The New Devil in Charge

by Jennifer Loren

  “Oh, yeah? Then why are you sittin’ out here? What are you, Superman or something?” he fires back rationally.

  “Yeah, I am, and if you and your crew want to come work for me, then I’ll make sure those guys don’t stand a chance against you.”

  “Oh man, you are crazy. Fuck you. And… leave me alone.” He waves his hand at me, walking away and shaking his head. I wait, watching as the car goes back by. This time, my man notices too, as he does the next and the next. Each time, he get more anxious and increasingly nervous. The hours go by, and business starts to grow thin. The car begins driving towards them, and my man looks at me with fear in his eyes. When the car stops, men jump out with guns in their hands, ordering the bewildered crew to their knees. I move up fast behind them, and the three armed men immediately take notice.

  “What the fuck is this?! You wanna die too?” one man asks, not knowing which direction to point his shaky gun.

  “Do you want my help?” I ask the men on their knees. “If you do, I will protect you. You know I can.” One at a time, they begin nodding their heads. Growing impatient, one of the assailants decides to take matters into his own hands, redirecting his weapon towards me and trying to knock me to the ground with it. I take hold of it as he swings and eye him down to his knees. The other two look on in confusion as I turn to them. They don’t move at first, but quickly change their weapons’ direction to me. I shake my head at them. “No, no. I got you first.” I aim my finger at each of them, and they immediately grasp their chests, fighting for breath. When it’s over, I turn to the men still on their knees, and direct my attention to the obvious leader and oldest of the group. “What’s your name?”

  “Um, Marcus. Marcus Paul. I have a little girl. She’s only five. Please, I am all she has.”

  “Well, Marcus, I want you to go buy yourself and that little girl some new clothes and a decent car, and then I want you to get your crew here in order and meet me tomorrow night at six thirty. I toss him an envelope full of cash. You work for me now, and I like my men to dress like they have some sense.”

  “What do we tell our current … well, they aren’t going to like us just walking away with their stash?” Marcus asks.

  “Then give it back, but I wouldn’t make a big scene about you quitting. They’ll figure it out eventually. Oh, and when you come to the first meeting, I want you to have a list of men, people you know and what their skills are. I want people you trust and know could be of value.” He nods as I walk back to my house where Shadow is watching everything closely.

  “And you are?!” Marcus yells out to me.

  I turn to him, realizing that I did forget to mention my name. “Ryan. Ryan Milio … Jayzon. Welcome to my organization, boys.”

  CHAPTER 3

  Ryan

  Marcus, my new lead guy, is at my door first thing in the morning, his new car parked at the curb and a scowl etched on his face. The unknown is always scarier than the known. No matter how much opportunity there might be, you never know where the edge of the cliff is when you go in partially blind. I cautiously welcome the sharp-dressed man inside. “And the rest?”

  “They’ll be here. I wanted a chance to talk to you first. I don’t need them knowing all of my business.” Sitting down, I wait for him to continue. “I want you to know that my daughter is my life. Right now, my mother is helping me take care of her, but I don’t … I can’t leave them with nothing. They both depend on me. My mother has diabetes and needs her medications, and my daughter … well you know what this world is like. The schools stink, and the public assistance daycares scare me. So, before I agree to do anything, you have got to know that I will never, ever do anything that will cost my child her father. She already lost a mother.”

  “Okay, then you will be my organizer and my ears. I suspect you have lived here most of your life?”

  “My whole life has been right here. I know every street and every corner like the back of my hand,” he says with a little attitude as if he is trying to protect his city from me.

  “Good, then you will be perfect to help me plan our takeover.”

  “And who exactly are we going to take over?” Marcus asks.

  “You tell me. Who is the first person we need to take out to get to the next? Who is our first step to taking over this city?”

