by K'wan
CHAPTER 23
“Man, this has got to be the fanciest whore house I have ever seen!” Jewels said, giving the three-story house the once over. It was a big white house in Long Island in a beautiful residential neighborhood. It was hardly the type of place where you would find a den of criminals, which is probably why the owner selected the location.
“Nigga, would you please shut the fuck up? And for the love of God, please try not to embarrass me while we’re in there. You only get once chance to make a first impression,” Tech told him. He was trying to appear the picture of calm, but his stomach was doing flip-flops.
“Let me ask you something, T. What you think that old woman really called you out here for?” Jewels asked.
“I told you; Belle says she wants me to court her the right way if I plan to kick it with her,” Tech repeated what he’d already explained the day before.
“And you believed her? Listen, all I’m saying is that this old bag is as big a gangster as Shai. Half these bitches in here sell pussy or steal, so why is she all of a sudden concerned with etiquette when it comes to you?” Jewels questioned. He didn’t like the setup and felt like there was more to Tech being summoned all the way to Long Island.
“My nigga, you being paranoid. Let’s just go in here and humor this old lady, so we can get back into the streets,” Tech told him before ringing the doorbell.
After a few moments, he could hear the locks being undone and took a second to make sure that he looked presentable. He smiled when the door opened, expecting to be greeted by one of the girls, but instead found himself looking up at a hard-faced man wearing a tee-shirt and jeans.
“Fuck you want?” He glared down at Tech.
“Uh, I’m here to see Lulabelle,” Tech told him.
“Why?” the man asked. It was an unexpected question that he wasn’t quite sure how to answer. Thankfully, he didn’t have to.
“Who is that?” Belle came from behind the man. She was wearing a sundress and sandals. When she noticed Tech and Jewels standing there looking awkward, she frowned up at the doorman. “Rick, why are you harassing my guests?”
“Ah, I’m just having a little fun with them. You niggas can take a joke, right?”
“Sure man,” Tech said dryly.
“Move, so they can come in!” Belle nudged Rick out of the way so that the men could enter. “Sorry about that. Rick is like our caretaker-slash-pain in the ass. He can be kind of a dick sometimes.”
“So I’ve noticed,” Tech mumbled, falling in step behind her.
The inside of the house wasn’t as impressive as the outside, but it was nice. Long couches formed a horseshoe around the living room and there was a big television mounted on the wall. Several of the girls who weren’t at the party were sitting around watching videos. When they saw Belle come in with Tech and Jewels, they exchanged giggles.
“I done died and gone to heaven,” Jewels said, eyeing the different flavors of women.
“Hi, Tech-Nine,” one of them greeted him playfully. Obviously, he had been the topic of conversation before they arrived.
“Sandy, don’t let me come out of this dress and handle you,” Belle warned.
“Chill out, Belle. I was only joking,” Sandy said, but didn’t sound believable.
“Well, my name is Jewels in case anybody is wondering,” Jewels said.
“C’mon, let’s go sit outside. Ms. Ruby is waiting for us in the backyard,” Belle said as she grabbed Tech by the hand. She was marking her territory.
Belle led her guests across the living room, under the watchful gaze of her roommates. Tech couldn’t help but to feel like a piece of meat from the way they were looking at him. Through the kitchen was a glass door leading to the backyard. He could see Ms. Ruby sitting on a lawn chair, but she wasn’t alone. She was chatting with a brutish-looking white man with a shaved head. Tech’s radar immediately went off and he hesitated.
“What’s this?” Tech asked Belle suspiciously.
“Relax, Tech. That’s just Natalia’s brother, Pietro.”
“I feel a little underdressed for a party. Maybe I should go back home and change.”
“Stop being so paranoid and just come on. Everything will make sense in a second and please try to keep an open mind before you form an opinion,” Belle said as she pulled him by the hand through the doors.
When they stepped out into the yard, Ms. Ruby and the white guy immediately stopped talking; another bad sign.
