Ghost to the Game

by Orion Pharoah

  He stretched his arms out of the booth, sucked his teeth and said, “Yeah, so?”

  I motioned for him to lean in and he obliged and I smiled and told him, “You being the creature of habit that you are, didn’t realize that that tingle in the back of your throat right now, and the fact that you think your legs are asleep from just sitting too long are the first signs that you picked a fight with the wrong fucking kiddo Derek.”

  The panic in his eyes was priceless as his body started undergo full paralysis.

  “Yeah, that's right, this is the last place you’re ever gonna sit. Even as we speak, well as I speak 'cause you’ve proba’ly lost all auditory control by now-you realize I’ve already won. Oh, and by the way,” I stood up and as I did, the entire restaurant stopped. I turned his head gently towards the entire scene so he could see my family, “The party was just for you, the entire family wanted to say goodbye.”

  Tears began to flow out of his eyes as we walked down the stairs and I knew, before we could all get to the car, his heart stopped. We got in as the ambulance was pulling up to the restaurant and C Murder looked at me, “Damn, you talked that man right into a heart attack.”

  I leaned back in the seat, “C, I just had a conversation with an ol’ acquaintance of my pops and apparently our disagreement didn' sit well with him.”

  It didn't happen often but C Murder got quiet and just sat back rubbing his goatee, speechless. I took a deep breath and said to him, “C I'ma need you to be with me on this, I gotta promise to keep, but first we're gonna have to wreak a little havoc on a few partners.”

  “Just say the word.” C responded quickly.

  “It’s not that easy,” I shook my head, “We gotta be smart.”

  “That's right, that's right man. You’re always thinking about the start, the middle, and the end game.” C replied.

  “C, you will too, you just gotta be able to follow your instincts, the anger and rage inside you is good to possess but you gotta be able to funnel it as well.”

  “Bro, just show me the way 'cause this is what I want. I mean, this is the family I didn't have growing up, this is my Pop’s family-one I never knew, and on the real, you’re my brother man.” I smiled as the car pulled into my private garage and I turned to C, “Go home and get some sleep, we’ve got planning to do.” I closed the door and went upstairs.

  I walked into the house and Belle stood in the middle of the living room completely naked smiling, “What's that smile for?”

  She smiled bigger and said, “You said it was a “don't ask” night, so I figured it should be a “no clothes” night too.” I swept her up in my arms and took her to the bedroom and laid her on the bed, she whispered, “I know that losing Jason has changed who you are and what this family means to you and I just want you to know that those first twenty-seven levels were amazing and that I’m still all in, as high as you want to go.”

  I kissed her deep into the pillows and turned off the lights.

  Chapter 22

  I promised myself that I would take care of the outstanding issue that was Alex as soon as I could and now with Pops gone, it didn't seem that hard of a decision. I called an inner circle meeting late one night and we met in a conference room. I addressed the entire group, “A few months ago it came to my attention that a freighter ship that we lost a substantial amount of money on-because of rough seas and some faulty connections, may not have been completely mother nature's design. Here’s where it gets interesting though, that ship was headed to Lithuania and there's one person in this conference room right now who happened to be in Lithuania at the same damn time. Now that doesn't make you guilty, Alex.”

  Everyone turned and looked at him. “What it does do, is make me question you, though. I started to realize that because you were like a nephew to my Pops you had a few more blind spots than most, and what I found ironic is this, Alex. The fact that there's no documentation of you in Lithuania actually leaves an enormous paper trail. Like A HUNDRED-THOUSAND DOLLARS CASH!” I shouted, “that you paid to have that damn crate lifted off of that ship! Like the fact that the remaining cargo didn't even need rough seas to fall into the ocean because it was already missin’ a crate Alex, and the chains were gone.” He never moved, never made a sound, just looked me directly in the eyes. “I didn't want to believe it was you so I paid a salvage unit to recover every damn one of our crates off the bottom of the ocean and there was one missing. I started greasing some palms in Lithuania and it turns out that there was a crate that was melted down at an iron workshop and come to find out, there are a series of bank accounts that received deposits matching the exact dollar amount that was in that fucking crate. They all lead to you, Alex.”

