by Silk White
“Well Millie ain’t here right now and like I said you got us in this mess and now you have to get us out of this, nothing personal but business is business.” Derrick said as he watched Jimmy make his exit.
CHAPTER 11
MILLIE
Millie sat on her bunk skimming through the hip-hop weekly magazine that she held. She may have been in jail but she had to keep up with what was going on, on the outside. On the inside it was, Millie that supplied drugs to the entire population she basically ran the jail. Derrick couldn’t believe how much money she was able to send home every month. With the correction officers on the payroll Millie was basically free to do as she pleased and she wasn’t afraid to throw her weight around if need be. Millie reached under her pillow, grabbed her cell phone just as she got ready to send Derrick a text she heard a guard tap on her cell door with her nightstick.
“Mason you have a visitor here to see you,” the C.O. announced. She waited patiently outside of the cell as, Millie got dressed. She made sure to take her time and make sure she looked right before leaving her cell. Fifteen minutes later, Millie stepped foot in the visiting room and spotted Eric sitting next to one of the vending machines. She walked over and gave Eric a warm motherly hug. “It’s good to see you son.”
“Hey mom sorry for just popping up on you like this,” he apologized.
“I’m your mother you can come see me anytime and you don’t have to have a reason to come see me,” Millie placed her hand on top of Eric’s hand and rubbed it gently. “Now tell momma what’s wrong.”
Eric let out a long breath. “I don’t even know where to start,” he shook his head. “I’ve been getting harassed and assaulted by the police a lot lately. I think something bad is going to happen soon and I’m getting scared.”
“When you say something bad what do you mean?”
“The police have been on us real heavy lately I’m afraid that the whole family is going to be put in jail.”
“Have you been keeping your nose clean like we’ve talked about?” Millie asked with a raised brow. She had sacrificed a lot to keep Eric on the right path and was willing to do whatever it took to protect, him. “You the one person in the family that has to be clean. If anything ever happens to this family, it’s going to be your job to take care of all of us while we’re in jail. You’re the family security blanket and I need you to know that it’s going to be your strength that saves this family one day.”
“But what if you’re wrong, what if I’m just a coward,” Eric spoke freely. He didn’t have the confidence to rush or save the family, all he cared were his investments and bringing in as much money as possible.
“Your mother don’t spit out no cowards,” Millie smiled. “Now tell me what’s going on with these police.”
“It’s been crazy,” Eric shook his head. “It’s like the entire force is after our family and nobody else.”
“What about, Mike? I know he’s doing the best he can.”
“He and a few of his buddy’s pulled me other the other day and he really worked me over,” Eric said looking down at the table. “I didn’t tell dad because I knew all he was going to say was that I needed to man up.”
“Let me tell you something son,” Millie leaned forward. “Mike has rescued this family from many of situations and has always been true to this family if he laid his hands on that’s because he must of had no choice. I raised that boy since he was one years old and I trust him,” she paused. “All I need you focusing on is business nothing else.”
“It’s been a little hard to focus lately especially since me and Kelly have been fighting like cats and dogs.”
“Hmmp,” Millie huffed. She never liked or cared for Kelly since the first day Eric brought her home. It was just something about Kelly that just seemed to rub Millie the wrong way. “What’s that girl’s problem now?”
“I think she’s cheating on me,” Eric said with a sad look on his face. He couldn’t prove it but all the signs were there. “She sneaks out the house and be going missing for hours.”
Millie leaned forward. “You make sure you keep a close eye on that girl I never trusted her from day one and you know I’m never wrong about a person.”
“Yeah I know,” Eric pinched the bridge of his nose. “You think Kelly’s cheating on me?”
“You’ll be lucky if that’s all she’s doing,” Millie said with a disgusted look on her face. “Do me a favor son can you get me an apple juice out of the vending machine?”
“Yeah of course,” Eric stood up and headed over towards the vending machine, just as he was about to stick his dollar in the machine a muscular, rough faced man bumped into, him.
“Damn nigga watch where the fuck you going!” The big man growled.
“Sorry about that my brother I didn’t see you,” Eric apologized.
The big man’s face crumbled up. “My brother?” He echoed. “I look like your brother to you motherfucker?”
Before Eric could say another word, he saw Millie approaching the big man from behind. He quickly moved out the way as Millie grabbed a chair and violently cracked it over the man’s head.
“You over here fucking with my son!” Millie barked as she repeatedly stomped the big man’s head into the floor before several officer tackled her down to the floor. “Get the fuck off me!” She yelled as the officers dragged her out of the visiting room kicking and screaming.