  “You want to take over the whole city? Are you crazy? There are people so imbedded into this city that no one can take them down. Hell, half of them were born into it. It’s an inheritance, a right that they were taught how to manage since they knew how to walk. There is no way you can walk into this city and demand to own a thing. It’s already owned.”

  I stand to face him eye to eye. “Well, it’s about to go up for sale. Now, who do I need to talk to first about making an offer?”

  He sighs deeply. “You’re crazy, but if you’re going to get your feet wet, then I would start with Jericho. You take him out, you will be an instant player. He’s the newest and the least connected.”

  Eli and I don’t bring anyone other than Terrence with us on this first task since we want to be discreet for the time being. Jericho is hard to get to. He doesn’t come anywhere near a window or door, and he only enters and exits a car from a garage. But, alas, it doesn’t matter because Eli has a great idea apparently. I can hardly wait to hear it – sigh.

  “Trust me, Ryan. It’s gonna work,” Eli says as Terrence and I cringe at the thought of trusting him without knowing the plan. “Watch. You’ll see, and it’s simple. All you have to do is follow my lead.”

  “I’m not going to follow your lead …” I manage to get out before he jumps out of the car and runs up on the house. “Eli, get back here.” I yell cursing as I have to run after him.

  “Marcus said this guy will never be out in public, so we have no choice but to go in and introduce ourselves. Right? Right.” He smiles that Eli smile, and I instantly know we are in trouble. I follow him up to the door where two big guards step in front of us with nothing close to a smile. “Hi, gentlemen. We are here to talk about new opportunities ahead for the neighborhood and wanted to know if you would like to be a part of our great expansion?”

  “Your what?” one asks with a scowl.

  “I think I might be able to explain better.” I step in front of Eli and smile up at them. “Let us into the house, and you can have better jobs working for us, starting today. I’ll even give you the rest of the day off.”

  They seem stunned for a second before blinking, looking at each other, and shrugging. “Alright. Hey, maybe we can order some food and catch the game tonight?” the larger one says.

  “Yeah that’d be cool,” the other responds with a sense of peace about him.

  They take their hands off their weapons and nod at us with a smile before walking away.

  “It’s like a game of Simon Says. Ryan says, ‘Go away’, and it’s see ya later boys! I gotta tell ya, Milio, I am really starting to like this partnership we have.” Eli laughs, taking hold of the door knob and starting to walk in.

  “You know Eli we should probably make sure …” As soon as the door parts from the frame, he is met with a gun in the face “… make sure there is no one standing on the other side.”

  “Get out!” A man with slicked back hair and a big gun pointed directly at Eli’s head walks towards us. He pushes us out from the doorway, and I assume we are done for now when Marcus steps out of nowhere, jumps behind the man, and knocks him out.

  “I thought you weren’t going to get involved?” I ask him.

  “Yeah, well, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to lose my job because my new crazy ass boss got himself killed.” Marcus swears under his breath, and I begin to feel like I am actually pulling together a good crew. “Don’t smile at me. I’m not killing anyone for you.”

  “I like him, Ryan,” Eli announces with Terrence agreeing as we walk into the house.

  The large entryway is three levels high with little else to make it extraordinary since the windows ar
e all covered. Eli walks into the center with his hands on his hips as if he expects to be greeted by a doorman. “What are you doing? No one is going to come to announce your arrival.”

  “No? What kind of low-budget place is this?” he laughs, smacking me on the back as he begins to make himself at home, lounging in a chair and picking up a book to look through.

  “I don’t think we should be sitting down. He is obviously not here, so let’s do what we need to and go.” Marcus twitches and vibrates while peeking through the heavy draperies. I glance at Terrence who was much the same way when he first started working for Nick. There was a time when he would have been the first one trying to drag us back out the door, but now, he is calling out for drink orders from the kitchen. “Drinks? What is wrong with you people? Do you not understand what will happen to you if he finds you in his house?” Marcus pants, pacing like a new nervous father awaiting the arrival of his first born child.

