Chapter Thirty-Three
The chill caught Blaze by surprise, so as he exited the Candlelight Lounge, he quickly drew his peacoat in and began buttoning it up. He was feeling nice after throwing back a few shots of Johnny Walker Black. The expensive liquor had warmed his insides as he sat at the bar, but stepping foot outside made him think about going back in and purchasing some shots of brandy. He shook off the notion and headed for his brand-new Cadillac Deville parked on the side of the establishment. Normally, unless he was out working, he would be in the house cuddled up with a young tenderoni around this time of night. At 11:20 p.m., Blaze knew it was way past his curfew; however, since his newfound wealth, he had been hanging out more. This night as Blaze semi-staggered his way to the Cadillac, he thought to himself, You only live once. Along the way, he fumbled with his keys, trying to hit the button on the disarming device. Not hearing the familiar deactivating sound, he stared down at the little black box, then banged it in the palm of his hand. He tried the button again, to no avail, so he stuffed the keys in his right pocket of the peacoat.
“Cheap-ass shit,” he cursed to himself reaching the driver’s door. Blaze strained to focus on the number pad on the side of the caddy door.
“What the hell!” he cursed again, expecting to hear the car doors unlock. Frustrated, Blaze located the luxury car’s key and inserted it into the door. This is what I get for my money, he thought as he climbed into the Deville. He aggressively shoved the key into the ignition and turned it. Instead of the sound of his engine purring, he received silence. Blaze could not believe this was happening. Somebody is going to get cursed the fuck out and possibly the fire smacked out of them, he thought to himself, thinking about the thirty-five thousand cash he paid for the brand-new vehicle.
Knowing a little bit about cars, Blaze figured either a fuse had blown, or the battery wire had come loose. He was hoping for the battery because there was no way he could get a fuse this time of night, and he had no intention of leaving his whip in this particular area. Blaze reached under the steering column and popped the trunk. When he leaned back to reach for the door handle, he was met with a sharp object pressed up against his neck and a soft hand palming his forehead.
“Shit,” he cursed under his breath, not wanting to believe he had just been caught out there. He could feel the warmth of the person who’d caught him slipping breathe as the words, “I hope it was worth it,” rang in his right ear before the straight razor made a perfect incision from ear to ear. Heaven continued to hold a tight grip on Blaze’s head as blood squirted out of his neck. She could feel the life seeping out of him until there was no more left. There was no doubt in her mind that breaking into the car and detaching the battery would be all the leverage she needed to snatch the life from this fat bastard. Her only concern was that he would notice the small back window broken out on the passenger side, but the instant smell of alcohol she had caught whiff of when he entered the caddy convinced her that he was too intoxicated to realize it.
Heaven wiped the bloodstained razor on Blaze’s peacoat, then exited as she had entered the vehicle. With the exception of a few stray dogs and cats, no one was in sight as she cut through the bar’s path and walked calmly back to where she had parked the car. Although she was almost certain Blaze was not the one behind her partner’s murder, she was sure he was responsible for their home invasions. One down and one to go, she thought as she headed toward the highway.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Nearly six months had gone by since Heaven’s escape from death and the loss of her partner Earth. In the months that passed, she had managed to regain her connect, rebuilt her team, and build a new empire. The rumor mill on the streets had it that she had fallen off and couldn’t hold it down or reign with the iron fist she once so easily had without her muscle and sidekick Earth. Heaven immediately cleared all the rumors and straightened the facts with the help of Shell, Sonya, and their newest addition to the crew, Mia.
Mia was a younger version of Earth from temper to sexual preference combined. They took it to any and everybody, male or female, who attempted to see just how thorough they and their block really were. Within two months and six shootings later, everyone within the New Brunswick and surrounding areas knew that Heaven and her female crew were a force to be reckoned with.
