Money Makin Manhattan

by Noire

  “Fuck you think?” he spit and grilled her like the stone-cold killer that he was. “Da fuck do you think?”

  $$$$$

  Judith Goode jumped out of the Uber cab and made her way to the front of the jammed-packed nightclub. It was nippy outside, and she was dressed in all white like she was going to church. The line for the club was packed all the way down the block and around the corner, and Judith knew if she went to the end she would probably never make it inside. But she had no intention on waiting because she was the only woman on line who wasn’t there to party. Judith walked straight up to the bouncer who was standing at the entryway taking money and patting down patrons.

  “‘C’mon now, grandma, you can’t just skip the line,” the bouncer said as Judith tried to get in. “We don’t have no old lady discount specials ’round here so take yo ass to the back of the line just like everybody else.”

  “I’m here to see my son Michael,” Judith said respectfully. “Can you either let me inside or go get him for me, please.”

  “Listen, lady,” the bouncer said, clutching a fistful of dollas and getting agitated. “I don’t know no damn Michael and I’ma need you to step off from ’round the doorway so I can do my damn job.”

  Judith was holding up the line, and all the young, half-dressed chicks waiting to get inside started to talk shit and suck their teeth in frustration.

  “Look, young man! My last name is on the front of this godforsaken club!” Ms. Goode said as she glared at the bouncer with anger and impatience. “Now I suggest you let me in right now to see my boy, Michael! You and I both know he won’t take kindly to you making his mother stand out here freezing while you talk this nonsense to me.”

  The bouncer looked wide-eyed at the woman as he considered what she was insinuating. If this was really Ms. Goode, Handgun’s mother, he damn sure didn’t wanna take the chance of disrespecting her. He had already played her out in front of a crowd, and that alone could mean a death sentence.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” the bouncer said. He motioned for his partner to take over collecting cash for him at the door. “Right this way please. I’ll take you right to him.”

  Judith Goode was led upstairs through the loud ass smoked-filled club and through a set of doors that led to the VIP section, and then onward to an area where Handgun had his office in the back. The bouncer gave a special knock on the door and was greeted by another huge security guard.

  “I need you to wait right here for just one second please, miss,” the bouncer told her. “I promise I’ll be right back with you.”

  The bouncer went through another set of doors and saw Handgun sitting at his big cherrywood desk counting stacks of crisp money.

  “Goode brother,” the bouncer said. “There’s an old woman out here demanding to see you. She said she was looking for Michael. I don’t know who the hell she really is, boss. You want me to pat her down?”

  Handgun looked up from the table wide-eyed and angry. There was only one person on this earth who called him by his government name, and he knew it had to be his moms. Handgun also knew that his mother was crazy enough to show up at his place of business at this time of night too. He came from behind the desk in silence and walked up on the bouncer real strong. Without hesitation he hit his employee with a powerful uppercut that busted his lip and dropped him right on his ass.

  “Don’t you even talk about putting your dirty-ass hands on my mother!” Handgun stood over him glaring in a sudden rage. “Now get the fuck up and go let her in here.”

  A few moments later Judith was escorted into her son’s office by the bloody-mouthed bouncer who had given her a hard time.

  “Momma what are you doing here?” Goody asked in concern. “You feeling alright? Sit down and let me get you some hot tea or something. What’s the matter?”

  “You tell me what the hell the matter is!” Judith said turning down his offer to have a seat and standing right next to him instead. “Why do I have to hear on the news that another one of my sons has been killed? Malik is dead, and they’re calling it some sort of gang war. Is this what you got your brothers out here doing? Fighting in the devil’s war?”

  “W-w-what?” Goody damn near dropped to the floor. “What you talking about, Momma? Malik ain’t dead!”

  “Oh yes he is!” Judith Goode snapped. “I just saw the report on TV. He was at a McDonald’s somewhere down on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He had Boo-Boo in the car with him and the police said somebody ambushed him. Your brother is dead, Michael! My son is dead!

  Hammerhead!

  Handgun was shaking like a leaf as he dropped his eyes to the floor. Hammerhead, the brother who was just ten months younger than him, the cat that he had shared a baby crib and a milk bottle with, was gone. He couldn’t even look in his mother’s face. The pain and sorrow in her eyes were enough to stop his heart. For a moment Goody considered getting outta the game while he still had three brothers left. Not for his own sake, but for the sake of their mother. No matter what he did out there in the streets, he never wanted his mother to suffer the bitter repercussions of his decisions.

  “I’m sorry, Momma,” Handgun whispered, hanging his head. “I don’t know what happened to Malik, but I swear I’ma find out. I didn’t have him fighting no war over there in Manhattan, though. I swear I didn’t.”

  Judith reached over and slapped the shit out of her oldest son.

  “Don’t you sit here in my face and play me for no fool Michael! Malik is dead because I failed to keep him away from you, and you failed him by introducing him to this life!” She shook her head in disgust. “I don’t know how I gave birth to such a monster. You have a lot to atone for, and I hope the Lord has mercy on your devil-filled soul, boy! If I have to come looking for you again because one of my children, I will throw gasoline all over this building and strike a match! I swear I will, and then I’ll ask the Lord to have mercy on my soul!”

