by K'wan
“You said don’t bring him to the house, and I didn’t. We’re on the lawn,” Hope tried to joke, but Shai wasn’t in joking mood.
“Don’t be cute, Hope. You graduated at the top of your class, so I know you ain’t stupid, even though your actions say otherwise.”
“Hey, Shai…” Snake tried to interject.
“That’s Mr. Clark to you, lil’ nigga!” Shai said sharply. “Now the only reasons I can see you coming back around here after my brother told you to stay away is you’re plum fucking stupid, or you really don’t understand what kind of family your little girlfriend comes from.”
Snake tensed as Swann moved forward. It wasn’t a hostile gesture, but he planted himself close enough into the young man’s space that he had a clear shot of his jaw. Snake ignored Swann and spoke directly to Shai.
“I know who you are, Mr. Clark, and that’s the reason I came back. I owe you an apology for yesterday. Not because I’m trying to score points, but because as someone who claims to care about your little sister, I shouldn’t have let her get that drunk, let alone brought her to the baby shower in that condition. Still, I don’t think one lapse in judgment gives you or anyone else the right to treat me like shit whenever I come around. As a man, I can’t accept that,” he said with a straight face.
“Well, I guess you just volunteered yourself for the first broken jaw of the day.” Swann stepped forward, but Shai stopped him.
“I got this,” Shai ensured him, eyes locked on Snake. “Take Hope with you.”
“Wait a second! Let me talk to you, Shai,” Hope tried to intervene, but Swann placed a firm arm around her waist.
“Let the grown folks talk, sweetie. C’mon, I’ll show you the secret stash of weed Tommy doesn’t know that I know he’s growing around the back,” Swann said as he steered her away from the confrontation.
“Your mama drop you on your head or something when you were a kid?” Shai asked him seriously.
Snake chuckled. “Nah, man. I just ain’t never been big on holding my tongue. I know you don’t know anything about me and I understand why you and your brother are dealing with me from a distance, but honestly I ain’t trying to get close to you or anything you got going on. I’m just trying to get to know Hope a little better. I hope you don’t feel like I’m being out of line, but I got too much respect for your family name to be anything but straight up with you.”
Shai measured the young man’s words. He still didn’t like Snake, but respected his honesty. “My sister is a good kid and on the right track, and the last thing I need is somebody else’s bad habits rubbing off on her and derailing this life we’ve laid out.”
“Mr. Clark, I don’t drink and I only smoke once in a blue. I’m a second-year accounting major, with a 3.6 GPA, who likes to take pictures of pretty things,” he said, hoisting the camera for Shai to see. “I ain’t nothing to worry about.”
“That remains to be seen, but until such time, just know that I’ve got my eye on you.”
Snake gave him a smug grin. “I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
*
Shai rolled back around to the front of the house to find Swann and Hope having a heated debate. When she spotted Shai walking up alone, a look of dread crossed her face. She breathed a deep sigh of relief when she finally noticed Snake bringing up the rear. She rushed passed her brother and hugged Snake tightly.
“Damn, Hope. What did you think I was going to kill him and burry him in the yard?” Shai asked sarcastically.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Hope mumbled. “Watch that shit,” Swann warned.
“Look, I’m gonna leave you good people to it and take my ass back to the city,” Snake announced.
“What?” Hope was surprised. “I thought we were gonna have lunch today?”
“I know, and I’m sorry to disappoint you, ma, but I think it’s best for all parties involved if I take a rain check,” Snake said as he cut his eyes at Shai. “I’ll call you later.” He kissed Hope on the cheek and walked towards his bike, which was near the foot of the driveway.
“You be careful riding that thing on the highway! I’d hate to hear you mysteriously got hit by a truck!” Swann called after him mockingly.
Hope stood there, watching sadly as Snake rode off. When she turned back to Shai she was furious. “Are you happy now? You ran him off!”
“Hope, I did you a favor. You’re lucky it was me instead of Tommy, because he doesn’t make it a practice to warn people about shit twice,” Shai told her.
