When Breon turned onto the side street that led to Wayne’s street, he slowed down. He was starting to reconsider parking out front. He quickly pulled his phone out, called Wayne, and asked about parking in the back. Wayne told him that if he could get his SUV down the alley, then he could park on the concrete foundation where there had been a garage years go. Breon quickly braked and turned down the alley. Once he’d pulled onto the concrete foundation, he and Ray headed up to the back door.
Quickly, Wayne opened the back door. Immediately, Bren could pick up on his negative demeanor. It was very clear to each of them that his interaction with Dante and his boy had really rubbed him the wrong way. It almost seemed to Breon that his cousin was dwelling on it.
“You all right?” Breon asked, gently tapping Wayne’s shoulder.
Wayne shook hands with Ray and the two hugged before he answered. “Man, hell naw,” he said. “I’m just fucked up off that shit, I mean…” He cut his words off, not knowing what Ray knew. He looked at Breon and motioned toward Ray. Breon nodded to let him know that he had a full understanding of everything.
Ray and Breon followed Wayne into the living room where the three of them sat down. Wayne had the television on, which he turned down. At the other end of the couch sat Jayron. After Jayron spoke and shook hands with both Ray and Breon, they continued on with the conversation.
“You ain’t go get that chick, did you?” Wayne asked.
“Naw,” Breon answered. “It’s just too much risk. You know he gon’ put a fuckin’ bullet in me when I get there and shit.”
“Right,” Wayne said. “So, you said he stay over here, a couple streets over? That’s real close. Real fuckin’ close. I took it upon myself to roll by over there earlier, but I ain’t see nothin’.”
“Exactly,” Breon said. “You not gon’ see nothin’. That block look like nothin’ but a buncha abandoned and half burnt houses and shit, but the house we ran up in last night definitely ain’t abandoned. It just look like it on the outside.”
“Yeah,” Wayne said. “Wasn’t shit over there. I rolled down the block and I was like which fuckin’ house did y’all say y’all went to?”
The four men continued talking for a few minutes more. Jayron filled them in on the various job prospects he was going to use his day to follow up with. Breon looked at his old friend and told him that no matter what they had going on with Dante, he needed to stay on the path so he didn’t get into trouble and wind up back in prison.
Once they’d finished talking, Wayne was just about ready to go. They’d talked about the idea of riding over to the block so that Wayne could see exactly what house he needed to keep his eye on. As Jayron went upstairs to get ready and get his day started, Wayne, Ray, and Breon all stood up. “I drove my truck,” Breon said.
“Fuck, that’s right,” Wayne said. “Why you drive that thing? You know that nigga Dante probably know what your truck look like. That thing get a lot of attention. I remember some people saying something about it at the party after you left, asking whose it was.”
“I know,” Breon said. A part of him regretted getting such a unique truck. He thought about how it would certainly make him a target in the parking lot at work should Dante decide to come up to Johnson & Pearl and do some things that would cause him to lose his job. Breon had always noticed the attention he got, especially when ridin’ through the hood. “But that nigga Dante shot Ray’s back window out last night.”
“Oh fuck,” Wayne said, looking at Ray. “I know you super shitty about that shit.”
“You know I am,’ Ray said. “You already know. We gotta find this nigga before he get real stupid.”
The three men decided they’d go ahead and take Breon’s truck, just in case whoever was at this house already knew what kind of car Wayne drove. The three men headed out back and climbed in, Breon behind the wheel. After carefully pulling out into the alley and heading down to the corner, Breon turned toward the main street. Each block seemed longer than the previous block, especially in the light of day. In fact, everything seemed to be so much brighter and open, as the snow reflected so much sunlight.
When Breon turned down Dante’s street, he was more aware than he’d ever been in his life. There were a few cars already parked on the block, but they were sporadic with a lot of distance between them. Breon slowly rolled down the block until he came to the house where he and Ray had been the night before. Breon pointed and said, “That’s the house we was talkin’ about.”
Wayne looked at the house and nodded. “Is that right?” he said.
“What?” Breon asked. He could hear that there was something in Wayne’s voice. “Why you say it like that, Wayne? Why you say it like that?”
