The Lion (10 page)

   “Most of you know I played baseball for ten years and now I'm retired. I retired because I planned to come back home to the “D” and start a new franchise. This franchise is going to bring jobs and money into the city to help make this a better place for all of us to live.”

A hand shot into the air and Rion acknowledged the young man.

  “Why'd you come back here? There's nothing here. You can go anywhere you want,” the young man said passionately. “I wish I could get out of here!”

  Rion nodded. “I came back because this is my home and I want to make this a place where you want to stay, not just me, the Negus too.”

  “The Negus are the truth,” the boy acknowledged and all the kids nodded smiling knowing the reputation of his friends. “I want to be one of them.”

  Rion laughed and glanced at Corvus and Lance who were smiling broadly and nodding their heads.

  “You can be anything you want to be young brother and I'm not just saying that.”

The boy shrugged. “I can't play baseball.”

  “None of the Negus can either.” He shot a look over at Khalil, Lance and Corvus who frowned at him. “You have your own talent. You just have to tap into it.”

  “Like, they tell you to go to school and go to college, then you can do stuff but what if you don't like school or what if you can't go to college?” the boy asked.

  Rion stood. “Come down here young brother,” he instructed and waved the boy down to where he was waiting.

  When the boy reached him, he put a hand on his shoulder. Rion looked at the boy who looked to be around sixteen. “What's your name?”

  “Eric.”

  “Nice to meet you Eric,” Rion extended his hand and the boy took it. “Now you say you want to be one of the Negus?' What does Negus mean?” Rion asked.

Eric smiled. “It means rulers or kings,” he said proudly.

Rion nodded impressed. “Do you know that you're already a king?”

  The boy shrugged and Rion looked over at Lance before waving him over. Lance joined the pair in front of the crowd.

  “This is Lance Johnson. He's one of the Negus,” Rion introduced him.

Eric smiled. “I know who he is. He owns everything.” Lance gave the boy a handshake.

  “Tell him about your school Lance,” Rion prompted handing Lance the mic.

  “I dropped out of high school because I had to hustle. I didn't like school and it didn't like me, but I wasn't dumb like they told me, I just learned differently. I learned how to make money, how to buy and sell; and how to handle business,” Lance told them. “I eventually went and took some business and management classes to help me run by businesses better but basically I did what was in me to do.”

  “Traditional school is not the only way. You just have to find your way and then do it.”

Eric stared at Lance in awe. “You mean you didn't get a degree?”

  Lance shook his head. “No. I made it happen with the talents I had and you can do the same young king.”

  “What do you like to do?” Rion asked.

  “He steals cars!” somebody in the crowd shouted and the boy looked out frowning.

  Khalil spoke into a second mic. “That's not a talent young brothers. That will land you in the system and we have enough of our men in there.”

  Eric dropped his head and Lance looked at Rion. This is what they needed to tackle. This is why they were all back home to make a new way for the young kings following them.

  “Come by my gas station tomorrow and let's see how we can work with you,” Lance told him and the boy looked shocked.

  “For real?” he asked.

Lance nodded. “Tomorrow, not the next day or next week - tomorrow.”

The boy smiled. “I'll be there.”

  “Now for the rest of you, Mr. Lewis has all kinds of programs here for you to find out what you want to do and to help you reach your goals. He opened this center for you, so whatever you need come and talk to him. He looks mean... and you will get a black history lesson but he will also go to war for you,” Rion told the kids and Khalil gave him a look.

All the kids laughed and nodded saying, “That is Mr. Lewis for real...”

  Rion waved Corvus over. “This is my little brother Corvus Shaw. If you want to know about owning real estate and land, this is the guy you want to talk to.” He handed Corvus the mic.

  “Young gods and goddesses you now have to start thinking about who you are and what are you are here to do. Property is money and land is power. When you own the land, you control the territory. Start now having an owner's mentality. You don't have to pay someone or work for someone; you are the master of your destiny.”

  “If you're interested in learning how to live for yourself, come holler at me,” Corvus told the now silently thinking crowd. He handed the mic back to Rion who talked some more about economics and creating jobs for the young people in addition to how they could create economics for themselves by using their own talents.

  After the talk was over the young people filed loudly and happily out of the auditorium. Khalil joined Rion, Corvus and Lance at the front and they all gave each other handshakes.

  “I guess you all are good for something,” Khalil teased them.

  They all laughed and looked at him. “You're doing a really great job over here,” Rion told him. “I didn't expect this many young god and goddesses to show up.”

  “I opened the gym for an extra hour as an incentive,” Khalil informed him.

  “And I thought it was just me,” Rion said smiling.

Lance and Corvus looked at each other. “It was us,” Corvus told his brother.

  “They didn't even know you were coming,” Rion reminded him.

  “They just hoped the Negus would be here. Didn't you hear how we're the truth?” Lance said smiling.

Rion frowned. “I'm part of the Negus too.”

  “Nah, you're the young god remember,” Corvus corrected laughing.

Rion nodded. “You're right and don't forget it, little king.”

Corvus stopped laughing. “I'm the big king.”

  “Is that what Momma told you?” Rion asked and Lance laughed heartily.

Corvus turned to Lance. “You're going to stop laughing all the damn time.”

  “Your momma did tell you that though,” Lance said still laughing.

  They all turned as three young men approached them in the now empty auditorium. Eric was among the group.

  “What's up young kings?” Rion asked.

  “We just wanted to say thanks for coming to talk to us and like, just talking to us; not bashing us or telling us all the bad stuff we do. We hear that all the time.”

Rion nodded. “Let us help you eliminate the bad stuff and replace it with some positive things.”

