Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
EMERY
Day Ten…
Since the death of Layken Walsh and the disappearance of Leyla Johnson, the trial had been put on pause.
Yumi had informed us that the prosecution was grasping at straws, trying to find anything to make the crimes stick against Mill and Mook.
They had been pressing us so hard that they were raiding our legal businesses and coming up empty.
The blocks were hot. We had to inform our people to lie low. During the shutdown, a couple of niggas from Southwest decided to take up residence in our part of town. Since we had to stay out of trouble, it was hard to push them out right now.
As we sat at the round table in the Banks’ residence, I could tell shit was about to go downhill. Torrance Banks, the head of the Banks family, wasn’t too happy about us letting outsiders set up shop in our neighborhood. In my opinion, this shit was bound to blow over just like the other times.
“We can’t just allow these motherfuckas to deal on our blocks like we don’t have any control. Like, why the fuck are we in alliance if we can’t eliminate the opposition between the five families?” Torrance queried.
“It’s not smart to move recklessly when we are being watched. Let those niggas think they’re doing something. We are under surveillance, so we can’t move how we want,” Pierre King, Mina’s father, replied.
“I’m with P on this, Tor. It wouldn’t be wise to make noise right now,” Louise DeVato said.
“So, what the fuck do we do?”
“Leave the shit alone for now,” I said, over his incompetence. It was a wonder why his son, Romeo, was doing thirty-five years upstate. He was a hothead, and clearly, he got the shit from his pops. “At this point, you either want to take the fall for all of us or chill the fuck out.”
“Who the fuck are you talking to like that, Emery? Nigga, I’m a boss too. You don’t tell me what the fuck to do.”
“Aye, chill on my brother. He ain’t fucking wrong, and if y’all think he is, then we can cut ties with you niggas right now.
” Although my face didn’t show it, I smiled on the inside at Emil’s comment.
After hearing Rakim tell me he’d been giving him advice—good advice—I was starting to believe he may finally be calming the fuck down with his outrageous behavior.
“Come on, gentlemen. Let’s not get beyond ourselves,” Louise DeVato inserted.
Torrance scoffed. “That’s easy for you to say when you aren’t on the police’s radar.
And speaking of police, how are we paying these clowns thousands of dollars, and we’re in this fucked up situation?
Not to mention, if you didn’t go shooting up the bar, none of us would even be here right now,” he said to Emil.
Mill chuckled menacingly, something he did when he was two seconds from showing his ass.
Let me shut this shit down.
“Listen, the murder shit is different from the drug side of business. The only reason we’re being looked at is that your worker, Layken Walsh, whom I had the pleasure of putting his lights out to make sure none of us goes down for this shit, was running his fucking mouth.
Instead of you screaming and hollering about us letting outsiders post up, you should be thanking me for keeping ya ass out of jail a little longer. ”
“Furthermore,” Mill started. “We all know not to leave any witnesses. You let that man walk away with his life, which is why this shit is happening in the first place. So, pipe it down. Because what you should be doing is showing your gratitude that the drug shit will possibly be thrown out due to us handling your problem.”
“I didn’t ask you to step up and do a damn thing. I was going to handle it myself—”
“You should have handled it before the nigga even made it off the block once he left,” Mook spoke up.
“Okay, I fucked up, but as I said, I didn’t ask any of you to handle him. I could have done it myself.”
“But you didn’t. Anyway, we need to contact the distribution team and let them know that we’re pausing everything until this shit blows over.”
“I’ll have Breshawn handle it,” Pierre said.
“Cool. If that’s all, I gotta go,” I told them, standing, and everyone else began following suit. I could feel Torrance’s eyes on me, so I gave him eye contact. “Speak your piece, Banks.”
“Can I talk to you in private?”
“You know there are no side conversations in the presence of the families,” I told him.
“This is personal, not business.”
I sighed and walked out of the room. He followed me and led me down the hall to what I assumed was his office.
“What’s good, Banks?”
“Would you like a drink?”
“I’m straight. What’s up?”
“You have been ignoring my daughter for months now. I’m just trying to understand what the holdup is.”
“I’m not marrying your daughter, Banks. I thought my father told you what the deal is.”
“He did, but I’m not understanding what your deal is. Are you trying to say my daughter isn’t your type? I mean, that doesn’t matter anyway. All that matters is combining our families to create a legacy and generational wealth.”
