by Carl Weber
“They can’t go. They’re here to protect you and Vincent while we’re here.”
“I don’t even wan’ be here, Vinnie. I hate dis place. You say you want us safe, but you bring us here in de middle of a fuckin’ war zone. My brother and I left dis place to get away from dis shit, and now I’m right back where I started. You wan’ me and your son safe, den you shoulda found us a place in Discovery Bay. We’ve got money to afford it,” I spat at him.
“Ruby, calm down. I told you we’re only here temporarily, until I make some moves and get everything situated. I got some shit lined up, trust me. Think about it. If we woulda went to Discovery Bay, those white folks would be all in our business and talking up a storm if anyone came around asking questions. The Duncans would be sure to find us there, and shit, anyone else looking. Is that what you want?” Vinnie asked.
I thought about what he said, but I didn’t respond.
“I’m going to get us out of here. But, for now, this is where we have to be.”
“And dem?” I motioned toward the door leading to the garage.
“I’ll talk to them. But they gotta be here too. There’s no way I’m leaving my wife and son alone. I love you too much, and I have to know you’re protected, Ruby.” Vinnie pulled me close and kissed me. I knew he meant well, and had we still been in Negril, I might have felt the same passion that he kissed me with; but, although I kissed him back, the only thing I felt in my heart was worry.
LC
12
After a quick stop at the security gate, we pulled into a gated neighborhood in Manhasset, Long Island, in three black SUVs like we were a presidential motorcade. Being a man of discretion, of course you know I hated this, but I had no choice. Despite my vehement objection, Chippy had Vegas place a security detail of six men on me any time I left the compound. I did understand that they were doing it for my own good, and I had to set an example from the top that I was taking this situation seriously, but that didn’t change the fact that I hated it.
The SUVs pulled to a stop in front of an impressive Tudor-style house, the passenger’s side rear door was opened, and I stepped out. All six men of my detail were posted on either side of me, looking like they’d just auditioned for Men in Black.
“Mr. Duncan, it’s Vegas,” said Willie, my new driver, as he handed me a cell phone.
I took the phone from him and placed it to my ear. “Yes, son?”
“Pop, I just got conformation that Uncle Larry is definitely in New York.” Vegas’s voice was filled with anxiety.
“Confirmed how?” I asked as the front door of the house opened.
“He killed Lee Cheng, his brother, and his uncle this afternoon,” he replied.
“What the fuck! We don’t even do business with Lee anymore,” I said as a female figure appeared in the open door. Her long hair was neatly pulled back into a tight chignon, she was wearing high heels and a gauzy negligée, and on her face she wore a pair of large designer sunglasses. For a woman her age, she was sexy as hell. Once she was sure she had everyone’s attention, she began to pose.
“Apparently, he was trying to do business with them, and it didn’t go so well from what I was told,” Vegas replied.
“Does his family understand that we had nothing to do with it?” I asked.
“I tried to explain the best I could to his son, Pop, and for now he’s cool. But that doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind once it all sinks in. I mean, look at it from his side. The guy’s father and uncles are dead at the hands of the Duncans. Doesn’t matter if Uncle Larry’s with us or not. He’s still a Duncan, and everyone knows he’s your brother.”
“Yeah, I know.” I bit my lip as I continued to watch the woman in the doorway. She had always been naturally flirtatious, so I couldn’t tell if she was posing for me or for my men.
“Put the word out on the street that Larry’s the one who shot me. Put a hundred grand on his head, dead, and a million on his head for anyone who brings him and the boys to us alive.”
“That will work. Good thinking, Pop.”
“Yeah, I come up with a good idea occasionally,” I said, and we both chuckled. “Hopefully it’ll keep these trigger-happy motherfuckers from killing my brother and his sons until we can get his ass back in a hospital.”
“I guess. We’ll see.” Vegas didn’t sound optimistic.
“Yeah, I guess we will. Look, son, I gotta go. Keep me posted.”