Wayne took a moment to think. “It seem like I remember this house for some reason,” he said. “And I don’t mean that I been over there or nothin’ like that. I mean, somethin’ seems real familiar about this house.” He paused for a moment. “Wait a minute. Y’all niggas said that somebody you know downtown gave you this address as where Dante had put down that he’d be going when he got out.”
“Yup,” Breon said. “That’s how we came up with it.”
“Y’all got a minute to make another stop?” Wayne asked. “I wanna stop by and talk to this one nigga I know a couple blocks over named Charles.”
“Charles?” Breon asked. “Who that? What he got to do with this?”
“It’s this nigga I used to not mess with, but we coo and stuff now,” Wayne said. “I mean, he kind of shitty and stuff, but I feel like this house is somethin’ that nigga would know somethin’ about.”
“Where he at then?” Ray asked, totally up for the visit.
Wayne pointed toward the end of the block and told Breon how to get around to a corner store. “He own that store and he probably over there right now.”
Breon followed the directions. Within a few moments, the three of them parked outside of a small brick building on the corner. “Shit, y'all ain’t gotta sit out here if you don’t want to,” Wayne said as he was climbing out the SUV. “This nigga is cool and stuff, so don’t trip.”
Ray and Breon both jumped out onto the sidewalk and followed Wayne into the building. Inside was a typical inner city store. The building was two stories, with what looked like apartments possibly on the second floor. Ray and Breon waited by the door as they watched Wayne walk up to the counter. He then motioned for them to come over. There, he introduced Breon and Ray to Charles. Charles was a big guy – roughly 6 feet in height with a big belly and a bald head. After shaking hands with both Ray and Breon, he looked to Wayne.
“So, wassup?” he asked. “I ain’t used to seein’ you in here this early.”
Wayne glanced at Ray and Breon then looked back to Charles. “Here’s the deal,” he said. “We lookin’ for this nigga and I was wonderin’ if you might know somethin’ about his ass.”
Immediately, Charles began to shake his head. “Naw, naw, naw,” he said, laughing. “You know I need my business and stuff, man. I can’t be out here givin’ niggas information on other niggas and stuff. You know I gotta worry about that stuff comin’ back on me.”
“Man, look,” Breon said, stepping into the conversation boldly. “I put this on everything I love, that you ain’t gotta worry about nothin’ gettin’ back to you.”
Charles thought about it for a moment as he looked back to Wayne. While he and Wayne had never been the best of friends, they were cool enough at this point to where he respected him. He took the conversation seriously. “Who is it?” Charles asked, in defeat. “And I might tell you what I know, if I know anything. I can’t make no promises, though.”
“Man, we lookin’ for this nigga named Dante,” Wayne said. “And I mean really lookin’. And I thought you might know somethin’ about the nigga ‘cause we just rode over to the house he got on his contact papers and shit with them white people downtown and for some reason, I feel like you might know somethin’ about this house.”
“Man,” Charles said, looking away and smiling. “You know my family owned like a third of the houses around here and shit at one point. I know a lot about a lot of these houses, but that don’t mean I know the people in them. But yeah, I do know Dante. Ain’t seen him in years, though. Thought that nigga got locked up.”
“He out now,” Breon interjected. “That nigga is out now and he done really fucked up. He gon’ put bullets on our heads. I mean, the nigga is seriously try’na kill us and shit. That’s why we lookin’ for him.”
“Yeah, he already ran up in my shit and held me at gunpoint,” Wayne said.
“And he shot my fuckin’ windows and shit out when we rolled by the house last night,” Ray added, shaking his head.
“And the story just gets worse,” Wayne said.
“Well, what house he put down and I’ll see if I know somethin’ about it?” Charles asked.
Wayne looked at Ray and Breon, since they already knew the address. When they said it, Charles began to rub his chin. The conversation halted for a moment while a mother and small child checked out at the register. As the woman walked out of the door, the four men looked at her ass. Each wanted to shake their head, wondering where some women got such nice bodies from nowadays. However, the fact that she had a kid did really take away from her appeal.
