by Nene Capri
They stood in the parking lot of KoKo’s office, air thick with tension and a crisp chill from the winter breeze. Chucky looked at him with eyes black and cold like the night. “The only thing I want separate from my sister is my body count and you just made the list.” Chucky pulled his gun and shot Feliciano right between the eyes. His crew began scrambling for their guns, but they were too slow. There were more guns on them than they could count. “We don’t leave no witnesses!” Chucky spat.
One of the guys looked like he’d just shit in his pants. He raised his hands up in surrender and was talking fast. “I’m just an escort. This is my first time. I don’t want to die.”
“You shoulda called in sick,” Chucky said, putting one between his eyes, and repeated the process on the other three guys with them. They pulled the van up and threw the four bodies inside and drove off. Chucky gave the orders and headed upstairs to deliver the verdict.
When he got upstairs, KoKo was in a heavy conversation with Night. KoKo and Night looked up as he entered.
“They ain’t going to be able to pass that message on, but when they don’t show up he’ll get the point.”
KoKo nodded.
Chucky took a seat and lit up as KoKo and Night wrapped up their conversation.
Then she gave the next instructions. “Have the bodies dumped on the Russian’s territory. Tighten up all our spots. Put everyone on point. Close this spot down. We done here. I have to secure some shit for a couple days. Until then, Night is in charge. You’re second in command, Chucky. Don’t let shit miss his ear.”
“You already know,” Chucky responded.
“Don’t take this as an open opportunity to fuck my secretary while I’m gone either,” KoKo joked.
Chucky laughed. “I got you. You know we about to go to war, right?”
“We ain’t never stopped being at war. We just changing the battlefield.” She got up and walked to the door.
Night and Chucky followed suit. They needed to strap up tight for the fall out.
*****
Over the next couple of weeks shit was tight. The Russians and the Italians went to war. KoKo made the proper arrangements for her crew to be out of sight. With all the side deals she had cut, she was able to still earn while everyone else was feeling the fall out. When the smoke cleared, the Russians and the Italians had crippled each others’ camps, forcing them into hiding, and leaving KoKo the only one standing for the Columbians to do business with.
Revelations…
KoKo felt worn out from flying back and forth, handling her business and spending all her free time with Quran. She lay comfortably in her bed when Boa barged into her room.
“I need you to take a ride with me real quick,” Boa stated firmly as he entered the room.
KoKo lifted her head from the pillow, “Boa, I’m tired. I don’t feel like taking a ride.”
“I know, but this is important. Just come on.” He gave her a serious look that let her know that whatever it was had to be important.
I should put his ass out, she thought. But something in his eyes told her she needed to go with him. “Let me make a few calls, then I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll be downstairs,” he responded and left the apartment.
*****
When they pulled up into the estate, KoKo’s brows lowered as she glanced around. “Hello, Sir. Who are you here to see?” the guard asked Boa.
“Latreece Simmons,” he responded as he handed the man his driver’s license.
The guard took his identification and walked into the booth. He checked Boa’s credentials and then returned with two visitor’s passes. “Have a good day,” the man said and raised the arm to the security barrier.
As they approached the parking area, KoKo’s curiosity rose off the meter. “What is this about?” she asked as he put the car in park.
“Don’t worry. It will all be clear in a minute.” He got out the car. Walking over to KoKo’s side, he opened the door. “Come on,” he said, reaching for her hand. KoKo now had an apparent attitude.
“I know you didn’t drive me three hours to see your bitch.”
“Chill out and come on.”
When they got inside, Boa checked in at the front desk and asked to see Latreece.
The nurse looked at him with hungry eyes. She had been trying to get Boa to pay her some attention, but he had been so distracted his last couple of visits. “Is that your sister?” she asked in a sneaky tone.
“Do I look like his fuckin’ sister?” KoKo turned to the woman and met her face to face, wiping the smile completely off her mouth.
“I was ju—”
“You was just what?” KoKo growled. She could see the chill bumps rise up on the bitch’s skin. “I hate a punk bitch.”
“KoKo!” Boa called her in an attempt to calm her down.
“Don’t call my fucking name. You and this bitch is about to get it.”
“Nona, just chill. I got this,” he said to the nurse who then turned away.
“Can you chill the fuck out for a minute?”
KoKo leered at him with her nostrils fully flared as her frown line deepened. “I’ma give you a fucking minute and not a minute more.” KoKo walked over to the empty chair.
Boa was taking a hell of a chance bringing KoKo up there, but he was ready to show his hand and fuck the consequences. Boa turned and walked into Latreece’s room.
KoKo sat fuming, conflicted about everything surrounding the trip. A question arose in her mind, What the fuck is this nigga up to?
Fifteen minutes had passed, and KoKo was ready to kill something. Then her phone started vibrating. She grabbed it from her jacket pocket. “Hello,” she answered with frustration in her voice.
“Where you at?” Night asked.
“Why?” She got up and walked into the big room with all the couches and stood by the window looking at the grounds.
“We have that meeting at 9:30.”
“I’ll be back by then.”
“You a’ight?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Everything cool on that end?”
“For now.”
“See you at 9:30,” she said, ready to hang up.