“Amen to that.” Swann added.
“You mind your business, Swann! And Shai, I keep telling you and your asshole brother that I’m not a little girl anymore. I can make my own decisions!”
“Then make them wisely,” Shai replied. “Hope, I don’t know why you’re so head-over-heels for this slum ass nigga, but you need to knock it off. Now I’m not judging Snake, because I don’t know him well enough to form an opinion about his character, but I know he’s not right for my sister. You represent the Clarks, and anybody you choose to lay with is a reflection on this family.”
“So says the man who wife’d a stripper!” Hope snapped. The words were sharp, but she was angry and emotional.
“Hope, you’re about to cross a line,” Swann warned her, seeing where the argument was headed.
“Nah, this conversation is long overdue,” Shai said. “Let me tell you something, little miss. I’m about sick of you running around with your nose in the air, like you’re better than everybody else in this family. You always got some slick shit to say about what and how I do things, but I didn’t see you balking when I paid the whole four years of your tuition in advance, nor do I recall you returning any of those checks I send you once per month so you can stunt with your dizzy ass friends.”
“You know what? Fuck you and this!” Hope rolled her eyes and tried to walk away, but Shai grabbed her arm. When she looked into his eyes she saw something that she had never seen in them before: rage.
“You ungrateful little bitch, how dare you give me your back!” Shai rained spittle in her face. “Do you have any idea what I had to sacrifice to keep this family together when they killed Daddy? I live every day of my life as a walking target and an indictment waiting to come down, and I do it with a smile because I love my family, even if they’re too damn dumb to realize it!” Tears danced in the corner of his eyes. “Hope, I understand that you don’t like some of the decisions I make, just like I didn’t like some of the stuff Daddy did, but you have to understand that I do these things from a place of love. I don’t want you pissing away your formative years and end up having to play whatever life has left to offer you.”
“You mean like you did?” Hope jerked loose of his grip. “Shai, we might share the same genes, but we are nothing alike.” She stormed back into the house. Shai attempted to go after her, but Swann stopped him.
“Let her be, Slim. Give her some space and revisit the conversation when cooler heads can prevail,” Swann told him.
Shai’s shoulders sagged like he was carrying the weight of the world on them. “I just want Hope to have a shot at being something better in life, Swann. Why doesn’t she understand that?”
“They never do until it’s too late.”
*
Shai and Swann were just about to pull out when they saw Honey’s SUV turn into the driveway. Brutus got out from behind the wheel, dressed in his black suit. He gave a nod in greeting to Shai and Swann, before walking around to the passenger’s side to help Honey out. Shai took one look at her face and knew that he was about to deal with another angry woman.
“Give me a sec,” Shai told Swann, before walking to meet Honey. “Sup, babe?” he asked as he kissed her. Her lips were flat and passionless. “Damn, who kicked your dog?”
“Nobody, I’m just tired. I’ve been running around all morning and I need a nap,” Honey told him.
“Yeah, I see you were up and out early. Where you been, Penny?” Shai did his best Ch
ip Fields impersonation.
“In Woodlawn. I had Brutus take me to the gun range.”
The revelation stole the mirth from Shai’s voice. “What you need to go to the range for? I pay Brutus to catch the bodies.”
“I know, and Brutus is exceptional at his job, but there may come a point when he’s not around and I gotta handle a situation on my own.”
From the tone of her voice, Shai knew there was something she wasn’t saying.
“Honey, what’s going on?” Shai asked. She looked to Brutus as if she was waiting for him to give her the greenlight to answer. “What the fuck are you looking at him for when I’m the one talking to you?”
“Your cousin Hammer paid us a visit,” Brutus answered for her.
“What? When? What did that nigga do to you?” Shai fired off questions.
“He didn’t do anything. We were at the mall shopping and he showed up at the store we were in. He told me to tell you that it was urgent that the two of you spoke,” she said, replaying the conversation between her and Hammer.
