Chapter Dominic Royal #2
“Open the door,” I ordered watching him open it up.
That shit smelled like cheap cologne and old fries.
There was a half-smoked cigar in the cupholder that was gnawed off at the tip, but that was about it.
I closed the door and got our people out before the police arrived.
We cleaned what needed cleaning and made sure wasn’t no bodies left for the city to play detective with.
We assisted Lou and sent him a private ride to the clinic where ‘Doc’ was located.
He answered all of my answers and my calls with a yes, and no questions even if he had to come to my place.
We’d fixed that warehouse sign in the morning and in the afternoon too if we had to, but tonight, we left no cameras for nobody but our own.
“Let’s go,” I said, fighting against my raw throat.
Back upstairs at the Tower, the crew was posted up in the glass room.
Screens were lit with street maps, GPS hits popping, and corners marked where business moved.
I slapped my hand down on the table, allowing the city to light up under my touch, showing me everywhere we owned.
This was a place we never came to unless it was active war in our city, like now.
O’Shynn stood up looking focused always ready for whatever although she wasn’t going with us.
“I already checked the rentals for the last three days,” she said, not waiting for me to ask. “All them cash drops hit the radar. There’s a bunch of whips sitting around Hialeah and Homestead, and none of them match the crib addresses. Bet you can guess which gym two of them stay parked at?”
“Hialeah Fitness,” I said already knowing. That explained that fake ass membership card I confiscated.
She nodded, “San Telmo moved fifty last night, split across two shells, then tied into a yacht service in Key Biscayne. The yacht has no name in the dock registry, which is how I know it has a name in real life.” O’Shynn spat, always on top of her shit.
I didn’t know what she did or what kind of kinky shit she was into in her personal life but when it came to business, she was on it.
“He needs a boat,” I said. “That mean he thinks he’s leaving and, on my watch, that pussy muhfucka ain’t goin’ nowhere. That means we’ll be catchin’ that muhfucka at the dock or catchin’ his money on the water. I’m tired of playin’ with El Blanca and his people.”
Tone returned with a black case and a grin on his face, the same grin when killing niggas was on his mind.
He opened the case, checked a short rifle with a can on it, slid it back, looked at me, and then at the screens.
“We doin’ this now or what? Shit, you know I’m with either one.
I got a pregnant girl at home that’s crabbin’ about me makin’ it back home, and these nachos eatin’ muhfuckas makin’ my ass itch. ”
“We doin’ it now,” I said. “First, Hialeah, then we touch the Grove. We kiss the mailbox in Coral Gables and after that we pull a rope at the dock, fuck it.”
Dique strolled in looking like straight trouble and still had specs of blood on his shirt.
“You want me to bring balloons,” he said, with a smile on his face always playing, then looked at the board and got serious.
“Aight, say word. I’m on the door for Hialeah.
I owe them boys. I never liked none of them niggas anyway. ”
“Bring me a ledger,” I told him. “If it breathes numbers, I want it. If there’s a passport with a face that ain’t the name, I want copies and the original. Don’t burn nothing unless I say it’s trash.”
I then called Carmen, and she answered on the first ring. “You good?” I asked like I always did. If she wasn’t, I’d do whatever to make sure she was.
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m a little nauseous but I ate some plain rice, and it stayed where it’s supposed to. You out?” She asked not wanting to ask much over the phone. Carmen knew exactly what was going on, she always did.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m two hours away from comin’ to fall in yo’ bed but I gotta finish this part.
I’ma have you sent some ginger candies and them sea bands.
Wear one, just see if it helps.” I told her.
I didn’t know shit about that, but Tone told me it worked for his girl Shona, and although Carmen acted like she was damn near immortal, hopefully it worked for her too.
“You concerned,” she teased. “I like it.”
“You got my baby,” I said. “You got my whole head gone right now wifey.”
“Yeah, that better not be the only reason,” she replied. “I’ll be here when you’re done husband.”
Instead of responding, I hung up before I left all of this shit just to go look at her stomach waiting for it to grow ‘cause wasn’t no doubt about it, she was keeping the baby.
I had my mixed feelings about it because this only complicated the lifestyle even more, but it really wasn’t no other option.
I’d paint the entire city red about my seed.
I sat back for a second and let Carmen’s voice run through my head.
She had me thinking sideways lately and I couldn’t shake her, no matter what moves I was making.
She’s tough, and never let me see her sweat, even now, talking about plain rice and nausea like it’s nothing, but carrying my seed was definitely something…
something bigger than life itself and it had me feeling some type of way for real.
Like I wanted to lock this whole city down just so she didn’t have to worry.
I’d always be her protector just like she was mine.
Hell, I’d send her them ginger candies and sea bands like I’m Dr. Oz for as long as I needed to.
Tone swore by that shit, so I hope it worked, cause Carmen didn’t ever let her guard down, but I knew when she was hurting that’s why I tried my best to and was always checking, always sending, always wishing I could just be there whenever she needed me to.
She made all this mess mean something ‘cause I wasn’t just out here hustling for myself no more.
I had her, the baby, and even a lil niece now.
Even if it made shit harder, I was rolling with it.
She’s the reason I moved smart and had been trying to do right even when trouble called, like the bitches waiting around to suck my dick just to be able to say they had a sample of Dominic Royal, but this dick was royalty, and that shit was dead for now.
I pushed Carmen to the back of my mind and got back to business.
Once we wrapped up, we loaded up the four trucks, rolling out toward Hialeah like we owned the block.
Everybody knew when we pulled up… but shit, the street never slept anyway.
Police were just scattered, stray dogs were still digging through garbage, and the Cubans on the corner were sipping Cafecito as the city moved like nothing happened. It was all regular, just another day.
We pulled up to the spot, right in front of this old warehouse off San Telmo.
From the outside, it looked like it was nothing with a big ass faded billboard with an orange on it, making it look legit, like they sell fruit or something, but I knew better.
This was just a front. The padlock on the gate was shiny and new which was a dead giveaway somebody was trying to keep the wrong ones out.
The paint on the back door still looked fresh too, covering up some old marks where somebody already tried to get in.
This shit wasn’t fooling nobody; we all peeped it right away.
The camera over the door was pointing at a blank wall.
That’s how you knew it was a fake ‘cause ain’t no real camera pointing at nothing.
It was just there to look official, like it was doing something.
Everybody on the street knew what a real setup looked like if you were trying to actually catch something, you put that camera where it mattered, not staring at bricks but these fools just wanted anybody walking by to think twice, that’s all.
Didn’t make no difference to us though, we’d seen through it all.
Whole time, nobody in the neighborhood even blinked twice, they knew it was best to mind their business.
They saw the Royal trucks of ours all the time.
You mind your business, keep your head down, and you get to see tomorrow.
The old heads were still out there talking shit, and kids were playing in the hydrant spray ‘cause it’s Miami and it’s always hot.
We moved fast but not loud and didn’t give nobody a reason to pay attention. That was how you lasted round here.
We hopped out, ready. Dique, Tone, Fats, Manny, and Leon all knew the routine.
We’d done this shit enough times to not even need to talk.
Everybody took their spot without saying a word…
one up the roof, one round the side, one at the door and rest of us straight to the entrance.
There wasn’t no knocking either. You walked up bold, period…
straight like we owned this shit although we didn’t.
I used my shoulder to open the door and felt it give.
Just like that and we was in. It smelled like somebody tried to clean up but couldn’t hide that old metal and blood.
You never shook that smell I didn’t care how much citrus spray they sprayed in the air like they was fooling somebody.
That’s how you knew the spot was hot. You walked in and your nose told you what went down before your eyes did.