Throughout the course of them being back in the game, Heaven’s trust for others was minimal. Everyone was a suspect as far as she was concerned, including her crew members. She had everyone under the microscope. Although she didn’t want to believe it, the first thirty days after she was released from the hospital, she watched and listened to Shell and Sonya’s every move and every word. After a while, it was apparent that they loved Earth just as much as she had. When Mia approached her about getting down, she even questioned her motives at first, although Heaven remembered Earth mentioning how she was going to put her down on the team and speaking about how gangster Mia was. Now, Heaven could see why Earth liked the twenty-one-year-old. Mia had expressed to Heaven how her reason for wanting to get down with her now was to help find the killers of her mentor and kill them. Heaven believed her motives to be genuine and embraced Mia, but they had gotten nowhere in that department. As much as the streets talked, there wasn’t so much as a whisper about the night Heaven and Earth were ambushed.
Her only reason for agreeing to go out with her crew tonight was in search of answers or clues, hoping something or someone would jog her memory. Bored about the way she had heard the event being promoted on the radio and with flyers, she knew that everybody who was somebody would be at Le Le’s birthday bash at the 40/40 Club in Atlantic City. Besides not seeing her since she’d been home and wanting to see her, Heaven wanted to see how people act and would react to seeing her. This would be the first time she had stepped out to an event since the incident, and she was looking forward to the evening. Heaven’s cell phone went off. She peered out the blinds and answered.
“I see you. Here I come.” She then hung up and made her way out the door.
“Hey, boss,” Mia greeted Heaven, hopping out of the back of the 4.6, opening the front passenger door for her.
Heaven just nodded. Shell and Sonya spoke in unison once she was inside the Range Rover, both trying to read her mood.
“You mind if we smoke on the way?” Sonya asked out of respect, knowing how Heaven felt about weed. Once upon a time, she had smoked herself, but after the incident with her and Earth, she had given it up.
“I don’t care.”
“We bought you some Rémy,” Shell followed up with raising a liter of Rémy Martin VSOP in the air.
“I’m good for now, y’all; just do y’all.”
With that being said, Sonya switched the CD to Max B, passed a blunt she had rolled up earlier to Shell, and headed to the parkway.
Heaven woke to the sounds of laughter. “You see that white bitch face, tho,” Sonya was still laughing.
“Yeah, I thought she was gonna ask for some the way she was staring at us,” Shell replied in laughter as well.
“I thought her white ass was going to report our asses until she smiled when she handed the change to Sonya,” joined Mia.
Judging by the strong smell of weed smoke, it was apparent to Heaven the extent of the conversation. She checked her watch, which read 11:30 p.m. She had been asleep for nearly an hour and a half. Ahead lay the Atlantic City casinos’ lights illuminating the darkness as they traveled down the Atlantic City Expressway. Promotional billboards protruded on both sides of the highway in attempts to attract and lure in new and seasoned gamblers. Heaven admired the beautiful sight ahead. The last time she had visited the area was a year ago when she and Earth had come down to wash some of the money they had made back home. They each had gone from casino to casino, cashing in $9,000 per table. Heaven blackjack, Earth craps, both careful not to exceed ten thousand knowing that anything over that amount must be reported by the casino. The two used to travel down to A.C. two, sometimes three times, a w
eek, to launder their drug money through the casinos, but this particular time stood out to Heaven.
It was a night to remember. Heaven and Earth had just left Caesar’s and made their way over to Bally’s which was another Harrah’s Casino. Heaven was ready to go back home after unexpectedly losing fifteen hundred of the nine grand she intended to wash on blackjack at the hundred-dollar limit table. Earth had lost four thousand out of the nine she had laid on the table in less than half an hour, but unlike Heaven, Earth was determined to win all, and then some, of their losses back. She did that night; Earth won $42,000 on the crap table betting on the numbers five, six, and eight and six and eight the hard way. They had been given complimentary rooms in the past due to the amount of money they placed at the tables, but that night, Earth was given a suite fully equipped with a Jacuzzi and ocean view, along with a complimentary dinner. They took full advantage of the comps and left the casino before the sun came up.
