by K'wan
Sol chose to ride back in the SUV with Shai and Big Doc, with Jacob trailing them in his car. Sol hadn’t said much during the ride back, but Shai could see his brain working behind his eyes. The irony of the man who had turned his back on the Clark family at one of their lowest points finding himself in a bind that only the Clarks could fix hadn’t been lost on Shai. It was either the universe doing Shai a solid by allowing him to repay the slight done onto his father, or Sol was a far better manipulator than Shai had given him credit for. He suspected it was a bit of both. Sol could find a way to turn a profit from anything, including the tragic death of a young whore. He was the kind of dude who secretly took out life insurance policies on his soldiers, so he made money whether they lived or died. It was his ruthlessness when it came to making a dollar that ensured he’d always be an asset to his business partners, and why he had been able to outlive most of his contemporaries in the underworld. The better Shai got to know Sol over the years, the more he understood why his father had kept him so close.
“So, you just gonna keep staring at me or speak whatever is on your mind?” Sol said as he turned to Shai.
Shai thought about bullshitting him, but Sol had known him since he was a kid and would see right through the veil, so he was honest with him. “You took a hell of a gamble back there, calling me to help that piece of shit O’Connor.”
“Did I?” Sol asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Damn, right. For all you know, I could’ve told that piece of shit to go to hell. After what he did, I wouldn’t have been wrong.”
“No, you wouldn’t have and yet you didn’t,” Sol pointed out. “Crushing him right off would be convenient, but an empty victory. Exploiting the situation and making Bill your bitch not only furthers your own gains, but it’ll also feed that ever-growing ego of yours.”
“So I’ve got an ego now?” Shai asked.
“You’ve always had an ego, Shai, it’s just gotten bigger over the last few years. No shame in that, though. Every man in a position of power has been a bit of an egomaniac, including your father. The difference between the two of you is that Poppa was better at hiding it. That’s a skill you haven’t mastered yet, but in time you will. My question to you now is, what do you plan on doing with this blessing that has fallen into your lap?”
“First? Clean up the mess this fucking idiot has made. He’s no good to me in prison, at least not now.”
“Well your cleanup crew should’ve made it to the hotel by now, so that won’t be a problem much longer,” Sol said.
“I mean the entire mess,” Shai corrected him.
Sol didn’t have to ask what he meant to know what he was getting at, and the thought made him shiver. “Do you think that’s necessary?”
Shai shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Why take unnecessary chances?” And with that, he turned his attention to the window letting Sol know it was no longer up for discussion.
When they arrived at the house, security waved the two cars through the gates without stopping them. The crowd seemed to have thinned out, but there were still a good amount of people wandering the yard. Shai spotted Honey off to the side talking to Brutus. He watched as his head of security touched his wife’s arm and say something, causing her to blush. It was an innocent enough gesture, but something about it sounded an alarm in Shai’s head. When they spotted the SUV, they put a respectable amount of distance between them. Brutus went off to attend to his duties while Honey came to meet the SUV. Shai was barely out of the ride before she started in.
“Where the hell were you?” Honey barked. “Sorry, babe. I had to take care of something. I’ll tell you about it later.” Shai said coolly.
“Nigga, you leave in the middle of my baby shower… our baby shower, and I’ll tell you about it later is the best you can come up with?” Honey shot back. She was talking so loud that people were starting to look.
Shai shot her a look that told her to leave it alone, but Honey was on a roll.
“You can’t silence me with a look like I’m one of your flunkies, oh great king of the hill. I need an explanation!” Honey insisted.
“I’m afraid that it was my fault,” Sol cut in. “My car broke down and Shai had to come out and get me,” he lied.
Honey looked from Sol, to his car in the driveway. “You know what? Both of y’all are full of shit!” She stormed off.
“I swear sometimes that broad acts like she’s my mother,” Shai grumbled.
Big Doc patted him on the back good-naturedly. “Still time to run before she forces your ass down the aisle.”
