R.I.C.O.

by C. J. Hudson

  “I have been in this game a long time, and as far as I know, you all have made hundreds of thousands of dollars by being a part of my operation. We’ve done well together, but I think that maybe it’s time for me to take an extended vacation.”

  The group of men all looked at one another in total surprise. After the initial shock wore off, Trey was the first one to speak up.

  “Wait, hold up. Are you trying to tell us that you’re getting out of the game?”

  “I didn’t say that, Trey. I said vacation.”

  “So, Turiq is gonna be running shit while out you’re outta town?” Blue asked.

  “No. I’m gonna have Turiq working on some other shit.”

  “Then who the fuck we supposed to deal with when we need to drop off some bread or pick up some product?” Damon asked indignantly.

  Darnell glared at him. He didn’t like his tone and didn’t try to hide it.

  “First of all, watch how the fuck you talk to me, li’l-ass nigga. And second, I was getting to that shit, so just chill the fuck out.”

  Darnell’s sharp words caused Damon to flinch. He didn’t appreciate being talked to like a common street soldier and couldn’t wait to end Darnell’s reign. He shot a quick but subtle glance at Sunny and decided that as an extra measure of revenge, he may just fuck the shit out of the little cunt before he killed her too.

  “Now, like the fuck I was saying, I feel that it’s time that I took a much-deserved vacation. If you need to re-up or drop off some bread, see Sunny.”

  For the second time since the meeting had begun, the lieutenants looked around at each other, this time in total disbelief.

  “Anybody got a problem with that?”

  Truth be told, they all had a problem with it, even OG Hann. He had never questioned Darnell’s judgment until today. Leaving a million-dollar drug empire in the hands of a 20-year-old didn’t seem like the actions of a rational man. But since Darnell was the boss, there was nothing that they could do about it.

  “Now, I know what you are all thinking, but Duck and Lard will be there if Sunny and her crew should need any assistance. Turiq and I have been training them for the last few months, and we’re confident that the business can continue to thrive while we’re away.”

  “How long will you be gone?” OG Hann asked.

  “Three months,” Darnell lied.

  “Where you headed, boss man?”

  “Hawaii,” Darnell said, a broad smile forming on his face. It was the first time that he’d smiled since the beginning of the meeting. “I leave in four days.”

  While everyone else seemed to be coming to grips with Darnell’s decision, Damon was plotting. His plan was slowly starting to gel. Darnell may have thought he was about to go on vacation, but Damon had no intention of letting him get on that plane.

  Chapter 28

  The following night, Damon, Moon, Eric, Slab, Paul, and Dani all sat in a smoke-filled hotel suite in downtown Cleveland. Damon smiled as he continued to lay out his master plan. A knock on the door briefly interrupted him, but he didn’t mind. He knew exactly who was on the other side of the door. Although they were nearly an hour late, he wasn’t going to hold it against them.

  “Dani, get the door,” he ordered his plaything.

  With a slight frown on her face, Dani got up and walked to the door. Damon watched her all the way there. He didn’t know what was going on with her, but she’d been acting funny the past few weeks. He decided that enough was enough and was going to make sure that he addressed her attitude after the meeting. He also noticed that Moon’s mind seemed to be in a different place. He wondered if Moon was thinking about Turiq’s daughter. Damon had seen how he’d gawked at her at Darnell’s meeting but didn’t think anything of it until now. But Moon was a top-notch soldier. He knew he could count on him.

  When Dani opened the door and saw the two imposing figures standing in front of her, she took a cautionary step back. Their entire vibe screamed goon. Dani stood there frozen. She didn’t know whether to invite them in or slam the door in their faces.

  “Jus’, Kenne, ’sup up, my niggas?”

  “Paper and violence, my dude; paper and violence,” the larger of the two men answered. His name was Justin, and if you looked up thug in the dictionary, you would see a picture of him holding a gun. He stood around six foot four with a shaved head and heavily tattooed forearms. His full beard was scraggly and nappy. The smile he flashed was highly deceptive. There wasn’t a friendly bone in his entire body, and he took great pleasure in hurting people. His cousin Kenne, although not as tall, was quite a physical specimen in his own right. Kenne, standing a shade over six foot one, had the physique of a young Mike Tyson. Cornrow braids sat atop his square head. He had three teeth missing from the top, which made him look like a ghetto vampire. Dani looked back at Damon.

