Honor Thy Thug (17 page)

“Mr. Trae Macklin?” A male voice with an Asian accent resonated in my ears. I turned toward the voice but didn’t respond.

“Mr. Macklin?” The back door popped open. “I’m Charles Li. Please get in. I need to talk to you. I only need a few minutes of your time.”

Damn. So Charli wasn’t bullshitting after all about her father.
I should have known that she wasn’t.

The front door opened, and a medium-built Asian guy got out as I got closer to the limo. He had on a chauffeur’s hat, but I could tell by the cold, piercing look in his eyes that this was definitely a killer. He walked to the back of the limo, opened the door, and motioned for me to get in. It was obvious that I didn’t have a choice in the matter. As soon as I eased in, the door was shut, and there I was, face-to-face with the infamous Mr. Li. He was undoubtedly the staunch man in the photo in Charli’s office; in person, his presence was a little bit smaller yet unmistakably powerful. There was a young lady sitting in the corner. She poured two drinks and passed them both to Mr. Li.

“I won’t keep you long, Mr. Macklin. My daughter, as you know, can be very persuasive and persistent. And you came highly recommended. She said I should bring you on board.” He gave me the drink.

I started to ask at what cost but thought against it. I threw the
smooth wine back and decided to cut through the formalities. “I’m out of the game, Mr. Li.”

He smiled, a smile that I read to say,
You honestly don’t think that, do you?
He then leaned closer to me and said, “Once in, you never get out. That I can assure you. Have you built a stable foundation for your family? And by stable, I mean, do you have at least twenty million put away? Because if you don’t, you have not built a stable foundation. You have a family. A wife and three children, is it? Both of your parents are still alive. And let’s examine your lifestyle and spending habits. In this economy, anything less than that will be gone before you know it.”

He obviously wanted his words to sink in, because he was staring out the window. I thought about what he’d said. How did he know both of my parents were still alive? My stash was nowhere near the figure that he mentioned. And he had a point. In this economy, twenty mil was equivalent to five mil. I knew I couldn’t do shit with five mil. In my current situation, I probably would end up spending most of that in legal fees.

It agitated me a bit to realize that Mr. Li had my undivided attention. I had sworn on my grandmother that I would never get back in . . . on any level.

As if on cue, he faced me. “Mr. Macklin, by joining my organization, you could make that amount in less than three years. What I’m proposing is nice, clean, suit-and-tie work. That is, unless you prefer the roll-up-your-sleeves-and-get-dirty kind of job. I also have those. And they pay equally as well. Let’s face it, some of us prefer to stay in the trenches. But in my organization, one job is just as important as the next.”

“Mr. Li, I’ve spent almost half of my life in the trenches, and
I’m not going back. I’m now like you, a suit-and-tie kind of guy.” I leaned in and placed my glass on the bar.

Mr. Li let out a chuckle. “And what makes you think I’m a suit-and-tie guy?”

“You did your time out there in the trenches; that’s why you have on a suit and a tie. You ain’t tryna go back. But we both know that any successful organization needs both, and we do what we gotta do.”

He laughed again, and this time, I joined him.

As I sat in silence, I bounced his words around in my head. Twenty mil in three years. And in a suit and tie? Those were my kind of numbers. Ballin’-out-of-control numbers. But what would Don Carlos say? Would he think it was a sign of disrespect? Me joining another organization when he had work for me that I wouldn’t take?

“You’re not jumping at my offer. Therefore, I assume that you’re still not convinced. I’ll tell you what. That little charge you just picked up along with the one that was pending—with one phone call, I could make them go away. But I will still give you a few days to think about my offer. Thank you for your time, Mr. Macklin.”

How did he know about my charges?
And as if the chauffeur could hear everything being said, the back door popped open.

“Thank you for your offer,” I said before exiting the vehicle.

As I began to walk back to the house, Mr. Li leaned out the window and added, “I must inform you, my daughter does not come with my deal.”

“Is that why she sent a man to my home with intentions of blowing it up?” I was full of doubt at the thought of Charli going that far. But Tasha was positive it was her behind it, so I took my chances and threw it out there. I wanted to gauge his reaction.

“That won’t happen again. You and your family will be under my full protection.” The window rolled up and the car sped off.

