by Silk White
Derrick got off the phone with a mean look on his face. “That damn Millie is going to drive me crazy I swear.”
Mike chuckled. “What she complaining about now?”
“Worried about Eric,” Derrick shook his head. “She heard about the shooting at the charity event now she’s in jail worrying herself to death I swear she loves that boy way more than she loves me.”
“You know how Millie is pop,” Mike said. “But I have some news that’ll be sure to put a smile on your face.”
“I’m listening.”
“I just got us enough product to last us for about a month,” Mike said proudly.
Derrick pulled Mike close and hugged him tight. “That’s what I’m talking about we have to keep our territory by any means necessary,” he said in a strong whisper. “Everyone is watching us to see how we handle this so we have to stand strong.”
“I got you pop. I’ll work on the next month’s product in a week or two.”
Derrick draped his arm around Mike’s neck. “I appreciate everything you’ve been doing. This family wouldn’t have made it this far without you,” he paused. “And I know you still a little sad about what happened to your girlfriend I just want you to know that it wasn’t personal it was business.”
“I understand pop,” Mike smiled. “I have a few things I need to take care of. I just wanted to drop and tell you the good news.”
“Thank you son. I appreciate you,” Derrick said as he watched his adopted son make his exit.
CHAPTER 32
ERIC
Eric sat on his leather sofa with his feet kicked up on the coffee table thinking about how much his life had changed in just a few weeks. Catching his wife cheating on him changed his entire thought process and had him looking at life differently. All his life, Eric had been doing everything by the book and it hadn’t gotten him nowhere. Now with him taking on a more violent approach, he immediately noticed the change from how people treated him to how they spoke to him it was as if his respect level had elevated and Eric was enjoying being treated like a man for once and not some flunky. Eric looked down and heard his cell phone vibrating on the coffee table he looked down at the screen and saw Mr. Goldberg’s name flashing across the screen. “Tell me something good,” he answered.
“He wouldn’t budge,” Mr. Goldberg said. “I think he needs to see firsthand what the Mason Family is all about.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Eric told him and ended the call. Eric stood to his feet and quickly got dressed. A face-to-face meeting with Mr. Chambers was needed. Eric returned back downstairs dressed in an expensive looking black Ferragamo suit. He grabbed his cell phone off the coffee table when he heard a loud knock at his front door. Eric walked over to the front door and snatched it open expecting to see Kelly standing on the other side. She had been calling him nonstop every day for the past couple of weeks. Eric was ready to curse Kelly out but stopped when he saw a six’ five” beast with a teardrop tattoo on his face standing on the other side of the door. “Can I help you?”
“You, Eric?” The big man asked.
“Yeah why?”
The big hand extended his hand, handing Eric a cell phone. Eric took the phone and put it up to his ear. “Hello?”
“Hey son it’s me.”
“Mommy?”
“You don’t know your mother’s voice by now?” Millie joked. “That man standing at your door step is a good friend of mine his name is Pistol Pete. I heard about the problems that your brother and father has gotten the entire family into so Pistol Pete is going to protect you.”
“Thanks ma but I can handle myself,” Eric said quickly. “I’m not a baby anymore.”
“You’re always going to be my baby,” Millie corrected him. “And what’s all this news I’m hearing about you out there carrying a gun?”
“Can’t believe everything you hear ma.”
“Eric this life isn’t for you, I didn’t raise you like this,” Millie said. “You’re better than this, much better than this.”
“I know ma it’s just I’m tired people not respecting me or taking me serious.” Eric told her.
“Listen to me Eric this isn’t the way to get respect all I’m asking is that you stay out of trouble until mamma comes home and I’ll take care of everything,” Millie said. “You are the most valuable person in this family because your hands are clean, no matter what promise me that you’ll keep your hands clean.”
“I promise.”
Millie knew that this was a dirty game and the last thing she wanted to see was her son get caught up in some foolishness. “And I want you to go and apologize to your brother.”
“Apologize to him? He should be apologizing to me.”
“You harmed your blood over someone that wasn’t blood you owe him an apology,” Millie explained. “I don’t ever wanna hear about you going against the family for an outsider ever again that’s not what we do because at the end of the family is all we got.”
“You right ma,” Eric said. After listening to Millie, she made some good points and gave him a lot to think about. “I have to go take care of something.”
“Okay son you be careful out there,” Millie said then ended the call. Eric turned and handed Pistol Pete back his phone. “So what’s your story?”
