The Corner II (16 page)

“You, or should I say Sammy knows I don’t operate like that. It’s too much money to be made for me to be trying to cause problems with your crew. Anyway, what happened?”

A bit calmer but with anger still in his voice, Bone yelled, “We need to meet.”

Not the one to just step and meet with anyone from another crew just because they wanted to, especially hardcore gang bangers, Lucky told him, “You need to let me know what’s going on.”

Bone’s raspy voice echoed through the speaker. “Muthafucka’s rolled up to a couple of my spots, acted as if they wanted to cop and blasted two of my shorties. Now I can’t let that shit ride. You need to meet with me and we need to talk about some shit, get some shit straight. Sammy left me in charge and I ain’t about to go out soft, BD baby,”  Bone said referring to his affiliation with the Black Disciples. He actually was a high-ranking member of the notorious street gang that originated in Chicago.

Lucky looked over at Noonie who shook his head yes.

Sounding confident Lucky said, “Okay you got it. Give me a number where I can reach you. I’ll have a guy hit you up in the morning and tell you where we’ll be. It will be public, though.”

“What, you got a reason to be worried? I ain’t gonna hit none of your people. That is unless I find out that y’all the ones who hit us.”

Tired of Bone’s threats, Lucky barked, “Look here boy, chill with the threats. Now if you were one hundred percent sure that we were the ones that hit you we wouldn’t even be having this conversation.”  Having been in many of these situations before during his forty some years of street life, Lucky decided to play up to Bone. “Now that some serious thinking not to just mob up on someone without the facts. That’s why Sammy picked your ass to run his shit. Look, we had five dropped and we don’t know who the fuck did it. Meet with us, and let’s figure this shit out. You didn’t get where you’re at by just being muscle. Let’s meet tomorrow evening at Carson’s on Wells out North.”

“I ain’t trying to be out there with all white folk. Five-O will profile the shit out a nigga.”

“Dress casual. The key is, it’s neutral. I’m sending Noonie and a soldier to meet, just you and a soldier and y’all sort that shit out.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Bone?”

“What nigga?”

“I owe you for calling first before jumping the gun. That’s some for real shit. It keeps from having problems.”

“Yeah, you niggas better have somethin’ good to tell me.”

Click.

Lucky made sure that the phone was hung up before speaking. “Did y’all know ’bout two of their boys getting dropped?”

Noonie spoke first, “Ain’t heard shit about it.”

DC added, “I made it clear to Greg and Jamel to chill. I beefed up security on our other spots and damn, that was smooth how you played up to that grimy ass nigga. Making him feel all good about himself and shit.”

“I didn’t become an OG by default. You got to know your enemy and Bone is one of those niggas who wants people to know he’s the man. Anyway, back to what I was saying, you know not to have anyone serving at the spots that got hit, right?” Lucky questioned knowing that homicide and narcotics detectives would be investigating the deaths for a moment. That is until they were put on other cases and filed these as unsolved.

“They are shut down for good. I ain’t taking any chances,” DC said as his phone rang. He looked at the number and noticed it was John John.

Lucky nodded that it was okay for him to answer. John John was calling to let DC know that the kilo he got from him earlier was A-1 and that he needed another. DC cut the conversation short by telling him that he was busy and would hit him up later. He got off the phone and Noonie asked when John John was going to cop more than the kilo he’s been getting. DC told him that he was going to talk to John John about that. He was going to let him know that it was time to step his game up.

Lucky told them not to put pressure on the man. That he was working everyday making seventeen an hour so they needed to understand that his bills were being paid by his nine to five—that the man was stacking loot. Pressure on him could cause him to do something out of the ordinary and cause him to slip. They realized that Lucky’s philosophy was a good one.