“As a matter of fact,” Charles said. “I think I do know that address. This nigga named Edric used to stay over there, at least before my cousin sold that house. I mean, I think he sold it. I can’t say that I really know and shit ‘cause that’s a cousin I don’t really know all that well. Really, if you want the truth, I know the nigga Edric better than I knew my cousin.”
Wayne, Ray, and Breon all looked at one another at the same time. The name Edric rang no bells, until Wayne thought about it some more. “Hold up,” he said. “Edric? Edric? What he look like?”
“Big dude, but not as big as me,” Charles answered. “Nose kinda wide, kinda like Morgan Freeman or somebody like that. Last time I saw him, ‘cause he do come in here from time to time, he had low black hair, but you know that could change. Dude is kinda tall.”
Wayne nodded, causing Breon and Ray to wonder what was going through his head. Breon and Ray looked at one another before Breon tapped his cousin’s shoulder. “Hey, man,” he said. “What you thinkin’?”
“I’m thinkin’ that the other dude that ran up in the house with Dante and shit might’a been this Edric nigga,” Wayne explained. “I mean, they ain’t really say names like that, but it sure fist the description.”
“Man, Edric is a good dude,” Charles said. “I mean, he always took care of his kids and baby mamas and stuff. Heard he was real good to his mama before she passed. He got a nephew that he be havin’ hang around, but I don’t know what that nigga do. He look kinda soft to me.”
“Nephew?” Breon asked. “And he hang around them, well, Edric?”
Charles nodded. “Yup,” he answered. “I don’t remember the nigga name, though.” He paused for a moment, as the name was coming to him. “Wait a minute. The nigga’s name was Linell or Latrell or Trell or some shit like that.”
“Interesting,” Breon said, looking away.
“What?” Wayne asked. “Wassup?”
“Nothin’,” Breon said. “I’m just thinkin’ about what Nikki said.”
“What she say?” Ray asked. “You think she know this Latrell nigga or whatever his name is?”
“I think she know him now,” Breon said, “cause when she called me last night and shit, she said that three niggas busted in her shit when they took her and shit. I’m wonderin’ if the third nigga was the nephew.”
“Hold up,” Charles said. He took a quick glance around his store to make sure that there was nobody else, especially since certain parts of the store had really high shelves. “Who got took?” he asked. “Is that what I heard?”
Breon let out a deep sigh, as he couldn’t believe that this was happening. “Yeah, man,” he said. “This nigga Dante done went too far. He took this chick that I’m just coo with, thinkin’ that she was my girlfriend and shit.”
“Is you serious?” Charles asked. “Like, for real? He kidnapped somebody over this shit?”
Breon nodded. “Yeah, basically,” he answered.
“Hold up, niggas,” Charles said. “What kinda shit y’all got goin’? What the fuck is Dante after y’all for?”
“He ain’t after all of us,” Breon explained. “The nigga is just after me. See, back when I was in these streets and shit, I moved work for this nigga named Pablo.”
“Yeah, I remember that nigga Pablo,” Charles said, shaking his head. It was very obvious there was contempt in his voice when he’d simply thought of Pablo. “A lot of niggas went down ‘cause of that Pablo dude. A lot. Like I know brothers who is still in jail right now over that dude. Some of them doin’ long sentences and stuff. Once the police zeroed in on his shit, he disappeared.”
“Exactly,” Breon said. “When I was out in these streets and was movin’ work for the dude, I saw how the streets was getting hot and shit. The cops was parked in funny hidin’ places and stuff. They was pullin’ niggas over left and right for anything and searchin’ them and shit. All I would see was niggas bein’ taken to jail and stuff.”
“Right,” Charles said, recalling the time.
“And that’s why the nigga Dante is mad at me,” Breon explained. “We used to work in the same area, sort of, but we was never really cool like that. Somethin’ about him told me that he was a little bitch, and, as you can see, he ain’t nothin’ but a pussy ass nigga that will do whatever the fuck he gotta do to blame somebody else for his problems. He is one of them niggas that got caught up when the streets got hot and shit and he blame me ‘cause he said that we was cool and I shoulda said somethin’ to him.”
