Chapter 21
David Jr. was released from the hospital literally hours before his big meeting on Saturday. Mac had brought an Armani two-button suit to the hospital; and even though he had stitches under his right eye he still cleaned up very nicely. In total, David Jr. had gotten 130 stitches, and the nurses said that it was by God’s good grace that he was even still alive. They wanted to keep him longer, but since his vitals were back to normal and he was walking and talking fine within twenty-four hours, they could not legally hold him there. It pained David Jr. to walk but he ate the pain, and exited the hospital fixing the diamond cufflinks on his suit. He stood there in the sun, looking and feeling like a new man. Mac had told him that he was meeting the connect that day and some very important business decisions would have to be made.
“Here, put these on,” Mac said and handed him a pair of Armani sunglasses to match his suit. “You’re lookin’ sharp, kid. Your old man would be proud. Your car is right there. The driver will take you where you need to be.”
“Wait, you aren’t coming with me?”
“No,” Mac said apologetically. “Your sister’s court date is today. And since you can’t be there, I have to go in your place.”
David Jr. nodded his head, understanding. He shook Mac’s hand and pulled him in for an embrace. “Thanks, Mac, for everything,” he said before pulling away.
“You’re like a son to me,” Mac said. “I would do it all over again. I guess the next time I see you I’ma be calling you King David Jr. Or what about King David II?”
“Neither.” David Jr. grinned. “King David was my dad. You can call me Prince David, though.”
Mac nodded out of respect, and David Jr. threw up the peace sign and got into the awaiting Mercedes-Benz. All week he had been nervous for the meeting, but at that moment he was ready for whatever his new life was about to throw at him.
He had the pistol that Day had given him on his hip for protection, and as he rode through East St. Louis he looked at the city through the eyes of a person who had never seen it before. He was ready to bring it back and make it beautiful again, like his father had once done. He reflected on the vision that he’d had when he was in Indigo’s clutches, and he smiled. He didn’t know if it was real, but a part of him didn’t care. He knew that his dad was somewhere watching over his son, and David Jr. wanted to make him proud.
“We’re here,” the driver said after almost forty minutes of driving. “You are to go to the top of the building. There will be a man with a red bowtie waiting for you. I’ll wait out here.”
David Jr. nodded his head and stepped out of the car. He wasn’t alone. Stepping out of vehicles around him were at least ten black suits who followed him into the building. At that moment he truly embraced his title and put a little bit of swagger in his step. He was Prince David, the son of King David, and that was a title that he wasn’t giving back.
When he reached the top of the stairs, sure enough, there was a man wearing a tuxedo with a red bowtie. He directed Prince David where he needed to go, but tried to stop his men from coming into the room with him.
“It’s cool,” Prince David said when he saw the black suits were about to get buck. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Okay, Prince.”
Prince David followed the man in the tuxedo through a tall wooden door that led to a room that was empty except for a round table with only one body sitting at it. His back was turned to Prince David, and when Red Bowtie shut the door he walked slowly to the table. He sat down at the chair that was directly across from him.
“So what do they call you these days?” the deep baritone voice asked. “King David II?”
“That’s funny.” Prince David chuckled. “You’re the second person to ask me that today. But, nah, they call me Prince David. Or they will, depending on how this meeting goes.”
“Oh, they will,” the man said and spun his chair around. “Trust me.”
When Prince David saw who sitting in the chair before him he couldn’t believe his eyes. “You? You’re the connect?”
“In the flesh. Now, let’s talk business.”
Epilogue
Day walked through the doors of the county jail and prayed that it would be her first and last time ever being there. It was a little past five in the evening and she had just gotten released. She was too tired to leap for joy, but she would be lying if she said it didn’t feel good to view the world as a free woman again. She wouldn’t miss anything about it. Not the food, not the clothes, and definitely not the hating-ass bitches.