“Just here to watch over you,” Pistol Pete said simply. He was an intimidating looking man. Just from looking at him, Eric could tell that he enjoyed violence and had been to jail more than once. “I promised your mother that I would look after you until she’s released.”
“So what are you supposed to like follow me around everywhere I go?”
Pistol Pete nodded.
“Good I have a meeting downtown and we have to get going,” Eric said as they climbed inside Pistol Pete’s bulletproof Cadillac truck.
* * *
Mr. Chambers sat behind his desk looking at some documents when his office door busted open and Eric and Pistol Pete walked in.
“Can I help you gentlemen?” Mr. Chambers said with a nervous look on his face.
“Eric Mason,” Eric extended his hand. Mr. Chambers hesitated for a second before shaking Eric’s hand.
“My lawyer tells that you had a problem with my proposition,” Eric helped himself to a seat.
“Yes my chain of hotels are not for sell.”
“I just want to buy one, not all of them,” Eric countered.
“I’ve worked my ass off to get these hotels and you or no lawyer are going to talk me out of it,” Mr. Chambers stood his ground.
“I’m willing to make you an offer you can’t refuse,” Eric said. He hated people like Mr. Chambers the type of man that had way more than enough and refused to give other people a crumb. Eric pulled out a sheet of paper from the folder he held. “Here’s the contract and you’re going to sign it.”
“Fuck you!” Mr. Chambers spat. He refused to let a family full of criminals have a piece of his empire. Before Mr. Chambers knew what was going on, Pistol Pete had slapped him across the face, grabbed him by the back of his neck and shoved his face down into the desk, then pressed a gun to the back of his head.
Eric smiled. “You have two choices, choice number one you can sign this contract with a pen or choice number two I’ll sign it for you in your blood you choose.”
Mr. Chambers picked up a pen from off his desk and signed the contract. He looked up from the paper with a scowl on his face. “I’m never going to let you get away with this,” he said with venom dripping from his tone. If looks could kill, Eric would have died a horrible death. “I’ll come after you and make you pay if it’s the last thing that I do.”
Eric nodded. “I’ll look forward to seeing you again.”
Mr. Chambers stared a hole in Eric’s back as him and his bodyguard made their exit.
CHAPTER 33
JIMMY
“This ain’t going to last me for the whole week I’m going to need more,” the worker said.
“Patience,” Jimmy
told him. “Before you run out I’ll have more product for you.” Product was running low and streets were in need of a big shipment if the Mason Family didn’t find a new connect fast they risked the possibility of other dealers trying to take over their turf. Jimmy stood in the stash house and looked around at how empty it was. At one point and time they had to use the entire apartment building as a stash house, now all they needed was one apartment. Jimmy and Big foot got ready to leave when the worker stopped him.
“I know it’s none of my business but the streets is talking,” the worker said.
“What are they saying?”
“Word on the streets is the Mason Family is finished in this business,” the worker began. “I’ve been hearing other crews talk about moving in on y’all’s territory.”
“They ain’t stupid,” Big foot snapped. He didn’t like what he was hearing.
“The streets is saying that the Mason Family is weak now that the big bosses cut y’all off,” the worker said. “They saying its open season on any Mason so make sure y’all stay on point.”
“Thanks for the info,” Jimmy said as he watched the worker make his exit. Hearing about how people felt about his family pissed Jimmy off.
“Don’t pay that shit no mind the streets can talk all they want if anybody steps foot on our territory we going to show them just how powerful we are,” Big foot said as him and Jimmy exited the stash house.
Jimmy stepped on the elevator with a frown on his face. If the streets were saying the Mason Family was soft then he was going to have to let them know otherwise. Jimmy and Big foot stepped out the building when a motorcycle zoomed past with Danny Lopez hanging off the back of the bike. Once Jimmy and Big Foot were in the line of fire he squeezed down on the trigger turning the once quiet street into what sounded like a war zone.
“Get down!” Big foot yelled as he tried to rush to push Jimmy out of harm’s way, but machine gun bullets ripped through his shoulder, wind milling him violently down to the ground. Jimmy dove behind a parked car as bullets tore into the vehicle showering his head with broken glass. Jimmy pulled his gun from his holster but by the time, he made it to his feet, Danny Lopez, and the motorcycle was long gone. “Shit!”
