Family Business

by Vanessa Miller

  “Don’t get your nose out of joint. Al isn’t going to make the trip, so I have an extra ticket.”

  “But I thought he was so excited about seeing this fight. Especially since he thinks it’s going to be Ali’s last fight?”

  Don shrugged, “Changed his mind, I guess.”

  Sticking his hand out, Demetrius said, “Give me the ticket. Angel would love to go to this fight.”

  “Boy, you done lost your mind if you think I’m giving you this ticket so you can treat that girl to a Bahamas vacation. Vivian is the girl for you. Why don’t you call her up and see if she wants go?”

  “Vivian threw a shoe at my head.”

  “Vivian is cool people. Me and her daddy go way back. That girl will make you a good wife. That’s why I’ve been pushing you towards Vivian for years. But what did you do... you go and pull that little stripper out of an alley and try to make her a house wife.

  Demetrius’ body trembled from the rage he felt inside. How dare Don act as if Angel wasn’t good enough for them. “What has Angel done that makes you dislike her so much? Okay, she was a stripper... but you used to be a pimp. How can you judge her?”

  Smirking, Don said, “Being a stripper makes her my kind of people. It’s something about her that I don’t trust. She don’t know her place.” Don shook his head as his lip twisted in disgust. “I can’t trust her to be down when you might need her to be, so I don’t want her anywhere near me.”

  “You think she’s not down just because she wouldn’t turn a trick for Frankie Day?” Demetrius’ nostrils were flaring. He was so angry he could hardly see straight. “Every woman on these streets isn’t like Ma...” Demetrius clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t say the words out loud. He wouldn’t discuss what his mother had been, not to the man who had done it to her in the first place. Demetrius was done talking.

  Demetrius went to his car, took his ticket for the Ali fight out of his glove compartment and then stormed back into his father’s office. He threw the ticket on his desk. “You can have my ticket, because I’m not interested in being down for Don Shepherd either. So, I guess that makes me a liability too, huh?”

  Don took the ticket in his hand, he studied his son as he asked, “Does this mean that you don’t want to get paid either?”

  “I earned my paper. I got up early and stayed out on them streets late taking bets, so yeah, I want what’s mine. And don’t think you can just set a fire to get out of paying me.”

  Don’s hand hit the desk hard. “There aren’t too many men still living who can boast about talking to me the way you just did. Being in the family has its privileges, but don’t overstep yourself, son.” He opened his desk drawer and pulled out the extra ticket. “Here, bring whoever you want.”

  “I just told you that I don’t want to go.”

  Don stood up, leaning forward, “And I’m telling you that I don’t want you in town this weekend. You will be with me in the Bahamas, got it?”

  Demetrius didn’t reach for the tickets. He and his father just kept staring at each other as if in a contest to see who would break first.

  Don finally said, “It’s like this, Demetrius. I don’t want anyone to be able to get at you while I’m all the way in the Bahamas. We are going to have a ton of angry customers when this fight ends. I need to know that you’re safe.” He pushed the tickets toward his son.

  Demetrius took them this time, but he left without saying another word to his father. He just didn’t understand how Don Shepherd could judge anybody, when he had been a pimp, a loan shark, numbers runner and now they were getting into the dope game. Sure, his father had legitimate businesses like a car wash and a neighborhood drive-thru. But they were only fronts for the other illegal activity.

  Still steaming as he drove home, Demetrius wondered if his dad had said anything to Stan or Joe-Joe about the women they were bringing to the fight. But as he was thinking that over, another thought struck him... Al wasn’t going to the Bahamas.

  Al hadn’t gone to Chicago for the Frazier fight either. So, Al had been in town when Professor Green’s house had caught on fire. Demetrius didn’t want to believe it, but the more he thought about it, the more it all made sense.

