My first instinct was to pen him, but my gut said wait a moment. Sometimes a split moment made the difference; this one just saved a man’s life. When he raised his right hand over his heart, I caught a glimpse of the small orange diamond-shaped tattoo with a black starburst in the middle on his wrist. The tattoo let me know who he was associated with. Why the fuck would they show up here? A shiver ran through me that was not the Holy Ghost.
“Everyone stand down. Don’t touch him,” I relayed to the team.
“Are you sure? I got him in my sights right now,” Black responded.
“Positive. Nobody moves on him. He left a note in the casket. I’ll get it.”
“10-4. Everyone stay alert but stand down,” he rebroadcast.
Mr. Tan-and-Gray glanced at me, and even though he had sunglasses on, I felt his gaze through mine. Because of the Holy Ghost moving through the church, most people didn’t notice him. He nodded his head and left as quickly as he had come.
“Black, did he get in a car?”
“No, he walked up, and he is walking away now. Let me at least talk to him.”
“No. He has the mark of the diamond on him.”
“What? Why would they even be here? I don’t like this feeling,” he whispered.
“I don’t either; trust me on this.” I retrieved the envelope and tucked it in the pocket of my cape.
Before I did, I noticed the orange wax seal of a diamond. Soon the congregation calmed down and took their seats. The preacher retook control and continued his sermon. As they read the proclamations, I zoned out. Everything in me wanted to leave. The envelope burned a hole in my pocket. By the time I checked back in, it was time to lead the procession to St. Michael, the oldest black cemetery in the city. She would be entombed in the family mausoleum. We walked behind the horse-drawn carriage. A sea of purple, violet, lavender, black, and magentas with white foam came up the boulevard and flowed into the cemetery. We were surrounded by a wall of men in black suits with guns at the ready. The limos waited for us. The moment was surreal.
The preacher finished her internment at the mausoleum wall. The kids placed a rose on her casket. My heart was so heavy, but I couldn’t break. They needed me more than ever. Nothing about this was expected, and I wouldn’t dream of making them pretend it was either. When they slid that casket into the wall, a gasp escaped my lips. A piece of my soul died when that stone thudded in place. The pain of ten thousand daggers wouldn’t equal the pain in my heart. A tear slipped out, and I quickly wiped it away. It’s not the time for tears. I’d cry later.
“How you holding up?” Black grabbed my hands.
“This is burning a hole in my pocket. I want to make sure the kids are straight. The Tanzanites are involved.”
“How the hell do you know?” He scrutinized his surroundings with his hand on his gun.
“One: he has a small orange diamond tattoo on his wrist. Two: the envelope has a wax orange diamond starburst seal on it. It’s their seal,” I showed him the envelope.
“We on good terms ain’t no way this got something to do with them,” he questioned with his eyes.
“We have always done good business. If they are behind this, they are going to have all the smoke they want,” the family piled in the limos.
“He came, and he left on foot. I could have had him, but you said what you said.” He was annoyed.
“The last thing I need is a misunderstanding. DaKari and I worked hard to secure our allies. Last I knew, there were no issues.” I tucked the envelope back in my pocket.
“They are the best at what they do. The cover of midnight is more their speed. So the fact that he came in broad daylight means something, don’t you think?”
“They meant to get this message directly to me. They wanted me to know it was them,” I exhaled.
“Why not set up a meeting?”
“Not their style. They are old school. Check this out, you head over to the banquet hall. It’s a bomb spread over there. I’m about to head over to the office for a minute,” I touched his chest.
“Really!? You leaving now? Don’t you think the kids need you right now?” He angrily whispered at me.
“That’s what you’re for. They have two parents now instead of three,” I patted him on the ass.
“Don’t start that shit. You know damn well what I mean. I’m still their daddy. I’m saying they need you right now,” he caressed my chin.
“No, they need a parent, and right now, you are it. So go make sure our babies are ok. I gotta handle some business. I’ll be there soon. I promise,” I kissed his cheek.
