RedBone (40 page)

Randy motioned for them to sit down, but the Baker Boys didn’t budge. Markee, feeling like it was just a matter of time before shit kicked off, tried to diffuse the matter. “Sit down, y’all.” He looked at his cousins.“
Please
”. One by one, they reluctantly took a seat on the lounge chairs. Slade sat directly across from Randy, who busied himself with a jar of peanuts on the table. Slade didn’t like Randy’s arrogance one bit and was about to bounce, especially since nobody was available to take Knox’s call at the apartment. Markee looked at all the armed men in the hopes that Slade would follow his gaze, see they were outnumbered, and realize now was a bad time to make a country move.

“Explain to me how four of my men walk into your apartment alive, and at the end of the night, one walks out dead.” The Baker Boys laughed and Randy smirked. “What’s so fucking funny, niggas?”

Killa stopped laughing for the moment and said, “Dead men don’t walk.”

“Sure they do,” Randy advised him, cracking peanut shells. “You’re walking now, and technically you’re all dead.”

Slade’s jaw flexed. He was trying his best to keep his cool. “What do you want with me and my brothers?”

“I thought I answered the question already. I wanna know what happened the other night.” He popped a few peanuts in his mouth. “Let’s start there first. You need to say something to convince me to let you live.”

“Your man was murdered. With my bare hands.” Slade grinned. “And my brothers didn’t have shit to do with it.” He nodded. “That’s what happened.”

Randy looked at Markee. “It was an accident, man. Honestly. They got into a fight and shit got out of hand. Tell him, Slade.”

Randy cracked seven more peanuts and chewed them fully before swallowing. If they were back in Mississippi, Slade would’ve already brought Randy to his knees by stuffing the jar into his mouth. But for the sake of his cousin, for the moment anyway, he would bite his tongue. “Was it an accident or not?” Randy asked.

“If you’re asking me if I meant to defend myself the answer is yes. Now, did I think he would break so easily? No.” He grinned.

Randy didn’t like Slade but he loved his fire. If he could tame him, he would certainly make a come up. “You killed one of my men, so now you work for me.” Randy wiped his hands on a napkin before dotting the corners of his mouth. “All of you.”

“Sorry, man, but we don’t work for nobody,” Major said. “We in town on business and when that’s done, we on the first thing home.”

“You not listening to me.” Randy’s men aimed their weapons at the Baker Boys, and Markee wanted to faint. “Tornado’s life for yours. Don’t look at it like a punishment. I’m giving you a chance to right a wrong. And if you knew me, you’d consider yourself lucky.”

“He’s right, Slade,” Markee interjected. He was on him so hard, it was only mere seconds before he had Randy’s balls and dick in his mouth. “Normally he wouldn’t be so nice. Y’all should go ahead and take his offer.”

“You a punk-ass nigga,” Killa said. “Sometimes I can’t believe you’re even my cousin.”

“Like my brother said, we not gonna be in town long, Slade interjected. “We just here to take care of a few things, and then we out. So we not gonna be able to work for you.”

“I think you’re under the impression you have a choice.” Randy laughed. “If you are under that notion, let me assure you that you’re greatly mistaken.” He took off his shades and looked into their eyes. “You took one of my best, and this is how you make it right.” Slade laughed. “What’s so fucking funny now?”

“That man crushed within ten minutes of me putting my hands on him. And you call that your best?”

Randy couldn’t tolerate Slade anymore, so he decided to have the man closest to his head pull the trigger. “Get rid of this nigga!” The Baker Boys jumped up, ready for war, until Randy’s phone rang. He raised his hand and said, “Wait. When he picked up his iPhone, Farah’s picture came across the screen. “Luckily for you it’s my fiancée ... Farah.” He flashed it to him, knowing he was familiar with her name. “What’s up, baby? I’m busy right now.” He looked at Slade and could see he finally got to him. He was feeling Farah and it showed all over his face.

Slade’s jaw flexed, and his fists clenched, as he watched him talk to Farah on the phone. As if it were even possible, he hated him even more, and was five seconds from breaking his jaw. Killa, seeing his glare, nudged him and woke Slade out of his thoughts. Farah was not his, and he had to realize it or they all would die.