  As he pulled into his driveway, Demetrius turned off the engine but didn’t get out of the car. He was too busy thinking... His dad had been angry when the fight ended with a draw, he’d even snapped at him. Demetrius had expected his father to still be in a bad mood when he’d come home from Chicago, because it would now be time to pay up. But Don had been jovial about the matter. When Demetrius and Al had shown up to collect their earnings, Don had told them that Stan and Joe-Joe were making the rounds paying the winners from the Frazier fight. He had even said, paying up quickly ensured that most of them would put money on the Ali fight.

  Paying a hundred dollars to the person who placed a ten dollar bet, was a whole lot easier than paying two hundred thou to the man who’d placed a twenty thousand dollar bet. But once that fire had been set, Don’s two hundred thousand dollar problem had been solved.

  Beating down a man who owed money and wasn’t trying to pay it back was one thing; but killing a man and his wife to get out of paying a debt, was way past wrong as far as Demetrius was concerned. This wasn’t the business he wanted to be in. All of his young life he’d dreamed of being a hitter. Demetrius could swing that bat like nobody’s business.

  But that was back in the day. Now he was a thug who beat up people and took bets for a living. If his mother could see him now, Demetrius knew one thing for sure, she would be heart broken. His father could talk all his a-woman-has-to-be-down-for-her-man stuff that he wanted, but the real truth was, his mother never wanted him to become anything like her husband.

  Demetrius hit the steering wheel with his fist, as he screamed out, “How could you get pregnant by a man like him? How could you leave me with him?” He wished his mother could have answered those questions, but that would never happen and he had one person to thank for that.

  “Hey, are you going to sit in that car all night or what?” Angel called out to him as she opened the front door.

  Demetrius glanced at his watch. He’d been sitting in his car for over an hour. Still trying to come to grips with the fact that his father was a cold blooded killer, just as Coach Johnson had said. But there was nothing he could do about his father, so he decided to go into the house and make Angel’s day. “I’m coming.”

  The moment he walked in, he showed her the tickets.

  Angel stepped back as she looked at them. Then she asked as sadness crept into her eyes, “You’re taking someone to the Ali fight?”

  “Oh yeah, I’m taking someone alright. And we are going to have a good time in the Bahamas.”

  Folding her arms across her chest, she asked, “Are your bags packed already, or am I supposed to do that?”

  Demetrius had been grinning as he twirled the tickets around. But he stopped as he looked into Angel’s eyes. He realized that Angel thought he would show her tickets to a fight even though he planned to take someone else. Frankie must have done a real number on her. He wished she’d never met that man, but Demetrius vowed right then and there to spend the rest of his life making up for what that low-life had done.

  “No, I don’t want you to pack my bags. You won’t have time. You need to get in your room and pack a bag for you and DeMarcus because we are going to the Bahamas together, baby.”

  “What!” she screamed as she started jumping around the room.

  “You heard me. The only thing I need to do now is get you a plane ticket because I think DeMarcus should be able to sit on your lap.”

  Without thinking, Angel jumped into Demetrius’ arms and kissed him. “I love you, Demetrius.” Her eyes got big as those words rolled out of her mouth. She stepped away from him and tried to clarify. “I... I mean, I love this. What we are about to do... the trip. Thank you.” She then scurried off to her room without looking back.