Ain’t this some shit
? I became more pissed with each step that I took. Mad at how vulnerable I’d made me and my family. Full protection? Make my case disappear? Did I need him? I was feeling as if he was boxing me into a corner. What would the next extreme be from the Li family to get me to join their organization? And how would Tasha take this? She probably would leave me. I couldn’t allow the odds to stack up against me.

I was in my boardroom participating in a meeting via video conference, more like a bidding war, trying to sign this up-and-coming rapper, Semaj. Semaj had some mixtapes that were doing some serious damage, and I wanted him. Mind you, I was going up against the majors, including Interscope and Def Jam, and it was pretty intense. When my assistant, Diedre, burst in on the video conference and motioned for me to step out, I looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Mr. Santos, this is urgent.” I leaned over to Angel and said, “I’m the boss of this damn operation. You see them plaques on the wall? They say Kaylin Santos. Why is she annoying me and not you?”

Angel leaned over and whispered right back in my ear, “Apparently, you are not the boss. Who is the force behind you that put the team together to help you get those plaques? Angel Santos.” She went back to shuffling papers and talking.

“Excuse me,” I said, and got ready to hammer Diedre.

“Before you go off, Mr. Santos, I tried to tell Mr. Macklin that you were in a very important meeting, but he stated that this was urgent and he needed to talk to you right now. When I told him I couldn’t interrupt you, he began to threaten me, so please, save the rants, he’s on line four.” She turned around and walked away.

I started to follow her and go all in but changed my mind, thinking that Trae must have finally killed Kyron. I made it to my office, closed my door, took a deep breath, and hit the speaker button.

“Trae, I’m trying to get this money, and you are threatening my flow! What’s up, nigga? What is so urgent?”

“Are you going to be around for the next couple of days? I need to come see you. I’m scheduled to leave tonight.”

“What happened?” I braced myself for the news, as I grabbed onto the edge of my desk. He chuckled. “Chill, nigga. It ain’t nothing like that. Not yet. I’m talkin’ about that paper, nigga. Real long paper! Man, fuck that rapping chump change you sweatin’. I just got an offer, but you know I can’t talk like this. I want to leave tonight—that is, unless you want to come out here?”

“Nigga, did you hear what I just said? I’m in a bidding war right now, but you dragged me out here talking urgent.”

“Kay, trust me. When I say urgent, that’s putting it mildly. Money? I’m talking about some real bread. Scratch, scrilla. Bigger than anything we was seeing with Don Carlos.”

Shit
. I thought about what he said and immediately got nervous. “Trae, talk to me now.”

“Not over the phone, bruh,” he said.

“Well, I really need to get back into this meeting,” I told him. “Let me hit you up later.”

“Handle your business. I’m on my way up to you. I’ll be at your house before noon tomorrow.”

I got the dial tone. I headed back into my meeting, wondering what Trae was up to. Needless to say, my edge was no longer there. And with that little interruption, instead of me winning by a landslide, Semaj’s agent left saying all offers would be considered and they would make a decision within twenty-four hours.

“Baby, what the hell happened to you in there?” Angel asked me. I could tell that she was trying her best to remain calm. But I blew it, and we both knew it. “What was it that Diedre wanted?”

“It was Trae. He’s on his way up here.” I stuck my head into Diedre’s office. “See if Trae needs a car from the airport. Tell him I want him to meet me here at the studio.”

“No problem, Mr. Santos.”

Angel grabbed my hand. “What happened? Do I need to sit down? Is Tasha all right? What about Kyron?”

“He said he needed to discuss business with me. That’s all I know.”

“That’s it?” Angel stopped dead in her tracks. “And that is what caused us to possibly lose the hottest underground artist out there? Babe, you gotta come better than that!”

“Red, it is what it is. But it’s not only what he said, it was the urgency in how he said it. Something is up. He said something bigger than Don Carlos.”

Don Carlos was just that: a Don. And had been that for almost twenty years. He had his hands in powder, heroin, and real estate. From what I knew, he had senators, congressman and judges in his pocket. He was big. So in my mind no one I knew was bigger. Needless to say, I was anxious to hear what Trae had to say.

“Oh, no, no, no, Kaylin. Don’t you even think about it! Baby, you’re out. Don’t even think about it. I’m warning you, Kaylin. Let Trae lead you into some bullshit if you want to.” She pushed me out of the way and stormed into her office.