Lucky then went over what they needed to talk to Bone about. He stressed to convince the man that they had nothing to do with the hit and to come to some sort of agreement with him that they wouldn’t move on any of his spots and for him to do the same. He then told Anthony that he’d be going with Noonie, but to let Noonie do the talking he just wanted him to sit, listen and learn. DC was a little shocked that Lucky didn’t want him to go, and it showed on his face. Lucky told him that he wanted him to hang back. That he didn’t want both of his lieutenants in the same spot again conducting deals. That he had plans to make his son a ranking member and that he was also going to move Greg up. He told DC that he needed him to put some of the shorties on full time. Only the ones who had done good things for them. They had a lot of young men out in the field, but Lucky needed to make them feel as if they were a part of something. To put more money in their pockets so they would be loyal. He didn’t want any of them deciding to work with any of the other crews who were trying to build themselves. So keeping everyone’s pockets fat was a good thing because no one liked to be hungry. He also felt as if some type of war might break out. He needed more information and knew where to get some that was valuable.

“Ant, go get Tesha.”

Anthony went out to the bar area and told the young lady that Lucky wanted her. She smiled at Anthony and he smiled back. Frank noticed and knew the look. He just went back to drinking his coffee and reading his Chicago Tribune.

Tesha and Anthony stepped in the office. Noonie told Ant that they needed to head somewhere. They left and DC did also to meet John John. They closed the door behind themselves, and Lucky told Tesha to sit. She sat on the leather sofa and was a bit nervous but did her best not to let it show. She and Ant had slept together the other night against Lucky’s wishes. His thing was that he didn’t want any of his crew messing around with any of the barmaids, waitresses or strippers. Tesha was his personal assistant and she knew that it meant her also. Lucky didn’t want another Myte situation to come about, so that was his rule.

Tesha was able to breathe a breath of fresh air when Lucky told her that he was going to use one of his contacts, a guard at MCC, to get her on Sammy’s visiting list. He wanted her to talk to the gang leader and find out what was going on with his crew and what he had been hearing. He knew that sometimes men in the joint knew more than men on the streets and Lucky needed to know it all. He told Tesha to assure Sammy that he and Slim have no intentions of moving on any of his territory, and that he thinks that someone is trying to pit them against each other. He also told her to let Sammy know that if there was anything he needed, he’d be there for him. Tesha told him to let her know when and with that she left the office thinking that, she would have a talk with Anthony. She felt as if she needed to be straight with Lucky seeing as how he always looked after and was always straight with her.

*     *     *

Tesha’s meet with Sammy went well. He was happy that Lucky sent a female instead of a hard leg. Even though it was about business, it was good to see the soft features of a woman and smell her beautiful scent. Sammy made small talk about what was going on in the City before getting down to business. He told Tesha that Bone visited him yesterday and told him about the meet he had with Noonie and Ant. Sammy said that he told Bone to hold back and not to retaliate until he knew for sure who'd killed their little soldiers, and then and only then, retaliate. Tesha did her best to assure Sammy that Lucky had nothing to do with it and wouldn’t roll like that. Sammy knew it but didn’t know if some cowboy in the crew’s nuts got big and did the hits on his own. And if that is what happened, a retaliation was in order. Tesha told him that she understood and would relay the message. She left without saying another word.

Everyday Life

J
ohn John knocked on the door of the three-apartment brownstone. It was a spot where DC kept some of his dope and also where his girl, Cat, was staying. He put her up in the spot after only three weeks of getting the panties. He’d meet Cat when he was in Harold’s getting some chicken. At the time he didn’t know that she was a stripper, and when he found out it was too late. Cat may have been short for Cathy, but DC found out, that Cat stood for what she did when she had a man in the bed. She was as smooth as a feline stalking its prey and used her long nails on a man’s body in ways that were untouched by others. She held back from giving DC some for two weeks, but when she did that third week—she was moved in his spot before the fourth.

“Who is it?” a female asked from behind the door.

It was a reasonably nice brownstone in a fairly decent neighborhood but John John didn’t give a shit. He was there to pay twenty thousand for a kilo and wasn’t taking any chances. He reached under his shirt and held onto the butt of his pistol. “It’s John John,” he answered.

Cat looked back at DC who was on the couch slipping on a t-shirt and a pair of Jordans. He nodded, telling her to open the door.