When Randy got off the phone, he was in a better mood. “I’m gonna give you country boys two days to reconsider my offer. After that, your fare back home will be on me, because you’ll be going back in coffins.”

Chapter 40

“If I did do something, I’m sorry.”

—Farah

Farah sat nervously in the passenger seat as Randy drove speedily down the road. Her puppies, Diamond and Pearl, who she’d grown to love dearly, were barking in the back seat at the top of their lungs. She’d shush them ever so often, but it was obvious that they could feel Randy meant her harm. “Have you ever had a man who would ruin a whole city for you? A man who would kill you, so nobody else could have you?”

Farah grabbed Pearl, who found his way in the front seat. She placed him in her lap and began rubbing his head to calm him down. She was growing tired of Randy’s threats and she just wanted him to do something, or shut the fuck up. “No, but did I do something to you?” She could feel sweat dripping from under her arms and pouring down the sides of her body under her coat. “If I did do something, I’m sorry.”

“You know I’m tired of hearing that shit.” He looked over at her. “So don’t tell me that anymore.” Randy drove in silence for five more minutes before pulling up at an abandoned warehouse. She knew where she was, because she’d been there with him before, but she never went inside. He parked his car and said, “Come on ... I want you to go with me this time.”

Farah grabbed her puppies, and followed him into the drab building and up the dirty stairs. The place didn’t have as many bugs as Grand Mike’s building, but it was still nasty. They stopped climbing the steps when they reached a blue door. “You know why I brought you here?” She shook her head. “I want you to see who I really am.”

Not knowing what he meant, Farah stood behind him as he knocked on the door using a certain rhythm. A few seconds later, Juice came out and smiled at her before even noticing Randy. He hadn’t seen her since she got into the fight at the store.

“You know that’s got to be the fifth time you eyed my bitch,” Randy said. “Make that your last.”

“It’s not even like that,” he lied.

“Good ... Now how’s business?”

“Everything is smooth. Busier than ever.”

Farah saw a box full of Independence Cards, which were used for food stamps, on a table by the door. Randy saw where she was looking and said, “We take them if customers can’t pay up. Sometimes for a few months, and then we let them come back to get them. But it depends on how much they owe. That’s why they’re right here by the door.”

He stepped inside with Farah on his heels, while Juice locked the door. In the middle of the large, open space were eight tables with bags of cocaine on top of them, in various packaging. Workers stood around the stations naked, with masks over their mouths and noses. In between doing their jobs, a few would sneak looks at Randy, and it was obvious they were frightened. The grey floor beneath the table was covered in powder, and Farah saw it get sprinkled with sweat, which came from an older woman’s body. She was so nervous, she was perspiring heavily and it was obvious that everyone feared him.

“Nobody should be looking at me! Get back to fucking work!” When Farah saw Randy slip a small package of coke into his pocket from one of the tables, she wondered why he was stealing from himself. “Come in the back room with me, Farah.”

She followed him into a room that resembled a coat locker. Her puppies licked her knuckles as she held on to them tightly. There were fifty hooks on the walls, and they all held the workersclothing. Randy walked up to one of the hooks, took the small coke bag out of his pocket, and stuffed it into a woman’s royal blue coat. When he was done, Randy walked back into the distribution area, wearing a scowl on his face, as Farah followed.

“I need everybody to stop what the fuck they are doing,” he said. Everyone ceased all actions, as they froze in place. “It’s been brought to my attention that somebody in this room has been stealing from me.”

A few women whimpered, and Farah even saw one of the male workers shed a tear. It was obvious that he’d done this type of devious behavior before. Now she saw how badly lying could hurt people, although she doubted she could stop. “Before I murder everybody in this room, I’m giving you a chance to come clean.” He looked at everyone. “Now ... who was it?”

Silence.

Juice hung in the corner with a disgusted look on his face. Randy wasn’t suited for power and, although Randy didn’t know it, he had plans to take him down.

“Okay, since nobody wants to ’fess up we gonna do this a different way.” He looked at his partner. “Juice, go back there and check every coat in the room. If you find something, bring the dope and the coat to me.”

