by Glenn, Roy
“Where are you?” Wanda asked as she picked up her pace leaving Mystique and Tatiana behind.
“We’re on 35th street, just before you get to 6th Avenue. Hurry,” Nick said and ended the call. Nick took off his jacket and as discreetly as he could with the crowd now closing in on them, Nick got Freeze’s gun and wrapped it with his gun in his jacket. “Hold on, Freeze.”
“You coulda gone after him, Nick,” Freeze coughed up blood. Nick knew Freeze was right, he should have gone after Mylo, but he also knew he was right not to leave his friend.
Wanda moved through the crowd as quickly as she could in a tight dress and stilettos. She could hardly believe what Nick had just told her. Freeze had been shot. Where the fuck am I gonna hide two guns, Wanda wondered as she dialed Bobby’s number.
He and Black had made it back inside The Garden and had just gotten to the champs dressing. Black wanted to be seen there in case he needed an alibi for killing Masters. “Bobby, Freeze has been shot!” Wanda shouted as soon as Bobby answered.
Bobby quickly turned to Black. “Freeze been shot.”
“Give me that,” Black said and snatched the cell out of Bobby’s had. “What happened, Wanda?”
“I don’t know,” said an out of breath Wanda. “Nick just called me and said he got shot.”
“Where are they?”
“On 35th street, just before you get to 6th Avenue. I’m on my way there now.”
“On my way,” Black said and ended the call.
When Wanda got to them, the paramedics had arrived and were working on Freeze. Nick was explaining to two police officers that a man he had never seen before just walked up and shot his friend.
“Just walked up outta nowhere and shot him, huh?” asked the disbelieving officer.
Wanda pushed her way through the crowd and ran up to Nick. “Oh my God, baby, what happened?”
“Somebody just shot him and ran off,” Nick said and handed Wanda his jacket. Wanda felt the weight of it and knew the guns were in there.
The paramedics had Freeze on the stretcher and Nick walked away from the officers and followed them to the ambulance. Black got there just in time to watch the ambulance drive away.
Chapter Thirty-two
Three Days Later
Mike Black
Freeze is dead.
I can’t believe it. First Cassandra, now Freeze. I got to St. Vincent’s hospital in time to see Nick walking out of the emergency room. I knew just from looking at him that Freeze was gone.
Jamaica arrived in the city this morning. Me, Bobby and Nick met him at the airport. It had been years since Bobby and Jamaica had seen each other. The last time was at my wedding. Too bad it had to be for this. After he told me how sorry he was about Freeze, told me that he had a message. “Message? From who?” I asked, even though I knew.
“Jacara.”
“What did she say?”
“’Er make me promise to say that you should have come see she that night before you go. But instead you run away like a scared child. But ’er say she understand. ’Er say she know she have that effect on men.”
I really didn’t mind what she had to say, especially since it was true. But why did Jamaica have to say it in front of Bobby?
“Oh. You left out the part about you runnin’ away,” Bobby said and he and Jamaica laughed all over themselves. That’s why he did it, and I deserved that.
“Is that all you came here for?”
“Me come for Freeze,” Jamaica said no longer laughing.
We would lay him to rest the next day.
Wanda got a call from Kirk, which came as no surprise. Since it happened in Manhattan, it wasn’t Kirk’s case. But once he heard that Freeze was the person that got killed at the fight, he had to come see me. I met him at Cuisine that next afternoon. Kirk came without Richards so I knew that in addition to Freeze, he wanted to talk about DeFrancisco. After he relayed his condolences, he got to the business at hand. “So tell me what happened?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. By the time I got there he was already in the ambulance. And why do you even care, detective? This ain’t your case.”
“I know it’s not. I’m just askin’,” Kirk said.
He started to say something else, probably to justify why I should talk to him, but I cut him off. “No, Kirk, you're a cop askin’ questions. In my experience, that’s never a good thing.”
“Why don’t you tell me anyway.”
“You already know as much, if not more, than I know, or you wouldn’t be sittin’ here.” I laughed a little. “Like you would show up here unprepared. Not happenin’.”
“Okay. I know what Nick told the uniforms, and what he will tell the detectives when ever they get around to reading Freeze’s file and realize who he is.”
“A fact that I’m sure you’ll be glad to point out to them.”
“Nah, I’m not trying to create any more work for myself.”
“Good. ’Cause you know as well as I do that once they figure out who Freeze is, they’re not gonna care who killed him and won’t put too much effort into finding out unless you point them in a direction. So why don’t you tell me what you know.”
“That some guy just walked up and shot Freeze twice. I know nobody really saw anything except a black man running away with a gun. But you and I both know that ain’t what really happened.”
“What really happened, detective?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. I was just wondering if this had anything to do with The Commission?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But you know I’ll find whoever did it. I promise you that. He won’t be able to hide for long.” I paused for effect. “Is this the part where you ask me to let the police handle it, detective?”
Kirk laughed and so did I. That’s twice I’ve seen him laugh. I didn’t think Kirk laughed; he’s always on the job. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of me. Makes me wonder what kind of cop I would have been. And then I came to my senses.