He walked over to the family, embraced Mama G and the kids. He was the man that got shit done, and he took his job seriously. He had a few soft spots, and they were definitely four of them. He peeked over his shoulder at me; I knew they would be ok until I returned. Back at the church, I jumped in my whip and peeled out to the office. It’s about 15 minutes out of town, tucked away in the hills. It blended into the landscape, and you would drive past it without a second thought. Kind of like the Batcave. A button dropped the secret gate, and I went up the gravel driveway, about a mile, to the cabin that is our office. From the outside, it appeared like some old mountain man had lived here forever. On the inside, it was something out of a spy movie. We had our network set up via our own satellite in orbit. We couldn’t take any chances on anyone hacking into our databases. We kept weapons in the lower basement. Passports, money, and different kinds of trinkets to do a job. If you were in the cleanup business, we had everything you needed there and more.
I disabled the alarm, pulled into the garage, went inside, and took off my cape. Call me paranoid, but I swept the cabin. Bullshit could go down, even in the safest of places. When I was done, I came back to the living room, pulled the envelope out, and turned it over a few times. It was silver with an orange seal in the middle. In my office on the first lower level, I happened to glance at her desk; it was like she had only stepped away. Half organized, half shit everywhere. She had that kinda balance. A postcard of our family at our beach house on the Island of Elounda in Crete caught my eye. Picked up the postcard first and stared at our smiling faces. The beach was right outside our back door. We had a dock for a couple of boats and a place to land a floater plane. A pool, grill, and lounge area made it a family zone. The real reason was to be able to escape by the sea. We were prepared to leave anywhere at any moment’s notice. We had a top security system and guards on duty when we were there. We didn’t play about protecting our babies no matter where we were. Ran my hand over things on her desk and felt the emptiness of this room. The tears glided down my cheek, and I didn’t bother to wipe them away. What the hell was really going on? A letter on her desk caught my eye. It was dated from years ago before we bought the beach house.
When she decided she wanted to buy a house on the island, Kari was on a cleanup job in Bimini. One of the African Mafia Bosses needed to get rid of a loose end but needed an outsider. She took the job from the Broker when the call came in. It was an easy mark that paid half a million dollars. DaKari had a charm that was poisonous and deadlier than anyone could imagine. She was so diverse she could become anyone she wanted. She could charm the hell out of any mark. He would kill himself if she told him to. I had actually seen her do this before, but that’s another story. She’d be gone a week or less and flew out a few days before the mark, scouted out the location, and developed her plan. The target was the ‘I’m the big man on campus’ type: loud, boisterous, and flashed money; the worst kind of loose end to have, however, most accessible to kill. He was supposed to testify for the FBI on a case that involved the African Mafia. He told them so much information, more than half of the upper bosses were in prison.
She tailed him for a few nights and learned his habits. He liked to drink and buy rounds at the bar. He was under the impression he was protected by the government in Bimini until the trial. On the third night, she snuck into his room and waited for him to return, too drunk to stan
d up, as he usually did. She didn’t kill him, but she wanted to see if he’d notice her in the room. He didn’t, and while he took a shower, she slipped out. On the fifth night, she waited in his room again. At around 3:30 AM, he staggered into the room and stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower. She slid out of the closet and snuck into the bathroom. It was filled with steam, and he was already in the tub. She yanked the curtain open; he turned and faced her with surprise in his eyes. She put her silenced .45 to his forehead and pulled the trigger. He slid down the wall with his eyes and mouth wide open.
Before he slumped over, she had disappeared out the window. She wrote me the letter on her way home and mailed it back in the States. I was at another job, in the letter that she wanted to buy a beachfront vacation house. It had to be far away from everything we knew. The family had to have a place to go and feel safe at any time. There was no work done there, period. She was thinking about our future. I sighed and sat at my desk.
