know that we’re making our own bet. Get it?”
Big Mike shook his head. “I don’t know about that one. Something tells me he would know. He’d know the only way you could get me to take a dive is if we bet on the fight for me to lose.”
“That’s why it will work,” I said. “Daniels has to know that you’re unhappy with Leblac. He’ll think you are throwing the fight just to get under Leblac’s skin. Trust me, it will work.”
Simon protested again. “Listen, if you guys want me in on this, I say we don’t tell Daniels shit. If he’s smart, he’ll figure it out. You just have to find another way to convince him, Linda.”
“Simon, where are you going to get that kind of money? Even if we split it three ways, it will cost us at least fifteen thousand a piece, and I don’t have that kind of money just lying around.”
“Just see what you can do about setting up the fight.”
I looked at my Minnie Mouse watch and gave a light yawn.
“Guys, it’s getting late. Let’s get together tomorrow and try to work out all the details.” I raised my hand for the waiter. “Let me pay for the drinks.”
“No, I got this,” Big Mike offered. “I will meet you guys outside.”
“Are you sure, Mike? It’s no big deal.”
“Yeah, yeah, I got this.”
When we walked outside, we got lucky. There were two taxicabs parked curbside. Malik did a light jog to the first one before somebody else could get to it. He tapped on the car window to get the driver’s attention.
Malik yelled over his shoulder, “Simon, you take this one! Where are you going?”
“The Bryant Park Hotel.”
Simon and I caught up to the cab as Malik reached his hand in his pocket.
“Here,” said Malik. “I know you lost all your money tonight. Just hit me back tomorrow.” Malik slid a couple loose bills into Simon’s hand.
“Thanks, man. I will definitely pay you back tomorrow.”
They shook hands. Then Simon turned to give me a hug.
After releasing me, he asked, “Do you want to ride back with me?”
“No, that’s okay. I’ll just take the next taxi. I will give you a call tomorrow morning. Is that okay?”
“Of course, it is. Are you sure you don’t want to go with me?”
Malik spoke up. “I’ll make sure she gets home okay.”
I smiled a guilty smile, having a quick thought. That was until the cab driver blew his horn, causing all of us to jump a little.
“Let’s go!” he said with a deep foreign accent.
I bent over and yelled at the impatient driver, “Just wait a minute! He’s coming!”
The cabbie winked at me as I straighten up to give Simon another hug goodbye. By then, Big Mike had made it outside and was shaking Malik's and Simon’s hands.
“Where are you heading?” Simon asked Big Mike.
“Brooklyn, but I think I’m going to take the train. Look, here’s my number. Call me tomorrow when you guys want to meet up. Okay?”
We all nodded our heads.
Big Mike handed me his number and asked, “Are you sure we can do this?”
I smiled. “We’re going to get you to your brother, Mike.”
“Thanks. You don’t know what this means to me. He’s all I got.” Big Mike choked up a little, turned, and started walking his large frame to the train station.
I turned to Simon and Malik. “Guys, we have to do this for him. Look at him. Are you sure both of you are in?”
“No offense to Mike,” Simon said, “but if it means taking Leblac off his high horse, I’m in.”
Simon and I looked over at Malik, who dryly said, “Yeah, sure, why not? I told my mom I loved her before I left Texas. I guess I could commit suicide.”
Simon laughed. “Stop whining, Martin. This will be fun.”
“Yeah,” I said, “stop whining.”
“Look, I’m not whining. I’m being realistic. You guys don’t know what a man like Leblac is capable of. All I’m saying is that if we do this, it needs to be planned out right. If he figures out we’re playing him, we’re dead.”
Simon put his hand on Martin’s shoulder. “Look, man, I’ve known men like Leblac my whole life, and I’m not afraid of him. All you have to do is look past that hard exterior, and I promise you will find a weak and fragile man inside. Trust me, we––”
The cab driver blew his horn again. We all shrugged, aware that we were wearing the cab driver’s patience thin. We said our goodbyes one last time, and Simon jumped into the cab. Malik and I watched the Haitian flag dance from the rear-view mirror as the cab pulled off.
Malik raised his hand so that the other taxi could move forward for us to get in. After opening the door for me, he stepped in right behind me. Neither of us spoke until we crossed the Pulaski Bridge. We were too busy returning text messages from the people in our personal lives. At the moment, I only had one person who was texting me. Since I had no friends, Jessica became my friend by default. Malik finished texting and slid his phone in his pocket.
“You did a great job today, Linda.”
I was just finishing my text. “You think so? I was afraid that I was messing things up.”
“No. To be honest, I was really surprised at how you took over things. I think you even sweetened the deal by flirting with Simon.”
“What? I was not flirting with that man. I was just playing my part. But, since you’re talking, I did see you get jealous a couple of times. Every time I was close to Simon, you tried to come in between us.”
“You’re crazy. Why would I be jealous over you? You’re not even my type.”
“What, you don’t like a girl with a brain?”
“The brain I can deal with. The overconfidence I could do without. I said you did a good job today, but you weren’t great. So, please, don’t let your head swell.”
I was trying to keep my cool. How dare he say I was overconfident? I just played my part. Ace did say I was a natural at this. Ace probably never told him that before, and that’s probably why he was so upset. He shouldn’t be mad at me. He should be mad at his damn self.
When his phone vibrated, Malik pulled it out of his pocket, read the message, and smiled before putting the phone away again.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was a text from Sean, the taxi driver. He says that he just dropped Simon off. He’s going to stay outside the hotel for a while to see if Simon leaves again.”
“That was the same cabbie who took us to Queens, right? That’s why he winked at me.”
“Yeah, Sean is part of the crew. Ace and Sean have been tight for years. From what I understand, they’ve been doing jobs together for over twenty years... Linda, I’m sorry for getting an attitude with you. I guess I’m just a little nervous. I really
want everything to work out. Ace is basically letting us run free with this con, and I don’t want to mess it up.
“Martin…damn it, I mean, Malik, you’re doing fine. Hell, there were a couple of times I was wondering if we were still in the con or if it was for real. When the police busted the fight, I knew for sure it was the real thing.”
“I loved that part. It gets the mark every time.”
“It got me, too! I thought we were going to jail for real.”
Malik faced me and lightly finger-brushed my hair. “I swear I will never let anything happen to you.”