  “The fuck you looking at me for? Move the fuck out of the way and let them in,” he snapped. He was becoming increasingly more disrespectful toward Dani, and she was getting tired of it. She rolled her eyes and popped her lips as she stepped to the side. While Justin and Kenne were walking in, Damon was quickly making his way over to Dani. By the time she closed the door and turned around, he was practically nose to nose with her.

  “Who the fuck you rolling yo’ eyes at like that? You know what? I don’t know what the fuck has been up with you lately, but you better get yo’ shit together. If you wanna be a queen, then stop acting like a royal bitch.”

  Damon turned to walk away from her but stopped when he heard her sniffles. He turned back to face her and was surprised to see tears roll from the corners of her eyes. Realizing that he may have gone a tad too far, he wiped away her tears.

  “Look, baby, I didn’t mean to style on you like that. Tell you what,” he said, grabbing her hand and placing it on his crotch. “After the meeting, I’ll kick these niggas out and bless you with this dick, cool?” he asked as if he were doing her a favor. He didn’t bother waiting for an answer, instead, opting to turn and walk away from her. As Dani stared at the back of his head, her lips slowly curled into a sinister grin. Her love for him was quickly waning. Although she loved the orgasmic heights that he took her to, she just didn’t know if she could continue to allow herself to be treated like a piece of shit. She walked over and plopped down on a sofa as Damon introduced Justin and Kenne. When he was done, he made sure that everyone knew the plan. They all smiled and nodded, rubbing their hands together greedily. Everyone was on board . . . except the one person that he needed to be on board.

  Chapter 29

  Although it was only four o’clock, Kevantae’s Lounge was jumping. The live entertainment was scheduled to begin at six, but Dani had taken some of the money that Damon had given her and greased a few palms, ensuring that they started well ahead of when they were supposed to. To Sunny and the rest of her crew, the jazz-style music was not what they would usually listen to, but it was soothing, nonetheless, so they didn’t complain. It was nearly ninety degrees outside, but inside the lounge, it was a very comfortable seventy-one. Kevantae’s wasn’t what you would call an upscale eatery, but it was clean, the drinks were strong, and the food was tasty. Dani, who’d gotten there first, had taken the liberty of ordering enough wings to accommodate everyone’s appetite. She had to dig into her memory bank to remember what drinks the rest of them had ordered in Akron, but after thinking long and hard, it came to her.

  As Sunny and Butter greedily tore into the wings, Jazmine seemed to take forever finishing her first one. She eyed Dani suspiciously as she sipped on her Long Island Iced Tea. It bothered her that Dani had suddenly suggested that they go out to celebrate Sunny’s ascension to the throne. It bothered her even more that she’d volunteered to foot the bill. As far as Jazmine knew, Dani’s ass was pretty much broke. Yet, here she was treating the crew like she had an endless supply of cash. Where in the fuck had she gotten all of this bread from? Jazmine also didn’t understand how Dani could forgive Sunny so easily after the incident a
t Sunny’s party. Had that been her, she would have been pissed off for months. In a way, Jazmine felt responsible. It was she who had urged Sunny to take it easy on Dani and allow her to remain in their inner circle. But the more attention she paid to Dani, the more she realized that they might have allowed a snake to slither into their garden. Dani noticed the way Jazmine was looking at her, and it made her nervous.

  “What’s good, J?” she asked.

  “You tell me,” Jazmine said, shrugging her shoulders. “Seems like you threw this together awfully quick.”

  “Well, like I said, I just wanted to celebrate boss lady’s achievement,” she said, motioning toward Sunny.

  “Is that right?”

  “Of course. I mean, what other reason would I have?”

  “I don’t know, bitch. You tell me.” Jazmine was struggling to try to keep her voice down. Nothing about this so-called celebratory meeting felt right to her.