“Man, what’s this shit about? I been here all day, and I didn’t even see anybody leaving the table, let alone going back there.”

“So you gonna go against your partner? In front of all these people? Now I said somebody was stealing ... Go check.”

Juice glanced at him, then at Farah, and walked slowly into the room. He didn’t care if he caught him looking at her this time or not. He was back there for fifteen minutes before returning empty-handed. “I ... I didn’t find anything, Randy.” Everyone exhaled but Farah’s heart thumped wildly in her chest. She knew for a fact that one of the coats held the drugs, because she’d seen Randy stash it. “I looked a few times.”

“Fuck you mean you looked a few times? Either it’s there or it’s not. If you checked it right, there’s no reason to double up. Fuck it, I’ll do it myself.” He went into the room and returned less than a minute later, holding the royal blue coat. He held it in the air and it dangled under his grasp. “Who does this belong to?”

Everyone looked at an older woman with grey hair, the same one who sweated heavily when he first entered the room. “I had a dream I would die today.”

“So you’re admitting your guilt?”

“No ... I didn’t do it.” She sobbed, shaking her head from left to right. “I promise. Somebody framed me.”

He dropped the coat and walked up to her. “You know the consequences of stealing from me, yet you do it anyway.”

“Please don’t kill me.” She cried harder, backing into the wall. “I have six grandkids and their father and mother were murdered a year ago. I’m all they got, and I have been loyal to you for many years.”

“Randy, she’s our best worker, man,” Juice interrupted. “She wouldn’t do no shit like this. It ain’t her MO.”

“Is that why you lied to me when I asked you to go check? Because you think she’s not capable?”

“If you wanna pull this stupid-ass shit, you do it on your own. I’m out,” Juice roared.

“Fuck that nigga,” he said after he slammed the door.

Turning back to the woman, he removed his gun from his waist, and shot her in the throat. When she dropped, he hit her again in the forehead. Farah’s puppies barked wildly, before she softly rocked them silent. “Clean this mess up and get back to work,” he said to one of his men. Looking back at Farah he said, “Let’s go.”

She followed him up some stairs and to a doorway. Randy pushed it open and the brightness from the roof hit her in the face. She couldn’t be in the sun long, so for a moment, she hesitated. “Come out the door, we not gonna be here too long.”

She looked up at the sky. “Randy, I don’t want to.”

“Don’t make me tell you again. I’m getting real tired of repeating myself.” Farah slowly walked out onto the roof, and stood in the middle, away from the edge. “I own everything you see, Farah.
Everything
.” He walked to the edge. “Come closer ... I want you to share this with me.”

She walked over to him and he said, “I sacrificed the woman in that house for you. There’s no greater love than someone who murders in your honor. But if you do me wrong again, I won’t be so nice.” Then he took her puppies from her hand, and flung them off the roof. Farah screamed out as she watched her animals splatter on the ground.

“Why did you do that?” she screamed. “You gave them to me!”

“I want you to know how far I’ll go to get to you. Stay away from Slade. I saw how he looked at me when I mentioned your name. Let this be your final warning.”

Chapter 41

“Fuck all that ... let s talk about how we gonna get this bitch back.”

—Farah

Farah and Rhonda just finished shopping for the war of the red bones that was going on at her apartment. Farah bought everything she needed to make Lesa’s life miserable, and she couldn’t wait for the games to begin. Although things hadn’t been the same between Farah and Rhonda, she was hoping that their beef would completely blow over, especially since Lesa didn’t turn out to be the friend she thought she wanted. Although Rhonda was cool, it was Coconut who she missed the most. After shopping, they decided to get something to eat at Mamma’s Kitchen.

“Girl, I’m tired as shit!” Rhonda said, rubbing her belly. “Plus my feet hurt.”

“I be glad when you pop that baby out that black-ass pussy. You complain too much now.”

“My pussy pinker than yours. Trust me,” she said. “Look, I wanted to tell you that I’m so happy you still throwing my shower. It means a lot to me and a lot of people are coming.”

Farah was sure she was only befriending her because she wanted her to do something. But since she was friendless, for the moment she’d have to do.

“I still can’t believe all that shit popping off at your crib. Lesa seemed so cool.”