Back home in Tucson, tension in the house was real thick. I got caught fucking Kyra and then had the audacity to spend the night after the fact. Wrong move. It was obvious that Nina was done with me. But I wasn’t done with her. I had mad love for her and plus she was carrying my seed. Since Nina told me to pack my shit and leave, she’d been giving me the cold shoulder and, on top of that, the total silent treatment. I had to admit I felt like a total creep, and getting busted fucking someone by someone I care about is a first for me. While walking the kids to school, I felt like Wesley Snipes in the movie
Jungle Fever
. The kids were tugging at me and talking to me, while I was zoned out. Other parents and the crossing guards were speaking to me, and I could only stare. I dropped the kids off and decided to go home, change, and head over to Dave’s Gym to shoot some hoops.

Kyra had been calling me, but I wouldn’t answer, because if I did, I wasn’t sure what I would say. All I knew was I wanted them both. So I was caught with my dick in my hand and didn’t know where to put it. The thought had even occurred about going back to Georgia. But when I spoke to Trae, he told me that running wasn’t gonna do shit but change the atmosphere. The problem was still going to be there. He asked me to do him a favor and call Kyra, because she was hurt, confused, and driving him nuts.
Just as I turned the corner from the school, a limo pulled up, and to my surprise, out she jumped.

I walked into Kaylin’s office building around lunchtime. The guard at the front desk was acting as if he didn’t want to let me up. So I got Kaylin on the phone, and he told me to stay put, he’d be right down. He said he needed to take a break and wanted to go to the deli next door.

After about five minutes, he got off the elevator, came over to me, and gave me some dap. “You made it, huh? If you know like I know, you’ll take ya Hollywood ass back out to Cali.” He said the same thing to me every time he saw me.

“Whatever, nigga. Hurry up and order your shit. We got business. I’ll wait here. I need to call Tasha.”

“You don’t want anything?”

“Get me the same thing you gettin’ for yourself.”

“Aiight bet.” He turned and left the building.

I found a corner so I could call and speak to my wife. “Where are you?” That was the first thing she asked me.

“You know where I am.”

“Kyra has been gone now for almost eighteen hours.”

“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”

“Gone. No phone calls. No text messages. Not here. I even went to the Vons where I found her preaching with her Bible. Aunt Marva thought I was lying about that until she caught her going up and down the block knocking on doors. I can’t do this, Trae. We might have to have her evaluated. She’s fuckin’ bananas right now.”

“Have her evaluated for what?”

“I think she’s fuckin’ . . . nuts. I can’t raise our children, babysit a crazy patient, and run this house at the same time.”

I had to chuckle. “A crazy patient?”

“I’m serious, Trae. I’m worried about her.”

“Well, don’t go back combing the streets for her. She’s grown, and when she’s ready to come to the house or check in, she will.” When Tasha didn’t respond, I said, “She will, Tasha.”

“Hurry back home, please. And you’re coming back when?”

“As soon as I take care of this.”

“How soon is that? A few hours? A day?”

“Tasha, I’ll call you when I finish. Here comes Kaylin now.”

“Whatever.”

“Love you, too.” I hung up and turned my attention to Kay. “So what you get me? A hot dog off the cart?”

“Hell, no! Them muthafuckas don’t have toilets or sinks to wash their hands. I got you what’s called ‘get a nigga whatever you got, because as soon as they see yo shit, they want it.’ Here.” He handed me my bags, and I peeked inside the container, saw some lamb over yellow rice, and smiled. “I got this, nigga,” he said, walking onto the elevator with me right on his heels. We rode in silence until we reached his floor. When the doors opened, he moved fast, and I was right behind him.

“C’mon. Let’s go into the conference room.” As soon as he shut the door, he asked me, “So what’s up?”

I sat my food on the table and immediately started pacing back and forth, anxious to get it all out. “I get this call from Charli, saying that her father wants to meet with me. I hang up on her, thinking she on some bullshit, and toss her and her conversation out of my mind. But then a couple of days go by, and I’m out
gettin’ my walk on and trying to clear my head, when this limo pulls up. I’m thinking all kinds of shit. Mainly, the fact that I wasn’t strapped. Bottom line, it was the man himself, Charlie Li. The rear window came down, just like in the movies. He asks if he can speak to me. I get in, and that’s when he gives me an offer. To make a long story short, he said if I came on board, I can make twenty mil in three years.”