  “Jazmine, stop being so fucking paranoid,” Sunny said. “Besides, I know damn well this broad ain’t stupid enough to try some slick shit, right, Dani?”

  “Of course not, Sunny. I’m not stupid, regardless of what y’all think of me. I’m just glad to be a part of the team.”

  “The fuck you going?” Jazmine asked as Dani stood up.

  “I’m going to take a piss. Is that okay?” she asked, irritated.

  Jazmine stared at the back of her head as she walked away.

  “What’s good with you, J?” Sunny asked when Dani was out of earshot.

  “I call bullshit, Sunny. I don’t trust that bitch.”

  “J, you’re the one who talked me into keeping that bitch around. Now, you say that you don’t trust her? Make up your fucking mind.”

  “I did trust her at first, but over the last few weeks, I’ve been getting a bad vibe from her.”

  Sunny thought about it for a second before looking at Butter. For someone who usually had a lot to say, Butter had been pretty quiet.

  “What do you think, Butter? You call bullshit too?”

  Butter shrugged. “To be honest, I haven’t been paying the bitch much attention. But if she is living foul, we’ll just have to send her ass to visit Kim.”

  Sunny and Jazmine looked at each other, shook their heads, and smiled wickedly. Butter was ruthless, and they loved it. Sunny’s smile faded, however, when she pulled her vibrating cell phone from her pocket and looked at the screen.

  “What the fuck?” she yelled, causing other patrons to stare in her direction.

  “What’s wrong?” Butter asked.

  “Go get Dani now! We have to go.”

  Without asking why, Butter got up and sprinted toward the bathroom. When Sunny showed Jazmine the photo that had been texted to her, Jazmine gasped.

  “Oh my God,” she said, covering her mouth. Ten seconds later, Butter came out of the bathroom pulling Dani by the arm. The four women then proceeded to head for the exit.

  “What’s going on?” Dani asked . . . as if she didn’t know.

  * * *

  After slamming his suitcase shut, Darnell walked into his living room and grabbed a bottle of Hennessey off the bar. He poured a generous amount into a glass and took a sip. He looked at Joy, who was sitting on the arm of the couch with her arms folded. Darnell knew that she was upset, but she would just have to get over it. He then glanced at Turiq, who was sitting in a chair, trying hard to hide a smirk.

  “Joy, why are you sitting there looking like somebody kicked your damn dog?” Darnell asked, although he already knew the answer to his question.

  “Stop acting as if you don’t know why I’m pissed, Darnell. I asked you to wait a couple of weeks so that I can fly to Hawaii with you.”

  “Joy, we’ve already talked about this shit. How would it look if you just up and left when your coworker was just found dead under suspicious circumstances? And before you say it, I know that they don’t have anything to tie you to the scene, but I’d rather not take any chances. It won’t kill you to wait two more weeks.”

  Darnell walked over to her, cupped her face in his hands, and gave her a gentle kiss. After releasing her, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a huge knot of one-hundred-dollar bills. He counted out thirty of them and handed them to her. A grateful smile crossed her face.

  “You sure I can’t take you to the airport?”

  “Come on, Joy, you know damn well that’s not a good idea. A cop riding to the airport with a suspected drug lord? You trying to get yourself in trouble?”

  “No,” she said dejectedly.

  “Okay, then. Just keep up appearances, and I’ll see you in two weeks, okay?”

  “Yeah, all right. I’d better get going. I’m already late for work. Call me the minute you land,” she said, punctuating her message by stabbing her finger into his chest.

  “Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said.

  “If you don’t call me, you just might,” she said. After giving him a long hug and an even longer kiss, Joy headed for the door.

  “I don’t see shit funny, nigga,” she said to Turiq as she walked past him. As soon as she was out the door, Turiq turned to Darnell and shook his head.

  “What the fuck are you shaking your head at?”

  “Your lying ass. Nigga, the only reason you don’t want her to go out there with you now is that you wanna get out there and sample some of that Hawaiian pussy,” Turiq said, laughing.

  All Darnell could do was shrug and laugh. “Well, she doesn’t have to know that.”