Heaven noticed the blinking lights of the 40/40 Club sign off to her left as they approached the traffic light. The line waiting to get in nearly reached the next corner. As if she had read her mind, Sonya spoke, “Don’t worry, we don’t have to wait. We VIPs under your name.”
Heaven nodded, but on the inside, she smiled. She was thankful to have the type of team she had. Nothing less than the best, she thought to herself. “Shell, pour me a drink,” she requested.
“Pour me another one too,” Sonya added.
“I’ma pour everybody one,” she replied. She handed Heaven the first one, followed by Sonya’s and Mia’s. She then held her own drink up in the air. “To the hardest muthafuckin’ chick I ever met in the game,” she toasted.
“To Earth,” Sonya and Mia both chimed.
“To Earth,” Heaven and Shell joined them.
Everyone threw their drinks back, then began exiting the SUV.
“Boss, you good?” Mia asked Heaven. This was actually her first time stepping out with her team since she had become one of them. She had hung out with Shell and Sonya on separate occasions but never together, and she had never been anywhere socially with Heaven.
Focused and overprotective would be the words to describe Mia tonight. Although she didn’t tell them, Mia knew Heaven’s reason for coming out tonight wasn’t to party, and neither was hers. She had already told herself and promised her cousin that she’d be Heaven’s shadow up in the club and anywhere else they traveled, for that matter.
“Yeah, I’m good. Don’t worry about me. Let’s go have a good time.”
Both men and women stared as Heaven led the four-woman pack to the front of the club. You could hear lips smacking, teeth sucking, and murmurs as they passed.
“Heavenly Jacobs, party of four,” she announced.
The Ving Rhames look-alike in the all-black suit scanned the guest list, and then Heaven and the others. Heaven could see in his eyes he was a hater and the words that came out of his mouth only confirmed it. “I need to see some ID, but he can’t get in like that, especially with no baseball cap.” The “he” he was referring to was Mia. Aside from the black Yankee fitted, Mia was dressed like any dude that would have been granted access to the establishment. She sported a green, black, and white Polo-collared shirt, black Red Monkey jeans, and black high-tops Prada shoes, not to mention the twenty grand in jewels she rocked in her ears, on her wrists, and around her neck.
There was no doubt in their minds that the hater knew Mia was a female. Before anyone had a chance to dispute his words, a short, petite Hispanic female came over.
“What’s the problem, Blue?”
“No problem. They’re on the list, but he’s not dressed right.”
“I’m not a he,” Mia spat, taking off her fitted.
“Relax,” Heaven ordered. “A friend of ours is celebrating her birthday. Other than the fitted, my peoples isn’t dressed any different than some on line,” Heaven directed to the Spanish female, without having to scan the line. The Hispanic female then slid in front of the man she referred to as Blue. “I got them,” she told him.
“Are you guys interested in buying bottles?” she asked. “I can set you up in your own area in VIP.”
“Yeah, give us four bottles of Rosé,” Mia was the first to bellow, pulling out a monstrous knot of cash. She noticed how all eyes were on them now and wanted it to be known that they were somebodies.
“You pay inside.”
Heaven turned and shot Mia a look. Mia quickly shoved her money back into her pocket. She knew Heaven disapproved of flossing.
“Thank you, Ingrid,” Heaven said reading the Spanish girl’s name tag. One by one, they flashed their IDs and made their way past the velvet rope.
“Yeah, thanks, Ingrid,” Mia followed up with, handing the girl her fitted along with a hundred-dollar bill. “Make sure nobody takes my fitted.” Mia noticed the rainbow bracelet Ingrid wore on her left wrist. The two made knowing eye contact before Mia entered the club.
When Heaven and her crew stepped in the building, they saw the 40/40 packed, wall to wall. The sounds of the club banger “Dancin’ On Me” by Ron Browz, featuring Jim Jones, had the body-infested club in a frizzy, the bar especially. Heaven noticed men and women climbing over the top of one another’s backs to place their orders at the bar. Drinks were being spilled by occasional bumps as partygoers fought their way through the crowd of drunken and wild dancers.