“Sure, Pop.”
I headed up the walkway, followed by my men, half of whom had one eye on me and one eye on the woman in the doorway.
When I reached her, she leaned over and gave me a light kiss on the cheek, which I didn’t reciprocate, mostly because of the heavy smell of alcohol on her breath. She stepped aside in an obvious gesture for me to enter, but I stayed where I was.
“Good morning. You’re looking well for a man who was shot six months ago. How are you feeling, LC?”
I took a deep breath. Better to be cordial than nasty, LC.
“I’m fine, and I wanted to thank you for the support you gave my family while I was incapacitated, Donna. Chippy told me you stopped by every day. You didn’t have to do that considering our past, and I appreciate it.”
“I appreciate you saying that. However, we are family, and family sticks together when times are tough. Isn’t that what you always say?”
“Yes, I do say that,” I replied halfheartedly.
There were times that I still couldn’t believe that Donna, my ex-fiancée whom I’d left standing at the altar to marry Chippy, had somehow ended up married to my older brother Lou. At first, I had questioned their relationship, and so had everyone else, but after a while, nobody even blinked when he announced they were getting hitched and she was becoming my sister-in-law. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that I didn’t particularly like spending time around her, and Chippy surely didn’t like it. Unfortunately, our complicated family arrangements made it necessary to do so from time to time, even now that Lou was deceased.
She looked past me at my men, eyeing them like fresh meat. Donna fancied herself some type of cougar. “So,” she said, “you must have a lot going on when you show up with six men to come see me. What’s going on?”
I ignored her question. “Listen, Donna, you called and said you needed to talk to me and it was urgent, so I’m here. Now, what do you want? And why are you dressed like that?”
“Because I’m at home, and I like to be comfortable when I’m home. Your men don’t seem to mind.” She was back to posing again.
I turned back and looked at my bodyguards. They tried to look away, but some let their eyes fall back on her. “Well, I mind. Put some damn clothes on. You’re embarrassing yourself.”
Even with her sunglasses on, I could see the slight sneer as she cut her eyes at me. “I didn’t ask you here to argue or be ridiculed, LC. Why don’t you and your men come on in and have some coffee? I’ve made some mimosas for those who don’t mind a little alcohol in the morning.”
“My men are fine right where they are, and so am I, so let’s get on with this, shall we?” I checked my watch. “I don’t have a lot of time. What do you want?”
She stiffened her demeanor. “Well, I was hoping this was going to be a friendly meeting, but I can see that I was wrong.” She took the shades off and looked in my eyes. “What I want is for you to stop putting my child in harm’s way. That’s what I want.”
“Your child?” I frowned. “Lay off the mimosas, Donna. They’re starting to make you say things you really don’t mean.”
“No, they make me say exactly what I mean!” She stood up straight, trying to show confidence. “So listen to me, and listen good. I want you to stop using my daughter for your fucking underhanded illegal business. I already lost Lou to your bullshit; I’m not going to lose Sasha to it too.”
I have to admit I was a little relieved. For a second there, I had thought she was talking about something entirely different; but now I had to figure
out where the fuck this was coming from. She had never complained about Sasha participating in the family business, so this sudden change took me by surprise.
“Sasha is a grown-ass woman. She can make her own decisions. And don’t you dare act like you even care about my brother’s death. You went out of your way to make him miserable when he was alive.”
She shook her head adamantly. “That’s a damn lie and you know it. Lou made himself miserable chasing behind you and Larry. It didn’t have shit to do with me. If he’d listened to me, he’d be alive today.”
“I’m not gonna stand out here and argue with you, Donna,” I warned.
Lou and Donna had hung in there for quite a few years. I’d never seen him happier than when she gave birth to Sasha and gave him a child. I’d also never seen him more upset than when he caught her cheating with a man half his age. Donna’s betrayal damn near destroyed him, and from that point on, her relationship with the family varied from cordial to strained.
“We both know the truth. You broke Lou’s fucking heart.”