  Demetrius watched her
go, wanting desperately to pull her back and make her face the fact that what they were feeling was real and it was good and wasn’t nothing ever going to come between them. But he doubted that she would hear him.

  ~~~~

  Demetrius hadn’t been able to book Angel on the same flight he and his father were on because it was full. So, he cancelled his ticket and booked both of them on a flight scheduled to leave out three hours later. He’d also checked with the airline to verify that he didn’t need an extra ticket for DeMarcus. And they’d confirmed that since the child was under two years old, he could just sit in Angel’s lap.

  He and Angel spent the rest of the night talking about their upcoming trip. She was all smiles and totally jubilant, because she’d never dreamed that she would be able to go anywhere other than back home to North Carolina. And she told Demetrius just that.

  He asked, “You’ve mentioned going back home a few times. Is it really that important to you?”

  Angel nodded. “I don’t really care to see my father, butI owe my mom a serious apology. I blamed her for the break-up and wouldn’t listen to reason. I became a rebellious child and really let her down. Now I have a son and she doesn’t even know anything about him.”

  Demetrius wasn’t so keen on his father these days either, so he didn’t bother to ask why she didn’t want to see her father. Instead he asked, “Why don’t you just call your mother?”

  “I tried about a year ago, right before Frankie made me earn my living by stripping. But her phone had been disconnected.”

  “What about your father? Do you have a telephone number for him?”

  “I’m not trying to call him. One day I’ll just go home and find my mother. I still know how to get back to the house we moved into after the divorce.” Angel smiled down at DeMarcus as he lay on the sofa sleeping. “She’ll be so happy to see her grandson.”

  Demetrius decided right then and there that he would take her down South to find her mother. Maybe they’d even spend a few weeks in North Carolina. He certainly needed some time and space away from his father. Once he collected his money, he would drive Angel down South. He’d let her in on the plan later this weekend. Right now he wanted to discuss another matter.

  “You do understand that you and I will be in the same hotel room when we get to the Bahamas, right?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Angel looked at him as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.

  “It don’t mean nothing, except that I want you to be my woman... do you understand what I’m telling you, Angel? I want us to be together?”

  She stared at him as she pulled at her lip. Then she asked, “What about Vivian? What about that girl who called the house the other day?”

  “I don’t want nobody but you. Can you get that through your thick skull already?” He pulled her close to him, this time he kissed her. It was a hungry, throw caution to the wind kind of kiss that left them gasping for air. When he was able to speak again, he said, “I love you, girl. I don’t know how it happened or why it happened, but I’m not fighting it.”

  “I can’t fight it anymore either, Demetrius. You’re a good man and,” tears were in her eyes as she said, “I love you.”

  “Then let’s do the dang thang then.”

  Angel nodded. Where else could she go? As far as Angel was concerned, this was Demetrius’ world and she wanted nothing more than to discover what he was going to do with it.

  Ten

  That morning was the first time Demetrius woke and didn’t want to hurriedly climb out of bed. Because Angel was lying next to him, and all was right with his world. But then the doorbell rang, and rang, and rang.

  Demetrius got out of bed, put on a robe and headed for the door. The person on the other end was now pounding on the door. “Hold up. I’m on my way.” He looked out the peep hole and saw that it was Al.

  Demetrius swung the door open and yelled, “What is wrong with you? Why you over hear banging on my door like the police?”

  “I got orders to drive you to the airport this morning?”

  Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Demetrius said, “I can drive myself.”

  Al just shook his head. “Can’t let you do that. Don wants you to have a personal escort to the airport.”

  “What’s his deal? Why does he want me out of this city so bad this weekend?”

  “I’m just the chauffeur.”

  “Well you came at the wrong time because I cancelled my earlier flight so that I could fly over there with Angel.”

  Al snickered. “That girl has got you turning flips and cartwheels, huh?”

  “Whatever.”

  Al pointed a finger in his face. “And you better watch yourself. Don wasn’t happy about the way you spoke to him just because he was trying to school you.”

  “What’s he going to do, kill me?” As the words left his mouth, Demetrius began wondering if his father had in fact sent his enforcer over here to smoke him. His gun was in the bedroom, so if Al made a move, Demetrius wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.