“I’m gonna kill that nigga!” Shai began pacing back and forth.
“Shai, it wasn’t that serious. He wasn’t rude or threatening; just a little creepy,” Honey explained.
“And where were you when this bitch ass nigga was having my woman play messenger?” Shai spun on Brutus.
“I sent him to get coffee,” Honey answered for him.
“Coffee? Nigga, do I pay you to get coffee or keep my wife safe?” Shai was angry.
“Shai, I was only gone for five minutes,” Brutus explained.
“And it only takes half a second to pull a trigger!” Shai shot back. He invaded Brutus’ space. “Let me tell you something, and please be clear on this; you’ve got one job and that’s to keep Honey out of harm’s way. Now if you don’t feel like you’re capable of doing that, speak now and I’ll get a more qualified soldier to replace you. Do you understand me?”
Brutus didn’t trust himself to speak for fear of what might have come out of his mouth, so he simply nodded.
“Don’t blame him because the men in your gangster ass family don’t know their places. Maybe if you hadn’t been so busy with your new little friend, I wouldn’t have had to depend on the next man.” Honey pulled Monet’s business card from her purse and flicked it at Shai.
Shai was stunned and his face said it.
“Honey, it isn’t what you think,” he said honestly.
“Oh, that’s painfully obvious. You just can’t keep your dick from straying can you? This shit with you is getting old, Shai…real old. The bitches, the late nights,” she shook her head. “I don’t even know why I continue to get mad at you. A leopard never changes its spots. I knew you was a dog when I got with you, but I chose to stay. That’s my fault, but I got a trick for your slick ass, Slim.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ll find out right after I drop my load,” Honey said slyly, and started towards the house.
Shai grabbed her by the arm and spun her to face him. “Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you!”
“Get your fucking hands off me!” Honey yelled as she jerked loose of his grip. “While you out here trying to get all buster bad ass on me, you need to put some of that same aggression into them niggas who are in the streets pissing on your name like you soft. On his worst day, a nigga would have never had the balls to get next to anything Tommy Clark held dear, but I forgot - you ain’t Tommy, you the little brother!” Honey had only been talking shit to get under Shai’s skin, but she wasn’t ready for what would happen next.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Shai’s voice was calm… too calm.
“What? You got some frog in you?” She pressed, seeing that she now had his attention. “Jump, lil’ nigga. I dare you.”
Shai took her up on her offer. He reached for her, not quite sure what his intentions were. Honey wisely moved back, but when she did, her feet got crossed up and she fell hard to the concrete. Quicker than she should have been able to move in her condition, Honey was back up and on Shai’s ass like a wild woman.
“Nigga, you think I’m soft?” she questioned as she started raining punches on him.
“Honey, chill out!” Shai tried to restrain her, but she was too far gone. She managed to get one hand free and clocked him in the lip, busting it. Shai looked from the blood dripping into his sneaker to Honey. “Bitch, you must have lost your mind!” He raised his hand, but Brutus grabbing him about the wrist stopped the blow from falling.
“I’m going to need you to calm down, Shai,”
Brutus said. His tone was soft, but his eyes were hard.
“You sure about this?” Shai challenged. Before Brutus could answer, Swann’s shadow loomed behind us.
“I’m gonna need all three of y’all to chill the fuck out before we make a mess out here that nobody wants to clean up,” Swann said. It wasn’t a threat, but there was no misunderstanding about what he meant.
Brutus waited until he was sure Shai wasn’t going to take a swing at him, before releasing him. “We good?” Shai didn’t reply, and simply walked away; too stunned to speak. It was a bad sign and Brutus knew it.
Swann stood there, and watched his friend walk to the car seemingly in a daze over what happened. He waited until he was out of earshot before addressing Honey and Brutus. “You good, sis?” he asked Honey.
“Yeah, but something is wrong with your boy,” Honey replied as she brushed herself off.
