Payback Ain't Enough (14 page)

“Okay, you know I’ll have him ready.”

She hung up, and I gave Keeta her phone back.

“You want me to get him?”

“Nah, I’ll go. Thanks, Keeta.”

“Boy, you know I got you. What about your car keys?”

“I got an extra set in the house.”

“Alrighty then, if you need me, call me.”

She left and I went into my house. I needed to shower, shave and call Nick. As I got dressed, I put together my plans and then thought I better take Keeta up on her offer. I grabbed the house phone and told her to go pick up Anthony and to tell Miss Carrol not to tell Shan I was home. She said something slick and hung up on me.

The next thing I did was go through my house. I had to get a feel for whatever Shan was up to. I saw the new Mercedes GL450 in the garage. I found my cell and called Nick.

“Nick, what’s good?”

“Briggen, what’s up with you? Where you at?”

“I’m at the crib.”

“Oh shit, you out?”

“For now, yeah,” I said.

“Fuck that for now shit. Money talks, nigga. You forgot? You want me to swing by? I gotta run something by you.”

“Yeah, come on through.”

CHAPTER TEN

Boomer and I were waiting at the Detroit Science Center for this Nick character. We were just told that our shipment was dropped off already and being distributed. “Why do you think he’s giving us such a good price, Boomer? I mean, he’s practically giving it away.”

“Here he comes, you can ask him yourself.”

“Boomer, what’s up? Glad you are back out on the battlefield.” He embraced my uncle, and then turned to me. “And this must be Janay.”

“Yeah. This is my niece.”

“It’s cool to finally meet you. I didn’t get an opportunity to speak with you at the round table. What did you want to ask me?”

Nick was such a pretty boy, looking around my age, thirty-one. He was staring at me, waiting for my response.

“Why are you giving us such a good price?” I asked focusing on the business at hand.

He smiled. “That’s an easy one to answer. For one, it’s out of respect. And two, I want to contribute to the family that should be at the top of this food chain. Y’all know how to treat your people and run your business. Makes my job that much easier.”

“If that’s the case, then how long can we get it at this low price?”

“That depends.”

“Depends on what?”

“That depends on you.”

I’m not one to mix business with pleasure, but damn. Seeing Janay up close and personal I wasn’t expecting her to be supermodel sexy and so damn feminine. She had on a pair of black stilettos, black tight-fitting jeans that showed off each and every one of her curves and a simple but expensive white blouse. She was dressed like a woman with class. I didn’t want to take my eyes off her, and had to remind myself that I was here on business. The ball was in my court, and it was time for me to make that move.

“I’m listening,” Janay responded.

“Make me your main connect and I can guarantee that the price will stay the same. I’m confident that you can’t get a lower offer than mine nowhere.”

Janay’s expression remained blank. Boomer glanced over at her, then back at me. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and paper. I watched as he jotted something down and passed the note to Janay. I kept my game face on as
I waited for a reply. I knew the outcome because like I told her, she wouldn’t find shit lower or better than what I was offering.

After a long silence, Janay extended her hand for me to shake it. “We have a deal.” Once our hands locked, she pulled me close for an embrace. “Don’t fuck us over, baby boy,” and with that, she pinched my cheek.

Boomer thought that was funny.

“Boomer, our business is concluded here with Mr. Nick. I’ll be in the car.”

I watched her hips sway as she walked away.
Damn, she’s a bad bitch!
I thought.

Boomer obviously read the expression on my face because out of the blue he said, “You ain’t her type, youngin.”

“What’s her type?” I asked him.

“Trust me. You ain’t her type. But I’ll be in touch. Let me catch up with my niece.”

He left me standing there, and I left and headed over to see Briggen.

WHEN BRIGGEN OPENED THE
front door, I stepped into a tension-filled atmosphere. I could feel it. He was carrying Li’l Peanut and had his cell glued to his ear. He waved me inside and pointed to the sofa. I sat down, and he disappeared upstairs. I heard him arguing with whoever it was he was talking to, and then his voice trailed off.

I sat there and waited for him to come downstairs, deciding how much I was going to tell him. I knew a nigga of his caliber didn’t leave his castle without anybody watching it. I wasn’t going to show my hand; I was going to feel my way through this. I knew I had to be careful and needed to call his bluff.

When he came back into the room, he said, “Nick, when they say ‘when it rains it pours’, whoever said that shit wasn’t lying.”

“What’s been up with you, man? Don’t tell me your ghost walking ass finally caught a case.”

“Man, I don’t even want to talk about that. But there a few things I do want to talk about. Why have you been stopping by my crib?”

“You don’t know?”

“If I did, do you think I’d be asking you?”

“Shan told me she got my number from your cell. She called me because she found a package and she needed help.”

“She found a package of what?”

“A key of dope.” There I was calling his bluff. I wasn’t sure what or how much he knew. “She took me to the garage and showed me a bag that had a key of dope in it. She said she didn’t know who else to call and asked me to move it for her. I had heard that you was locked up, but she confirmed it that day. I took the dope so you wouldn’t have it sitting around in your crib.”

“What the fuck?” He looked confused and shocked as he tried to process what I had just told him.

“I know, man.”

“How she just gonna call you outta the blue?”

“She called me. She said she found my number in your phone.”

“Nick, stop bullshittin’. You know it’s MOB…
Money Over Bitches
. What’s the real deal, nigga?”

“I ain’t bullshittin’. But your concern should be that whoever she took it from crashed into her, and as she was leaving,
her tag fell off the back of the car. She said she went back for it, and it was gone. She don’t know who has it.”

“Fuck! And just a key?”

“Yeah. One key,” I lied.

Brig looked at me as if he knew I was lying. But what could I say? I glanced at my watch. I didn’t have any more time to waste sitting here playing twenty-one questions.“What else is up?”

