Capone

14. Capone

14

capone

When Jaiden tossed that money out his pockets and I peeped the blue marker toward the knot of the hundred bills, I knew he was involved with Trilla and his peoples. I used to be his age and I used to proudly tote around that same knot of money with the blue labeled bills. Anybody in the streets knew that if you had money with that royal blue marker on the bill, you were associated with Trilla. I never knew his reasons for the shit, but I told myself when I got it on my own, I would never do no shit like that.

I didn’t want shit traced back to me. Especially with these new little niggas coming up. They didn’t have heart like those that I came up with. Soon as the detective put them in a room, they were asking for soda and a witness statement to rat you out. In the end, that shit would end up knocking at my front door and I couldn’t have that shit. Trilla had always been a loud nigga and loved showing off to the same people who would point his ass out in a court room.

Trilla loved to think that he handed me the game and I took it and ran off. Some parts I learned from him, but the majority of the shit I learned was to never operate the way he did. I would never put my trust into a bunch of young niggas that didn’t have goals besides getting the next pair of sneakers. Me and Trilla weren’t the same, I was better, and he knew that shit.

I sat on the terrace with the doors opened as I watched Erin sleep peacefully in my bed. She was so mentally tapped out last night that she showered and climbed into bed. When I was going through some shit the last thing I wanted to do was talk, so I didn’t push her to talk. While she slept, I went down to the office and made a few calls.

Jaiden didn’t need to be involved in this beef with Trilla. It was war, and Trilla made that clear when he shot the club up. Bodies were going to be dropped left and right after Nico’s death. I could never forgive myself if Erin’s brother ended up being a causality.Trilla took that one dice game as the opportunity to unleash all the anger and animosity he has held for me all these years.

Whenever I looked at her, I felt like I could feel the earth moving slowly on its axis. Her beauty captivated me and seeing her without a wig on didn’t change that. It didn’t take away from my admiration of her. If anything, it added to it. I could see in her eyes she was embarrassed when she realized I was sitting in her living room.

Even if she never said anything, I could tell she was still insecure about it. When she came out the bathroom after her shower, she had her head wrapped up with a scarf. If only she knew how beautiful I thought she was, and that superficial shit like hair didn’t sway my opinion on her.

I wanted her to be comfortable enough to be around me without having to wear a wig. Shit, I could see her in the kitchen cooking without her wig on because I was her source of comfort. That was what I wanted to be for her.

Comfort.

The one person that she could lean on when the world was tough. Erin has had to be strong, especially after what happened to her parents. I wanted my baby to live that soft life that bitches were always chatting about.

She deserved that shit.

Since the day I first saw her at the corner store about to fight that young head, I felt this sense of protection over her. Even at the barbecue when that fucker tried to suggest trading sex for her food, I wanted to toss the fucking grill on top of his body.

As much as I had love for Ella, I had never felt this possessiveness that I did when it came to Erin. I wanted to choke slam Trilla’s nephew when he had his hand around her. All I saw was red when I saw her smiling back while whispering into his ear.

I was the first to admit that this shit wasn’t healthy. Who the fuck was out here trying to be healthy in the first place? When it came to Erin, I would take a life without even thinking twice about it.

My vibrating phone pulled me from my thoughts. I was in deep thought, however, my eyes were focused on Erin the entire time. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from her as she slept last night.

She tossed, turned, and moaned all throughout the night. I could tell the situation with her brother was heavily on her mind. I wanted to take the confusion and frustration away.

The stress.

Erin made me want to do that for her. I never gave a fuck about taking anything away from a woman. With her, I would choke a nigga before he brought stress to my baby.

“Yo,” I answered the phone.

“I’m outside… hit the gates.” Forty, Cappadonna’s best friend, said on the other end of the line.

It was a little after ten in the morning and usually I would have been asleep. I found myself sitting up last night thinking about Jaiden and the situation he found himself in.

Why the fuck would he get mixed up in Trilla’s shit when he didn’t have to? His sister had a city job, his aunt owned her home, and he had a future ahead of him. There was no reason other than clout that had him risking his life to show he was ‘ bout that life.

I kissed Erin on the forehead as she stirred in her sleep. She opened her eyes and smiled. “Come lay down with me.”

“I gotta handle some business real quick. Finish getting some sleep,” I whispered, kissing her again and then leaving the room.

Forty was coming up the driveway by the time I made it outside. He hopped out his whip and dapped me up. “I know some shit has to be on your mind if you have me over here this early… what’s up, Capo?”