  Handgun took the slap and the harsh words into his heart as his emotions boiled inside him like hot lava. Hammerhead was dead, and the guilt and shame that his mother had just dropped on his shoulders only fueled his thirst for blood. As Goody walked his mother out of the office he barked a set of orders to the bouncer who was waiting outside the door.

  “Get the keys to the limo and take my mother home. Make sure you ride her upstairs to her apartment and wait until she gets inside.”

  Handgun Goody turned to his mother and said, “I’m sorry, Ma. I’m sorry.”

  But Judith Goode paid him no mind. With her head in the air, she followed the bouncer out without so much as a backwards glance at her son.

  Goody took her rejection in stride. He understood how she was feeling. Because murder was hanging like a thick fog inside his mind, and he was ready to lash out and kill in his brother’s name. Yeah, Goody thought as he watched his mother walk away in her starched white skirt with her spine straight and tall. Heads were gonna fuckin roll all over the Empire State. And if he rolled enough heads he would eventually get to the one who was responsible for spilling his family’s blood.

  CHAPTER 21

  Set For Life

  Life for Honore was anything but grand these days. She had totally failed in her efforts to dig up some information about the stolen five-million dollar diamond, and with a thirty-day time bomb ticking over her head, her nerves were a hot mess.

  It was a work day, and she had been sitting at her desk and staring at the same piece of paper for over an hour. She was feeling nervous as fuck, and she was totally unable to get her brain working and come up with another solid plan of action.

  She sighed and smoothed her hair back from her face. As the other employees of the New York Diamond and Jewelry Exchange went about their day without a care in the world, Honore’s forehead was banging like a drum and her mind was moving on a million. She was scheduled to go around the city selling minimally-priced diamonds to other stores today, but with a half-million dollar bounty on her ass, the last thing she wanted
to be dealing with right now was some low-budget ice that could only bring in shitty ends.

  She was tidying up her desk and gathering all her documents in a stack when she noticed a copy of the latest employee bulletin that had just come in from human resources.

  Immediately the brilliant picture on the front cover caught her attention and she sat up straight in her chair as she read the headline:

  Brand New Sotheby’s Location Auctioning ‘Pink Lady’ Diamond After Original Buyer Defaults.

  Honore’s greedy eyes feasted on a full color photo of the most breathtaking diamond she had ever seen. It was a dazzling coral-pink in color, and the caption said the thirty-carat gem had originally sold for forty-seven million dollars in Brazil. But somehow after out-bidding three other investors, the buyer was unable to come up with enough cash to complete the transaction.

  “What the fuck…” Honore whispered under her breath as she continued reading. That little five million-dollar diamond that Joel Samuelson had jacked was nothing compared to this one. Fuck thirty days, this was the type of mega-money that those big willies in La Kosher Nostra would have killed a mothafucka for on sight.

  Honore read and re-read the article several times.

  “How the hell do you default on an auction?” she wanted to know. That was like ordering up a gourmet meal at a fancy steakhouse knowing damn well you only had enough doe in your pockets to buy a White Castle hamburger!

  She smirked. It was all good for Sotheby’s, though. They still had their diamond, and they were gonna make a shitload of money when they brought it to their new location on Staten Island and sold that baby all over again. But this time she bet they would make damn sure they had the cold hard cash in their hands before that auctioneer banged his fuckin gavel and hollered sold!

  Honore pursed her lips tightly as a crazy thought tried to sneak into her head. Setting the bulletin aside, she picked up her cell phone and did a Google search on a few key words.

  Her eyes rotated in their sockets like marbles as she read article after article on a subject she knew well. By the time she was done her headache was completely gone and her lips were turned up real sly-style.

  Suddenly the idea was shining so bright in her head that it damn near blinded her. She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of this shit before! Yeah, it was risky, but when you had a bunch of matzo-ball mafia muthafuckas gunning for your head, what the hell did you have to lose?

  Honore had to stop herself from giggling as she looked around the office as the unsuspecting employees of the New York Diamond and Jewelry Exchange went on about their business.

  She was smirking like a mutha as she dialed her old friend Avi’s phone number. She was so excited it felt like she was on that stupid game show Jeopardy as a burning question formed on her lips.

  Category: Diamonds for forty-seven million, Alex.

  Question: If you lost a five million dollar diamond what was the best way to get yourself another one?

  The answer was simple as shit.

  You steal it, goddammit! You steal that fuckin shit!

  $$$$$

  A couple of days later Honore sat posted up in the Food Court at Queens Center Mall. It was that time of month and she was on some emotional shit as she read an article from the Daily News website on her iPad.

  Five young boys had just been murdered in a gangland killing in her old neighborhood. The young’uns had been snatched off the street and tortured to death. Honore recognized three of the names, especially a kid named Malice who used to work for Sly, and she knew the rest of them as little wannabe hustlas from around the way too.

  She was surprised by her sudden rush of sympathy because she was born and raised to be hard-hearted. Niggas got rocked to sleep everyday where she was from. But something about the slaughter of these young’uns had her in her feelings.