I could see the shame in her eyes, but typical Donna, she wouldn’t back down or admit fault. “I’m not arguing, LC. I’m just stating facts. I loved Lou Duncan, but he loved you, Larry, and Levi more, and I just stopped trying to compete. I was his wife. I shouldn’t have had to come after anyone. He should have put me before you or your stupid-ass family business.”
“Don’t, okay? Just don’t! He put you first. Why do you think he worked so hard? You never had to work or ask for nothing, Donna, because Lou provided everything for you. But none of that mattered once you met that pretty-boy Mark.”
Mentioning her infidelity to my brother was always a sure way to get her to shut up, and it worked this time too. She tried to end the conversation in a hurry.
“Just leave my child out of your family’s bullshit before she gets shot like you, or killed like her father.” Donna looked me straight in the eye and said, “’Cause I’m warning you, if anything happens to her, it’s gonna be hell to pay.”
Her threats meant nothing to me. I’d known Donna for years, and she had no power to make me do anything.
“Like I said, Sasha is a grown-ass woman who can handle her own affairs. You need to take this up with her. But let’s make something clear: if she didn’t work for me, she’d be working for one of these cartels or mercenary outfits. Her life would be much more dangerous. She knows what it means to be a Duncan. Lou made sure to teach her that. There’s nothing you can do about it. You should have been a mother when you had the chance.”
“Fuck you! I’m a good mother. My children have always had the best of everything. I made sure of that.”
“Really?” I chuckled, determined not to be undermined by the authoritative tone of her voice. I knew when she called requesting to speak with me alone that it was going to be some bullshit, and she hadn’t disappointed. “Going to Toys R Us on Christmas and birthdays doesn’t constitute being a good mother.”
She glared at me, her eyes full of resentment. “You’re traveling down a slippery road, LC, a road these bodyguards won’t be able to protect you from.”
I could feel my blood pressure rising, and the words of my doctor echoed in my head, telling me to avoid stress. That was a sure sign that it was time for me to leave. “Good-bye, Donna.”
“We’re not done yet.”
“Yes, we are. You said what you had to say, I listened, and now I’m leaving. As far as I’m concerned, this conversation is over.”
“LC, one thing I learned from you and your brother is that family is everything. And you get to a point where you stop at nothing to protect them, at all costs, sometimes hurting others in the process. So, in an effort to protect my family, here’s what’s going to happen: you’re going to back the hell away from Sasha. Encourage her to maybe spend a little time with her mother.”
I laughed out loud. “You have lost your damn mind. Sasha is my family too. I’m not telling her shit.”
“Oh, you’re telling her.”
“And if I don’t?” I asked, curious as to what her end game was.
“If you don’t, then ‘Aunt Donna’ will have a long talk with her favorite nephew, Junior, and tell him some things I think he should know about his lineage.” She made sure to use air quotes and emphasize the words.
“You know I don’t take kindly to threats.” I stepped back. I couldn’t believe what she was threatening to do. The only reason Chippy and I continued to keep in touch with her at all was that she was one of the few people left who could expose a family secret that we’d kept from our children for almost forty years. If she revealed it, my family would be ripped apart, and my wife would most likely kill her. Chippy and Donna played nice, but the truth was they could not stand one another. I hadn’t told Chippy I was going to see Donna that day because I didn’t want the drama, but now that I was here, I was starting to regret not bringing her with me. If anyone could handle Donna and put her in her place, it was Chippy.
“And I don’t make threats unless I plan on using them, so I guess we’re at an impasse,” she said with her arms crossed defiantly over her chest.
I didn’t dignify her with an answer, and Donna didn’t wait for one. She put her designer sunglasses back on her face, stepped back, and closed the door. My men and I were left standing in front of her house like a bunch of Jehovah’s Witnesses handing out copies of the Watchtower.