  “Marcus, calm down. We are in. We have the upper hand now,” I say, walking through the house carefully to check things over. He follows me, continuing to urge me to do what I need to and leave.

  “I don’t understand what we are doing here if he isn’t here? Can’t we just start trying to turn his men against him? That would seem to be a simpler action. You did it with me.”

  “You were easy. You were ready to leave before I asked. One decent offer to survive and you would have walked away with anyone. I wish you would trust me more, but I’m sure you will eventually.”

  “Trust you? So far I have put my life in danger more times than I ever have.”

  “When?” I ask, offended.

  “When?! Now for one,” he gripes.

  I wave off his complaint. “We aren’t in danger right now.”

  “At the front door, do you remember the man with the gun?”

  “Alright, maybe that was a little dangerous, but your life wasn’t in jeopardy.”

  “Maybe? A little? That was enough for me, now let’s go. Please, Ryan.”

  “Don’t worry. Terrence found out the man won’t be back for another two hours. We have a tracker on him, and we will get a call an hour before he heads back.” I smile wide when Marcus looks at me with a groan. “Did I forget to mention that?” He walks away, mumbling under his breath. “Oh, Marcus, don’t go away mad. It’s all about trust. Trust me and you will be a lot less stressed.” I finally find the man’s computer and make myself at home. A quick call to Eddy, and I hook him up without issue. When I finish, I return to the boys downstairs who are helping themselves to a massive lunch from Jericho’s leftover dinner.

  “Milio, you should try this roast beef,” Eli says, holding up a fork full of food.

  “And this gourmet bread is amazing,” Terrence adds in.

  I look over at Marcus who is also enjoying a plate full of food. He looks embarrassed at first but manages to get over it quick when Eli hands him a bowl of something else. “What? I eat cereal most days. You think I am going to say no to this?”

  “I didn’t say anything, but pass that over. I am starving.” I sit down with them and enjoy our time watching the big screen television and eating and drinking everything we can. When we get the call, we stand up, stretch, and walk out leaving everything as we found it, except for a lot of missing food and expensive alcohol. As for his three guards, two went to watch the game, and one suddenly awoke with the desperate desire to go for a run. I am not sure where he went or for how long but he should stop running eventually… I think.

  When we get home, Marcus stands at my door as if he is waiting for an explanation. “You can go home now, if you like, or feel free to hang out here, but I don’t have much food.”

  “I’m not hungry. I ate about a week’s worth of food at Jericho’s. I don’t understand what the point of all that was? We didn’t get him. We didn’t do anything but maybe annoy him by eating his food and scaring his guards away. And I still don’t understand how you do that. Is that some kind of mind hypnosis like thing?”

  “Yeah, hypnosis. Listen, someone that paranoid is more than annoyed. They are scared to death and will begin to implode. The more he finds things missing or out of order, the more insane he will go trying to figure out what is happening. We increased his paranoia level ten times over and at some point, he is going to accuse one of his enemies for what we did. And by the way, it’s probably best you don’t know everything about me.”

  “Alright. So, now what?”

  “Who’s Jericho’s biggest competition?” I ask, taking out my laptop to show Marcus something.

  “Acosta. Why?”

  “I have a feeling he will have Jericho at his door soon, probably real soon now that he is on his computer and getting locked messages about his accounts. We changed all his passwords.” I show Marcus the camera we have on Jericho who is now ranting and screaming at the walls.

  “I have to admit, this is kind of fun to watch.” I nod, happy that he is finally enjoying himself some. “By the way, Acosta is a she, Michele Acosta. She is ruthless, and she is all kinds of sexy rolled around an evil bitch.”

  “Huh, a woman. Well, it will be interesting to see who is left standing by the end of the week, won’t it?”

  “I just hope we are still left standing at the end of the week,” he mutters with a sigh.

  I shake my head. “Trust me.”