  Their early demise made Honore think about all the rotten shit that she had seen in her short life. It reminded her of all the shady, cut-throat niggas and bitches that she had involved herself with over the years.

  Life was a mothafucka. Everybody was out there on their own trying to win. Trying to step on the back of the next hustla and get an edge on his or her fellow crab in the barrel.

  It was a vicious cycle of savagery that Honore and her get-money peers had damn sure contributed to. She swallowed hard as she thought about the kinda violence that her own mother had lived with. One of the few memories Honore had about her mother was of sitting on the bed and running her tiny hands all over the scars on her mother’s back. Back when she was little she didn’t know what those scars meant. But as a grown woman she realized that the scars her mother bore were a testament to the years of violence and abuse she took from the man she loved. Why in the hell did she stay around and let some nigga put her through all that? Honore wondered. What in the world coulda been going through her mind when she went flying through the glass window of that Chinese restaurant all those years ago?

  Honore was thinking on that shit real hard when she was interrupted.

  “Good afternoon,” Avi said. He had walked up outta nowhere looking sophisticated and suave as usual. His clothes were top-shelf and his Versace shades went perfectly with his jacket.

  “What’s wrong?” the foreign-born man asked as he eyed Honore’s distressed face. Pull yourself together. You look like you just lost your best friend.”

  “I’m fine,” Honore said quickly as she snapped out of her funk. “Thanks for coming. This was too big to talk about over the phone.”

  “No problem,” Avi responded. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

  “Money,” Honore said as her face brightened right up. “Mega money is on my mind. Listen, boo. This shit I’m scheming on right now is gonna change the whole game! I’m talking retirement money. I’m talking new identity money. I’m talking never coming back to this hellhole they call America, money! You feel me?”

  “I’m listening,” Avi said calmly. In his line of work you had to have nerves of steel and right now his were on full display. “Give me the details.”

  “I’ll give you three fucking words,” Honore said in almost a whisper. “The. Pink. Lady. Look her up. She’s one of the baddest hoes on the planet. I’m talking Beyonce, Janet, and Rhianna bad! I think we can get next to that bitch. We can get right up under the covers with her. I know when she’s coming to town, who she’s fucking with, and how she rolls. Me and my crew can snatch her up and deposit her right in your hands. The rest is up to you.”

  “Hmmm,” Avi said like he was unimpressed. “Do you know what kind of backing and support it would take to get next to a superstar on the level of Ms. Carter and Ms. Jackson and Ms. Fenty? Why do you think no one has ever gotten close to her before?”

  “Put it this way,” Honore said as she took off her shades and looked dead in Avi’s eyes. “If I can get that hoe to hop in the bed with you and make her take off her panties, then you can finger-fuck her until she cums. I know your type, Av. You like your bitches big and pretty. Well this pink skank is move-outta-America fine, and travel-to-the-ends-of-the-earth thick.”

  “Okay,” Avi finally grinned. “I’ll have to get with a few of my associates and check things out. A superstar of this nature will require a lot of financial backing from people overseas who have a lot of clout. They’ll want their share of the pie too, of course, but that’s the cost of doing business. It’ll take me some time to network and make my connections though.”

  “Bet. Just Google that lady and see what you find out,” Honore said firmly. “They should be announcing everything about her arrival on the news. Make sure you’re watching. When you see for yourself what this bitch is working with, then get with your people and see what they think. I’ll wait a few days for you to get back to me. Just don’t take too long because if we jump on this the right way it’s game over baby. Game over and I’m gone.”

  Honore expected the underground jewelry trader to ask a lot more questions, but to her surprise Avi st
ood up and smiled, and then without another word he turned toward the door and headed out of the mall.

  She started to call after him, but instead Honore sat in her chair feeling like the planet was just about to start rotating in the right direction for her. This shit just had to work out. It had too. Because her time was just about up. That sweet money payment would be coming due with those Jewish investors way before she had a chance to get her hands on the Pink Lady diamond. She was about to be in default and that meant she was gonna have to watch her ass and stay outta sight.

  Honore thought about all those millions she could get if this thing went the right way and she forced herself to brighten up. All she had to do was stay alive long enough to pull this shit off. Once Avi did his homework she had no doubts that him and his investor friends would find that the Pink Lady hoe was everything she’d said she would be, and they’d jump all over that bitch.

  Even though she’d have to hand Avi and his investors a substantial cut of the cash, a diamond of that status and beauty would bring in enough for everybody to retire from the game if they wanted to. Honore’s mind was in fiend-mode as she tried to calm her growing excitement.

  Could this job be the big one? Could this be the jewelry heist of her lifetime? Honore didn’t know for sure, but she was damn sure game to steal that diamond and find out!

  CHAPTER 22

  No New Friends

  Avi had just picked up his six-year-old sons from the private elementary school they attended. They were both in the backseat asking him a million questions at the same time. His twin boys, Andre and Antoine, were his pride and joy. Avi’s wife had died a few years back from breast cancer and he was still adjusting to being a single father. It was a role that he’d wholeheartedly stepped into and therefore he tried to give his kids everything that they asked for. The three of them had taken his wife’s death very hard, but his boys had kept the love in Avi’s heart. They were his world.