“Welcome to our home, Tech,” Ms. Ruby greeted him with a crocodile smile.
“Thank you for having us, ma’am. You remember my buddy Jewels from the baby shower,” Tech said in way of an introduction.
“Indeed I do. Hello, Jewels,” Ms. Ruby spoke to him. She craned her neck and looked beyond them as if she was expecting someone else to be coming out of the house.
“Something wrong?” Tech asked, not feeling the setup.
“I was half-expecting you to be traveling with your little shadow. What is it they call him?” Ms. Ruby searched her memory. “The Animal, right?”
Tech’s face couldn’t hide his shock. If he wasn’t sure about this being a setup before, her mentioning Animal’s name confirmed it. Instinctively his hand dropped to his side, where he had his gun shoved in his pocket, covered by his shirt.
“Relax, Tech. I didn’t ask you out here to hurt you. I brought you hear to offer you an opportunity to make some money,” Ms. Ruby said in an attempt to put him at ease.
“I’ll pass, thanks. We outta here, Jewels.” Tech turned to leave, but found Ricky standing in the doorway blocking his path. Slung over his shoulder was a shotgun. Tech cut his eyes at Belle, who looked nervous. “This how you do all the niggas who come by here to date you?”
“It ain’t her fault. Belle had no idea what this was about until right before you arrived,” Ms. Ruby said. “Tech, I assure you that if I wanted you dead I wouldn’t have you killed where my girls lay their heads, nor would I have allowed you and Jewels to keep your guns. I just need a few minutes of your time. If at any point you find yourself uncomfortable or not interested in my proposition, you are free to leave. Now please, sit down.”
Grudgingly, Tech and Jewels did as they were asked.
“That’s better.” Ms. Ruby was smiling again. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Nah, just get to the point,” Tech said angrily.
“Very well then.” Ms. Ruby was now serious. “What Belle told you before was true; anyone who wants to court one of my girls is expected to present themselves like a proper gentleman, but before you crossed my threshold I wanted to know a little more about you, so I did some digging. I found myself quite surprised that for someone so young, you have quite the resume; murder, extortion… It seems you dabble in a little bit of everything, but you seem quite good at taking things that don’t belong to you. I’ve even heard stories about dealers in the city who pay you not to rob them. That’s impressive.”
“Your point?”
“My point being that I have found myself in need of a man like you for a piece of business that Pietro and Natalia have brought to us.” Ms. Ruby motioned to the white man, who was just glaring at them with his cold blue eyes. “Problem is, we’ve found ourselves shorthanded and are in need of some capable young men to help us take off this score.”
“Sorry, I’m not interested,” Tech said as he stood. “Now that you’ve spoken your piece, I’m leaving. Let’s go, Jewels.” He headed for the door leading back to the kitchen.
“You must be doing pretty well for yourself to turn your back on twenty-thousand dollars!” Ms. Ruby called after him.
This stopped Tech dead in his tracks.
CHAPTER 24
When Swann arrived at their destination, he found himself more confused than when they had set out. Shai directed him into Newark’s industrial district, which consisted of mostly warehouses and buildings that looked like they had seen better days. It was also the area where Poppa had once
planned to build his dream casino.
A feeling of nostalgia swept over Shai as they got out and took in the unfinished landscape. He could remember coming out there with his father before he died and listening to him talk for hours on end about how he was going to bring big business back to Newark. Shai thought it was a bad idea to try and build a casino in Newark, but his father wouldn’t be swayed. For as passionate as he was when he spoke about it, you’d have thought he owed the city a debt. Whatever the debt was, the secret died with Poppa Clark.
“What the hell are we doing here?” Swann asked, stepping over a broken beer bottle.
“You’ll see,” Shai told him, and ventured deeper into the rubble.
Sol was already there. He was deep in conversation with an older white man who wore a bewildered expression on his face. His shadow, Jacob, loomed not too far away, looking at the place in disgust. When Sol spotted Shai, a broad smile crossed his face and he waved him over.