Turned on my desk lamp and held the envelope over the light. It was too thick to see through, but it did have an object inside. I sliced it open with a letter opener and took out the other envelope inside like a wedding invitation. In the second envelope was the ring she got from Gio. My heart pounded in my ears. There was a letter written in beautiful penmanship. I laid everything out on my desk. Picked up the letter, flipped to the last page; it wasn’t signed by anyone. My phone rang before I began to read. It was Black. Before I could speak:
“KAE, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!” he screamed.
The gunshots in the background made my feet spring into action. I didn’t wait to hear anything else. Immediately I shoved the letters into my drawer and ran upstairs. The people screamed in the background. First thought was to get to my babies. I jumped in my car, backed out of the garage, rearmed the alarm, and flew down the driveway. Swerved onto the highway and hit ninety miles per hour to the banquet hall. I zigged and zagged through traffic and got there in half the time. When I turned on the street, people ran to the parking lot, jumped into cars, and sped out. Before I could throw my car into park, I jumped out and ran towards the front door. My .45 was out and ready. Inside I scanned the crowd for my babies, my family, or Black. When I didn’t see any of them, my heart sank. People held loved ones who appeared to be shot or at least injured. Others ran around them or jumped over them. I pushed through the sea of people towards the back of the hall. I saw Dallas, Kari’s nephew, running towards the kitchen past the blown-out wall of windows. Headed in his direction.
“What the fuck, Dallas?!” I screamed when I caught up to him.
“The kids are with Houston and the Godfathers! This way, come on!”
He sped towards the kitchen, I followed. My mind raced, my heart pounded, and my feet kicked into high gear. I felt like Flo Jo at a track meet in knee-high leather boots. We ran through the kitchen and out of the exit door. There was a wooded area, and we followed the path. The sound of dirt bike engines roared in the distance. We ran towards the sound. Up ahead was Black running in the same direction. The engines got farther away, and soon we couldn’t hear them. When we caught up to Black, we had to catch our breath.
“What the fuck is going on!? Who the fuck was that? What the fuck happened?” I pushed Black’s chest.
“I don’t know who the fuck that was but this was planned, I’m sure of it. The bikes were waiting for them out here. Everyone’s on their way to the safe house.” he holstered his gun, as did I.
“Black, what do you want me to do?” Dallas asked.
“They are heading east in these woods. The road dumps out to a highway. See if you can find anything at the end of the trail. Go get a few guys to take with you. I don’t need no show, just find out if you can pick up a trail,” he ordered.
“I got you,” Dallas took off towards the trail and called for help on his mic.
“Something ain’t right about this shit,” he surveyed his surroundings.
“I didn’t get to read the letter in the envelope yet,” I sighed and pressed my forehead to his chest.
“It happened in slow motion. They were a part of the crowd in the banquet hall. Dressed like they belonged at the funeral, but you could tell it was off the rack. They didn’t quite fit in. A few were already sitting down at tables before the last two walked in.”
“You think someone sent them here? If so, for what reason?”
“I don’t know, but we are going to find out,” He walked back to the banquet hall.
“I need to see the security tapes, and I need to know what you find on this trail.” My blood boiled.
“Come on. We need to get up to the security room.” He grabbed my hand.
Pissed off was an understatement. There were three things nobody was allowed to fuck with my family, money or heart. I’ve seen Kari slit throats behind her family, and we weren’t even grown. We reviewed the tape. The family came in and were seated at the head of the room. People mingled with each other, and the servers handed out drinks. Two men came in and didn’t bring attention to themselves. As the minister stood up to pray, everyone bowed their heads. The five men used that chance and made a move. Simultaneously, two stood up and shot in the air; the other three stood up and shot towards the wall of windows. It didn’t appear they were shooting at anyone specifically. Everyone started to run. The Godfathers and Houston rushed the family out of the side door. The crowd of people rushed and ran in every direction, trying to escape the gunfire. The older people tried to take cover; mothers threw their babies to the ground and covered them with their bodies. People fell to the ground in the hail of bullets. I couldn’t tell if they were shot or trying to find cover.