  He stood up and C Murder immediately jolted towards him. I reached to hold C-Murder back and Alex smiled, “Exactly! Call your pet off.” He looked at C Murder, “Don’t think just 'cause he keeps you on a leash that your family. You’re just a little boy trying to be hard 'cause this fool gave you a chance. You're all full of shit! This fool is tracking every move I make and what about y’all?”

  Mike looked at him, “We didn't try to steal millions from a family that was paying us forty times as much.”

  Alex shook his head, “So you drinkin’ the kool-aid too Big Mike? You know what, at least J was man enough to confront somebody with a bullet to his head, all you wanna do is have a bullshit business meeting and talk about how you found this and you found that. The question is still what you gonna do about it? And if you don’t tell that little punk ass boy to quit eyeballing me, I’ma do something about him.”

  I turned and looked directly at C.

  “Remember how I told you to never to go left on a family member?

  “Yeah.” he said shaking his head, “It would damage that relationship forever.”

  “Well C, Go left on this mother fucker.”

  C Murder smiled as he came around the table. Alex threw up his hands as C picked up a chair and knocked the hell out of him, then continued to punch and kick him until I could see my point had been made to everyone in the circle.

  “All right gentlemen, this is a decision that only Alex can make and it's only between him and I-you know the rules, C take everybody downstairs.”

  C walked everybody out of the room and I closed the double doors behind him. I pulled the forty-cal out of my waist, held it tightly, looked at Alex and said very bluntly, “You know how this works. You disappear from everywhere this family does business or you get a first-class ticket to hell with a squeeze of this trigger.”

  Alex closed his eyes as I applied enough pressure to the trigger to ensure that everyone in the building understood the decision he had made. I exited the conference room, locked the door behind me and called our personal maintenance to take care of him. As the elevator doors opened up to the first floor, everyone was standing looking directly at me. “How about we go eat gentlemen?”

  C asked, “So we're not goin’ back up?”

  I put my hand on his shoulder and walked him and the rest of the family out.

  “No, C, we’re goin to eat.”

  Dinner was very quiet at first but finally Big Mike broke the silence, “C the way you laid down those hooks, yea Boi! That boxing club paid off.”

  It made the whole table break into laughter, confirming what we all knew, loyalty is the reason we're breathing and it was almost a relief to sit there at a table full of men that have the same mentality as me. It almost made me feel like I was at home, but I wasn't and I would constantly need to remind myself of that, I knew that this realigning of the family and elimination of the weak points would change me but I also knew it was necessary. I smiled as everyone ate and we all bonded a little closer in the deception that was Alex.

  Chapter 23

  A few months of “don't ask” nights and anyone can go a little stir crazy. Quite frankly, I was getting tired of being apart from Belle so I arranged for some jets and the family to fly to London,(a couples thing- with some of the hus
bands and wives, girlfriends and boyfriends, and myself and Belle.) a small vacation spot nestled on one of the countries beautiful acreage. The ladies loved it, they got to go shopping and we got to see the sights.

  Belle and I finally had a day to ourselves and she was dragging me all over London, buying cute little things for her mom and weird outfits for me. We tried all kinds of crazy foods and I loved every minute of it; she was a breath of fresh air during a time of almost no breathing at all. She loved the train stations of London and how easy it was to get around. We walked down the streets towards the next center, and I got a two-way message from C Murder, it read:

  They know what Belle looks like and that she’s at station 3-Just one guy.

