Chapter 31
I sat across from Chief Barry in my office.
When he walked in the shop a few minutes ago, I didn’t know what he would possibly want to speak about, but I should have known it was some bullshit.
“Mr. Dillinger, tell me why Mr. Mathis came by my office claiming you, your sisters, and another young woman kidnapped him?”
“If he was able to come by your office, he clearly wasn’t kidnapped. You see how that doesn’t make sense?”
“Smoke.”
“Barry, I’m running a legit business here. I don’t have time for you or your delusional ass citizens fucking with me. Do you think if I kidnapped someone, they would live to get away?”
He seemed to think hard about that one. “Well, no, but?—”
“Exactly. I did not kidnap that man. I did, however, snatch him up and dropped him off in a different location.”
“He was naked!”
“So are you gonna charge him with indecent exposure?” I asked with a chuckle.
“You think this is funny?”
“Actually, I think it’s pretty fucking hilarious. Derrick Mathis knows exactly why what’s happening to him is happening. He also knows his fate, and in knowing both those things, he should know how serious I am when I make a threat.”
“Be that as it may, I can’t have you or your family?—”
I leaned forward. “Think about that statement, and remember, we don’t need permission to do shit.”
“Look, I heard you loud and clear the last time we met. But you’re out here being just doing shit. You’re making my job very hard.”
“Build a bridge to get over the river you’re crying me right now. I couldn’t care less about how hard I’m making your job. You, Mr. Chief, have blurred the lines between your business obligations to my family and your outside friendships long enough. Like I said, your friend knows why he’s a target and you do too. If I find out you’re reneging on your agreement with my family, it’s over for you.”
“Did you just threaten me?”
“That’s a promise.”
“Maybe I need to have a talk with your father?—”
I laughed. “So you wanna snitch to my daddy like he doesn’t already know? As far as that man is concerned, I’m protecting my future wife and kids. It’s up for whoever crosses them. I think I’ve made that very clear.”
“You’re becoming a tyrant.”
“You haven’t seen tyrant behavior yet, Chief. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my lunch hour is coming up, and I’m going to see my kid. Get out.”
“Smoke—”
“Out!”
He gave a frustrated sigh as he stood and left the office. I focused my attention on my computer to finish inputting the information for my clients that recently completed training for their weapons permit. That reminded me that Romi and I had to finish hers. Patrick might be dead, but she still needed that certification.
When I was done, I gathered my things to take my break. I said bye to Kaylynn and headed for the hospital. It only took about ten minutes before I was pulling into the parking lot. After checking in, I made my way up to the NICU floor. When I walked in, a nurse was sitting next to Juri’s bassinet, reading a book. She smiled as I made my way over.
“Mr. Dillinger, nice to see you.”
“How’s she doing?” I asked.
“She was a little fussy earlier, but she was just hungry.” She stood from the rocker. “I’ll give you some time alone with her.”
She left the room as I went to wash my hands. After drying them off, I picked Juri up and cradled her to my chest as I took a seat in the rocker. For the longest time, I just stared at her. It was crazy how much I loved this little girl so soon. I’d been here for every part of her short little life, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
“Hey, pretty girl,” I said, stroking her cheek. “I know you’re ready to get up outta here, huh? Tired of all these people in your face all the time.” I chuckled. “I’m not sure it’ll be much better at home. Between me, your mama, and your sister, you’ll always have somebody around. Then there’s your grandparents, aunties, and uncles. A lot of people are waiting to love you, Juri.”
My family cracked jokes about me being Big Papa and whatnot, but they supported my relationship, and I knew they would treat my girls like family. We had our faults, but if we fucked with you, you had a family for life.
The sound of my phone ringing with a FaceTime call, broke my thoughts. Pulling it out, I saw that it was my mother.
“What up, Ma?” I answered.
“Hey, baby. What are you doing?”
“Chilling with your Juri Bean.”
She smiled. “Let me see her.”
