Payback Ain't Enough (20 page)

“Word on the street is they found a license plate, ran it and it led them back to your house and Shan.”

“Who?” I had to make sure I was hearing him right.

“Shan.”

“Get the fuck outta here! Shan?” I was confused. I could see Mia or Sharia doing some shit like that but not Shan.

“Yeah, man. It leads back to her. And the streets are watching her too.” Nick hopped out of the car and closed the door. He then tapped on the glass to say something else so I rolled the window down. “Oh! The other thing is that I’m tryna put this shit on lock. All prices are up twenty percent. I gotta run. I’m late. But I figured you needed to hear everything I just told you.”

And just like that the nigga was gone. I sat there playing over what he had said.

For one thing, he did give me the missing piece that I was looking for. Still I wasn’t one hundred up on why he was at my crib on two separate occasions. But I was now one hundred up on where Shan was getting this money from. But how did she get Cisco’s package? That shit there had me foggy. And Nick talking about moving old man G out? What the fuck? Twenty percent? Where they do that at?

It was a month too soon, but a meeting was called with all of the family heads. Shit was happening. Mr. G, the main connect, had beef because none of us were buying from him. Cisco’s crew was dropping bodies as if that shit was legal. Briggen had caught a case and supposedly had robbed Cisco of a shipment, and now there were rumors of war between them.

Boomer and Born sat at the head of the table. We were in a conference room inside of Six-Nine’s daddy’s church, Antioch. Mr. G had everyone’s attention. This was my first time seeing him in person. He had that rich olive complexion, like the majority of Italians do. His hair was dark brown and had a few grey streaks throughout it. It was slicked back. The one ring on his finger sparkled like a crystal chandelier. He wore an all black suit and a black silk tie with a red handkerchief in the right breast pocket. When he stood up, his two bodyguards stepped back.

“I am humbled by your presence but surprised by the shift and lack of respect for our business arrangements. We have made lots of money together, each and every one of you in this room. Some of you are old clients and a couple are new. I’ve always treated you fair. I’ve treated you all with respect. My fairly new clients, I didn’t expect you to be one-hundred percent loyal, most of you are young and not familiar with protocol, so I figured that you would jump at the offer of a lower price even if the product was grade A bullshit! This I expected… but it hurt my heart to find out that my old clients, the same ones that I’ve helped establish from the beginning, have turned their backs on me.

“Mr. Six-Nine, remember when your whole shipment was stolen? And you traveled all the way to my home pleading for a replacement? I didn’t go to war with you. I worked with you. Mr. Boomer, I’ve done business with you and Mr. Choppa for many, many years. I’m sure if my old friend Choppa was here he would not handle business this way, and I’m surprised that you would go for this. My product has always been of the highest quality. The best. It comes with my personal guarantee as well as with my protection.

“All of a sudden, each and every one of you has stopped patronizing me for some dumb street punk who couldn’t tell pure cocaine from a pail of baking soda. It is total disrespect. I traveled all of this way just to tell you this personally.”

Born spoke for every one there. “Mr. G., with all due respect, The Consortium has not banned against you. It’s just an issue of supply and demand, profit and loss, and of course, staying competitive with the competition. It was never agreed or written in stone that we buy from you forever, regardless of the price or the quality. That was never the original agreement.”

Mr. G then said some words in Italian to his bodyguards. One led the way, Mr. G. followed and the other one took up the rear. And they left.

After he disappeared, Born said, “I think that went well. But we will have to keep our eyes and ears open.”

“No, that didn’t go well. What he said in Italian was, ‘After all of these years, they still don’t know who I am.’ You better believe that we have not heard the last of Mr. G,” Boomer told us.

“I know it’s not. But can we keep this meeting moving?” Briggen asked. Immediately he turned his attention to Cisco. Boomer gave him the floor.

“As far as me robbin’ your shipment, that shit was impossible. Everyone knows that I was in jail. My mule got popped, gave my name up and I couldn’t make bail because of some old shit I had in Miami from back in ’03,” Briggen explained to Cisco.

“Well, the license plate at the scene led to where you lay your head,” Cisco countered.

“That don’t mean shit! You can find a license plate in the street at any time. Like I said, I was locked up. And my wife
is pregnant and got a baby on her hip, so if she could jack your boys… then they some pussy muthafuckas and they needed to be got.”

Everyone started laughing which only made Cisco madder. He and his henchman Dark sat there mean muggin’ everybody, neither of them cracking a smile.

“I want my shit, man. I’m showing you respect by bringing it out right here, right now, to the table,” Cisco said as he pounded the table. “No talkin’ shit or making threats behind your back. I’m talkin’ right here, right now.”

“Shit, you ain’t saying nothing. That’s how a real G ’sposed to do it. But like I just explained to you, I don’t have your shit. Now if you had some proof, that would be another story.”

“The proof is the license plate!” Cisco stood up. I could tell that in his little mind he was convinced that Briggen had his package.

“Alright! Alright!” I cut in. “The man said he was in jail. We all know that he was in jail. Without a witness, who is to say who has your package? In this business, you win some and you lose some. So until you get more evidence, I make a motion that there is no issue.”

Born interrupted me, “Is everyone in agreement with that?”

Everybody said yes.

“What’s pressing is Mr. G and all the bodies being dropped around here as if we in Iraq somewhere,” Boomer said. “Cisco, you need to tone it down. Is there a problem we need to know about?”

“Naw, it ain’t no problem. Not anymore. But y’all so busy monitoring what I’m doing, and in the meantime, my
packages are being robbed, and this nigga Nick been raping us all. I’m not paying no damn twenty percent extra. That’s some bullshit. How come none of y’all niggas complaining? What’s the purpose of The Consortium?” Cisco snapped. “I’m taking my business elsewhere. Fuck that nigga and his twenty percent. Who else is with me?”