Security shot at the gunmen and tried to run towards them. The crowd slowed them down. Black ran towards the two that shot in the air. The other three shooters fired at the wall of windows again. Then the three of them ran for the kitchen’s exit. Black focused on the three gunmen. Dallas ran beside the shot-out windows towards the three of them, then I appeared in the frame. I downloaded the footage to a flash drive and deleted it from the server.
“I need to see my kids.” I headed downstairs.
“Do you think it is a good idea to see them now? We don’t know who may be following you,” Black grabbed my arm.
“Are you serious? Less than an hour ago, you told me I should’ve been here,” I punched him in his chest. He took it like a champ.
“Hold up. Don’t start shit with me. I’m thinking out loud! We can’t be too sure what they are willing to do,” He held my arm tight to keep me in place.
“These people aren’t after me. If they were, they would’ve known I wasn’t here. So, who were they here for?” I jerked my arm away.
“I don’t know; twelve will be here in a few minutes. There is no way no one called them. Get out of here and let me clean this up,” He walked away.
He was mad and felt like I wasn’t listening to him. The truth is I always listened but made up my own mind. I tried to explain to him that this was more than a security problem. This shit doesn’t sit well with my spirit. Could it be a job come back for revenge? Could someone want us out of the game? Why? A lot of questions and no answers. Outside, I jumped in my car, hit the corner, and sped away. Drove right by the police, ambulance, and fire trucks whose sirens blared and lights flashed. I couldn’t stand the police. The blue wall in this town was no better than the typical hood on the street. They wouldn’t find out who did this. Not before I did, that is. I called Houston.
“Nephew, y’all good? Everybody alright?”
“Everybody’s good. We are almost in the house. Where are you?”
“I’m on my way to you now. So what the fuck happened?”
“They stood up during prayer and started shooting. When I heard the first pop, I grabbed the girls. The Godfathers had the boys, I held the door, and we ran out the side. I don’t know what the fuck happened after that. We bounced.”
“You know this is some bullshit, and we gonna find out
who did this! I’m ready to murder a mothafucka. This is the most disrespectful shit I’ve ever seen in my life,” I pounded my fist on the steering wheel.
“Hell yeah, Auntie, you know I’m down to ride. You gotta let me help you. I’ll be damned if anybody gonna disrespect my family,” the young anger in his voice was palpable.
“I need y’alls help. I’ll talk to you when I see you,” I hung up and put the pedal down.
My Mercedes SLS AMG Black series took off up the on-ramp. I pulled up, put my gate code in, and drove up behind the house. I ran in the back door, and they came in from the garage. My babies yelled “Mama!” in unison and ran towards me. I met them halfway and wrapped them in my arms. They were fine. I hugged my mama first, and then Mama G.
“Y’all ok?” I asked.
“I don’t know what the fuck going on, but what the fuck!?” Mama G threw her hands up.
“Glo, we’re alive, so let’s be thankful for that,” Zalan tried to stay calm.
I knew she was shaken.
“Za cut the bullshit. We got shot at, at my daughter’s funeral. You better mothafuckin’ believe I’m mad! I’m mad as hell! I’m going to fuck somebody up,” her body fell into a chair.
“It’s going to be ok. You know Kae and Black ain’t going to let Nothing happen to us. Come on, let me make you a drink.”
She pulled Mama G to the bar and made her a drink. I told the Godfathers to secure the perimeter and prepare to move out shortly.
“Houston, let me talk to you,” I pulled him into the dining room.
“I’m trying not to spaz the fuck out, but on everything, I’m not about to let these mothafuckas get away with this shit. We are Romaines out this bitch, you feel me?” He said through clenched teeth. He paced in front of me and slammed his fist in his hand.
Tears of an African violet Page 2