I turned the camera around so she could see Juri’s face.
“Hi, Juri Bean!” she cooed. “Oh, I’m so glad to see she’s not hooked up anymore. That means she should be home soon, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, turning the camera back on me. “She’s almost at her goal weight. As soon as they give us the green light, we’re outta here.”
She looked at me with adoration. “I love this soft side of you, Devin. It’s so loving and caring. I mean, I knew you could be like that all along, but this… this is different. I can tell you really love Romi and those precious girls.”
“I do, Ma. Shit is crazy.”
“To think you were worried about a little pregnancy. Now look at you over here loving on that baby like she’s yours.”
“She is mine.”
She smiled. “Well, I can’t wait to spend some real time with my newfound grandbabies. You should bring them for dinner on Sunday.”
“We’ll be there. Ma?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Can you help me with something?”
“Anything.”
“I um… I’ve been thinking. Eventually… when she’s comfortable, I want to move Romi and the girls in with me. You know my place ain’t really child friendly. I wanna give them each a space of their own.”
“Oh, Devin. I’d be happy to help you. I’m so proud of you, baby. I know I fuss a lot, but I’ve always been proud of you. You, Maceo, and Deja are my entire world. All I ever want is for the three of you to be happy.”
“I know, Ma. I appreciate you just letting us be ourselves. I love you.”
“I love you too. Let me get off of here before I start crying.”
I chuckled. “You just pillow soft, woman.”
“Pillow soft, but these hands ain’t.”
I laughed as we disconnected the call. Looking back down at Juri, I kissed her cheeks. Yeah, this was my baby. There was no doubt about that.
After leaving the hospital and lunch with Korri, I called up Jaeda to get a location of Derrick Mathis. It had been a week since I left him assed out in the city. Videos of him surfaced online and were eventually taken down, but not before thousands of people saw it. According to my sources, he’d taken a leave of absence from work until it died down. Still, that wouldn’t help him with me. He could be touched no matter where he went.
Jaeda sent me his location, which was a little weird. He was at the old docks. The only reason I could think of for him being there was that he was meeting with his suppliers. People thought the only way they could safely smuggle drugs into the city was by way of water. Amateurs. If that was the case, we were gonna cut that shit short. I sent Roux and my uncle a text telling them to meet me there.
Luckily, both of them were already in town, so it wasn’t a hassle. We all ended up pulling in at the same time. Lifting my armrest, I retrieved a second gun and got out. Tucking it behind my back, I walked over to where my uncle and Roux stood.
“I thought you were gonna handle this nigga,” Roux said, crossing her arms.
“In due time, love.”
“You gon’ have to wrap this shit up soon, nephew,” my uncle said. “I don’t like having niggas moving in my city and I’m not doing shit about it.”
“I got this, Unc. I’m just making him suffer a little first. Let’s go see what he’s up to.”
We quietly moved through the maze of shipping containers until we could hear voices talking quietly. Peering around one of the containers, I saw Derrick standing with four other men all dressed in black. It didn’t bother me that we were outnumbered. All of us were good shots with quick reaction times.
I motioned for my uncle and Roux to follow me. As we made our presence known, Derrick’s head fell back and he groaned, making me laugh.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” I asked, coming to a stop. “Who’s this?”
“Who are you?” asked a nigga with a thick island accent. I assumed he was the one in charge.
“I believe I asked you first.”
He turned to Derrick. “Who is this fool?”
I chuckled. “Ooo, we’re name calling? Okay. Mathis, you got about five seconds to tell me who this is before I get trigger happy in this bitch.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, raising his hands.
“One.”
“If you just?—”
“Two. This your supplier?”
“Yes—”
“Five,” Roux said, sending a bullet through the man’s forehead.
My uncle and I followed suit by giving the other three men headshots as well. Their bodies hit the dock with hard thuds. Derrick took off running, dipping and dodging through the shipping containers.