“KoK?”
“What’s up?” She brought the phone back to her ear.
“You seen that nigga Boa?”
“Nah. But when you see him tell him to hit me up.” She quickly threw shade on the situation, knowing Night was searching for information. He was no closer to getting it than a Muslim getting some nun pussy. She swiftly disconnected the call before he could ask anything else. KoKo tucked the phone back down in her pocket, folded her arms, and continued to enjoy the view. She took a deep breath and decided she was about to bring this little visit to an end. When she turned, a woman was standing right behind her. She looked into the woman’s eyes and they were an exact match to hers.
The woman glanced at KoKo and then down at the medallion on her chain. She smiled as she reached out and touched it. KoKo’s breathing picked up as she looked over all the woman’s features. She wanted to speak, but she couldn’t.
“Shhh . . .come here,” the woman whispered as she took KoKo by the hand and pulled her out of the sight of the nurse at the front desk. KoKo moved behind the woman like a puppy on a leash. When they got to a side hallway, the woman kept looking around KoKo with fear in her eyes. “I have one too,” she whispered.
“One what?” KoKo found herself whispering right along with her.
“Shhhh . . .Don’t let them hear you.” She continued to look around. Then she reached in her shirt and pulled out an identical medallion from her bosom. The woman rubbed it as if it was her lifeline. “See. I have one.” A tear fell from her eye. “He loved me,” she said, nodding her head. “He loved me.”
KoKo stared at this woman as thoughts began to rush her mind. She wanted to move, but her feet were planted to the floor.
“I’ve been waiting for you.” She touched KoKo’s face.
KoKo’s hear
tbeat threatened to explode from her chest. She swallowed hard and then whispered, “What is your name?”
The woman paused and looked around again. “Keisha,” she responded.
Tears began to run down her face. “Mommy?” KoKo said.
The woman smiled. “You gotta get me outta here. He loved us,” she said as two orderlies approached.
“Mrs. Davis. What are you doing out here?” They gave KoKo a curious look. KoKo glanced up, wiping her eyes. “Is she bothering you, ma’am?” the orderly asked.
“No. She just thought I was somebody she knew,” KoKo replied. Keisha quickly tucked the chain into her shirt.”
“It’s time to get back to your room, Mrs. Davis.”
Keisha threw her arms around KoKo and hugged her tight. “Don’t leave me here,” Keisha whispered in KoKo’s ear.
“I’ll be back.” KoKo tried to comfort her.
“Promise?”
“On my life,” KoKo said as the men pulled the woman away.
Keisha looked into KoKo’s eyes as she was led away by the two men.
KoKo covered her face with her hands and wiped away her tears. She took a few deep breaths in an attempt to compose herself. As she started back toward the sitting area, she looked up and saw Boa.
“You all right?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m good,” KoKo said with a little crack in her voice.
“That’s why I brought you here.”
KoKo looked up at him. She didn’t know what to say or think. She rattled off her usual line of questions, but there were other questions a little more important. Like who put her mother there and why?
KoKo walked over to the desk and asked Nona, “Who was that nicely dressed female?” The woman looked at KoKo and then at Boa. He nodded, prompting her to reveal her hand.
“She is like royalty around here. From what I know she has been here almost twenty years.”
“Does anyone come visit her?”
“No.”
“Who pays for her care?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Don’t fuckin’ play with me. I’m that bitch you most definitely don’t want to play with.” KoKo leaned in, giving her that ‘bitch, try me’ look.
“Let me handle this,” Boa said, placing his hand on KoKo’s arm and pulling her back.
KoKo looked down at his hand, and then back up at him. “You wanna draw back a nub?”
“Let me handle this,” Boa asserted himself.
KoKo reluctantly turned and walked toward the door and stood with her arms folded. She tried to talk herself into a happy place. She wanted to pull out and put bullets in everything. But she knew if she acted up she would have mass murder on her hands and put her mother’s safety at risk. Boa went in his pocket, pulled out a gwap of money and slid it to Nona.
“Look, I need you to do this for me,” he told Nona.
“I could get into a lot of trouble,” she said.
“Please. For me.” He put his hands together.
“This shit can’t come back to me,” she pleaded.
“I got you. Just do this favor for me.” Boa flashed that sexy smile.
Within seconds, she was smiling back at him. Nona turned to the file cabinet and pulled Keisha’s file. She flipped through the pages and found the information and headed to the copy machine. After Nona copied a few pages, she placed them into an envelope and walked back to the cabinet and replaced the file. When she returned, she slipped Boa the envelope.
“Thanks, ma.”
Nona tucked the money in her uniform pocket and replied, “Anything for you.” Boa grabbed KoKo firmly by the hand and pulled her out the door and down the walkway.
Once outside, KoKo asked, “So you knew all along?”
Boa looked over at her as he began to filter what it was that he would reveal. “No. Not all along. A few weeks ago, Treece tried to kill herself and I brought her out here. I saw that the woman looked like you, so I stopped to talk to her and spotted her medallion. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how, with all that shit jumping off.”
“So you been all in my face hiding something like this from me?” She looked at him with disgust.
“Now you know. Here.” He passed her the envelope.