  I clenched my teeth and looked around, I saw the signs of station 3 as Belle moved steadily in that direction. I quickly shouted to her, “Hey beautiful, go stand by the platform, I'm gonna take this phone call really quick, I’ll just be second.” I watched her as she walked away and I called C and asked where he was. He responded, “On the train I’ll be there within minutes, Bro.” I took my time as I walked through the crowd looking for someone with a vantage point to see Belle standing by the train tracks. There he was, in a small corridor looking down at a picture of my Belle and I could feel my blood start to boil, I wanted to kill him where he stood and nothing was gonna stop my satisfaction of watching him take his last breath.

  I walked up to him looked at the picture, “Oh she's a cutie. Is that your girl?” I smiled.

  He responded, “Yeah, as a matter of fact it is, just waiting for her to get off the train.”

  I reached for the knife in my pocket, and as my fingers touched the cold steel, I saw his pupils completely dilate and knew C Murder had pumped his system with his magic. I looked over his shoulder and saw C standing behind him and he warned, “Take that picture man, I think our friend has had a little too much. And get your hand off that knife, you made a promise, remember?”

  I took a deep breath, “It's a shame, he's never gonna feel it.”

  C chuckled, “Oh that was a half of a dose, just enough to get my drunk friend back to his apartment where there's a party waitin’ on him. Now, get the hell outta here before Belle sees me.”

  I walked the join Belle at the platform.

  “Did you get lost? She laughed.

  “You know, believe it or not you don't stick out like a sore thumb over here- It's kinda hard to find you in all these clothes.” She blushed and got close to my face to kiss, “Well maybe you can take those off for me tonight?” I kissed her and we got on the train.

  ***

  The train station created one day of business that we needed to attend to so that morning, me plus three family members went to a high-rise in downtown London to visit a partner. The office penthouse was immaculate with a private sauna, bathroom and kitchen- it wasn't an office, it was a cooperate paradise.

  He leaned on his desk as we walked in and I aggressively made my way to him saying, “I'm only gonna ask you once, is there anyone else that you gave that picture to?”

  He smiled. “You know here’s the thing about you Bosses, you're not actual tough guys, you bring your muscle in with you and you think that's gonna scare me, then you toss around facts like you know all the answers. Well if you knew all the answers then we wouldn't be having a conversation and all that extra muscle you're packing would be doing something. This isn’t the United States, you’re not just going to walk out of here and disappear if you harm me, Orion.”

  I pulled my gun out and put it to his forehead, “You know I agree with you, a lot of Bosses aren’t tough guys. I'm not a tough guy, I didn't bring them to do anything bad to you, I brought them just in case you want to do something bad to me, I don't need them to do anything bad to you.” I pushed a gun deep into his temple, “And yeah, this isn't the US, so I guess I won't be using this either.” I grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him close enough for him to feel my breath on his nose with the gun pressing hard to his head, “But look at my eyes you son of a bitch, you already know what your punishment is and I found you guilty at the train station.”

  I released the back of his head and pushed him backwards onto his desk as the color returned to his face and I turned and handed the gun to Big Mike, “Let's go.”

  We caught the elevator down and walked out of the building and as we got to the car, we heard a loud thunderous boom and people began to scream. The commotion was directly in front of the office complex and when we looked, we saw a man lying in the middle of the road with broken glass that had fallen all around him from the high rise above.

  I chuckled, “He’s not having a good day.”

  They all looked at each other in total astonishment and we got in the car and left. We all made it back to the hotel to catch dinner with the family and saw it scrolling across the local news.

  “London's largest real estate tycoon commits suicide.”

  I shook my head, “I guess some jobs are too much pressure.” As the news story scrolled by I noticed that the men were looking at me almost concerned, I rested my hand on one of their shoulders and looked at Big Mike, “You enjoyin that shepherd’s pie?”

  He smiled over an empty plate, “I think it might need a few more shepherds.” And we all laughed, “Can't wait to get back to the states and get me a big ass burger.”

  “Amen!” Belle chimed in, “And some barbecue!”

  I winked at her, “Yeah baby, and some barbeque.”

