by K'wan
Mike was working on pizza pie number two when Mr. G walked in, followed by Louie Bonanno and another soldier. Mike's eyes opened as wide as saucers when the underboss walked in. Nicky thought about going for his gun, but Louie had already drawn his weapon.
“Mr. G.” Mike smiled. “What's this all about?”
“Just some old-world bullshit,” Mr. G said, waving his killers forward. “You knew the rules, Mike, yet you ignored them,”
Mike tried to plead, but it was useless. Louie and the other soldier cut loose with their weapons and gunned Mike and Nickydown. Bullets tore into both flesh and glass as the windows shattered. Gee-Gee tossed a wad of bills to the petrified owner and made his exit.
“Get the fuck off me,” Frog shouted, as he struggled against Swan's grip.
“Shut the fuck up.” Swan smacked him. “You ain’t in no position to give orders. Didn’t you know Poppa was a made man?”
“Fuck Poppa and fuck you!” Frog shouted, as Swan and the other shooter dragged him across the rooftop gravel.
Swan pulled Frog to the edge of the roof and looked out over the City. “You see this? This was Poppa Clark's city. That man was the closest thing I had to family and you bean-eating mutha fuckas took him. That's a’ight though, ‘cause he can settle up with you himself.”
Swan grabbed Frog by the neck and tossed him off the roof. Frog's screams could be heard for blocks as he plummeted twenty stories. When he hit the ground, the very concrete split from the impact of his skull.
Detectives Alvarez and Brown stood in the aftermath of the gun battle. Both blacks and browns lay sprawled in the streets. Benches were riddled with bullets and trees had been uprooted. The Lower East Side housing project looked like what it was: a war zone.
“I don’t fucking believe this,” Brown fumed. “All this work down the fucking toilet.”
“Take it easy,” Alvarez said, lighting his Newport.
“J, ain’t nothing easy about this. There's at least twenty mutha fuckas laid out over here and our star witness's codefendant jams a knife in the back of his skull. Our whole case is shot to shit, partner.”
“Does look bad, huh?” Alvarez smirked, blowing out a ring of smoke. “We were busy worrying about nailing Tommy and Shai turned out to be the worst of the bunch. Slick little bastard.”
“The worst part is, we can’t charge him. We know he was behind this shit, but he never once got his hands dirty. With his background, there's no way in hell we could convince a jury that he orchestrated the slaughter of two drug crews and put one over on the Italians. That little fucker is probably gonna ride off into the sunset, laughing at us.”
“I doubt it,” Alvarez said, replacing the sheet over Frog's corpse. “Poppa is dead and gone. Even though Tommy's probably gonna walk on this charge, that’ll be the only walking he's ever gonna do again. You think little old Shai is just gonna walk away from the game like that? Don’t think so, partner. She's got him now. I don’t think this is the last we’ve heard from our little ball star.”
BOSS OF BOSSES
THE VERY NEXT DAY, Poppa Clark's estate was buzzing with people. The war was over and there was much to be discussed. The Clarks had won, but Shai didn’t feel like a winner. During his stay in New York he had ordered the execution of quite a few people. It had been a mess, but it was finally over.
Now came the task of rebuilding. There were still people who had to be dealt with, and relationships solidified. Shai's first order of business would be his father's casino. Shai would see that the construction of the place was completed. Poppa had come too close not to see his dream through. It would be the perfect way to honor his memory.
Honey appeared in Shai's bedroom that morning. They had gone over quite a bit, but there was still much to discuss. She had done some shady shit in her dealings with Shai, but she hoped that the request that he had made of her helped balance the scales.
“Come here, ma.” Shai motioned for her. Honey entered the room and sat on the bed next to him. “You did real good. I know it was hard, but I appreciate you looking out like that.”
“I told you, all I want is a chance,” Honey restated.
“And a chance you’ve earned.” Shai caressed her face. “Things are different now. I need to know that the people around me are trustworthy.”
“Baby, I will be.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” He nodded. “Melissa, I need you to know something before we go any further. I’m digging you. Because I’m digging you, I’m allowing you into my world, but it is indeed a cold one.”
“I know, Shai,” she whispered. “I’m with you, baby.”
“For as long as you are loyal to me, I will take care of you. The moment you betray me, you will die. Can you deal with that?”
Honey felt fear grip her about the throat. She couldn’t believe that Shai had just come at her like that. She couldn’t say that she blamed him though. Trust was something that you had to earn. Honey still had a long road ahead of her, but she was willing to take that journey. For once she had someone that was good to her and she didn’t want to fuck that up.
Right after Shai had gotten dressed, Angelo came to get him from his room. He smiled at his friend and allowed himself to be led down the hall. Quite a few people had come to see Shai. He was the man that had restored order to the streets. While he might not have felt it, Shai was a hero. Shai was just about to enter the office and greet his guest, when Hope stopped him in the hall.
“What's up, sis?” he asked.
“I’m okay,” she responded. “You?”
“Maintaining.”
“Now that it's over, we can leave, right?” she asked.
“Hope,” he said, turning his eyes away. “I know what I told you, but I just can’t leave Poppa's business undone. I just need to—”
“You promised,” she hissed. “You promised me that you wouldn’t be like them.”
“Hope,” he sighed. “I’m sorry. I hope one day you’ll understand.” Shai continued into the office where a host of guests were waiting for him. Hope stood in the hallway crying her eyes out. She might not have lost Shai in body, as she had her father and brother, but she had lost him in spirit.
Poppa's office held quite a few important people. All of the lieutenants were in attendance; Mr. G had sent two of his people and even the Wong brothers were there. Shai nodded to the guests that he passed on his way to the head of the table. He stared at Poppa's chair for a long while, without moving. The very thing that Poppa had kept him from wound up being his destiny.
Swan set it off. He stood directly in front of Shai and slowly began clapping. Mo Black came next, picking up on the youngster's lead. Soon everyone in the room was clapping in unison. A lone tear ran down Shai's cheek as he sat in his father's chair. One by one, the guests came forward to kiss his cheek and pay homage to the new king. Shai's fall from grace was a long one that had landed him smack-dab in the fire. The prince of angels was now the lord of the underworld.
Table of Contents
Cover
Title
Copyright
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33