Roux sighed. “They always want to run. If I break a sweat, I’m shooting his old ass.”
We split up and started searching.
“Come on, Derrick!” I taunted. “We just wanna talk, man!”
I focused my senses so I could hear him, even if I couldn’t see him.
“Didn’t I warn you about trying to move in our city? I thought your son’s death would have been all the warning you needed.”
“Show yourself, old man!” Roux yelled somewhere in the distance. “I’m not gonna kill you. I just wanna shoot you a little.”
I stifled a laugh because that was a wild thing to say.
“Don’t worry, man. I won’t let her feed you too many bullets. Just a lil’ flesh wound.”
I peered around a container to see him scaling the side of the one across from me. Quickly and quietly, I darted down the line to the end of my container to catch him. He was so busy looking back that he didn’t even realize he was coming right in my direction until it was too late. I chopped him in the throat before sending a punch to his face that landed him on his ass.
“The fuck you thought you were running? Huh?”
He struggled on the ground as Roux and my uncle joined us. Roux kicked him in the groin.
“You’re lucky I didn’t shoot you in the dick like I did your son,” she said. “Got us doing all this damn running. Get your ass up.”
I guess he wasn’t moving fast enough for my uncle because he grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up from the ground. With one hand around his neck, he shoved him into the shipping container.
“Mathis, I know you were present when I had this same conversation with Councilman Hayes all those years ago about moving weight in my city. I told you to sit the fuck down, just like I told him. Don’t get put with your dead homie, since you seem to miss him so much.”
His eyes widened. “Dead? I… I thought he was missing?”
“The only thing he’s missing from is the land of the living. Y’all keep playing like y’all don’t know who runs this city. Now what were you talking to them niggas about?”
He released Derrick, leaving him gasping for air.
“I just… I was trying to make other arrangements.”
I laughed. “There is no other arrangement. It’s dead. It died along with your son, and unless your name is Lazarus, there ain’t no resurrection for you either.”
“I owed that family a lot of money… Patrick’s stash is gone. I just need to pay?—”
“It’s not gone,” I said. “I took it.”
He glared at me. “I need that money.”
I chuckled at him, sounding like TT from S et It Off .
“This shit ain’t funny! They’re gonna kill my family!”
“Oh, you mean like y’all were threatening to do Romi? You think I care? Nigga, fuck you and your family. You and your son terrorized my woman for months. As far as I’m concerned, once I kill you, whatever happens to your people is fair game. That ain’t got nothing to do with me.”
Derrick was breathing so hard, I could have sworn I saw steam coming from his ears. He looked from me to my uncle to Roux.
“Just kill me now and get it over with.”
I shook my head. “I told you, it doesn’t work like that. The only way you’ll speed the timeline I have for you is if you off yourself, and you ain’t got that in you. I’ma see you though.”
I tapped the side of his face before walking off. I’d only made it a few steps when I heard a gun go off and Derrick scream. I turned to see that Roux’s ass had shot him in the foot. I shook my head as she walked off.
“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” I asked as we headed back to our cars.
“I told you I was gonna shoot him if I broke a sweat.”
Uncle Blake snorted. “Unstable ass woman.”
Roux shot back, “Unstable, but a woman of my word. Check that. Listen, Smoke. The next time you call me, it better be to tell me this nigga is dead. You playing with my emotions. You know I don’t like having unfinished business.”
“I agree with Roux,” my uncle said. “Playtime is over. The next time better be the last time. I get avenging your lady’s honor and all, but cut this shit short.”
He dapped me and headed for his car. Roux turned to me with her arms crossed.
“Your ass is in love, aren’t you.”
I chuckled. “Dangerously in love, Roux.”
She smiled. “I love that for you. Make sure you treat her and those babies right, Smoke. I’ll fuck you up on her behalf if you don’t.”
“I hear you, man. Be easy.”
We shared a hug before climbing into our respective vehicles. I guess they were right. It was about time to end this all.