“I got a lot of shit I need answers to, and I think you’re the only one that could give them or get them for me.”

We walked back into the house and made the sharp left into my office. Forty plopped down on the couch and helped himself to a beer. “It’s five o’clock some fucking where,” he muttered when I judged his choice of drink.

I leaned back in the opposite chair, knowing that Forty had the answers to my questions. Or at very best, he could get them for me. When Cappadonna said that we knew people on the force, he was talking about Forty. He was a DEA agent.

Capp would never say Forty’s name because nobody knew the two of them were connected. They had been best friends since elementary school and had taken different paths. While Forty wasn’t as clean as everyone made him out to be, he had been the reason my operations had stayed under the radar for as long as they did.

The minute there was talk about them looking into something, he gave me the heads up and I switched up, leaving dust in my tracks. I could always depend on Forty when I needed him. He was the only cop I trusted, mainly because he got in this career to look out for those that were worth looking out for.

“Stressed?” I gave another look at the empty beer he had placed on the table beside him.

“Ain’t the word. The better question is why am I here? You don’t call me unless you need me.”

“Do you remember the case where the husband killed his wife before taking his life in front of their daughter.”

Forty stroked his beard while caressing the edge of the couch. “Before or after I entered the force?”

I passed him my phone with the articles pulled up. Since I had been back from Capp’s visit, I had been reading all these damn articles about the situation.

“Oh yeah, the Cooper case. I was new on the force when that shit happened. The detectives on the case were stumped because they didn’t know what exactly happened, and then the daughter just shut down… why you concerned about it? Shit was ruled a suicide-homicide, and it’s been years.”

“You never heard of anything else surrounding it?” It was my turn to mess in my beard as I watched Forty.

“Obviously they knew it was drug connected but couldn’t prove it. A few months before, I believe the wife’s sister’s baby father was murdered a couple miles from their home. Supposedly, the father on the Cooper case was a truck driver for your boy.”

“Any truth to it?”

“More than truth, we have facts that he was involved. We have an informant that told us that the husband was stealing off the top, which is why he had that nice house and all the other shit. When that shipment went missing, he had no explanation for it, so Trilla made a deal with him. He either handled himself and his wife, or Trilla would handle his kids in front of he and his wife.”

“What the fuck? His wife ain’t have shit to do with it.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover. She was doing shit right along with her husband. Apparently, they had been doing it for a while. Their daughter was in private school, they had that nice house and she drove a decent car. I mean, the neighborhood wasn’t all that great, but it was for a trucker’s salary.”

I couldn’t believe what Forty was telling me. When Capp hinted at me calling him, I hesitated for a bit. I didn’t know if I wanted to know the truth. Knowing the truth meant that I would have to hold onto it and decide if I wanted to tell Erin about what happened to her parents.

“Shit.” I whispered.

“I heard the kids went to live with their aunt and are probably happy.” Forty shrugged. “As happy as you can be when you witness some sick shit like that.”

“How the fuck is Trilla even walking around if they have proof?”

Forty sighed. “You know how this shit goes. They want him for something bigger. They could give a fuck about a trucker and his wife who he killed and then killed himself. It’s tough trying to prove to a jury that he had a hand in it when the husband pulled the trigger.”

“I can’t sit back knowing this shit.”

“Not your business, Capone. Why are you so interested in this anyway?” He narrowed his eyes at me.

“I know the daughter,” I replied being vague.

Not telling him that not only did I know the daughter, but I also wanted to be with her and build a life together. This wasn’t knowledge that I could just sit on without saying something to her.

Had it been me, I would want to know, and I wouldn’t have forgiven whoever kept it from me.

“You fucking her?”

“Not yet.” I smirked.

“You sly nigga… Be careful with that information. That’s a lot for her to know, and if she has made peace with them being gone, you don’t want to bring up no more shit.” Forty stood up, looking at his watch.

“Appreciate you coming over.”

“How’s my boy?”

“He’s good. Holding his had up in there… nothing gets Capp down for long.” Forty had never been up to visit Capp. When he was first sent to prison, they both made a deal that their lives would never cross.

Despite never going to see him, Forty had ways where they communicated. He would have his girlfriend call, and then disguise his voice while they checked in with each other.

The phone calls were far and between, but when he needed to hear Capp’s voice, he knew to send word to me so he could talk to him.

“Counting down the time until he’s a free man.” Forty held his hand out and I dapped him.

“Soon come… soon come.”

I walked Forty out and was on my way back upstairs when I saw Erin sitting at the counter. She was eating a yogurt and had her aunt on speaker phone.

