Dominic Royal
The sun was barely breaking through the clouds, because the city was still half asleep, but I was already in the streets because I couldn’t get caught slipping.
My people were holding down every angle of the city in blacked out trucks posted up or roaming the streets keeping their eyes open on whatever was moving weird.
I didn’t do lazy mornings when shit like this was going on; I was out here before the birds, checking my blocks, businesses and buildings because respect didn’t come easy.
I stepped out the penthouse in a crisp suit today switching it up with my Cartier shades gracing my eyes letting out a light yawn.
I had spent the whole day and half the night with Carmen before I made it home.
Tone was already in the garage, posted with the regulars, looking at me like he was waiting on the green light to tear some shit up and Dique walked up with his chains swinging, talking about some shit going on, on the west coast before he slid into the Escalade like he paid the note himself with his elbow hanging across the arm rest. He didn’t have that smirk on his face this morning.
We rolled through our spots without much talking.
The first stop was to the main office just to make sure our faces were seen with all this shit going on.
The Valet dudes gave us head nods from the little side hustle spot where we also ran paperwork when it got too hot on the other ends.
In these kinds of moments, I learned to listen more than I talked, because that was the only way that I’d hear the whispers in the streets.
I discovered a few mishaps this morning but nothing major besides a missed drop at a warehouse and somebody jumping the line on a shipment from Indonesia.
It was petty shit, but that’s how you knew something bigger was taking place because we never had mishaps.
As we were leaving, my phone rang showing the manager’s number from the spa.
The same one I planted there because she knew how to keep her eyes open for flaky shit.
“King,” she said the second I answered, “You need to come to the spa now. I got something.”
“What it look like?” I asked without knowing what was going on, all I knew was when she called, it meant something.
“I was reviewing the footage from the back camera, like I always do, and I noticed something with your girl Victoria. There was an incident. Honestly, it shook me up. I didn’t want to watch it by myself.
” The uncertainty in her voice was unmistakable, I’d heard a hundred voices tremble like that before, but I only respected the ones that came with a fucking plan. “I sent it to you, check it out.”
“Well keep it steady, don’t mess with the footage, you hear me?” I told her. “Tone, Dique slide through the spa with me.” I told them as I ended the call.
Dique hollered in the back like he thought this was the time to joke always finding a way to start clowning.
He was back there talking about getting fresh at the spa on some godfather shit with champagne and a blunt.
Tone just laughed it off. That’s just how we rolled and that was Dique’s way of coping but when it’s real, he kept his head on a swivel, and I trusted him with my life.
The Escalade glided down the highway eating up the rough streets while Miami flashed by.
I always watched the city the way I watch cards on the table: only the ones was worth it made me come out and play.
Dique was on the phone with some chick as he tweaked the joint and cradled the phone between his ear and shoulder while Tone and me were in our own heads.
The spa stood out on the corner like it was the most luxurious place on the block with all glass and spotless white tiles that made some people forget what was going on, on the outside world as soon as they stepped into paradise.
I walked in like I owned the joint, because I did and wasn’t shit nobody could do about it.
The main receptionist hit the buzzer for the back room like she did whenever she saw my face.
My girl Sylvia was waiting for me with the laptop open on the counter, but her eyes were asking me to keep it cool and not blow up the spot.
She spun that shit and I ran the tape back slowly, because videos will fool you if you didn’t pay attention to every detail.
The clip showed the alley in broad daylight, then jumped to later as some bum ass delivery dude walked in with the flowers and left.
Next a busted van rolled up, two fools hopping out like they were running shit, but we all knew wasn’t nobody running shit in the south besides the Miami King.
One dude was quick and slick with it, like he been doing this for a long time.
The other clown paused, tried to snatch her up thinking she’d fold easy, but she wasn’t having it and put up a fight.
I saw when she became a little woozy. I watched all of it without a word.
They used the kind of care that said they had time and power, but they weren’t really trying to hurt her.
The clip jumped to later with her walking back inside the spa after she tossed something.
The van sped off like it never took her.
“She here?” I asked flat. “I already knew she was, just needed clarification.”
“Yeah, I saw her today, but she left early after the incident yesterday.”
The smoke from my joint swirled around hanging and no one moved. Dique leaned in forward with his chain swinging, waiting to see what was up. Tone was quiet like a thief in the night.
“So, she been lyin’?” Dique asked, because he wanted answers ready to kill Victoria.
“She lyin’ or she’s hiding.” I answered him. There was a difference because lying meant betraying you, while hiding meant protecting something or someone, but both could break you in different ways depending on the circumstance.
“If she keepin’ secrets…” Dique started as he sat back with his smile now gone.
He rubbed his hand across his chin like he was wiping something.
“Man, secrets kill or get muhfuckas killed and she ain’t no fuckin’ different, I don’t give a fuck how fine she is.
She’s not our blood, not our fight. She only here cause she wanna choke on yo’ dick anyway thinkin’ she gon’ get a crown man. ”
Just as I was getting ready to reply another one of my phones lit up with a call from Victoria. I stared at the screen until it stopped ringing, answered it. Her voice came through sounding like something was wrong too.
“Speak,” I said.
“Dom,” she replied sounding hesitant. “I need to speak with you. Please.”
“Where you at?” I asked. I already knew the answer, it was ironic for her to be calling me now while I was at the spa instead of her calling me when the fuck she should have.
“At the spa. I can come out,” she said. “Please, I need to talk and it’s really important.”
“I don’t have time for these fuckin’ games Victoria,” I growled. “You know exactly where the fuck I am.”
“Do she know about that footage?” Dique questioned.
“She don’t know we saw that clip,” I said.
“But she will… I want to see what she has to say. Victoria don’t have too much more ground room with me.
She’s becoming too much of a fuckin’ liability.
” I explained. She heard me, I wanted her to hear me, she needed to hear me.
I didn’t have to hide shit from nobody especially a cartel princess.
I hoped her heart was in her ass right now.
I focused back to the phone. “Come to the back of the spa.
“I’m by the front desk,” she said. “Can we step out? Please, Dom.”
“Fuck that, don’t fuckin’ move.”
I walked the long way around as the girls at the desk looked at me like they wanted to fuck me right on the desk.
I winked at them and kept walking. Victoria looked pretty like she always did; despite the bruise she tried to cover with her makeup.
She didn’t do too good at it because I still noticed, which meant everybody else did.
I contemplated on killing her ass right now and dropping her body in the ocean.
“What happened?” I asked loud enough for her ears to hear only. She swallowed hard but made sure she looked me in the eyes. Good, I thought to myself, because the minute she would’ve tried to shy away I would’ve known what was up and her neck would be snapped before she could blink again.
“They took me while I was back there in the alley, my uncle’s people,” she said, pointing towards the back.
“They made me talk to him…” She paused and then continued.
“He said I had to answer every call. He said I had to tell him everything, and wants me to be an inside watch dog, and then he… he had them to drop me back off. I thought they were going to kill me.”
I ran my hand across my thick waves with the killer look in my eyes. “You was gon’ tell me that when?” I asked with my head slightly cocked to the side. “Your shadows don’t cover a muhfuckin’ back alley that you shouldn’t even have fuckin’ been in.”
“I understand,” she replied in a whisper and continued explain. “I tossed that phone because it had a tracker. I threw it in the trash truck. I didn’t tell anybody about it.” Her eyes looked like she was begging me to believe her. “I didn’t know what else to do Dom.”
“You should’ve called me like you call me for all other kind of bullshit.” I growled as my right hand gripped her neck forcing her closer to me as I lightly squeezed it around her neck.