Part 10 (1/2)

Everything made sense to Macy now, and reality hit him like a ton of bricks. Case had always held animosity toward Macy. He should have known that eventually things would go sour between them. They had made good money together back in the day, but their mutual love for the same woman had torn their business relations.h.i.+p apart. As Macy stared at Case with malice, the tension could be felt throughout the room.

”I should have known,” Macy stated. ”It's just like you to have a b.i.t.c.h do your dirty work for you.”

Case smugly blew cigar smoke in Macy's face before putting it out directly on Macy's cheek.

”Hmmm! Hmmm!” Macy screamed through clenched jaws as the cigar seared his skin.

”I think you have something that belongs to me,” Case said.

Macy chuckled as he shook his head from side to side. ”Still the same old Case. You've always been a lazy-a.s.s n.i.g.g.a looking for a handout. I don't owe you s.h.i.+t.”

”No?” Case asked. He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and removed a tiny black book. Inside were handwritten records, a ledger that could put Macy behind bars if it ever got into the wrong hands. Any time a money transaction had gone down between the old friends, Case had kept track. ”You sitting up high on that mayor's throne, but you forgot who helped you get there. Before this city even knew your name I was backing you. You built your entire campaign off of dirty money and then you turned your back on me ... on the streets that raised you.”

”I grew up; I didn't forget s.h.i.+t. The community that I came up in is the same one that I'm putting state dollars back into,” Macy defended.

”Nah, I'm not talking about no programs, Macy. I'm talking about looking out for the li'l n.i.g.g.as you had posted on the block hustling up your campaign dollars. I'm talking about all of the endors.e.m.e.nts, all of the cash payments I put up to have other public officials stand behind you. You didn't have s.h.i.+t but a degree. I put up so much money that I should have been your running mate.

”You was supposed to keep the streets clear for me. Pull the police off of my a.s.s when things got hot. But what do you do? You become the city's savior and change your entire platform as soon as you're elected. This save-the-streets bulls.h.i.+t you created is making me lose money, and I don't take L's. You broke our agreement, and now I've come to collect my paper.” Case dangled the ledger in front of Macy's face arrogantly.

”According to this, you owe me seven hundred and twenty thousand dollars.”

Macy frowned when he heard the amount. ”f.u.c.k is wrong with you? You doing all of this for chump change? All you had to do was come to me like a man and we could have settled this.”

Case scoffed at Macy's c.o.c.kiness. ”Nah, I don't want that bank money. I want what I gave to you. It's too easy for you to pull that mayor money out of an account. I want the same dirty money that you built your career off of, and you've got forty-eight hours to come up with it or Fatima is going to be a widow.”

Case's demands made no sense to Macy, but he wasn't in a position to ask questions. He knew exactly what money Macy was talking about. All of the street money that Macy had stacked had been put up for a rainy day. Getting Case the type of money he wanted wouldn't be easy.

Irony mocked Macy because the money that he had killed Boomer over was the same money that Case was going to kill him over. Macy knew that there was no way to get Case the type of money that he wanted. After Boomer's fiasco, all Macy had were legitimate funds. In addition to having a nice-sized bank account, he had access to countless funds through the city's treasury. He could easily take a little bit from each of the city's expense accounts, but that wasn't what Case wanted. He wanted dirty money, and it was the one thing that Macy could not get. His block-hugging and illegal en-terpriserunning days were over. Macy had too much to lose to even allow the allure of the streets to call him back, but Case was forcing his hand. If he didn't come up with the money, Case was going to make good on his threat.

Case kept a stone face but smiled inside as he watched the wheels turning in Macy's head. He had known him long enough to notice the stress lines appear in his forehead. Their friends.h.i.+p had never truly been genuine, even from the beginning. It was more like a compet.i.tion, and Macy had been winning for too long. Case had just turned the tables and tipped the odds in his favor.

”I want my money,” Case stated as he pulled out a burnout cell phone that he had purchased from a random store. ”I think you need to make a couple phone calls. You keep this s.h.i.+t out of the press. If it gets out, you're dead.”

He nodded at Harlo. ”Untie one of the n.i.g.g.a hands,” Case instructed.

He then looked at Macy seriously. ”You try anything cute and I'm going to blow your m.u.t.h.af.u.c.kin' brains out,” he said.

Macy reluctantly s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone and put in a call to Big E. Macy nervously counted the rings as he thought that the voice mail was going to pick up. Finally he heard his right-hand man answer the line.

”h.e.l.lo?”

”Edris, it's me,” Macy stated.

”Where you been, fam? s.h.i.+t's been on the news about you playing hooky all day. I've been blowing you up-”

”Listen, E, and listen close. It's important,” Macy stated, cutting his man off. ”I need you to find that paper that Boomer lost. It's important.”