  “Uh-huh.” He looks around at my old house and the lack of security before shaking his head at me. “Yeah, I don’t think I will. Crazy is never smart, and you are all kinds of crazy,” he says honestly.

  CHAPTER 4

  Ryan

  The sun is not even up yet when there is a knock on my door. Even though I don’t suspect anyone would be coming after me right now, I know enough to never trust that life will work out the way you planned it. I check my video feed before rushing to the door, but I never expected what I find. “Who the fuck is that?” Opening the rickety, old door, I look over the woman, wondering if she is terribly confused or lost or both. “Can I help you?”

  “My Lord,” she says, bowing to me.

  “Oh son of a bitch,” I grumble.

  “My Lord, I am your new humble guard and servant.”

  “Who sent you? Is this a strippergram? Did Eli send you? Tell him I don’t need to get laid by a stripper so he can live vicariously through me. I am so tired of him saying that. Him having a girlfriend is really causing us all to suffer.”

  “I am not a stripper.”

  “Uh-huh.” I look over her leather gear and boots and smirk. Then, I see it—the symbol for the ninth and my family heritage, the ruby-eyed dragon. “Kayla! She sent you, didn’t she?!”

  “I was assigned to you by my Lord Jayzon, and our superior Council. They feel your future is too important and you, therefore, need protection. I was also told that you have no choice. You cannot deny me, no matter what your …and this is a quote straight from your brother so excuse my disrespectfulness ... no matter what your dumbass wants or thinks you need.”

  “I don’t want …” She shakes her head at me. “Son of a bitch! What the fuck am I supposed to do with you now?”

  “You do as you always do, and I follow. Just pretend I am not here, and I promise you will get so used to me that I will become invisible to you,” she says as I look her over again. By the time I look her in the eyes, she has pushed her way into my house and has a scrunched up nose. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Well you are already in my house.”

  “Why do you live here? It’s disgusting. And why are you only wearing those?” She points to my boxer briefs.

  “That’s two questions.”

  “Well, I have a lot of questions, but I will stick to those two for now. This place is not one I would have expected to find you in.”

  “I live here to get to know the community better and understand my competition through the eyes and ears of the people at the bottom. They are the ones who know the most about what’s going on. And as far as my outfit, I was
sleeping. You’re lucky I put these on before I answered the door.”

  “You sleep with nothing on … oh, well, I would appreciate it if you would dress more appropriately while I am living here. It is very distracting to see you that way and not at all proper for our relationship.” She continues on with a happy smile.

  “I thought you were invisible, and I don’t dress for invisible people. Feel free to do the same. All that leather has got to be hot.”

  “I am fine the way I am, thank you. So, where would you like to begin?”

  “Begin? I am going back to bed like a normal person. Too bad you’re not a stripper, you might be worth staying up for.” I walk away and fall back into my bed with my dog already passed out at the foot. I fall asleep without a second thought about my new hot female guard until I begin to dream. Dreams are great for giving you the power to do whatever you want and make someone be whoever you want them to be. My new stripper shows me some moves that force me to bring her to my bed and show her some impressive moves of my own, only before things can get really good, something wakes me up. I sit up as a loud banging ricochets throughout the house. Racing into the living area, I find the woman hammering images to the wall … of my brother. “What the fuck are you doing?! Why are there pictures of Nick on my wall?”

  “Oh, hi! I thought I would inspire us both with some images of great leaders.”

  “There are five images—all of my brother.”

  “Yes, but when I think about each quality of a great leader, I always think of him.” She turns and looks them over with a sigh.

  “Oh my God! Are you kidding me!? Take those down and don’t ever, EVER, put them, or any other pictures of my brother or anyone else for that matter, up again.”

  “You feel inferior to your brother? You shouldn’t feel too bad. I hear you are a great warrior and, someday, you might be as great as he is. I look forward to watching you work and grow. Does Lord Jayzon visit you often? Alone?” she says with a hopeful smile.