  “He’s your father, kid. He’s not going to kill you... but that don’t mean he won’t fire you... make you find your own way in this big ol’ cruel world. So, keep your cool and do as he says.”

  “Look, my flight doesn’t leave until noon. So, go back home and get some sleep. I’m a big boy, I’ll get to the airport on my own.”

  “I’ll be back at ten. Y’all need to be dressed and ready to go at that time,” Al told him as he walked back to his car.

  Demetrius closed the door and then sat down on the sofa as he tried to figure out what his father had up his sleeve. Since Demetrius had already figured out that Al must have been the one who killed Professor Green and his wife, Demetrius could only think of one reason why Don didn’t want him in town this weekend... they were planning to kill again.

  Demetrius sat on the sofa, trying to figure this out. Who did they plan to kill? And why were they working so hard to get him out of the way. Demetrius figured he must know the target. It had to be someone that Demetrius wouldn’t want to see dead. There were a few people Demetrius could put in that category, but he’d only took a ten thousand dollar bet from one of them.

  His eyes shut tight from the pain of that thought. He wished he had never accepted that bet from Coach Johnson. The man didn’t deserve to be caught in his father’s crosshairs. He didn’t deserve to die simply because Don Shepherd was too greedy to pay out his big debts.

  Putting his head in his hands, Demetrius was mired in guilt and didn’t know what to do. If his father was going to kill Coach, then Demetrius wouldn’t be able to stop him. No matter how upset he’d been with his father lately, Demetrius couldn’t turn against him. That would go against everything he’d been taught all his life.

  But Coach was a good man, he didn’t deserve to die, and Demetrius just couldn’t get on that plane to the Bahamas and act as if he didn’t know what was going on.

  He was tossing an idea around in his mind as he went to his bedroom to wake Angel up.

  “Good morning.” She smiled at him as if the very sight of him brightened her day.

  “Good morning to you too.” He bent down and kissed her on her soft, ample lips. “I’ve got some bad news.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  He ran his hand up her arm. “We can’t go to the Bahamas this weekend.”

  Angel’s eyes widened in horror. She sat up in bed, pulling the blanket tightly against her naked flesh. “You tricked me,” she screamed at him. “You made me think that I was special to you, just so you could get me in bed. And now you’re going to take some other woman to the Bahamas.”

  This was getting old real fast. “For the last time... I am not that dude. I’m not going to use and abuse you.”

  She wasn’t having it. “I don’t care what you say, Demetrius. If you go to the Bahamas without us, Mar-Mar and I are getting on the Greyhound and I’m going home to my mother.”

  Looking at her as if sh
e was a genius, he said, “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

  “What!” Angel swung on him. But Demetrius ducked and then grabbed her arms.

  “Listen to me girl. I’m not going to the Bahamas either. So, stop acting crazy.”

  “You done had your way with me and now you want me to go home. But you don’t want me to go off on you... I think you’re the one who’s acting crazy.”

  “It’s not like that, Angel. Stop tripping and get dressed. Because I’m going to drive you to see your mother this weekend.”

  Angel did as she was asked. Then went into the living room and sat down on the sofa with Demetrius. “Did you mean what you said? You’re going to take me to my mother’s place?”

  He nodded. “I think it’s the perfect cover for us.”

  “Cover for what? What’s going on?”

  “Do you remember the man who accused my father of killing his friend?”

  “The man who came to our table at Red Lobster?”

  “That’s him. His name is Sam Johnson. And he is one of the reasons why I love baseball so much. He used to be my coach. He had been the first person to run out on the field to check on me after I broke my ankle. I always liked Coach and when I was younger I used to wish that he was my father.”

  Angel didn’t say anything, she just kept listening.

  “I didn’t want to believe that my father had killed Professor Green, so when Coach said it, I kind of blew it off. But the truth of the matter is... I think Coach was right.”

  “Why?” Angel asked.

  “Most of the bets we took in for the Frazier and Ali fight were for small amounts. If we had to pay out money on one of those bets it wouldn’t be a big deal. But Professor Green put a twenty thousand dollar bet on the Frazier fight. He bet it would end in a draw. Since he was right, my father owed him big money and he didn’t want to pay up.”

  “But I saw how much money you came home with after that Frazier fight. If your father could pay you all that money, why didn’t he just settle up with Professor Green?”