Untitled (43 page)

  Tybo's was a legitimate business, specializing in wholesaling and delivering contractors' supplies. Dake and Nita had turned the owner, offering him a big profit for the use of part of his facility.

  The warehouse was in a prime location. Nestled inside one of the worst neighborhoods in the city, no one would come looking for trouble without an army with him.

  Dake and Nita had moved the hustling operation to a new level. Moses heard on the street that they'd stepped up hightech thefts and abandoned low-end shit like clothes and cigarettes and the like. Too much trouble, too little return. A truck full of DVDs or computers was worth a lot more than a truck of filtered Camels.

  In a strange way, Moses was proud of them. He'd trained both of them in the art and was glad to see that his lessons were not lost on them.

  Still, they had to die.

  How was the problem. The warehouse was guarded from all sides, and there were probably many more enforcers inside. Some of the faces looked new, so Moses didn't know if he could trust them or not. He was going to have to get to them whenever they came out. As a cold wind blew around him, he zipped his jacket higher and thought that maybe he might need some help on this one.

  Moses spent most of the day watching the place. People came and went, but his prey had not shown their faces. He even saw a police cruiser come by, but to them Tybo's was just doing business as usual.

  It was around five o'clock when Dake and Nita emerged from the warehouse. Dake was dressed all in black, a fashion statement he'd stolen from Moses. Nita was resplendent in a white coat. Her hair looked different, longer, and Moses thought absently that she had never been more attractive.

  The couple made a beeline for a blue Town Car and got inside with two men. One of them was Wood, an enforcer Moses had hired. The other was a new man.

  Moses quickly got into his car and followed them. Dake and Nita had been holed up in the warehouse most of the day. Ted Walker's body had been found by a maid service, and the story had hit page one. If they knew, they were scared, but for some reason, they had not jumped town. Either they had a major hustle coming, or they were just plain arrogant. Either way, they were in his sights now.

  Moses followed the Town Car around town for most of the day. Dake and Nita apparently were taking time out to actually be human. They had lunch at a soul food restaurant, and shopped at Northland Mall. They looked happy, like a nice, well-to-do couple, thought Moses.

  Suddenly, he grew angry. Their bliss reminded him of all he had lost because of them. The humiliation of the criminal process, the betrayal of Ted Walker, and the attempt on his life. All of it was their doing. It was now not enough to kill them. They had to suffer.

  The Town Car cruised out of Detroit in the late afternoon and headed north to Royal Oak. There in the heart of suburbia, Dake and Nita went into a small, wood-framed house. The guards took positions in front and back. Wood, Moses' old friend, sat on the porch, listening to a portable CD player.

  Moses parked his car several streets over and sneaked around to the back of the house. A dog barked loudly nearby. In the back of the house, he saw the other guard, a man with two earrings who sat on the stairs, eating a candy bar. Moses didn't know him.

  Moses drew out his gun. The cheap silencer was still on it, but it was shot by now. The dog continued to bark. Moses looked over a few houses and saw the dog, a mutt straining at his rope, barking at the guard who was three houses away and across a wide alley.

  Moses backtracked and went into the yard where the dog was. The animal was in a filthy backyard tied to a pole hammered in the ground. Next to him was a makeshift doghouse that had SPIKE written on it.

  Spike saw Moses and started to bark at him. Moses went into the yard, making sure to keep low so the guard wouldn't see him. He pulled a rake from against the house and began to hit the pole to which Spike was tied. The mutt barked louder and growled. The pole loosened. Moses kept whacking at the pole until it leaned to one side. Spike, sensing freedom, pulled back hard on the rope, loosening the pole even further.

  "Smart boy," said Moses to himself. "Go get 'em."

  Moses crawled out of the yard and began to make his way closer to the man in the back of Dake and Nita's house.

  The backdoor guard stood up suddenly as Spike jumped over the fence into the yard. The little dog growled and jumped at him, his teeth bared and his jaws snapping. The guard pulled his gun, then thought better of it and put it away. He grabbed a rock instead and walked closer to the dog.