Larry
13
After I brushed my teeth, I finished drying off and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt, hung up my towel, and walked into my bedroom. The small apartment was quiet except for the TV in the living room, where Momma was watching some old cowboy movie. I’d let the boys go out hoeing to celebrate the job they’d done at Lee’s. I was proud of them, especially Kenny. I knew Curtis wouldn’t disappoint me, but I was surprised by how into it Kenny had been. I didn’t think he had it in him. I figured he was too much like his mother, but I can admit when I’m wrong, and I had been really wrong about him. He was a true chip off the old block. There was a lot of Larry Duncan in his DNA.
Lying across the bed, I opened my wallet and pulled out a picture of NeeNee. The picture was about twenty years old, and I’d been carrying it around since the day she gave it to me. It was from the last real vacation we took together down in Virginia Beach, and she was wearing a sexy-ass red bathing suit. My goodness, she was one beautiful woman, and even now, with grey hair, a few extra pounds, and some wrinkles, she still did it for me. Damn, I missed my wife.
I reached into a duffle bag and pulled out one of the prepaid cell phones we’d bought at Walmart. Powering it up, I dialed her cell phone number.
“Hello?”
I froze, savoring the sound of her voice.
“Hello. Hello. Kenny, is that you, baby?” It was logical that she’d think Kenny would be the one to call her, because they’d always been so close. She’d be surprised by how much he’d changed in a week’s times.
I finally exhaled the breath I’d been holding, and she said, “Larry, I know that’s you. I’d know that sigh anywhere.” She paused, probably waiting for me to speak, but I stayed quiet. “Larry, honey, are the boys all right?”
“They’re fine, Nee,” I finally said to comfort her. “They’re at some bar chasing after girls.”
“That sounds like them, especially that Kenny.” Listening to her voice, I could almost hear her smile. “And you? How you doing, Larry?” she asked warmly.
“You know me. If Nam and the nuthouse didn’t break me, nothing will.”
“Larry, what are you doing? I thought we agreed that you’d just stay in Waycross and forget about LC and them.”
“I know, Nee, but that was when I thought he was dead. Once I found out he was still alive, it just started eating away at me. I have to reclaim what belongs to me. What belongs to us—you, me, and my boys. LC is going to return what’s rightfully mine, and I’m going to crush him in the process.”
“You
are going to get my boys killed; that’s what you’re going to do, Larry,” NeeNee shouted, surprising me. She wasn’t one to raise her voice to me unless she was really upset.
“They’re soldiers. They know what they’ve signed up for.” I thought that might pacify her, but it didn’t.
“They are not soldiers. They are our sons—my babies—and I don’t want anything happening to them. I swear to God, if either of them gets hurt, I’ll never forgive you.” Her tone was resolute. There was no doubt she meant every word of what she’d said.
“Nee, they’re not going to get hurt.”
“Can you promise me that, Larry? Can you? Can you?” she badgered. “LC’s boys have been trained their entire lives for this type of thing.”
“And so has Curt,” I snapped. “And Kenny ain’t no slouch, either. I’ll take my two boys against LC’s three and a half any day.”
“You still didn’t answer my question. Can you promise me that my boys won’t get hurt?” she asked again impatiently. Damn, it didn’t look like there was going to be any happy ending to this conversation.
I lowered my head as I spoke into the phone. “No, I can’t. When the shit hits the fan, there’s a possibility any of us could go down.”
“Then let me offer a suggestion that could keep our family alive,” she said, her tone softening just a little.
“Sure, what’s that?” I asked optimistically.
“Talk to your brother, Larry. Tell LC what you want; tell him what you think you deserve. He just might give it to you. He doesn’t want a war, and he doesn’t want to kill you and the boys. So, talk to him. Please.”
I hesitated for a second, thinking about what she was asking me. The first thing that ran through my mind was doubt that LC would even consider returning to me what was rightfully mine. And if he did agree to it, could I trust him?
“It would be nice to be a family again, wouldn’t it?” I said. The thought of having the whole family together was appealing to me.