“Fuck you,” Shai said as he swatted Big Doc away playfully. Just then, one of the black-clad security guards walked up. He was a young light-skinned dude, with nervous brown eyes and a slight overbite. His name was Tre, if Shai recalled correctly. He served as Brutus’ second in command.
“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Clark…” Tre began, but Shai cut him off.
“Shai is fine,” he corrected him.
“Right. Shai. Sorry to intrude, but your brother Tommy asked me to bring you to him as soon as you got back,” Tre said.
Shai sighed. “Tell him to give me a few minutes. I don’t feel like climbing all those damn stairs up to the library right now.”
“Tommy’s actually not upstairs. He’s by the pool house.”
This surprised Shai because Tommy rarely left the library, let alone the house. “If he’s feeling up to being out and about, why is he back there instead of up here on the main lawn with everyone else?”
“You want me to tell him you’re busy?” Tre offered.
Shai looked across the lawn at Honey, who was chatting with Giselle and shooting him dirty looks.
Lingering not too far from them was Brutus, looking like the cat that had swallowed the canary. When he noticed Shai watching, he flashed a guilty smile. “Nah, I need to step away for a minute anyhow before I do something I might regret.”
*
Shai had to walk nearly a half block to get to what they referred to as the pool area, but it was unlike any pool you’d see in any of the other suburban homes in the area. In an ode to their old house, Shai had recreated the emerald lagoon that his father had always been so proud of. There were palm trees, artificial grass and even rock slates that you could lay out and sun bathe on when the weather was nice. Lining the bottom of the pool were green tinted lights that when turned on, gave the effect of swimming in an emerald pool. It was truly a marvel to behold.
Tommy was sitting in his wheelchair, beneath the shade of one of the trees. To Shai’s surprise, he wasn’t alone. Perched on his lap was a young white girl. Her red-painted nails traced a line along his ear as she whispered softly into it. Swann was also with him, along with a few of the soldiers. In the center sat someone who had his back to Shai, so he couldn’t see his face. He was jawing with the men and laughing as if they were all old friends.
“Who’s that guy?” Sol asked, voicing what they were all wondering.
“I have no clue,” Shai said as he walked up ahead with Sol and Big Doc trailing him. As Shai drew closer, he could hear the stranger in the middle of a story that seemed to be holding everyone’s attention.
“So, I’m in this guy’s bedroom,” the man was saying. “The wife is tied up on the bed, while I’m giving the husband the beating of his life trying to get him to tell me where the shit is. I had been working this guy for about a half hour and he’s still pretending he has no clue as to what I’m talking about. By now I’m figuring that this tough son-of-a-bitch is willing to die with his secret, so I aim to oblige him. So I go in my bag of tricks and pull Bertha out,” he said as he stacked his fists as if he was tightening his grip on a baseball bat, “and I’m getting ready to send this tight-lipped piece of shit to the Great Beyond, when the wife throws herself at my feet and starts trying to scream something through the duct tape. I’m silently thanking God, thinking this bitch has come to her senses and is about to tell me where her old man’s stash is so I can get
the fuck outta there, but of course my life can’t ever be that easy.”
“So what happened?” one of the soldiers asked in anticipation.
“What happened was, I snatch the tape off her mouth and she informs me that I’ve wasted the last half hour of my life kicking the shit out of the wrong guy. As it turns out, the husband had a twin and she was having an affair with his twin brother, so he really didn’t know what I was talking about,” the stranger told them.
“Damn, that would’ve had me tight. You did all that for nothing?” Swann asked.
“I wouldn’t say it was for nothing. I never got the stash, but I did get the snatch. I figured any bitch with a pussy good enough to turn brother against brother had to have a biblical vagina, and running up in a saint has always been on my bucket list!”
Everyone erupted with laughter, as if it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard. Shai looked into the eyes of the soldiers - his soldiers - and saw adoration of a total stranger. It unnerved him, and he made a mental note of every face in the comedian’s audience. Having had enough of the show, Shai cleared his throat to announce his presence.