CHAPTER 12
JIMMY
Jimmy sat in the passenger seat of the rented Benz with an aggravated look on his face. He still couldn’t believe that Derrick was making him kill someone for Joey Alvarez. He and Big foot sat staked out front of the house of their intended target. They had been watching the house for the last two hours. Jimmy felt his phone vibrate on his hip; he looked down and saw that Kelly had sent him a few naked pictures of herself. He quickly replied back then put his phone away.
“I’m starving I need to get something to eat,” Bigfoot said rubbing his stomach. He was tired of sitting in the car and needed to stretch his legs.
“Come on, I got an idea,” Jimmy stepped out the Benz and headed for the back door of the house with Big foot close on his heels. They both slipped their hands in a pair of latex gloves. Big foot pulled out his silenced 9mm and shot the lock off the back door. Once Inside the house, Jimmy headed straight for the refrigerator.
“Fuck is you doing?” Bigfoot asked when he saw Jimmy pulled out some lunchmeat and cheese.
“Making us some sandwiches you said you were hungry right?” Jimmy smiled. He was the only person who was crazy enough to wear a three thousand dollar suit on a hit. According to him, he liked to do everything in style.
“Can you believe Derrick?” Jimmy took a bite from his sandwich. “If this was a few years ago we would be going to war with, Joey Alvarez over something like this.”
“I guess he’s just trying to keep the piece,” Big foot shrugged. “Besides a war would definitely be bad for business.”
“He’s getting soft,” Jimmy shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth. “I think it’s time for me to take over the family business.”
“You would probably run the business straight into the ground,” Big foot teased as he heard keys jingling in the door. Jimmy quickly pulled his silenced 9mm from the small of his back and positioned himself behind a wall. When he heard footsteps and saw the light flick on, Jimmy sprang from behind the wall and fired off two shots.
Pst, Pst!
Jimmy watched as the man that he had come to kill collapse face first down to the floor with a huge gaping hole in the center of his throat. He then trained his gun on the woman, and watched as a bullet from his gun exploded in the woman’s face before she even got a second to scream. Jimmy looked down and saw two kids staring up at him with fear in their little eyes.
“Our work here is done come on let’s get out of here,” Big foot said, but stopped short when he noticed that Jimmy hadn’t moved. “Don’t even think about it,” Big foot wa
rned. He saw that look in, Jimmy’s eyes a lot during the years of them working together so he already knew what was about to come next.
“They saw our faces,” Jimmy whispered, then fired off two more bullets.
Pst, Pst!
Big foot looked down at the two children lying dead on the floor in a pool of their own blood and shook his head sadly. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Business is business,” Jimmy said, holstered his gun, and then headed back out the same door that he and Jimmy had broken into. Big foot took one last look at the children before following his partner back out the back door.
CHAPTER 13
DERRICK
“Yeah baby right there,” Derrick moan as he laid flat on his stomach. Pearl straddled his lower back, giving him a much-needed massage. Pearl was a good woman and planned on being with Derrick for the rest of her life. Derrick on the other hand loved Pearl but just wanted to have some fun with her until his wife was released from prison. He knew there was no way that Pearl would take the news well so he planned on easing it on her slowly.
“I heard about this new restaurant that’s supposed to be awesome,” Pearl smiled. “I was thinking maybe we could check it out, my treat.”
“Sorry baby I can’t. I have a few things that need my immediate attention,” Derrick sat up. Word on the streets was that a few of Joey Alvarez’s men had begun to move into Derrick’s territory. He was going to check it out on his own; he just hoped and prayed that the rumors weren’t true.
“Why does it seem like everything is more important than me?” Pearl huffed.
“Business is business,” Derrick replied as he began getting dress. He hated how clingy Pearl was becoming and hoped that she got her act together before he had to cancel her.
“So one day of you hanging out with me and not doing any business is going to kill you?”
“Yup.” Derrick said sarcastically.
“You’re an asshole!” Pearl yelled and stormed upstairs. Seconds later, Derrick heard the bedroom door slam. He walked to the bathroom, glanced in the mirror, adjusted his tie, and walked from the bathroom to the living room where he saw his personal bodyguard Tony sitting on the couch flipping through the pages of a magazine.
“Let’s go do this,” Derrick said as he and Tony exited the house and slid in the back seat of the Maybach that awaited them. “So are you sure that it’s Joey Alvarez’s men that opened up in our territory?” He wanted to make sure, before he made a final decision.
Tony nodded his head. “A few of our men said that it was definitely Joey’s men and they’re not even trying to hide it.”
The more Derrick listened the more it pissed him off. He couldn’t believe that Joey would have the audacity to violate the code like that. Disrespect like this was like a slap in the face and something that Derrick had killed for, for less. For the rest of the ride he sipped on a drink as Anita Baker’s voice hummed softly through the speakers.
Thirty minutes later the Maybach pulled up in front of a bodega. Derrick and Tony stepped out of the luxury car and approached two low level dealers that stood on the corning. “Do you two have permission to be on this corner?” Derrick asked.