  The guard stepped away from the back porch and hit Spike with the rock. The dog yelped loudly and jumped back over the fence. He barked at the guard again. The guard ran toward Spike and chased him off back down the alley.

  "Damned mutt-ass dog," said the guard.

  The guard laughed and turned to go back to the porch. His eyes widened, and the last thing he saw was Moses swinging a shovel at his face.

  Moses downed the man, splitting his head open with the spade. Moses looked around and saw no one in the area. He started to take the guard's gun, but left it. The cops would find it and know this was a case of criminals taking care of their own.

  Moses pulled out his own gun, went to the house, and slipped inside. He crept through the kitchen, and heard noises from upstairs. He quickly went upstairs and soon heard the sounds of sex through a partially open bedroom door.

  Inside the bedroom, he saw Dake and Nita on top of a bed. Nita was bent over, and Dake was behind her, thrusting and murmuring to the woman below him.

  Moses watched for a second, his anger building. He thought of shooting them both, taking them out in the act, but that would in a way be a gift. Who wouldn't want to die fucking? Besides, he thought, he had to be quiet. He didn't want to engage Wood until he had subdued them.

  "Don't stop on my account," said Moses. He walked in the room with the gun out in front.

  Dake froze, his face registered terror. Nita broke the connection and rolled the bedsheets around her. They looked at Moses like he was a ghost, and he smiled like the devil himself. He quickly grabbed their weapons, then went back to the door.

  "Okay," said Moses. "Now, finish it."

  "Moses," said Dake. "Look, we can work this thing out . . ."

  "Put it back in her and finish, or you both die," said Moses. "Just pretend like I'm dead, the way you wanted it to be."

  "No," said Nita. "You crazy—"

  Moses cocked the gun, and pointed it at Nita's chest. She trembled behind the flimsy sheet.

  "Fine by me," said Moses. "You go first."

  "Okay, okay," said Dake. "We'll do it." He went over to Nita nervously and pulled the covers away.

"No, he gonna shoot us anyway, fool," she said.

  Dake pushed her hands away from the sheet, trying to push her on her back. Nita struggled, pushing him from her and kicking.

  "Fuck her or die," said Moses. This was some sick shit, he thought, but it sure was funny to watch.

  The couple struggled in the bed like two kids. Finally, Dake moved back from Nita, who was now frustrated and angry to the point of tears.

  "It's just so hard to get a piece of ass," said Moses.

  "We didn't know what happened to you," said Dake. He reached for his pants.

  "Stop," said Moses. "I want y'all both naked. That way I know you ain't holding shit. Now, get out the bed and go downstairs."

  "Come on, man," said Dake. "At least let us have some dignity."

  "Where was my dignity?" asked Moses. "When I was chained like an animal in prison, or when that con tried to stick a shank in my ass."

  "You so damned smart," Nita said to Dake.

  "Shut up, woman," said Dake.

  Moses walked them through the house and into the basement, where he had Nita tie up Dake with two extension cords. Then he tied her up. The hard plastic dug into their skin as they sat on the dirty floor. He stuffed rags in their mouths.

  "Be right back," said Moses. "Don't move."

  Then he went to the front door and opened it. There he saw Wood sitting, still listening to his music. Moses tapped Wood on the side of the head.

  "What the—" Wood pulled the headphones away and jumped up. He was reaching for his gun when Moses showed Wood the gun he had.

  "Shit," said Wood. "Moses, man—"

  "Come on in and join the party," said Moses.

  Moses took Wood's gun and led him into the basement where he saw Dake and Nita tied up on the floor. They'd spit out their gags, and groaned as they struggled with the cords on their limbs. Wood turned to Moses with anger and defiance in his eyes.

  "Go on and do what you gotta do," said Wood. "After what you did to the crew, I don't care anymore."

  "You hear that?" Moses said to Dake and Nita. "What
I
did to the crew. I knew you could only take my place with a lie, you piece of shit."

  He kicked Dake hard in the ribs. Dake screamed. Wood made a motion toward Moses, but Moses turned the gun on him.

  "Don't be foolish, Wood," said Moses. "It would break my heart to have to kill you. Now, what did these two lyin' muthafuckas tell you?"