Swann was the first to notice him, and quickly stood at attention. The soldiers made to follow suit, but Shai motioned for them to remain seated. “Don’t get up on my account, gentlemen. I thought the party was being held on the main lawn, but it looks like the real party is back here. My invitation must’ve gotten lost in the mail.”
“We’re just back here shooting the shit, little bro,” Tommy told him.
“Obviously,” Shai said as he looked around at the cups of liquor and discarded weed clips in the ashtray on the floor. “So, how was your spontaneous journey?” Tommy asked sarcastically.
“Apparently not as much fun as your little get-together,” Shai shot back. “Nobody told me we were having guests that weren’t on the list,” he said as his eyes fell on the stranger.
As if feeling Shai’s gaze on his back, the stranger stood and turned to face him for the first time. “Well look who’s all grown up,” he said, as he looked Shai up and down.
Shai found himself momentarily stunned when he took in the stranger’s features; that angular face, brown skin. It was almost like looking in a mirror. “Do we know each other?” he said as he finally found his voice.
The stranger laughed. “Damn, I know I put on a few pounds since the last time we saw each other, but I haven’t changed that much, have I?”
Shai looked to Tommy for an explanation, but all he got from his brother was an amused smirk. “Listen, homie,” he began in an irritated tone, “I ain’t never been big on guessing games. Identify yourself or get the fuck off my property.”
“Harley Livingston,” Big Doc spoke up from behind Shai. From the tone of his voice, he clearly wasn’t happy to see the visitor.
“What’s up, Doc? Been a long time.”
“Not long enough,” Big Doc spat.
Harley smiled. “I see you still got that sour ass disposition. I don’t blame you though, Doc, I blame your upbringing.”
Big Doc took a threatening step forward, but Sol blocked his path. “A time and a place for everything, my friend,” he said as he patted Big Doc’s broad chest.
Big Doc cast one last lethal glare before backing down. “Shai, if you need me I’ll be at the bar getting a drink… or three.” He turned and stormed off.
Shai looked from Big Doc’s departing back to the man called Harley. “Is there something I missed?”
When Tommy decided that his brother had toiled in confusion long enough, he filled in the blanks. “Shai, this here is our cousin Harley. You probably remember him as Hammer.”
At the mention of his nickname, the pieces finally fell into place for Shai. He hadn’t seen Hammer since he was a kid, but stories of his exploits had been told in his house for years. Harley had gotten the name Hammer because he had a fondness of bashing men’s skulls in with a sledgehammer. He and Poppa were first cousins, having come to America from Trinidad together in the early eighties. The two of them had made their names doing freelance hits for the mob all through South Florida. When things got too hot, Poppa came to New York and got into the heroin business, but Hammer stayed in Florida. In the first few years he would come up and visit frequently, but after a while he began to visit less and less, until the visits stopped altogether and Hammer fell off the grid. Most had assumed him dead, but the fact that he was standing there said that he wasn’t.
“How you been, little cousin?” Hammer asked as he embraced Shai, snapping him out of his thoughts.
“Good,” Shai said awkwardly. He still wasn’t sure what to make of his cousin’s sudden appearance after so many years.
“Man,” Hammer said as he held Shai at arm’s length and gave him the once-over, “I haven’t seen you since you were about eight-years-old. You ain’t a kid no more. You the man now!” he exclaimed as he slapped Shai on the back.
“Something like that,” Shai said, straightening his suit. “Say, can you guys give us a minute? Me and Tommy got a little catching up to do with our estranged cousin,” he told Swann.
“No problem. It was an honor to meet you, Hammer.” Swann shook the older man’s hand enthusiastically.
“Likewise, kid. Maybe I’ll see you around,” Hammer told him.
“I sure hope so,” Swann said. “Let’s go, fellas!” He gathered the soldiers and led them towards the exit. He noticed that the white girl hadn’t moved from Tommy’s lap. “Sweetie, are you hard of hearing?”
Natalia looked to Tommy for approval.
“It’s okay, snowflake,” Tommy said as he patted her on the ass playfully. “I’ll hit you up later on tonight, but in the meantime, I need you to look into that situation we discussed. You’re my eyes and ears on this, ya dig?”