“We can’t push this off like it didn’t happen. Jo, he has a fucking baby on the way and he’s apparently out there following behind Timmy.”

Jo sighed on the other end of the line. “I’m not saying we need to act like it never happened. I just know you are still fired up and we can’t have the same results from last night. We’re not going to get anywhere with him.”

I could see the frustration scribbled across her face as she folded her arms and looked at the phone. “What do you suggest we do?”

“Give yourself a day to decompress so we can have a civil conversation. Jaiden is going to react the same way that you did if we continued to gang up on him like we did.”

“Jo, he’s sixteen years old. I’m not going to tip toe around how to act.”

“You will if you don’t want to lose him to the streets.” Jo started whispering, “I know you seen all that money just like I did. That money can only come from one place and being combative with him is just going to send him running right into the streets.”

“I’ll bring her over to the house tomorrow.” I finally made my presence known, scaring the shit out of Erin in the process.

“Thank you, Capone. I just want to have a cordial conversation so we can figure out what is next for us… you know?”

“Yeah, I get you,” I replied, taking the phone off the counter and leaning on the opposite side of it with the phone in my hand. “What’s gonna happen with shorty and the baby?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I called her mother this morning and she’s sticking firm about her getting rid of the baby, and she’s refusing. It’s not like I can force her to terminate the pregnancy.” I could hear the stress in Jo’s voice as she tried to figure this out.

“We can’t just abandon her. Sharon didn’t seem like she was going to come around from the way she spoke,” Erin snatched the phone out my hand.

“I would never toss her out on the streets. When I look at her, I see you and Ryai when you were her age. It’s clear she’s scared and needs her mother, but she turned her back on her.”

“We’ll figure it out together, Jo,” Erin assured her.

“Alright. Go and rest, Erin. I know you’ve been working doubles, and you need to rest. Jaiden is here. I kept him home from basketball camp, and he’ll be upstairs with me and Joie today.”

“Okay.”

“Please make her rest, Capone,” Jo said.

I laughed. “I got you.”

Erin smiled. “Um, excuse you? How you going to tell this man to make me rest. I’m a grown woman, Jo.”

“Oh, I know. I also know that you are hardheaded and don’t listen. So, I’m hoping that you sit down and listen to Capone.” Jo snickered, clearly tickled by the whole situation.

“I don’t know who is worse, you or your daughter.”

Jo sucked her teeth. “Now you know Ryai is way worse.”

They shared a laugh before Erin finally ended the call. Erin turned to face me with her arms crossed. “You finished handling business?”

I stepped closer, invading her space while staring down at her. “I did.”

Erin liked to play shit cool like she wasn’t fazed. I could visibly see the goosebumps appearing on her arms as she tried to play tough. I understood though, she had always had to play tough and never felt comfortable enough to let her guard down around a man.

“I guess you’re stuck with me today.” She stared up into my eyes.

I quickly picked her up and placed her on the counter. Erin yelped as she held onto the edge of the counter. “Why you looking shocked like I didn’t toss you over my shoulder last night?”

“Had I not been so mad I probably would have still looked shocked. You tossed me over your shoulder like I’m a twig.”

I moved closer to her, closing her in with both my arms on the side of her. “I don’t need you to be a twig to toss you around.”

Erin smirked. “Good. I have been a twig before, and I didn’t enjoy being that small.”

I nuzzled the side of her neck, taking in the sweet smell of apples. “I don’t want you to go back to being that small either. I like my woman with meat on her bones.”

“Woman?” Erin snickered.

“Fuck you thought? I was gonna have you in my bed and you not gonna be mine?”

Erin’s hand reached up and she touched the side of my face. “You’re used to getting your way… hmm?”

“All the fucking time.” I softly bit her bottom lip, while a low moan escaped her lips.

She pulled away from me. “I can’t pretend like everything is all good because it’s not.”

Erin hopped down from the counter and paced the kitchen. “Talk to me, Gorgeous.”

The one thing we hadn’t done since last night was talk. She needed to get her thoughts out of her head, and she needed someone there to listen to them. I leaned back on the counter and watched as she paced back and forth in front of the fridge.

“Jaiden having a child before me sounds crazy. I can’t afford to take care of him and a new baby. Jo would obviously help me out, too, but it’s crazy. Then the money he tossed at me. Where the hell did all that money come from?” Erin stopped pacing and looked my way. “Maybe you can find out.”

“I can.”

I wasn’t going to tell her where the money really came from. Not until I had a conversation with Jaiden myself. All the shit I knew about Erin, her brother, and parents was a lot and too much to toss her way at once.