  “You got that right,” Turiq said. “We need to get going if you’re going to make your flight, though,” Turiq said, glancing at his watch.

  Chapter 30

  At the end of the street, Damon, Eric, and Moon all sat in a pitch-black SUV waiting for Darnell and Turiq to exit Darnell’s house. Sitting across the street from it, posing as electricians in a white van, were Justin and Kenne. The two hoodlums couldn’t wait for it to go down. They’d both heard of Darnell and knew that he was the unquestioned kingpin of Cleveland, but their desire for the almighty dollar overruled any respect they may have had for the drug lord. The plan was simple. When Darnell and Turiq came out of the house, Justin and Kenne would ambush the unsuspecting pair. Since at least one of them would be transporting luggage to the car, it would give the two thugs an advantage that, along with the element of surprise, should be enough to get the job done.

  All five of the men’s dicks got hard when they saw the sexy, brown-skinned young woman walk out of Darnell’s house. The passenger door to the van opened briefly but closed just as fast as it opened. Immediately, Damon took out his cell phone and called Justin.

  “Hey, what the fuck is going on up there?” he asked.

  “Man, this pussy-thirsty muthafucka was about to get out of the van and try to holla at that bitch.”

  “What? Man, fuck that bitch. She ain’t part of this equation. Tell that nigga to stay the fuck on point.”

  Damon hung up without saying another word. “Silly muthafucka,” he mumbled.

  “What’s up, Nephew?” Eric asked.

  “Man, that nigga Kenne was about to get out and try to shoot game to the bitch.”

  Eric chuckled slightly. Since he’d just smashed his first piece of pussy in seven years, he was in no position to tell another man he couldn’t crack on a piece of ass.

  “Shiiiit, man, you can’t blame a nigga for trying to get his dick wet, Nephew.”

  “I can when the shit is interfering with my plans. He’s just gonna have to do that shit on his own time. We got business to attend to.”

  Damon looked at Moon and noticed a peculiar look on his face.

  “You good, dawg?” he asked.

  “Yeah, man, I’m straight.”

  What Moon didn’t tell him was that he recognized the woman coming out of Darnell’s house. Six months before Moon had joined Damon’s team, Joy and another cop had rolled up on him as he sat on a bench at Gordon Park smoking a blunt. The other cop wanted to take him
to jail, but Joy convinced him that the paperwork wasn’t worth it. Moon didn’t know why there was a cop coming out of Darnell’s house, and until he found out, he decided that he would just keep that information to himself.

  “Yo, Nephew, let me run something by you right quick,” Eric began. “I know that you’re planning to take over the dope game, but why stop there? We can get a stable of hoes and put the bitches to work.”

  “You mean pimp them bitches out? Man, I don’t know shit about that.”

  “Well, lucky for you, I do, and we can start with that bad bitch that came over the other night.”

  Damon rubbed his chin as if he were contemplating the idea, which, indeed, he was. He opened his mouth to speak, but a huge grin replaced his future words.

  “Showtime,” he said as he eyed Darnell and Turiq coming out of the house. He watched in anticipation as they made their way to the trunk of Darnell’s whip. He continued to watch as his two hired goons crept up behind them and put pistols to the back of their heads. He became downright ecstatic when he saw Justin bring the butt of his gun down on the back of Darnell’s neck, rendering him unconscious. Seeing how he was outmanned, Turiq quickly surrendered.

  “Time for phase two,” Damon said, taking out his cell phone. “Good work,” he said when Justin answered. “Now, put your gun in his mouth, take a picture of that, and send it to me.”

  As soon as he received the photo, Damon forwarded the image to Sunny’s cell phone with a message attached.

  Meet me at Gordon Park in two hours, or this muthafucka is dead.

  Chapter 31

  The sound of silence was deafening as Sunny and the other three members of her crew sat in Jazmine’s living room. Every few minutes, Sunny would check the time. It had been roughly an hour since she’d received the photo and text, and she had yet to utter a word to anyone. Sunny knew that she didn’t have much time. She knew that she had to come up with a plan that would not only rescue her father but one that would also keep them both alive. Finally, after an hour of silence, she stood up and spoke.