  "The truth," said Dake through his pain.

  "You know what you did, nigga," said Wood. "Go on and do what you gotta do, or I'm gonna ram that gun up your ass." Wood took a step toward Moses. Moses would have to explain the situation to Wood or kill him.

  "I hired you in the crew," said Moses. "I took your sorry behind right out of the joint and put money in your pockets and women on your dick. How can you believe these fools over me?"

  "Don't listen to him, Wood," said Nita. "Take his ass down."

  "Shut up!" yelled Moses to Nita. He kicked at her face but missed. Wood took another step, raising his fists.

  "You turned on the crew after you killed LaShawn," said Wood. "Dake and Nita say you got popped by the cops and dropped on some of the crew. Rayvon, Larry, and PoPo got arrested in Sterling Heights right after you went down."

  "That was a good one," said Moses to Dake. "Wood, LaShawn got popped for stealing from the crew. All that other shit was their doing." It would normally be easier to kill Wood, but he needed him to convince the crew that he was not dirty. Only with their help could he get out of town.

  "Then why didn't you contact us?" asked Wood.

  "I couldn't call," said Moses. "You know the rule, and no one ever came to the joint."

  "Bullshit," said Wood. "Dake and Nita . . ." Wood stopped, putting the pieces together in his thick head. "They were the ones who went to see you all the time. They said you was in a police protective custody."

  "Lies," said Moses. "I'd never turn on the crew. These two paid off my lawyer and hired a con to kill me. But as you can see, it's hard to kill a nigga, ain't it?"

  Moses could see Wood's face change. Moses had to take a chance that his story was more believable than the lies Wood had been told.

  "Why would I escape if I had a deal with the cops?" asked Moses. He took out Wood's gun and tossed it to him. "You got your piece back, you can shoot me if you don't believe what I said."

  Wood looked at the gun and the two people lying on the floor. Then he put the gun in his waistband.

  "The crew should decide this," said Wood.

  "The crew?" asked Moses. "I am the crew."

  "Not anymore," said Wood. "If you tellin' the truth, then let your men decide."

  Moses didn't expect this. Dake's lie had been the basis for the new business, a business that was probably lucrative. No one wanted to give that up.

  "No," said Moses. "This ain't no trial. I made the crew, and they tried to steal it. I'm not going to prove myself."

  "You see?" said Dake from the floor. "He's full of shit. No respect. It's all about him. Wood, man, shoot him. Don't let him go back and take over our shit."

  Wood took a second to think. He was one of the brighter members of the crew. Always reading and trying to learn things. He'd been educated in the joint by a lifer and continued when he'd gotten out. "If he sold us out," said Wood, "why did he come back to get you?"

  "Shit, he crazy," said Nita. "That's why. He's out of his mind."

  "I'll go get Allan from outside," said Wood. "Maybe he—"

  "Allan's not coming," said Moses. "He's gone. I didn't know him, or I wouldn't have done it."

  "He killed him," said Dake. "You see, he's dirty. Shoot him."

"It's up to you now, Wood," said Moses.

  Wood looked at Moses, then at Dake and Nita on the floor.

  "I'll be upstairs after you finish," said Wood. He turned and walked back up the stairs.

  Dake and Nita yelled and cursed as Wood ascended the stairs. Moses turned to the couple on the floor. Dake struggled with the cords. Nita just lay there, shaking her head.

  "I knew it was a bad idea," she said. "I knew he wasn't smart enough to lead the crew."

  "Shut up, you fucking bitch," said Dake.

  "I understand him," said Moses. "But why you, Nita? I thought we were at least friends."

  "Because you dropped me!" she yelled. "I was just another piece of ass to you. You fucked me, then went on to the next young girl. Couldn't you see how I felt? No, you didn't, because all you see is the next pussy opportunity." She cried, and Moses could see that it was real. He'd hurt Nita when he left her. She seemed like a stronger woman, but he had misjudged that.

  "Shoot her so she'll shut the fuck up," said Dake. He laughed bitterly.

  They were both out of it. Acceptance of death did strange things to the mind. Dake was almost delirious and Nita solemn and remorseful.