“Who the fuck are you?” The man in the hoodie spat.
“If you two want to post up on this real estate then you’re going to have to pay the owner,” Derrick told them. He could tell just from looking at the two men that they had no clue how this territory thing worked.
“Check this out old head we got permission to be here,” the one in the hoodie said in a matter of fact tone. “We work for Joey Alvarez,” the man said proudly.
Without warning, Derrick pulled his .38 from his holster and shot the man with the hoodie in the face. His partner took off in a sprint but quickly dropped down to the concrete with two bullet holes in his back. “Fucking idiots!” Derrick growled as he and Tony hopped back in the Maybach. “Get Joey on the phone!”
CHAPTER 14
ERIC
Eric sat at the dining room table alone eating a piece of pizza. Once again, Kelly had went missing and wasn’t answering her phone. Now her disappearances were becoming more frequent and way more obvious. As Eric ate his pizza his mother’s word kept replaying over in his head. “I never trusted her.” Just the thought of his wife with another man angered Eric to the point where he wanted to inflict pain on someone even though that wasn’t his thing. Eric emptied his plate in the trash when he heard the front door open then close. Seconds later, he heard the familiar sound of his wife’s heels ringing loudly off the hard wood floor.
“And where have you been?” Eric asked as soon as he laid eyes on his wife.
“Not right now Eric,” Kelly said as if he had ruined her entire day just by him asking a question. “I’ve had a long day and my head is killing me,” she said heading towards the stairs. Eric ran and stood in front of the stairs blocking Kelly’s path.
“You’re not going nowhere until you tell me where you the fuck you’ve been!” Eric yelled with fire dancing his eyes. “You’ve been gone for over six hours!”
“The last time I checked I was grown and didn’t have a curfew!” Kelly capped back as she tried to step around Eric but he slid to the side still blocking her path.
“You ain’t going nowhere until you tell me where you were!” Eric stood his ground.
“I hate you!” Kelly grown. “You treat me like a fucking child and you wonder why I hate being around you!” She cleared her throat and spat in Eric’s face.
Eric wiped his face with his hand as he watched Kelly storm back out the front door. He thought about going after her but instead he decided to just let her go.
CHAPTER 15
JOEY ALVAREZ
When Joey got word that Derrick had killed two men associated with his organization he made it his personal business to go meet with the head of the Mason Family. His limousine pulled up in front of the Mason estate. The driver held the door open as Joey stepped out and he was immediately met by Tony and another member of Derrick’s security team.
“Right this way,” Tony escorted Joey through the mansion. As Joey walked through the mansion, he noticed that Derrick Mason’s security was airtight; several armed guards patrolled the mansion as if it was the White House.
Joey reached the bar area of the mansion and saw Derrick and Jimmy sitting a table having a drink. Joey helped himself to a seat not waiting for an invite. “Have you lost your mind?”
Derrick smiled and sipped his drink. “What seems to be the problem?”
“You murdered two of my men and you think this is funny?” Joey asked with a mean scowl on his face.
“Your men were in territory that they shouldn’t have been in,” Derrick shrugged. “My territory, my rules.”
“You still owe me!” Joey growled. “My men were there to help pay off the debt that you owe.”
“That’s not what we agreed on,” Derrick snapped. “The agreement was one million dollars and I do two favors for you. I never agreed for your men to come on to my territory and get rid of product.”
“That retard son of yours killed two made men!” Joey snapped. “You’re in position to negotiate and besides you still owe me a favor.”
“Fuck you, our deal is off!” Jimmy said speaking for the first time. Derrick went to say something but Jimmy continued. “Those made men of yours were in one of our properties being disrespectful and got what they deserved.”
“You arrogant fool you don’t even know the type of shit you just got your entire family in,” Joey stood to his feet with a smirk on his face. “This is just why I hate working with you niggers.”
“Fuck you just said?” Jimmy hopped to his feet. Derrick tried to grab him but it was too late, Jimmy was already in motion. Jimmy snuffed Joey and watched the old man dramatically crash down to the floor. “Fuck you think you talking to like that?” Jimmy barked as he violently stomped Joey’s head into the floor repeatedly. “Motherfucker!”
Derrick
slowly stood to his feet and walked over to his son. “Do you know what you just did?”
“Fuck him. I’m not sitting back letting him disrespect the entire family,” Jimmy huffed. “What’s gotten into you lately? If this was back in the day you would have been put a clown like this six feet under.”
Derrick gave Jimmy a sad look. “Son this is not back in the day and you can’t go around killing made men and you especially can’t go around killing the boss of a made family. At this level there are rules son and you just put us in a real bad place.”
“I’m not just gon sit back and let a clown like him disrespect us.”