“That we can agree on; something is definitely not right in this equation,” Swann said as if he knew something they didn’t. “Why don’t you go in the house and get yourself cleaned up.” He waited until Honey was gone before turning to Brutus.
“Swann, I…”
“Whatever you were about to say, why don’t you hold onto it until I’ve spoken my piece,” Swann cut him off. “I’m going to say some things that you’re probably not going to like, and after I’m done, you’re welcome to react to them however you feel the need. You, my friend, are a snake. When we got busted for selling weed in high school, and I know for a fact that it was you who told, Shai wouldn’t let me put hands on you. When you fucked the girl you knew he was sweet on, he gave you another pass, and let’s not forget one of my personal favorites; when you allegedly saved his life when old man Miller ran up on y’all shooting. But I think you and I both know who that bullet was meant for and who orchestrated the whole thing.”
Brutus’ eyes went wide.
“Don’t look so surprised. I know the whole story. You were fucking the bitch too, but when the shit hit the fan and she wound up pregnant, the two of you concocted that lame ass plan to blame Shai because you thought nobody would be stupid enough to try and lay hands on Poppa Clark’s kid. I guess old man Miller proved the both of you wrong, huh? If it’ll make you feel any better, I killed old man Miller not long after that. Took me a little longer to track his whore of a daughter, but she eventually got what she deserved too. They always do in the end.”
“You gonna tell Shai?” Brutus asked.
“I’d thought about it for a long time, but Shai has had a rough enough go of things. Better to let sleeping dogs lay than heap more heartache on him. I don’t like you, Brutus. I never have and probably never will, but right now you’re in Shai’s good graces, which is why I’m expressing myself with words instead of the business end of my strap. But your slip is starting to show, my friend. Sometime real soon, that hold you got over Shai is going to waver, and when that time comes, I’m going to take extreme pleasure in erasing you from existence. Tick-tock, my nigga, tick-tock,” Swann warned as he ambled off.
“You good?” Swann asked once he was in the car with Shai.
“Yeah, I’m straight,” Shai said, but it was a weak lie. It wasn’t the first time that Honey said some fly shit to Shai, but it was the first time he let her words cut deep enough to pull him out of character. Besides Swann, he had never confided in anyone els
e about his insecurities about not being as good a leader as Tommy, and she had thrown it in his face. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything, Shai. You know that,” Swann said, hoping he was finally going to give him the green light to off Brutus.
“Get somebody in the streets and have them track down my cousin Hammer.”
From the tone of Shai’s voice, Swann knew something was wrong. “Everything okay?”
“It will be once I put this nigga in his place. I want him standing in front of me before the day is over.”
“You got it,” Swann agreed. “Speaking of niggas being put in their place, what you wanna do about Brutus?”
“Nothing.”
“What you mean nothing? That cat was out of pocket.”
“Nah, it ain’t his fault. I brought it on myself. I shouldn’t have raised my hand to Honey.”
“That we can agree on. You played yourself, bro, but who the fuck is this nigga to get in the middle of family business? That cat is forgetting his place and needs a reminder,” he said as he brandished his gun.
Shai shook his head. “Whether he overstepped or not, I owe that man my life.”
Swann looked at Shai in disbelief. “Shai, you’ve paid that debt a hundred times over. How long you gonna carry that? I promise, I can go in and get it done and over before Honey even knows what’s going on.”
“I said leave him!” Shai’s tone was stern.
“Fuck it.” Swann put the gun away. “So what’s up with this master plan you were telling me about earlier?” he asked, changing the subject. “You gonna keep an asshole in suspense or what?”
Shai let the faintest hint of a smile touch his lips. “For that, I can show you better than I can tell you. Head over to Newark.”
As Shai and Swann were pulling away from the estate, Shai noticed a car sitting right outside the gate. Behind the wheel was a white girl with blonde hair. She was turned away talking to someone, so he couldn’t see her face. Swann was going too fast for Shai to get a good look at who was in the car with her, but if he didn’t know any better, he would have sworn it was his brother, Tommy.