“I’ve done everything to make sure he stays out of trouble, and he goes and does this.” She stopped and stood right in front of me.

I pulled her into my arms and kissed the top of her head. “Let me see what I can find out… ight?”

She pulled away to look up at me. “What if I’m not going to like what you find out? Jaiden has a future ahead of him and I can’t take that he’s out there doing wrong.”

“Gorgeous, you gotta realize that he’s a sixteen-year-old boy. At his age I was doing worst shit.”

Her hand flew to her hips. “So, I’m supposed to allow him to do whatever he wants? Get himself killed.”

“Nah. I’m not saying that. Living in that neighborhood and hanging with the wrong friends will lead him down that path. This week, I got a funeral to attend for one of my little homies who is a couple years older than your brother. I understand why you’re trying to save your brother… I respect it.”

Her shoulders relaxed as she grabbed hold of my hands. “I’m sorry. I got you involved in my family’s drama, and you have your own things going on.”

“It’s cool. I’ve been to plenty of funerals. I got a collection of programs and memorials in the box in my closet.”

Erin was horrified with my revelation. “Just because you’ve been to a bunch doesn’t make it easier.”

I held Erin’s face. “Gorgeous, death doesn’t bother me anymore. I’ve been around it for so long that I know what comes with life.”

Erin stood on her toes and kissed me this time. “Can we go for a walk to your spot?”

I smiled. “I can do you one better.”

“Are you walking me to my death? Any person would be leery of a man bringing them out into the woods with a blind fold on,” Erin accused, as I held her around the waist and guided her to where I needed her to be.

The outlook was usually packed out with cars at this time. Picnic tables were almost always occupied with the kids in the neighborhood making out or smoking weed. They never used the damn tables for what they were meant for.

When Erin asked if we could take a walk, I had an idea in mind. While she was in the shower, I made a couple calls to pull my surprise together.

“You gonna keep running your mouth or allow me to lead you?”

“I don’t allow anyone to lead me,” she countered.

“Yo ass need to get used to it then, cause I’m a leader,” I whispered into her ear as I loosened the scarf around her eyes.

Erin stood there while her eyes adjusted before she noticed the surprise. “Capone, what is all of this?”

I could never get enough of that smile. Her cheeks would probably be sore from how wide she was smiling at me. I called my favorite restaurant in town and had them deliver us food to the outlook. The restaurant sat up one of the picnic tables with table cloths, candles, and roses.

“I still owe you that date.”

She rushed over toward me and tossed her arms around my neck. “This is probably the sweetest thing someone has done for me.”

“The bar ain’t set that high, huh?”

She shoved me. “Shut up.”

I took her hand into mine and we walked over toward the table. It was already established that me and Erin liked different shit. We marched to the own beat of our drum and having dinner out here rather than an expensive restaurant fit us.

There would be time for all the expensive restaurants and vacations. I wanted to spoil the shit out of Erin, and she had no clue. “You’ve been keeping secrets from me.”

She cut into her steak, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Why didn’t you tell me about your hair?”

She dropped her head, and I reached across the table. “Don’t do that.”

“I’m insecure about my hair loss.”

“You’re beautiful with or without hair, Erin. I’m not some shallow nigga that would be turned off by some shit like that. I think you’re beautiful and would like to see you without your scarf.”

Erin’s cheeks reddened. “I am not going to take this scarf off out here.”

“I’m not pressuring you to. With time I hope you become more comfortable with me where you feel you don’t need to wear it.” I kissed the back of her hand.

She smiled at me. “Thank you for this. I never had anybody do something so thoughtful for me.”

“You never have to thank me, Gorgeous. I want to be real with you on my intentions.”

“Oh, really?”

I looked her dead in the eyes. “You’re mine, Erin. I’m not fucking joking when I say that shit either. Stop trying to make me show you that I mean what I say, because it won’t be pretty.”

She slowly sat her fork down as she stared across the table at me. “What about your baby mother?”

“I handled it.”

She was skeptical and she had every right to be. The last conversation we had about Ella, I was still sliding up inside of her.

“She’s okay with that?”

I chuckled to myself. “I don’t give a fuck what she’s okay with. If you’re uncomfortable, that’s all I’m concerned about.”

“She’s your best friend though. I don’t want to come in between you and her.”

“We’ll be straight.”

We continued to eat as we talked. I wanted to take her mind off everything that was waiting for her when she went home tomorrow. If I could, I would have kept her held up in my crib for the rest of the week.