Cat unfastened the lock and the deadbolt that DC had installed for a little extra protection. When she swung open the door she liked what she saw, a fine baller instead of the few young ugly to average guys who occasionally stopped by. She stepped aside so John John could come in. He couldn’t help but to take a good look at the woman’s body that stood before him—apple bottom ass, big tits and dark skin. She closed the door and walked to the back. John John noticed the extra sway she was throwing and it wasn’t necessary—an ass like that had a mind of its own.
If the saying were true the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice Cat would give a nigga a sugar attack. Or turn all the men she fucked with into diabetics,
he thought to himself.

DC got up, oblivious to his woman flirting. “What’s up my nigga, you ready to do this?”

“You know it boss man. I got to get mine.”  They gave each other some dap.

“I’ll be ready in a sec, soon as I take a piss,” DC said as he headed toward the bathroom.

Cat re-entered the living room and offered John John a drink—he refused. He knew what her play was and even though his little head told him to hit that shit his big head told him that he was getting a good price from Cat’s man and was lucky to have gotten hooked up with him. So he wasn’t about to fuck up his loot by fucking the hand that fed him.

DC walked out of the bathroom and noticed Cat standing at the mini-bar fixing a drink. Wouldn’t shit have been wrong, but he had caught her bending over in a flirtatious way. He yelled, “Get yo ass in the bedroom!” He shook his head then mumbled to John John, “I don’t even know why I fuck with that tacky ass bitch.”

As John John took off the money belt he was wearing he said, “You know why nigga.”  He handed him the cash. “Cause that body is killing ’em!”

DC counted the money and raised an eyebrow while asking, “You checking out my bitch?”

They stared at each other for a moment.

John John answered, “Yeah.”

They both laughed.

After DC made sure the money was straight, which it was all the time, he banded it tightly then wrapped it in plastic wrap. He stuck twenty thousand in the butt of a whole chicken, wrapped the bird up and stuck him in the freezer. During a raid, most of the cops wouldn’t think to look inside the cavity of a frozen chicken. DC then nodded toward the front door and the two men headed out. Once in the hall, DC took out a pair of keys, and they walked to the upstairs apartment. It was empty and where he kept some of his dope. Once inside DC took a kilo out of the safe that was in the bedroom. John John was standing in the living room. DC came out and handed him the kilo.

“Wanna test it?” DC asked.

“I know ya shit straight.” John John loosened his belt and put the gallon Ziploc that had the cocaine in it in his jean shorts. He tightened the belt to ensure that the drug wouldn’t fall as he walked. John John told DC that he had somewhere he had to be so he was out. He left the apartment ready to pull his Glock from the small of his back and dump if need be. He made it to his vehicle safely and was out. DC looked out the window as John John drove off. He smiled knowing that his boy was on his way to rock the shit up and make his loot—and that he’d be back in a day or two.

*     *     *

Lisa was lying in her bed with nothing on but a pair of panties reading a novel. She’d turned the a/c on when she left her bedroom to go take a shower so her satin sheets were nice and chilled. It was late August, and in the city that meant high humidity. But tonight Lisa had been chilling. She’d used the entire day to put the finishing touches on her apartment. Terrance had hooked her up with a nice two bedroom with a balcony out in the suburbs. Even though he had a woman, Lisa was his friend long before they were lovers, and he had no problem with helping her out. He even went as far as to hooking her up with a slamming living room set, bedroom suite, dinette set and a forty-two inch flat panel that was mounted on the wall. Verizon had finally come and hooked up fiber optic cable and high speed internet. Terrance had called earlier to see if everything had been delivered, but she had missed the call. She was busy out shopping buying an outfit for the weekend. She and Devin had plans to go see Tyler Perry’s new play and have dinner downtown. The two had been seeing a lot of each other lately, lunch, dinner, movies, walks in Grant Park, strolls on Navy Pier and just plain old hanging out. She really liked him and even though she still thought of Terrance, the flame inside her for him was burning out and the one for Devin was getting hotter than fish grease.