“
Te
siento
…I feel you.”
Xenia
said as she
sauntered away with an extra sway to
her hips
and
Alfonzo
laughed. If
he w
as
n’t doing business he’d accompany
them to th
e
club;
however
b
usiness
always
t
ook precedence over pleasure
.
Alfonzo
heard the music before he spotted Carlos’ ride cruising down the avenue. The bass was cranked at full volume
and
drawing unwanted attention. The music lowered and Carlos’ high pitched voice
could be heard free
-
styl
ing
over a classic Fifty Cent joint. Carlos’ ambition to become a rapper
was
obvious
,
except he lacked talent
and a
n
yone who signed
him to a deal
must be
one
tone deaf
motherfucker!
Alfonzo remained where he was for a minute until he was sure the
chromed out
SUV
wasn’t followed
then casually strolled to the curb.
T
he t
inted windows rolled downward, “
Que
tal
?”
Carlos greeted through a cloud of
marijuana
smoke.
Alfonzo nodded, “
Nada, w
hat’s up
your late
?”
His e
yes fixated on the occupants. Carlos’ right hand man Hector drove. In the backseat
were
two men in hoodies. The temperature registered eighty degrees.
He stepped back on the curb. He got a bad vibe and he
always
listened to
h
is
gut
…always.
“
Yo
, s
o
what we late
nigga
’
what
t
up
with our shit?”
Carlos swiveled his head to look at his boy who spoke out of turn, “Jay, relax!”
“
Nah man
I ‘
aint
got all day!” Jay scowled.
So, Carlos c
a
n’t
muzzle
his boy
,
which means he doesn’t have
any
control
!
The use of the N-word didn’t digest well
with Alfonzo. The
word was
o
ffensive
, a negative connotation and an
abbreviation for n
iggardly
. If the
dumb shit
read a
dictionary he’d find it meant,
poor
and
beggarly,
and
reserved for a
sorry
ass s
onovabitch!
Alfonzo snarled,
“I’m not your nigga
, your boy,
homey, hombre –
nada
,
entender
ashole
?”
Carlos
jumped to
J
ay’s defense, speaking
rapidly in Spanish, “
Yo
, Alfonzo chill. Jay’s cool he
’s
eager that’s all.”
Alfonzo re
torted,
“Your friend isn’t cool with me, fucking chump. Don’t ever bring anyone else to me
Carlos
.
Matter-of-fact, don’t you ever come around my way to cop shit.
We’re done
!
” He stepped away from the car and eyeballed the one called
Jay.
Carlos exited the vehicle, platinum
chain
sparkling beneath the streetlamp.
“Come on Alfonzo,
lo siento…
check it
…
my man got the funds,
don’t be like that,
yo
. We can still do business.
”
Alfonzo
stopped and
crossed his arms, covertly touching steel, “Where your boys from?”
“Bed—
stuy
, do or die.
” Carlos answered.
“You mean
C
rooklyn
,
s
tep off, Carlos.
” Alfonzo
warned.
Carlos shrugged and headed toward his vehicle. With Alfonzo, there wasn’t a chance of negotiation once you pissed him off and stupid ass Jay did that and more.
Alfonzo began to
walk
away
when t
he rear door swung open. Jay rushed at him
and
block
ed
his retreat
brandishing a
gun
.
“Nigga
gimme
the shit or I’ll blow
your
fuckin
’ head off!”
Jay’s action hadn’t surprised him
. In
fact
,
Alfonzo anticipated
the underhanded sh
it. He made a swift movement with his wrist to deflect the direction of the weapon and dislodged it from Jay’s grasp. The gun clanged
to the ground and slid down the curb near
the gutter.
“
Wha
…the fuck?”
Jay mouthed as Alfonzo applied pressure to his wrist and twisted
sharply until he was
kneeling against the pavement with a
shiny silver 9mm
pushed hard against his
Adam’s apple
.
“
Yo
…
yo
man chill…chill.”
N
one of
Carlos
’
crew
intervened. Alfonzo smirked
, the minute he stepped away from the car and crossed himself this signaled to his
watchers
. Right on cue
Raul and Domingo
were
on each side of the vehicle, weapons pointed
inside
at its occupants.