“Big Choppa’s peoples were at the last roundtable.”

I had to laugh. Choppa was a rare breed. Here he disappeared only to resurface to make sure his daughter sat on his throne. “I’m not surprised. Choppa is from the old school. He rides until he dies.”

“Yeah, that’s true. But at the same meeting they took Melky out. He was one of my key players. How they gonna do that without my vote?”

I could hear in his voice that he had major problems with that move. “Man, you know you can’t be attached. When niggas fuck up and have to pay the cost ain’t shit you can do about it.”

Brig’s face was all contorted the fuck up. I didn’t know why he was surprised. He knew better than me how the game was played. “Him and Skye were the ones who tried to kidnap Choppa’s daughter, remember? You know Chop wasn’t gonna let that shit slide.”

“Yeah, but they took Skye out. That beef was supposed to be squashed.”

I shrugged his comment off. My mind wandered off to Shan. I wanted to ask him about her but at the same time, I didn’t want him to become more suspicious than
he already was. If he didn’t have anything else for me, it was time for me to leave. He seemed as if he was ready to start trippin’. I was glad when I heard his son, my nephew, crying.

I couldn’t believe that Nick had the audacity to try to hit on me. Didn’t he know who I was? And Boomer had the nerve to tell me to use it to my advantage. That shit was old as hell and I told him how insulted I was that he would even say that to me.

“What? You think I’m talking about pussy?”

“Of course. What else could you be referring to?”

“Nah, baby girl. I’m talking about his mind. His knowledge. What he knows. His information.” Boomer poked the side of his head. “How did he get to be the consultant to eighty percent of the drug families in Detroit? He’s slowly becoming the only supplier. He almost controls the supply and demand. The boy is smart, Janay.”

I laughed, “Boomer, y’all force me to run the family business. Now y’all gonna tell me who to fuck?”

“Janay, you know you have to be ready for whatever the game throws at you. You backing out on the family?”

Why did my uncle just call me out? Boomer told me that if my heart wasn’t one-hundred percent in this, then I would need to make a decision.

Needless to say, I ended up on the phone with Nick and we talked for damn near four hours… This was some bullshit!

When Briggen first called with that visit shit, I admit, I did panic. And most of the time when I panic, dumb ideas come to mind. Vegas being one of them. I booked a trip to Vegas, first-class everything. I stayed at a new boutique hotel called The Atria. My timing was perfect. Floyd Mayweather was fighting, and I was making it my business to be there. At the fight I bumped into some fly bitches from Jersey, and we made plans to hook up right after. And it was on.

But when I spoke to Miss Carrol and she said that Briggen came and picked up Li’l Anthony, I could have died. I immediately came down off of my “freedom fun” high. And talk about fun? After I hooked up with the two Jersey chicks, we got it in. We gambled, we swam, we went to the shows, gambled and partied some more. I won $27,000, but only had fourteen of that left and decided to quit while I was ahead.

My new friends, Courtney and Michelle, were disappointed that I had to leave and cut my trip short by two days. It was time for me to go home and face the music. So, here I was pulling up into my driveway.

I paid the cabbie, and he got out to get my bags. I was anxious to see my baby, but I had mixed emotions about seeing Briggen. I missed him, yes, but at the same time, I knew to be prepared for battle since I did not come and see him like he instructed me to. I put the key into the lock and before I could turn it, Briggen snatched the door open holding our son.

“Anthony!” I couldn’t help but smile and take my baby into my arms. This was the longest I had ever been away from
him. Briggen stood there looking me up and down before grabbing my bags from the cabbie. My son was so glad to see me, and I was so glad to see him. He wouldn’t stop bouncing up and down.

“Shan, what the fuck has gotten into you?” Briggen snapped before he even got into the house good. “I can’t wait to hear what you got to say, and you better hope I like what you tell me.”

I looked at this nigga as if he was crazy, held my son tighter and headed for the stairs.

“Shan!” he yelled so loud he startled me, and I froze in place. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“Briggen, I am grown. I took a vacation and went to Vegas by myself. I met two ladies from New Jersey, and we hung out together, and we enjoyed ourselves. That’s it; that’s all.”

“What made you decide to leave our son with the daycare worker? When I asked you to come see me, you bitched about how you wasn’t leaving our son with no stranger for days at a time, but you go and pull this shit!”

“Daycare worker? Briggen, you have known Miss Carrol for how long? Hell, you are the one who introduced me to her. You forgot she used to be the nanny? I needed to get away from everything that was going on.”

“Everything going on? What the fuck, Shan? A little bit of pressure and you just cave in like a spineless bitch?”

“Briggen, if I’m not stuck in this house, I’m running your fuckin’ businesses. I never do anything for me. I needed to do this for me. I was beginning to feel as if I was going to have a nervous breakdown. Yes, I feel like everything around me is caving the fuck in! I’m glad you fuckin’ noticed,” I
screamed. “And as you can see, our son is fine. If I didn’t trust Miss Carrol, do you think I would have left my baby with her? You asshole!”

“That’s not the only thing I’m pointing out, Shan. I told you to come see me, and you didn’t. Then I’m hearing some shit about you spending money like it’s water and you got niggas running in and out of my house.”

“What?” I got indignant. “What about me hearing that you still hustling? And what about me hearing that you still fuckin’ with all of them bitches you had when I first met you? You wanna get shit out in the open, let’s get it out. From what I’m hearing you
big
.” I put lots of emphasis on big. “Larger than you were when I first met you. I never say shit when you go see them bitches to take care of your business. I called Nick because I had no one else to call. He came, and I’m sure he told you why he came. Now what?” I was screaming at the top of my lungs, and it was feeling damn good to let it all out.