“You got it, Tommy Gunz.” Natalia kissed him on the cheek. She sashayed passed the men, giving Swann a challenging look.
“Bitch, get yo white ass on,” Swann quipped as he gave her a shove.
“I ain’t gonna be too many bitches,” Natalia hissed.
“You’ll be kicked the fuck out in a minute if you don’t get a move on,” Swann warned. “Tommy throwing your young ass a little play and you acting like you the queen of Sheba or some shit.” The two of them continued to exchange words on their way back to the main lawn.
“You need me to stick around, Shai?” Sol asked.
“I got it,” Shai said without turning around.
Sol nodded, and gave Hammer one last distrustful look before going to catch up with Swann and the others.
“I see my cousin Thomas done real well for himself, and set you boys up pretty nice,” Hammer said as he looked over the property. “This is a far cry from the condo we shared in Liberty City.”
“This is my house. We sold Daddy’s mansion a few years back,” Shai told him.
“Right, I forgot you’re in the big chair now. No offense, but I always thought it would’ve been Tommy to succeed my cousin when he passed.
“Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control,” Tommy said.
“Man, I was sure sorry to hear what happened to Poppa. Please accept my condolences,” Hammer said sincerely.
“So sorry that you missed his funeral?” Shai shot back.
Hammer shrugged. “It’s like your big brother said, ‘Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control.’ For as much as I would’ve liked to make it back here to see my cousin off, the good folks of Combinado del Este had other plans.”
Unfamiliar with the name, Shai looked to Tommy.
“It’s a prison in Cuba,” Tommy explained.
“Got into a little spat with one of the locals in a bar down there over a piece of trim that didn’t belong to either of us. He ended up dead and I ended up getting fifteen years in that shithole, but I was able to liberate myself in a little over seven. They planned on leaving me in there to rot, but there ain’t been a cage built yet that can hold the Hammer.”
“So you’
re a fugitive?” Shai asked.
“All depends on how you look at it. I like to think of myself as a man who prefers to find his own way, rather than have my steps dictated by others.”
“And what brings you this way?” Shai was suspicious and didn’t bother to hide it.
“I got a little business to handle in New York. That and the fact that I never got to come and pay my respects after Thomas died, so I figured I could kill two birds with one stone. From what I gathered since I been here, it seems I’ve come right on time. Tommy told me about that little piece of trouble y’all been having with people trying to poach on my cousin’s legacy.”
“Is that right?” Shai shot Tommy a dirty look. “And what else you and my brother been back here gossiping about?”
“C’mon, Shai. Don’t take it like that. Tommy was just bringing me up to speed on what I missed while I was rotting away in a Third World prison. I know I’m a little on the old side now, but I’m still a soldier at heart and in times of war, you’ll need all the soldiers you can get.”
“For one we ain’t at war, and for two, we’ve got more than enough soldiers. Though I do thank you for the offer,” Shai said in a less-than-sincere tone.
“Okay, I get it. You’re just as suspicious of new people as your old man was,” Hammer said. “Well, let me lay my cards on the table so that we all understand each other. I didn’t come here today looking for no handouts, so let’s get that straight off the muscle. I ain’t doing so good financially these days, but I ain’t never been no beggar. I’m definitely trying to eat, but I ain’t looking for you to feed me. I’m old school and believing in earning my way, and all I’m asking for is a chance to prove it.”
Shai measured Hammer’s words. They seemed sincere enough, but it wouldn’t have been the first time someone who called themselves family came wearing a grin, but holding a knife behind his back. “Look,” he began in an easy tone, “I’m dealing with a lot today, so maybe we got off on the wrong foot.”
“I can dig it, Shai. You probably got a million niggas coming at you on the daily with their hands out. I remember how it was when I was running things down in Miami. Being a boss comes with a lot of stress. I’m sure I didn’t help matters much by just popping up like this, especially when y’all are having a private get-together. Let me get out of your way and we’ll talk another time if you want. I’m glad I got a chance to see you though,” Hammer said as he gave Shai a hug, then Tommy.