“He grown,” Charles said. “You not the nigga’s daddy. Why the fuck would you have to say anything to him? Why the fuck couldn’t he see that the shit was gettin’ too damn dangerous? That’s the first thing a nigga learn when he gon’ work out in these streets and shit. If somethin’ don’t feel right, then it probably ain’t.”
“Exactly,” Breon said. “So, now that he done got out and shit, he lookin’ for me ‘cause he mad that I ain’t think to call him and warn him that the police was swarmin’ that shit back when. And I guess since he can’t get in touch with Pablo, ‘cause that dude took his money and disappeared…”
“He comin’ after you,” Charles said, finishing the thought. “Yeah, that’s some fucked up shit. And now he done took your chick to try to get you to come through?”
“Naw,” Breon said. “That chick ain’t my girl. We was just friends and shit and I guess he followed us over to her house and shit and went back to get her. I told that nigga, ‘cause he called me earlier, that he ain’t even got my chick, so whatever the fuck he try’na do ain’t gon’ work ‘cause I ain’t comin’.”
“Damn, you cold,” Charles said. He laughed. “You cold as shit. You not really gon’ just let the girl rot while she bein’ held captive, is you?”
Breon was silent for a moment. “Man, she is just some chick I fucked,” he explained. He then pulled his phone out of his pocket so that he could show Charles the pictures she’d sent to him just days ago.
“Goddamn,” Charles said, shaking his head as he looked at the work of art that was Nikki’s body. “You just gon’ let that sit over there in his hands. Fuck, that’s a lot of ass.”
“I know,” Breon said. “And she can suck dick like no other chick I ever knew. But hell naw, I can’t go after her. I got a girl that I live with and shit and we fuckin’ serious.”
“Real fuckin’ serious,” Wayne added in, smiling.
“Right,” Breon said. “And I know that if I fall for Dante’s bait…”
“That’s gon’ mean a bullet in your head because then he’d have you right where he want you,” Charles said. “And all over some side chick or piece of ass.”
The two m
en chatted for a couple minutes more before Charles had come to a conclusion as to how he could help. “You know what?” he said. “Now that I think about it, I might have that nigga Edric’s number. Like I said, we ain’t buddy buddy or nothin’ like that, but I had his number at one point ‘cause we knew some people and shit like that. And now that I think about it, he had a brother who went down and shit, who used to live over off of Sacramento or somewhere like that. The brother used to have a nice house and shit.”
Ray, Breon, and Wayne waited as Charles helped a few customers who had walked into the store. Breon was feeling a bit anxious, as any bit of information he could get about Dante was better than having nothing at all. He liked the idea of Charles possibly having Dante’s right hand man’s phone number, especially if Dante never knew they’d been privy to such information.
“Okay, let me see,” Charles said. He took a few moments to look through his contacts. “Here it is.”
Breon pulled his phone out and saved the number as Charles rattled it off. As the three men were leaving the store, Charles stopped them just when they were opening the door. “Hey, niggas,” he said, “remember what I told you and shit. I don’t need this shit gettin’ back to me. If it do, then you gon’ have two niggas after you, okay?”
The three nodded as Wayne smiled and said, “Okay. We got you.”
“Okay,” Charles said. “And if that Edric nigga come in here, I’ll let you know Wayne. You still got my number, don’t you?”
Wayne looked through his contacts quickly and nodded. “Yeah, I still got it,” he responded.
The men all said their goodbyes as Wayne and Ray followed Breon out to his truck and hopped in. “So, what y’all wanna do?” Ray asked.
“Man, I wanna find this nigga,” Breon said, forcefully. “This nigga Dante needs to be stopped.”
“And what about that chick, Nikki?” Wayne asked. “Man, you just can’t leave her over there, wherever she is, if you the reason she even got caught up to begin with.”
“I know,” Breon said, letting out a resentful sigh. “I know, man. If I can get her, I will. If not, then…”
Wrath of a Side Chick 3: A Chicago Hood Drama (Side Chick's Wrath) Page 10