  One boy turned to Corvus. “I was listening about the real estate stuff and I want to do something like flip houses 'cause I can fix stuff. Can I do something like that?” he asked cautiously.

  “What's your name young king?” Corvus asked.

  “Michael.”

  Corvus took out his wallet and handed his card to the boy. “Come by tomorrow Michael.” He pointed to Lance. “Like he said, tomorrow, not the next day, not next week - tomorrow.”

The boy smiled. “Okay. Thanks.”

The last boy looked at Rion. “I want to run things like you. You're a boss.”

Rion laughed. “Not yet.”

The boy stuck out his hand. “I'm Jeff. Can I help with your team?” the boy asked.

  Rion studied the boy and remembered when he was his age. He saw many similarities in the boy. “You play baseball?” Rion asked.

The boy smiled. “Yeah, not like you though.”

  “Not yet,” Rion repeated. “You play on a team?”

  “High school and summer league,” Jeff answered modestly.

Rion nodded. “'What position?”

  “Left field.” Just like Rion.

Rion laughed. “My city records are in trouble huh?”

Jeff smiled. “Nah, not yet.”

  “Give me your number Jeff and I'll be in touch with you. I think I can find something for you,” Rion told him pulling out his phone.

  Rion added Jeff's number to his phone and the three boys took off leaving the four Negus to chat a little while longer. Rion's phone rang and he glanced at Brandon's number. He answered and listened intently before ending the call.

  At his serious look, everyone turned to him.

  “What's up Rion?” Corvus asked.

  “We have a problem. Brandon wants the Negus to meet now.”

  “The threat?” Khalil asked.

Rion frowned. “No, it's Tauri.” He stalked away and out the door.

Lanced turned to Corvus and Khalil. “Shit just got real.”

*********

  Rion finished his meeting with the Negus and drove to Tauri's apartment. He needed to talk with her about today's activities. Brandon had relayed that she was angry which was what he expected. She wouldn't be Tauri if something like this didn't piss her off. Rion didn't want her involved this way. He didn't want his problems to become hers nor his threats.

  Tauri answered the door in her nightgown, as it was very late. Rion had called and said he needed to speak with her in person. He apologized for coming so late but his meeting with the Negus had been a relatively long one.

  She could tell by his face when she let him in, that he was not happy. Tauri showed Rion inside and to the sofa before taking a seat next to him.

He turned to her. “How are you?”

  “I'm fine but mad. I can't believe someone would do something like this.”

  “Brandon wants to reassign the case to someone named Richard,” Rion told her.

  Tauri jumped to her feet. “Richard Sims! He wants to reassign my case to him! He hasn't won a case in forever!”

Rion pinched the bridge of his nose. “We all want you safe Tauri.”

She turned to him. “You agreed to this?” she accused angrily.

  “No, I didn't.” He stood to his feet looking into her angry face. “I told Brandon it was your choice.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Do you even want me on this case Orion?”

  “When did I say that I didn't Tauri?” he questioned.

  Tauri placed her hands on her hips. “So you and Brandon just get to decide my career, when I haven't even done anything wrong!”

  Rion nodded. “Goodnight Tauri. It's been a long ass day and I'm tired as hell. I'm not about to argue with you over something that's nonexistent.” He walked toward the door and she ran to stand in front of it.

  “So you think you're just going to walk in here and tell me I'm off the case then walk out?” she demanded.

  “You're not listening because that's not what I said,” he told her pointedly.

She folded her arms and tried to calm herself. “Tell me what you're saying Orion.”

  Rion looked down at her. “I came here tonight because I needed to see you. I had to make sure you were okay. I don't want my problems to touch you because that's not what you signed up for.”

Tauri stared up at him.

  “It's your choice Tauri. I told Brandon it wasn't fair for us just to remove you if you wanted to stay. So you decide. Goodnight.” He waited for her to move away from in front of the door.

Tauri silently studied the firm set of his jaw. “So you're just going to leave?” she asked quietly.

  “I'm really tired Tauri. I just want to go to bed,” he told her.

She placed a hand on his chest. “I have a bed.”

He looked down into her face. “I haven't eaten either.”

  “I have food.”

He touched her face. “Can you put the lioness away?”

Tauri smiled. “For tonight, but you'd better be prepared tomorrow.”

Rion lifted her into his arms. “Where's the bedroom?”

  “Straight and to the left,” she said wrapping her arms around his neck. “By the way, Trent knows that we're a couple.”

He tasted her lips. “Baby, everybody in Detroit knows that we're a couple.”

  Rion awakened a few hours later hanging off the edge of the bed with Tauri draped over him. The bed in her apartment was much smaller than his custom-made one. Tauri had said that she was not clingy but he wondered did she know that when they slept together at night she held on to him tightly as if she was afraid he would disappear. He moved them both back to the center of the bed and smiled at the peaceful look on her face. Tonight Tauri had satisfied each of his appetites before they'd both fallen asleep. As Rion gently stroked her back, she stirred before sleepily asking what was wrong. 

  “Nothing baby, go back to sleep,” he told her softly.

She burrowed closer with her face in his neck and both her arm and leg flung across his body.

  “I love you Orion,” she said very softly before she promptly went back to snoring.

  Rion knew that Tauri was not ready for him to hear that. While her subconscious mind had accepted their relationship, he knew her conscious mind was not quite there yet. He could wait until the two came together because there was no doubt in his mind that he was completely in love with one Tauri Patterson and there was nothing he wouldn't do to protect her. Coming after him was one thing, coming after his goddess was an entirely different ballgame.