”Is everything a'ight, fam? You don't sound too good,” Edris stated suspiciously.

”I'm in a sticky situation, fam. I'm not going to lie to you. I need that dough. If you don't come through on that, things are going to go real bad for me. You understand?” Macy asked.

The line went silent as Edris interpreted Macy's words. ”What's going on?” he asked, feeling that something wasn't right.

”I just need that, Big E. In forty-eight hours I need you to have that paper for me. I need seven hundred twenty thousand in two days. It can't come from the bank. I'm going to be tied up until you get that for me,” Macy stated, hoping that Edris was catching the subtle clues that Macy was giving him. ”Do not let the press get wind of anything negative, and find Tima. Let her know that I love her and that I never meant to hurt her, E.”

”Sounds like you're giving me your last words to your wife,” Edris stated, finally realizing what was happening. ”You can tell her that yourself once I come up with this dough. I got you, fam.”

”Call me back at this number when you get it together, and when you come to deliver it, don't come alone,” Macy said.

Case s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone and hung it up abruptly; then in one swift movement, he pulled a pistol and struck Macy across the face with it. His head snapped violently to the right as his lip busted on impact. Macy took the blow and slowly pulled his head upright as he calmly spit the blood from his mouth.

”I told you not to get cute,” Case stated. He was showing Macy no mercy. ”You've got two days to get me my money, and don't worry about your wife. I'll let Fatima know you love her,” Case stated slyly. ”I'll whisper it in her ear when I slide my d.i.c.k up in her tonight.”

Hearing those words set Macy off as he lunged for Case, injured and all. The chair toppled over, and Case laughed loudly and obnoxiously.

Case walked over to Macy and kicked him in the stomach then gathered himself, dusting the wrinkles out of his designer suit. He exhaled loudly as he turned to Aries.

”Don't let this n.i.g.g.a out of your sight. I want somebody on him at all times,” Case stated. ”I'll let you know when it's time to put in that work.”

Aries had been sitting back watching the entire thing. ”Once this is over, you and I are even. I won't owe you a d.a.m.n thing. Are we clear?” she stated with authority.

Case stepped closer to Aries, completely attracted by her femininity and intrigued by her gangster all at the same time. ”If you had the right man in your life, you wouldn't even be in this position right now,” he said, throwing out bait to see where her head was.

She scoffed and raised an arched eyebrow. ”Don't even. You'll just embarra.s.s yourself,” she advised. Aries hated Case, and under any other circ.u.mstances she would have loved to make him her target, but he had her between a rock and a hard place. She was indebted to him; therefore, he had the upper hand, and that fact was common knowledge between them.

He nodded his head, taking her rejection in stride, and then left the house. Case was fully confident that Aries could handle the job, and he walked away with no worries, knowing that soon enough Macy wouldn't even be a factor.

Chapter Eleven.

Edris rolled down Rodeo Drive looking for a man the streets called Chicago Larry. Edris knew that his old a.s.sociate controlled the strip and its wh.o.r.es. Although it was 2011, he somehow found a way to be a successful pimp. Anything that went down on the strip, Chicago knew about it or had something to do with it.

Edris scanned the block as he slowly cruised down the avenue. He hoped that he saw one of the candy-red Cadillacs that Chicago was known to drive. Chicago Larry had pimped hard throughout the city for years. Edris knew that the underworld of prost.i.tution started and ended with him. Edris didn't know where to begin looking for the hooker who stole from Boomer, but he knew that finding Chicago was a good start.

Edris pulled into the diner that Chicago was known to post at. Edris slightly smiled when he saw the candy-red car parked toward the back. ”Bingo,” he whispered as he parked the car.

A sense of urgency overcame Edris as he maneuvered his rather big body out of the car. He knew that he was playing with borrowed time and his boss's life depended on if he could get the money back. Edris walked into the small diner, and it was empty except for a couple of waitresses who stood behind the long counter. Edris immediately spotted Chicago sitting at the back table with an Asian young lady.

Edris made his way toward him, and as he got closer he noticed that the lady across from Chicago was giving him a manicure. Chicago was a very tall man with a slim build. He had a neat Caesar haircut and wore an Italian-cut suit, a far cry from the stereotypical pimp. He looked more like a stockbroker than a seller of women.

”Well, you don't say,” Chicago smoothly said with his light voice.

”It's been a long time,” Edris said as he held out his hand. Chicago stood up and locked hands with Edris as he embraced him.

”Well, welcome to my office. Have a seat, big man. I know you here to talk about something. I haven't seen you on the strip since you used to run packs for Macy,” Chicago said as he displayed his huge gap in his two front teeth.

He looked down at the girl who was once doing his nails and whispered. ”Okay, baby, time for you to get back out there,” he said as he looked outside onto the street. Just as quick as the words came out of Chicago's mouth, the girl had hurried out to walk the track.