  Chapter 24

  PJ sat at the head of his kitchen table surrounded by the inner circle smiling down at his cake that read: Happy Retirement. He looked up at me, “Dis is crazy. Ya Pop’s neva dreemed a retirement in da game. Yoo ar takn’ us to a level that is Irie.”

  I smiled and raised my glass with everyone to toast him and we sat around reminiscing about old times and listening to war stories. PJ pulled me aside, “Thank ya brudda. Me don' think Me ever thought a day Me retire when Me jump in dis game. Me know it's not da end but dis a nice way to go walkin’ into da sunset. Craz’ to beleev dat back in 1984 Me be lookin at a 27 year ol’ man makin’ his fadda proud.”

  I hugged him and said, “Thank you, PJ. I hope he is.”

  “Jus’ keep ya eye on dat big priz’.”

  I smiled at him as everyone made their way into the living room and PJ addressed them, “Me wanna thank ya fur a lovin’ famly an a life full wit dreams. Jason didn’ git us where we at t’day but his vision did and me know dat’s hard to think it's only ben a year since Londn, since tings had to be Irie. We all grew and held close to each odder. Hol’ on to dat, you gonna need it.”

  He sat down and C Murder said, “PJ, I’ll miss you man, especially those wild ass burgers you be orderin’.”

  Big Mike, a little too drunk, shouted out, “Well, you can still be deliverin’ him burgers. Ain’t like you got shit else to do.”

  There was a small amount of laughter then PJ lost his smile and stood up, “Dat's ‘bout ‘nuff.” He said loudly and everyone's demeanor changed. “You need to git threw ya mind somethin’ ‘bout Malcolm Jr. He is C- Murder. Dat means ya need to stop beleevin’ the ghost stories dat men so scared dey jus’ jump outta forty story buildins and start respectin’ the fact dat there are no ghosts in the game, it’s the man beside ya that keeps ya safe.”

  PJ sat down and the entire room came to the same realization that I had always known, C is murder. The thing about superstitions, evil rumors or folklore is that you’re scared of them just enough not to test them. A real murderer on the other hand, is someone that you know will take your life in an instance; you learn to respect them and honor their skill, teach them how to lead and use that predator instinct to defend a family. It takes a lot to understand that only the best soldiers make pack leader, but it's funny how one retirement party can make that come to focus without question.

  ***

  We all enjoyed each other’s company as PJ told old stories of him and Pops. C leaned over to me and said, �
��This is nice man, we should do this for everybody.” I smiled, “Maybe, we’ll get there. For now, what about a big party?”

  “You mean like your birthday?”

  No man, a big party, somethin’ huge. Just to say thank you to the family.”

  C smiled, “Holy shit, you talkin’ a lot of money.”

  I replied, “Yeah I'm talkin’ a lot of money, for a lot of people that’s worth it.”

  “Well damn, I mean we just missed New Year’s, but we can bring in 1998 with class.”

  I sat back and thought for a second then said, “Or we can celebrate the new Millenia? That will give us a couple years to secure and customize a venue, make it big! I mean huge! Everything free just one big ass thank you!”

  C's eyes grew. “You talkin about somethin’ of our own?” He asked.

  I replied, “Yeah man, you know, I've been eyein that private airport just south of here.”

  “Oh yeah, it’s got that nice warehouse district over there-“

  “No C.” I cut him off, “I mean buy the entire airport. I'm talkin’ about a fully functional, corporate-owned airport. I’m sayin’ commercial aircrafts and private jets, the whole nine boy. We do some marketing and have everybody we know that flies private use it. We’ll be movin’ so many people and products through that no one will be able to tell what's legit and what's not. You know rich people like keeping their shit private and out of the press, how much you think they would pay to house their planes and have private transportation throughout the city?”

  I paused and looked at him, I could tell he was soaking the idea in.

  “We will have the whole country on lockdown and the entire airport will belong to the family. We can go anywhere in the world and the only thing we’ll have to worry about is jetlag. It'll be beautiful and we'll have a place where we can celebrate and no one has to worry about a thing.”