She waited outside of the building wearing the same Juicy outfit that she had on when she got there, and she could not wait to get home to take a shower. Her cellmate, Alyssa, had done two neat Cherokee braids in her hair earlier that day so that she could be presentable in front of the judge.
She was happy that Mac ended up coming to her court hearing with the lawyer. Detective Avery was in the gallery and she could tell by the smug look on his face that he was convinced that he had finally brought down a Mason. She found it sad that that was something he lived for. She kept her face forward and tried to avoid eye contact with anybody.
Before they asked her how she pled, the bailiff, who of course was on Mac’s payroll, slid the judge an envelope. Inside of the envelope were pictures of the judge doing many unheard-of sexual acts with teenage boys. If news of that were ever to leak, his whole career would be over, not to mention his marriage.
Day already knew what was about to happen when she saw his face turn red behind the bench, and she was grinning at Detective Avery before he dismissed all of the charges. She made sure to give the detective a wink and blow him a kiss as the guards led her away to be discharged. She could still hear his angry scream in the back of her mind.
“Where is this nigga at?” she asked herself. She had left her cell phone in Cane’s car the day she had gotten arrested, so she had no way of getting in contact with her ride. She was about to say fuck it and start walking when she saw her brother’s Mercedes-Benz pull up. He parked and got out of the car. Her eyes instantly went to his bruised-up face.
“Mac told me what happened,” she said when he walked up to her. “You good. I also heard you calling yourself Prince David now.”
“That’s what you heard?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I guess that makes you Princess Day.” He smiled at his twin sister and she smiled back.
“That means the meeting went well then?” she asked, and his smile got even bigger while he nodded. She hesitated before she asked her next question. “So we’re legit then? No more dirty money?”
Prince David looked at her and saw in her eyes that she wasn’t quite ready to leave the life of a hustler behind her. And him? He wasn’t ready to give it up before he had given it a chance.
“Nah.” Prince David shrugged his shoulders casually. “Same ol’, same ol’. Just better.”
She laughed and threw her arms around her brother’s neck. “I love you, brother,” she said, holding on to him tightly like she would never see him again.
He squeezed her back. “I love you too, Day. We all we got now.”
“Always and forever,” she said and pulled away. The two walked side by side to the car. “Who is the connect, anyways?”
Prince David grinned and nodded to the car.
“He rode with me. We got some business to handle right after this. You riding?”
“He’s in the car with you, David Jr.? And you came to pick me up from jail!” Day stopped in her tracks.
“Chill, ma,” a voice said when the door opened. “You know I like seeing you at your best or worst.”
Cane stood up from the car and looked at Day like she was the most beautiful woman on the planet. Her eyes almost bulged out of her head.
“Wait, wait, wait!” Day put her hands in the air. “First, we find out that the psycho crazy killer was David Jr.’s bitch; and now we find out that you’re the connect? But you worked for my dad? Plus, you’re so young!”
“Correction: I worked with your father.” Cane walked to her door and opened it for her. “And your pop’s original connect was my old man. He died a couple years back of colon cancer. So, just like Prince David here, the torch got passed down to me.”
“Mmm, I’m fuckin’ with the plug.” Day winked at him and kissed him on his cheek. “I can get used to this.”
Cane shut the door for her and he and Prince David got in too.
“Where are we going?”
“To the crib.” Prince David made a face at her. “So you can change because you smell like old bitches.”
Everybody in the car laughed. Day sat back and watched the two men mingle. She couldn’t remember a time that she had felt so happy. She knew that there would be times when she would be sad, but at that moment none of that mattered. She stared at her brother and noticed something different about him. His whole aura was different and he reminded her of somebody she knew very well. He caught her gaze in the rearview mirror and she nodded at him, giving him her approval before she turned her head and looked at the sky above her. It was a clear blue sky and she knew that everything had happened the way that it was supposed to, to put the final pieces of the puzzle together.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Day whispered and let a tear slide down the side of her face. “Long live King David. Forever.”