“This spot is bananas,” Shell managed to yell over Jim Jones’s part of the song.
Just then, the Hispanic hostess Ingrid appeared.
“Follow me,” she instructed.
One of the bouncers who saw Ingrid escorting the four-female crew parted a crowd of partygoers like the Red Sea and made a path for them that led to the steps of the upstairs VIP sections.
“Thanks, Beef,” she smiled.
“Anytime, beautiful,” he replied. “Ladies,” he then nodded to Heaven and the rest of the entourage.
Mia watched as Ingrid’s tight body sashayed up the steps, but her concentration was broken at the sound of Heaven’s name being called. Heaven turned toward her left and saw Sharif from her hometown holding his drink up in the air as an acknowledgment of her being in the building and showing respect. To her knowledge, Sharif was good peoples, so Heaven returned his greeting with a wave. Instinctively, she scanned the other faces surrounding him. None stood out she thought as she continued up the steps.
“Would you like to be set up in the back in the A-Rod room where your friend’s party is or somewhere out here?” Ingrid asked.
“We want to be back there,” stated Sonya, glancing over at Heaven for approval.
“No problem. I’ll have someone bring you out a table, and I’ll bring you your bottles. Would you like anything else?”
“A pitcher of orange juice,” Shell added.
“Okay, I’ll be right with you.”
As the Hispanic hostess faded into the crowd of people, Sonya led the way. As they approached the entrance of the VIP room, Heaven noticed the banner overhead. It read HAPPY BIRTHDAY LE LE. Burgundy and white balloons covered them. In front of the elegant room sat a pool table. Off to the right, there was a Ms. Pac-Man video game and a mini seafood bar. Familiar faces congregated in sections both standing and sitting while others danced and hovered around one of the many TV monitors protruding out of the walls. As they stepped in the crowded room, many heads nodded, even more faces smiled and grinned in Heaven’s and her entourage’s direction as all eyes focused on their presence. Shell and Sonya gave acknowledging waves while Mia disregarded them although she took in all the faces. She was sure she did not know any of the people and wanted to keep it that way. For all she knew, Earth’s killer was among the smiling faces. Heaven nodded blankly to those she knew and glanced at those she didn’t.
“Le Le’s over there,” Sonya announced.
When Heaven looked over to her right, she saw Le Le having the time of her life. A light-skinned brother was holding a flute of champagne up to her mouth as sh
e sipped on the glass. Heaven assumed it was Monty, Le Le’s boyfriend, based on how happy she seemed. She deserved it, thought Heaven as she noticed birthday gifts stacked up in the corner of the area they had on lock. From what Heaven was told, Monty had come home and catapulted in the game during her recovery while in the hospital.
It was apparent to Heaven that he had no problem advertising his new wealth. He sported an expensive-looking maroon blazer with a black button-down collared shirt. Each earlobe was draped with sparkling carats, and a diamond necklace dangled from around his neck. As he fed Le Le the bubbly, Heaven could see an iced-out three-D pinky ring and a monstrous diamond bracelet dripping from his wrist. She noticed him adjusting his medallion after leaning over giving Le Le a kiss and hug. From where she stood, the medallion seemed to be a king’s crown full of stones.
Even Le Le had an expensive look to her, not the tomboyish look she was used to seeing in her friend. From her ears to her wrists, her accessories were more than the average earrings, necklace, and bracelet sets one acquired from New York’s Broadway Avenue costume jewelry spots. Heaven could spot the real a mile away, and Le Le was covered in it. Even what Heaven thought to be Monty’s team was flooded with the latest fashion and jewels. She counted eight of them in total, each separated by a model-type female up under them ranging from the flavors of chocolate, caramel, and vanilla. In front of them stood more than nine buckets of ice containing two bottles of Rosé each. On the side of the buckets were bottles of Grand Cru and Grey Goose with cranberry, orange juice, Coke, and ginger ale as chasers.
Heaven and Earth Page 14