“Morning gentlemen,” Shai greeted them.
“More like late afternoon, but who am I to judge?” Sol joked. “Shai, I’d like you to meet someone. This is Allen White. He’s one of Chance’s guys.”
“Thanks for agreeing to meet us on such short notice,” Shai said as he shook his hand.
“No problem. It isn’t too often that Chancellor King calls in a personal favor. I figured you were somebody important,” Allen told him.
“Nah, just a kid with a dream. I trust that my partner has filled you in on the specifics of what I’ll need. My question is, can you do it?”
Allen looked over the property. “I mean…we can do anything, it’s just that this seems like a strange place for what you’re planning. I was telling Sol that I have a guy who can show you some other properties which may fit the mold a little better.”
“No, it has to be here.”
Allen looked at Sol, who just shrugged. “Ah, okay. I’ll come out with my crew Monday morning so we can get a better idea of what needs to be done and what we need to do it, and we’ll follow up with an estimate. We’ll be in touch.” He shook Shai and Sol’s hands respectively before leaving.
Shai just stood there for a minute, looking at the mess of trash rubble and unfinished buildings, smiling like he was watching a beautiful sunset. “Amazing,” he whispered as the vision came together in his head.
“You know this is not gonna be an easy task, right?” Sol stood next to him.
“Nothing worth having ever is,” Shai responded. “Would either of you like to clue me in on what you’re looking at?” Swann was confused.
“Our future,” Shai told him.
“You gonna move forward with Poppa’s casino?” Swann asked.
“Nah, that was his dream, but this one will be mine.”
Swann looked back and forth between Shai and the rubble. Either his best friend was playing a prank on him, or he just wasn’t getting it.
“Low-income housing,” Sol filled in the blanks. “That’s what you plan to build here? Fucking projects?” Swann was dumbfounded.
“Nah, man. These ain’t gonna be no crummy ass projects. They’ll be more like affordable condos, geared towards working-class people. This is just the first step to us helping to undo some of the harm the Clarks have done to urban communities over the years. This is my way of paying it forward.”
“Nigga, you must be out your mind. First of all, in case you hadn’t noticed, this is an industrial district!” Swann pointed out. “Let’s say for the sake of argument that building condos in this shithole was a good idea, which it isn’t; how do you expect to get residential building permits for it?”
“Already taken care of. Our good friend Bill O’Connor is going to see to that,” Shai informed him.
“Bullshit! There’s no way you’re going to get him to try and push this through. They’ll laugh him out of office,” Swann said.
“I’m not giving him a choice. As we speak, Scotty is in his office making him an offer he can’t refuse.”
*
With each step Scotty took down the hallway, the more foolish he felt. Shai had come up with some off-the-wall ideas, but this one took the cake. He figured one of two things were going to come of this meeting; he would be thrown out on his ass or arrested. Neither prospect appealed to him. Still, if this is what Shai required of him, he’d do it.
At the end of the hall, a chubby brunette sat behind a desk chatting on the phone. From the way she would bust out laughing every so often at whatever the person on the other end was saying, he figured it was a personal call. When she looked up and saw the young black man standing there, she made a face as if she had smelled something foul. “I’ll call you back,” she said before ending the call. “Can I help you?”
“Martin Scott to see Bill O’Connor,” Scotty said in a clear and professional voice.
“Are you on the calendar for today?”
“No, but I’m sure he’ll see me.”
The girl glared at Scotty for a while as if she was trying to decide whether she should call security or not. “Give me a second,” she said as she picked up the phone and punched in an extension. “I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but you have a Scott Martin…”
“Martin Scott,” He corrected her.
“A Martin Scott to see you,” she said as she rolled her eyes. Whatever O’Conner said to her on the other end completely changed her attitude by the time she hung up. “My apologies, Mr. Scott. Please go right in.”