Jimmy walked over and looked down at Big foot it hurt his heart to see his friend laying on the ground in pain. “You alright?”
“Yeah I’m good,” Big foot said as he removed his pistol from his waist and handed it to Jimmy. “The cops will be here any second get out of here you don’t need no more trouble.”
Jimmy nodded, took the gun, walked over, and hopped in his car, then pulled off leaving his friend on the ground bleeding. As Jimmy drove away from the scene, he saw several cop cars zoom past him flying in the opposite direction. Big foot was a soldier so Jimmy knew he would be good.
When Jimmy got home, he saw Stoney standing over the stove wearing a wife beater and a red thong frying some chicken. “Damn,” Jimmy moaned as he walked up and slapped Stoney’s ass just so he could watch it jiggle.
“Hey baby,” Stoney turned and kissed Jimmy on the lips. “Making you some fried chicken.”
“Good cause I’m starving. How was your day?”
“It was okay,” Stoney was working at the strip club to save up $250,000 so she could buy her dream home and invest the rest in a profitable business. So far, she had $110,000 saved away. “You better talk to that white bitch because she going to make me hurt her.”
“Why what happened?”
“That bitch been calling the motherfucking house all day,” Stoney said with an attitude. “You better talk to her before I hurt her.”
Jimmy shrugged. “I ain’t talking to nobody so do what you gotta do.”
CHAPTER 34
ERIC
Eric walked inside the five-star restaurant with Pistol Pete close on his heels. Right now, Eric needed a good meal and a few drinks in his system he had been running around so much that he had forgotten to eat. As Eric was being escorted to his table he spotted two beautiful women sitting alone at a table. “Excuse me ladies would you to like to join me and my friend for some drinks?”
“Sure the dark skin one out of the two said,” she and her friend got up and followed Eric and Pistol Pete to a low-key booth that sat in the back.
“I’m Eric,” Eric said extending his hand.
“Wendy,” The dark skin chick replied as she shook Eric’s hand. “And that there is my friend Monica.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Eric said as he ordered a few bottles of wine. “So tell me a little about yourself.”
“Well I’m twenty nine years old, I work at a nursing home, and I like to have fun,” Wendy smiled. She favored the singer K. Michelle in the looks department. “How about yourself?”
Eric watched the waiter sit the bottles of wine down on the table before he spoke. “Well I work for myself and have several companies that I own, I also like to have fun and enjoy myself.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty eight,” Eric answered.
“You seemed to have accomplished a lot in a short period of time,” Wendy smiled. “You single?”
“Married but I will be divorced real soon.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“It’s okay,” Eric sipped his wine. While Wendy spoke, he was checking her out and he liked what he saw. Over on the other side of the table, Pistol Pete was holding his own with Wendy’s friend.
Eric and Wendy sipped wine and got to know one another when out of nowhere a drunken man with a big bushy beard approached their table.
“Excuse me is this your wife?” The man with the beard asked.
The question caught, Eric off guard. “Excuse me?”
“I was just wondering what she is to you,” the man with the beard said. “Is she your wife?”
“Nah she’s my friend.”
“What kind of friend?” The man with the beard pressed.
“Fuck does it matter to you?” Eric said getting upset. He couldn’t believe the man had the audacity to come over to his table and ask him about a chick that he was with.
“I was just asking because I had my eye on her,” The bearded man said with no shame. He turned his gaze on Wendy. “What’s good ma, come holla at a real nigga?”
With the quickness of a cat, Eric jumped to his feet, grabbed the wine bottle from off the table, and busted it over the bearded man’s head sending shattered glass flying everywhere. Before Eric got a chance to follow up Pistol Pete stepped in and finished the bearded man off as he grabbed one of the tables in the restaurant, lifted it over his head, then violently tossed it down on the bearded man’s head. When the scuffle broke out several patrons got up and quickly filed for the exit.
Eric pulled a card out of his pocket and handed to Wendy. “Sorry I have to go call me,” he said as him and Pistol Pete disappeared out the front door of the restaurant.
CHAPTER 35
DANNY LOPEZ
“Hit me!” Danny Lopez shouted to the bartender. He had been at the bar drinking for the past two hours, the bar was getting ready to close but he could care less. After finding out that his brother was dead, Danny ran to the nearest bar to drink his sorrows away. Killing Derrick Mason was no longer business it had now became personal.
“Closing in twenty,” The bartender announced.