I shook my head at him. “And that’s where the problem lies.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not marrying someone I’m not in love with so that you can make sure your family is secured for the future.”
“People do it every day, Em. You all will eventually learn to love each other. Trust me. Normani has already been groomed to make your life as easy as possible. She also knows the ins and outs of the business and can ensure things work smoothly on your end.”
“I’m not interested,” I finalized. I wasn’t marrying his daughter, and that was that.
“Hmph. You’ll regret your decision in the long run.”
“I won’t. And saying shit like that makes me feel as if you’re threatening me. Your daughter said something similar. I don’t like that shit, Banks.”
“I would never. She certainly would never. Your father and I are good friends. I wouldn’t dare harm his children.”
“I’m sure you won’t.”
“I’m just trying to get you to see that you two would make a great team.”
“Louis DeVato is available, and so is Isa St. Claire. Why not choose one of them?”
“First, I don’t want my daughter marrying outside of her race.
Secondly, we all know that Isa has a drinking problem.
Lastly, you, the Aldanas, started this organization, so you rank higher on the wealth scale.
I want my daughter to be properly cared for.
Just think about it, Em. It’s not like you have to stay married forever.
Just give me some grandchildren, and that’s all. ”
This nigga.
“Have a good day, Banks.” I turned and walked out of the room.
“Think about it, Em!” he yelled after me. There was no way I was tying my life to a woman I didn’t love, and I meant that. He and my father could keep talking that shit until they were blue in the face; it wasn’t happening.
Mill and Mook stood by the door, waiting for me, and we all walked out of the Banks’ home. As I was getting in my car, I saw Normani getting out of hers, and we locked eyes.
“Hello, Emery.”
“Normani.”
“We still haven’t had the chance to have that conversation.”
“No need. Have a good day.” I got inside the car, and Juno pulled off moments later.
Nothing was going to get in the way of my pursuing Yumi.
I had no desire to be with anyone else but the girl I reluctantly had to give up and had the honor and pleasure of having her in my world again.
Normani wasn’t a factor and never would be.
Fucking desperate motherfuckas.
It had been ten days since Yumi’s breakup with Screech, but I had been at her house almost every other night since then. Currently, she was mad at me for making her miss her “ladies’ night”, but I had a plan to make it up to her.
I pulled out my phone and dialed her number. The phone rang twice before she picked up.
“Hey, Emmy.”
“What’s up, mama. You still mad at me?”
“Mmm, partially.”
I chuckled. “What are you doing right now?”
“Trying to get out of this dinner my mother is trying to coerce me to come to.”
“Nah, meet me. I’m about to send you the address.”
“Oh, really? Where?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“I love surprises.” I could hear the smile in her voice.
“I know you do.”
“What time?”
“One hour. And don’t make me come looking for you.”
“You don’t have to threaten me, Mr. Aldana. I have learned that you mean business when it comes to me.”
I smiled. “Glad you learn quickly. I’ll see you soon, my love.”
“Mmhm. See you.”
I hung up and instructed Juno to take me home so I could get ready for my date tonight.
After showering and getting dressed, I arrived at the destination and went inside.
Several of my trusted soldiers surrounded the building as I took the stairs up to the main floor.
The security on duty greeted me, letting me know everything was set up on the top floor.
I nodded as I took out my phone to track Yumi’s ETA.
It showed her pulling up to the building while I stood in the center of the floor, holding a single white rose.
It took her five minutes to walk inside, and the look on her face was filled with confusion and curiosity.
“Umm, why are we standing in this big, empty building? Is this some school or something?” she asked, eyes skirting around the building.
“Or something,” I replied with a smile. “Welcome to the Aldana Institute of Creative Arts. A.I.C.A. to shorten it.”
“No way! You guys are opening a school?”
“I’m opening a school.”
Her eyes ballooned. “Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“Wow, Emery. Th-that’s amazing! How is this possible?”
“Anything is possible, my love. As you can see, anything I want, I get.”
She smirked. “Clearly. This is nice, Emery. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thank you. For you.” I handed her the rose, then held my palm out for her to take. She took my hand as I led her to the elevators and pressed the button for the fourth floor. When we reached our stop, I took her down the hall to the room I had set up for us.