Six-Nine said, “Who you got that’s cheaper?”

“Yeah who? Put me on that nigga,” Born said. “We all know that even upping his shit twenty percent is cheaper than anybody else.”

“If I can get us lower prices are y’all ready to buy from me?” Cisco asked. “This nigga, Nick, we gonna just sit back and let him muscle us?”

“If you get something lower, same quality or better, let us know. We can purchase together as The Consortium, not buy from you. Those days are over,” I said. This was the first time I gave my input at a meeting and I meant it.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

I was appalled at the thought of Briggen wanting me to go see some damn shrink. I mean, get real! He’s the one who needed the damn shrink, not me. I was simply trying to get paid. My old-school show was almost sold out and I was promoting heavy for the Halloween party, and I had stashed all of my cash in my new trapped out truck. I was lovin’ life! And on top of that, Nick paid for five of the keys, and he owed me for three more. I was going to get my hair dyed red for my photo shoot and was now official. I named my company Redbone Entertainment. My new name was now Redbone.

It had been a long day and I couldn’t wait to soak in a tub of hot water. As my tub water was running, I got undressed. It was an indescribable freedom to have the house all to myself, and I was loving every damn second of it.

No sooner than I stepped into my plumeria bubble bath,
I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Briggen burst into the bathroom.
Damn. I should have locked the door.

“Briggen, please. Not tonight. It’s late, and I’m tired. Ain’t no shrinks open this time of night so what the fuck do you
want
?” I was too exhausted to fight with him.

“I
want
to put my foot in your ass. That’s what the fuck I
want
. Get outta the tub, Shan!”

“What?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“Now! Get your lyin’ ass out of the tub, right now!” he yelled.

Oh shit.
Looking at his eyebrows furrowed and the scowl on his face, I knew he was pissed off about something
.
I didn’t know what happened, but Briggen had steam coming out of his ears. I stood up. “Pass me a towel, please.”

He snatched one off the hook and threw it at me. “Get out.”

He left the bathroom. I wrapped the towel around myself and got out. When I walked into our bedroom he was pacing back and forth.

“Sit down, Shan.”

“Can I put—”

“Sit yo’ ass the fuck down! Tell me about you losing the license plate to your car.” My heart rate sped up.
Was I busted?
“What? I don’t know what you’re ta—”

Before I could finish the sentence he had come over to me and slammed me on the love seat next to the bed. For a moment I couldn’t breathe.

“I’m not playing with you, Shan. Now, let’s start again. How did you lose the license plate to your car?” He went back to pacing back and forth.

“A car rear-ended me, and it fell off.” That’s all of the information I gave him because I didn’t know how much he knew. Even though he had me shook, that was
my
money and I wasn’t giving it back.

“And what happened after that?” He lowered his voice.

“I guess that’s when it fell off.”

Briggen rushed over to me and wrapped his hand around my throat and lifted me off the sofa. “Bitch, this ain’t no time for spittin’ game. Niggas done put a hit out on you, and my hands are tied.” He let me go and stepped back. He was breathing like a pit bull.

If I wasn’t before, now I was scared shitless. He was looking crazy, and did I hear him say that they put out a hit on me?

“You know what? My son is safe, and you’re here by yourself. You be the damn sittin’ duck. Fuck it! You want to keep lying? Then go right ahead. I’m outta here! They can shoot the place up with you here. Shoot you up into little pieces for all I care.” He turned to leave.

“Briggen, wait!” I begged, but he kept going. I jumped up and grabbed his arm. “No. Please. Okay. Okay. I’ll tell you everything.” He snatched away from me and went downstairs. I followed behind him crying and pleading with him to listen. “Briggen, for real. I thought I could get away with it. No one saw me.”

“You’re lying, Shan. Somebody saw you.” He kept moving toward the front door and didn’t look back.

“No, I’m not,” I sniveled.

“Then tell me what happened.” He turned to face me.

Damn. How did he find out?
“There was a police chase
the day I went to see Mia. I pulled over to let them pass. When I started back driving, they didn’t have the sirens on so I couldn’t tell which way they were coming from. When I pulled out again and turned the corner, they were coming down the street, and that’s when the car hit me.”

“What car? The police car or their car?” he interrupted me.

“Not the police car. One of the vehicles the police were chasing. I think it was two. But right after it hit me, somebody jumped out of the car and started hopping away. And then the car doors flew open and a guy was bleeding. He was lying there. Blood was coming out of his mouth, and he was trying to talk. That’s when I saw the first bag. I grabbed it and saw another one. I didn’t second-guess it. I took both bags and threw them in my ride and drove off. I swear to you, that’s what happened.” I was now doing some serious boo-hooing.

“What was in the bags, Shan?”

“One had money and the other one had drugs.”

“Ain’t this some shit!” Briggen grabbed his head. Then he followed up with, “What the fuck!” And he punched the wall.

“Fuck!” He paced back and forth. “How much dope?”

“There were ten big bundles.”

“How much money?”

“A lot. Nothing but one hundred dollar bills. I didn’t even count it. I just started spending it. The truck I just bought. I paid for it in cash, and I still got a lot left.”

“Where’s the dope, Shan?”

I swallowed, scared to tell him this part.

“Where’s the fuckin’ dope?” he yelled. “You still don’t understand how serious this is, do you?”

“I gave it to Nick,” I mumbled.

“You what?” He came over to the love seat and stood over me.

“I gave it to Nick!” I said out loud. “That’s why I called him over here.”

“That pussy muthafucka! He never even told me that part.” He spoke under his breath, but I still heard him.