“No, nothing like that,” Kirk said, still laughing. “I just wanna know if I should be expecting more bodies?”
“From what I hear, there is no more Commission. They went underground screamin’ peace.”
“Don’t want any parts of you, huh?”
“I guess not. And believe me, I been lookin’,” I assured the detective.
“Yeah, I know. You and Bobby been rollin’ around callin’ these kids out since we talked about it. Heard you even got word to big Darryl about his brother.”
“Not much gets by you, detective. You been keepin’ on top of this.”
“Just trying to stay ahead of it, that’s all.”
“Like the good cop you are. And I mean that as a compliment.”
“I took it as one,” Kirk said and got ready to leave. “Oh, one more thing.”
“What’s that, detective?”
“Your boy DeFrancisco escaped while he was being transferred on Friday. With the history you have with him, I just thought you should know.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for him,” I promised, but I knew it wouldn’t be necessary. I knew that old wood house in the middle of nowhere would burn to the ground and no one would find it for months, maybe years.
Kirk stood up. “Sorry about Freeze, Black. I mean that.”
“Thank you, Detective,” I said to Kirk and he began walking away. But then he stopped.
“The Commission is done, huh?”
“That much I can assure you, Detective.”
And I could.
CeCe arranged for Stark to meet me on the upper level at The ESPN Zone in Time Square. Just the two of us. I had to give CeCe credit. She got it done for me and did it quick. Maybe there was more to her than just being fine as hell. I wondered how long it would take her to put herself in some situation when she would be alone with me. There was no question about it. I was gonna end up fuckin’ CeCe.
Like I said, it’s kind of a rule. A woman can’t set the p
ussy out the way she was settin’ it out and a man not get it. Especially a fine ass woman like CeCe. But for now, I was content to keep it business. She was a dangerous woman and I knew it, but that’s what makes it interesting.
I met Stark at the zone at ten o'clock that same night I met Kirk. Even though I promised to meet Stark alone, Nick insisted on coming with me. He really hasn’t left me since it happened. I knew he felt responsible, especially since I told him to watch Mylo and Freeze is dead anyway. I don’t blame him for that. This is a dangerous game we play and people die. It’s fucked up, but it is what it is.
Nick went in before I did wearing a disguise and was sittin there when Stark came in. He brought two guys with him. After they scanned the room for familiar faces, they sat down and Stark came up stairs.
I finished my drink and stood up when I saw him coming toward me. “Thank you for agreeing to see me.” I extended my hand in friendship and respect and he accepted it.
“I’m sorry about Freeze,” Stark said.
“Yeah, so am I.”
I am so tired of people beginning conversations with me with the words, I’m sorry about... First Cassandra and now Freeze. Who’s next? Bobby? I didn’t even want to think about losing my brother. “Please, have a seat.” I flagged down my waitress.
“Thank you,” Stark said and sat down.
“What are you drinkin’?”
“Jack Daniels on the rocks,” he said.
“Another Remy for you?” the waitress asked.
“If you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” she said and walked away swinging her hips.
“Mylo, huh?” Stark said.
“He wanted to make it look like we were at war. After y’all were dead, cops are lookin’ at me while he takes over your business.”
“I can see that now,” Stark admitted.
“I know it was his idea for y’all to get together. Buy more product that way.”
“But his real point was you. He was always pushin’ that shit hard. That you were coming after us,” he said as the waitress brought our drinks.
“What I wanna know is how he got with y’all?” I asked when the waitress left.
“You don’t know?” Stark asked smugly.
“Know what?”
“Mylo used to buy from Birdie. I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead, but he said he was doin’ business right under Freeze’s nose,” he said like he knew he had the upper hand, and he did, ’cause I had no idea.
“Yeah, I know. He had Freeze completely fooled.” I hated to admit it, but it was true. Mylo had worked his way inside my house and had done more damage than I ever thought possible.
This wouldn’t have happened if I was runnin’ my own show. I definitely wouldn’t let that nigga run my game. If he wasn’t runnin’ the game, he would never have been able to get close to Frank.
What was Freeze thinkin’?
He was thinkin’ that Mylo proved his value and loyalty by snitchin’ on Birdie and Albert after they tried to have him and Nick killed. I understand the logic, but damn it was fucked up in this case.
“But I want you to know, and I mean this, you and I don’t have a problem. We never have. Just as long as your business doesn’t conflict with mine,” I told him.
Stark sat up a little straighter in his chair like he was finally taking me seriously again. “So, just exactly what is you sayin’?”
“All I want is peace. All that shit about me killin’ drug dealers for sport is bullshit. I don’t give a fuck how you make your money. Your hand ain’t in my pocket. So as long as you keep your hand out of my pocket, we don’t have no issue.” I didn’t think it was really necessary to threaten to kill him if he did. I think he got the point.
“All I wanna do is make money. You make yours your way, I’ll do my thing. I got nothing but respect for you, Black. Believe that.”
“Then maybe you might help me with something?”
“What's that?”
“Mylo.”
“What about him?”
“I need to know where to find him.” I hated humbling myself like that, but he knew Mylo better than I did, so I needed him.