KoKo snatched the envelope and looked over the papers. It appeared to be just as she was told. Keisha had been there for almost twenty years, and they had her on a cocktail of medicine. KoKo searched the papers to see who was paying the bill. When she got to the last page she saw that a company by the name of Wells Inc. was paying in checks and had been doing so for over fifteen years. KoKo’s head was spinning. She needed to get to the bottom of who put all this shit together and then put together a plan to get her mother out of there.
Missing Pieces…
It took a few days but KoKo had tracked down the company in Ohio that was paying Keisha’s bill. She decided to pay the CEO a visit, determined to resolve all of the issues. When she got to the building, fury drove her every step. Boa’s confession, Monique’s revelations, and all the other shit plaguing her soul made KoKo ready to tear somebody a new asshole. She walked in the building, signed in, and got on the elevator. KoKo slid the receptionist a couple hundred dollars and in seconds was seated comfortably in his office and waiting.
“Have those files been sent to corporate?” Mr. Wells asked as he exited the elevator.
“Yes sir, Mr. Wells.”
The tall, handsome older gentleman closed the door and headed toward his desk while looking down into a black leather folder. He reached the other side of the desk and pulled out his chair and instantly bucked his eyes. KoKo was sitting in the corner of his office.
“Who let you in here?”
“I’m the one asking questions today,” KoKo said. As she sat staring at him, she realized he was the man in the picture shaking hands with the man with the scar.
Who is this beautiful young woman? Tyquan wondered. And why is she in my office? “I don’t know who you are, but I will tell you this—I’m the wrong man to fuck with.” He unbuttoned his jacket, still maintaining eye contact.
“What the fuck is that? A threat?” KoKo shot back.
Tyquan smiled, pulled out his chair, and sat down. “I’m not a man that needs to make threats.”
“Good. I’m not a bitch that takes threats lightly.”
“Look, I’m a very busy man. If you have something to say, say it.”
“Let me explain something to you. There are a lot of lives in the balance, and yours is one of them. I have a very important question to ask you, and if you don’t answer them to my satisfaction your wife is about to be a very rich widow.”
Tyquan smiled. “Is that right?”
“I don’t know how right it is, but it’s damn sure critical.”
The two sat in an intense stare down. “What does the name Kayson mean to you?” KoKo threw the question on the table.
The smile dropped from his face as well as a little color. “Why?”
“Answer the fucking question?” KoKo demanded.
“You think you know what’s going on? You don’t know shit.”
KoKo grabbed her nine and cocked it. “You don’t know who the fuck you dealing with,” she emphasized with intense venom. “I’ma bitch that ain’t got shit to lose. I strongly advise you start bumping your gums or bleeding out your ass. Either way I will get what I came for.” She sat forward with her gun pointing in his direction. Her hardened gaze told him that dismissing her was not an option. He reached forward and hit the intercom.
“Hold my calls,” he said this to alert security.
“Yes sir, Mr. Wells,” the voice came blaring back through the speaker.
Tyquan stroked his chin, contemplating what this determined woman wanted to hear and what part of his hand he should reveal.
KoKo sat patiently waiting, knowing what he knew and what he didn’t know. She waited to see what would slip from his tongue.
“I will say this. You’r
e a bold young lady,” he said in a calm voice. He reached for a mahogany cigar box and grabbed a cigar. He clipped its end and lit it up. KoKo kept silent. She had placed the ball in his court and wasn’t saying anything else until he did.
Tyquan blew on the lit end of the cigar to increase the fire as he decided to lay his first card on the table. “Kayson was my son. What does his name mean to you?”
“Who I am only becomes important to you after my next question.”
“Ask,” he firmly stated.
“What does the name Malik mean to you?” KoKo watched Tyquan’s brow fold as he took in a little air through his nose.
“Why?”
“Answer another question with a question and I’ma put something hot in that ass.”
“Are you KoKo or Star?”
“Who do you think I am?”
“Who you are is incumbent on your inheritance of this information.”
“I’m Mrs. Wells.”
Tyquan smiled. That information had changed everything. He stood up, and his quick movement brought KoKo to her feet. “It’s okay. There is no danger intended. I have been waiting for you.” Please sit back down.
“May I?” he asked as he reached toward his desk and hit a button that slid the wall open next to him.
“Walk lightly,” she warned. KoKo’s finger caressed the trigger, itching to release. She watched Tyquan carefully walk toward his safe. He manipulated the numbers and the safe popped open. He pulled a large white envelope from inside and then closed the safe and spun the dial. He walked back to the desk and hit the button and the wall closed. Tyquan took a deep breath and sat down.
“I’m not going to bullshit you.”
“Like you did my father?”
“Your father crossed me. Was it deserving of death? Hell yeah. He ran up in my woman. But business and money is much more important to me than pussy. So I didn’t kill him. I wish my son would have shared my same ideas and maybe he would be alive.”
KoKo squinted and shifted her jaw. “Maybe if you were slinging better dick he wouldn’t have been in your pussy.”
Tyquan cracked a sly smile. “My son had the right idea dealing with you. In a couple more years you just might be brilliant.”
“You don’t know shit about me.”