Scotty strolled in to find Bill chatting on his cell phone and typing on his computer at the same time. From his disheveled hair to the half-empty bottle of scotch on his table, he looked like a man who was having a bad day. Little did he know, it was about to get worse. He motioned for Scotty to have a seat while he finished up what he was doing.
“Sorry about that,” Bill apologized once he had finished up his call. “This has been the day from hell. Of all the cities I could’ve chased office in, why the fuck did I pick Newark?” he asked as he flopped back in his chair. “I’m sorry, Scotty. How have you been?”
“I’m good, Bill. I could complain, but who’d listen?” Scott joked.
“When you’re right, you’re right. Listen, I don’t wanna seem like I’m rushing you, but I’ve got a ton of shit to do. When I leave here, I’ve got to run out to Union. A friend of mine lost his son-in-law last night and his daughter is all broken up. I gotta go over to pay my respects.”
“My condolences, and I totally understand. I see you’ve got your hands full so I’ll make this short and sweet. I trust either Shai or Sol has reached out already?”
“Yes, I spoke to Sol. To be honest, I thought he was pulling my leg when he told me what Shai wanted.”
“Afraid not. He’s very serious about building these condos, but needs a little help on your end before he can break ground,” Scotty explained.
“Right… about that. I spoke to a few people and it’s a no-go. Doing something like that will require a lot of moving parts. Building a low-income housing area that close to the goods housed in that area would mean we’d have to hire additional police to make sure nothing gets out of hand.”
“What you really mean is to keep the niggers in line?” Scotty read between the lines. “No worries, Bill. We plan to hire private armed security to prevent such things. It won’t be yours or the city’s problem.”
“Even still, I’d have to bring it before the city council to get it approved and who knows how long that could take. Shai could have his money tied up in that for years.”
“Then get it done quicker,” Scotty shot back. “Let’s talk turkey here, Bill. Neither one of us wants me to leave this office telling Shai you didn’t wanna play nice, so let’s stop yanking each other’s dicks. I kinda like you and would hate for something bad to happen to you.”
“Is that a threat?”
“Not at all, just me giving you some friendly advice.”
“Well look here, friend, the bottom line is I can’t do it; at least not in th
at area. Now if Shai wants to try and build his fantasy sand castle somewhere else, but it’s not going to happen on that site. He might as well sell it off and move on.”
Scotty shook his head sadly. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go there, but you forced my hand,” he said as he reached into his pocket, causing Bill to jump back nervously. “Relax, I’m a lawyer not a gangster,” he said as he tossed something wrapped in plastic on the desk. “That look familiar?”
“What the fuck is this?” Bill looked down at it nervously.
“The mirror you and that dead girl were snorting coke off. I’ll bet if they run it through ballistics they’ll find your prints all over it. Care to see what else we got tucked away for a rainy day?”
“But…but Shai said I wouldn’t have to worry about this anymore. He said he would take care of it!” Bill was almost in tears.
“Provided that you play ball,” Scotty told him. “That sneaky little black motherfucker!” Bill slammed his fists on the table.
“Bill, slinging insults isn’t gonna get us anywhere. You know I don’t like doing this kinda shit any more than you do, but it doesn’t change the fact that we both find ourselves in a very, very sensitive position with only two possible outcomes.”
“So, this is how the Clarks treat their friends?”
“Bill, you and I both know we ain’t never been friends nor will we be,” Scotty said as he got up and straightened his suit jacket. “If we don’t hear from you by morning, trust and believe we’ll see you on the news by afternoon. Oh, and you can keep the mirror. Good day, sir,” he capped, and headed for the door. The last thing he heard before closing it behind him was Bill’s sobbing.
CHAPTER 25
“This is bad idea…a real bad idea,” Louie said from the backseat of the Cadillac. He had been shaking like a hooker in church the whole ride to New Jersey.
“Would you shut the fuck up already?” Frankie snapped from the passenger seat. “The only reason I let you live instead of sending you along for the ride with your friends is because I think you can be useful to me. Now if I made a bad decision, let me know and I can have Jimmy end our business relationship right now.”