“CeCe said he was dead.”
“He shot Freeze before he got away. You know where he might hide out?”
Stark took a sip of his drink and thought for a second. “I might know someplace. Me and Mylo was hangin’ out in Philly and he took me to this house. I didn’t go in with him and he wasn’t in there for long, but when he came out he said every once and a while you gotta check on your foundation.”
“Where in Philly?”
Stark told us where to find the house. It was in a little town outside of Philly called Marcus Hook; a three bedrooms, three story, single family house on West 3rd Street.
The house was in darkness when me and Nick got there. I wanted to go alone. I wanted to be the one to kill Mylo, but Nick said that he had to be the one to kill him. I understood.
We sat outside for about an hour and didn’t see any movement inside. We walked up on the house and Nick disabled the alarm, put on his night vision glasses, broke in the back door and searched the house while I played sentry and waited outside. I hate waiting.
When I saw Nick come out of the house, we went back to the car.
“House is empty,” Nick said. “Two car garage, family room on the ground level. Living room, dinning room, kitchen on the second level. Three bedrooms up top. I could tell somebody had been there recently. But I could tell that nobody had been there for a while before that.”
“Really? How could you tell that?” I asked.
“All the food in the refrigerator was bought recently and there’s dust everywhere.”
“So we wait.”
We had been there for a couple of hours, neither of us really said too much. I was thinkin’ about Freeze, and I just assumed that Nick was too. I was thinking about Michelle too. I had to do everything I could to keep all this violence away from her. For the time being, I felt like she was safe on the island with my mother and Jamaica watching over her, but I know anything can happen and there was nothing I could do about it.
I thought about Cassandra, and before long, Mystique was on my mind. I really wasn’t trying to get hooked up with another woman that soon after Cassandra, but there I was, claiming her, as Bobby put it. I wondered what I was doin’ with her and how far I was willing to let it go.
I heard Nick take a deep breath and then he turned to me. “I got something I need to tell you, Black.”
“You don’t have to say it, Nick. I don’t blame you; no one does.”
“That’s not it. I know nobody is blamin’ me, but I still gotta be the one to take his life. But that ain’t what I gotta tell you.”
“What then?”
“It’s about Wanda.”
“What about Wanda?”
“I’m the one she’s been seeing,” Nick said and looked away.
I wasn’t ready for that one. I mean Nick could have told me anything else, but I definitely was not expectin’ that. “How long this been goin’ on?”
“Since you were in jail,” Nick confessed.
“And y’all been keepin’ it on the low for all this time?”
“Yeah.”
“Wanda’s idea?” It had to be.
“Yeah.”
“Wanda know you doin’ this?”
“No,” Nick answered.
“Good. Then this stays between us. Wanda can tell me when she’s ready.” I thought for a second about how I felt about Wanda and Nick. “Freeze told you what I said?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m not gonna kill you, Nick. I’ve lost too much already. If you were some other nigga, you’d be dead now,” I said and laughed a little. “But I know you’ll be good to Wanda. Treat her with respect.”
“I promise I will.”
“So, is that wedding bells I hear?” I asked when I saw headlights coming down the street and then the garage door began t
o open. Nick put on his night vision glasses again to try and get a look at the driver. “That him?”
“Can’t tell. He’s black, that’s about all I could tell.”
“Let’s go see if it is Mr. Mylo,” I said and started to get out of the car.
“Black?”
“Yeah.”
“I gotta kill him,” Nick said.
“It’s your show,” I said and got out of the car.
While we moved toward the house, the light on the second floor came on. The lights on the third floor were on by the time we reached the house. We entered the house the same way and made our way up the stairs with our guns out.
As soon as we hit the top of the stairs, the shooting started. The first thing Nick did was shoot out the lights. Two lights, two shots, which was fine for him, ’cause he had on those fuckin’ glasses, but I couldn’t see shit. “You all right?” Nick asked.
“Yeah.”
“Stay here,” he said and ran off.
Like that was gonna happen. As soon as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I moved out of the stairwell. I heard shots and moved toward them. Then I heard one of them on the steps. I found my way to the steps and went up slowly.
When I got near the top of the steps, I saw somebody in the shadows. I pointed my gun in that direction.
“It’s me,” Nick said just loud enough for me to hear him.
I lowered my weapon and stood next to him. With less light than there was downstairs, I tried to make out the set up. There was a room directly across from us that looked like a bathroom. There were three other doors. One room was right next to the steps, one next to the bathroom and the other was down the hall. The only light on the third level was coming from the room at the end of the hall. Probably from a window.
“Stay close to me,” Nick said.
“It’s your show,” I said and followed Nick toward the bathroom. He flipped on the light and checked the shower. The room next to the bathroom and the room down the hall were both empty, I mean empty. No furniture, nothing. If he was still in the house, he had to be in that last room.
We moved back down the hall until we reached the door. Nick pointed to the stairwell next to the door and I moved to the side of the door. Nick steadied himself, before he kicked in the door and then ducked in the bathroom as Mylo fired at the door. When the shooting stopped, I watched Nick dive into the room. I heard more shooting and ran in behind him.