“
Yo
!
Yo
! Alfonzo I ‘
aint
got shit to do with thi
s!” Carlos began, “Just thought my man
wanted to cop some shit,
lo siento…for real
!” He exclaimed as he backed away.
Alfonzo’s loco, this was a dumb-ass plan! Alfonzo’s boys were going to come hard
.
Jay stared into calm blue eyes.
This blue eyed Puerto-Rican
was too
calm
like
one of those cold-blooded
type
s
who’d
squeeze the
trigger
without hesitation
!
Alfonzo’s muscles relaxed.
This
Jay was a punk,
he could tell by the fear in his eyes. He wasn’t
worth
a
bullet
, i
nstead he struck Jay in the
mouth with his fist,
“Next time
maricon,
you try to jack me, I’
ll cut your
balls
off
,
comprende
?”
Sirens wailed in the distance a
s Jay jumped up and scrambled back to the car. Once Carlos and his boy were inside
,
Domingo
waved
his gun
at the driver and a
frightened Hector tore off down the street to avoid getting capped in the head
. The SUV
careened around a corner
and Domingo scoffed, “Punk-asses.”
Raul kicked Jay’s piece down the drain, “Shit probably got bodies on it. I wouldn’t even touch the old crap!”
The
trio
discreetly tucked away
their weapons
as Fernando
appeared with the car. They climbed in and Domingo was the first to vent.
“Carlos
‘
gonna
get his
, word!
Alfonzo nodded
. His cell was blowing up all evening. He didn’t need to check it
again;
he knew exactly who it was.
Antonia
.
Mamasita
wanted something, money or loving.
Right now he could use a
physical release, especially after th
e
a
nti—
climactic
scene.
Shit, I can go t
welve r
ounds tonight!
Twenty
minutes later
Domingo
drove Alfonzo
uptown.
Raul and Fernando were at the spot and the cousins had a chance to talk business.
They
discussed
popping Carlos tonight but Alfonzo
decided its
best t
hey
wait, let the tension subside then deal with Carlos later.
“You
’re
waiting or what?” Alfonzo enquired when they
rolled to a stop in
front of
Antonia’s
building
.
“You should’ve taken your
car;
I’m not your goddamn chauffeur, primo!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t, so fucking wait!”
“Just hurry up, ‘
cause
I got my own itch I need scratched!”
A
lfonzo flipped his cousin the bird then entered the building. A building he
owned and bought with clean money. The cash he made from the enterprise with his cousin was di
vvied between stocks and foreign investments. He didn’t want the dirty shit mingling with the profits he made from his legit real estate business. The IRS and law enforcement were quick to freeze assets derived from criminal activity, so he covered his bases
by keeping
his company’s books clean and launder
ing
the dirty stuff.
He
stood
outside Antonia’s apartment door
and
tapped three times and s
he
answered
,
clad
in a scanty silk negligee
as if she’d known he
’d eventually come
.
“Hey
papi
.” She cooed then wrapped her arms around
his
neck
to
kiss him hungrily.
“
Damn, Antonia
slow
down chica
!
”
He
moved inside the apartment kicking the door shut as she
fumbled
with
his belt buckle
. She
guided h
im
to the sofa
purring in his ear how much she missed him
.
It sounded good, everything he needed to hear but words he found hard to believe. Antonia was crafty, she understood ways in getting what she wanted but she underestimated him.
They were supposed to have an understanding. This was strictly platonic. It meant a
working business relationship
and he’d made it clear
.
He got
something
;
she got something
and that’s the gist
of their relationship. The romantic shit in her head, she’d better forget about
,
because for
him
, commitment didn’t exist.
She moved at a feverish pace, until his trousers fell to the floor around his ankles
and his manhood stood at attention
.
She scoot her bottom seductively
across
the sofa seat in a
sweeping motion
and
spread her
thighs,
“I
mizzed
you
…
you
miz
me,
tambien
?”
Alfonzo stepped out of his jeans, “
Si,
linda
…
yes
!”