CHASE
I sucked my teeth as I tapped at my driver’s seat. “Drive.”
A nigga was fueling inside. The fact that Coffee was entertaining some Tiger Woods ass nigga, made me want to split his shit open and send bullets through him until he exploded. I rolled my neck in a full circle as my driver headed to my next destination.
I gazed out the window as the city prepared for the holidays.
The thought of not being with my kids right now was starting to bother me.
I wanted this holiday to go smoothly; no tension, no silent treatments, no stubbornness, just smiles, food, and fucking.
The tap on my window told me we had arrived.
I got out of the car and stepped into a mushy, water-like texture.
“Mr. Carter, you made it. For a moment, I thought you’d gotten caught up in the holiday rapture,” Mr. Fanucci said with a hearty laugh.
I flicked my nose. “Well, I’m here now. You ready to talk business, or you want to sing fucking Christmas carols?”
Mr. Fanucci stopped laughing as he led the way into the cold, run-down steel mill they used as a warehouse.
When I stepped inside, his crew stood around in all-black suits, looking prepared for anything.
On the table was a small briefcase. I looked at it then at him, “That’s not enough.
It's not what we talked about. Come holla at me when you are serious,” I snapped.
I was about to walk away when I felt his hand on my shoulder. My eyes dropped to his hand, “Get your fucking hands off me,” I growled.
He pulled his hand away and held it up in the air. “Chase, my guy. Look, we want to make sure our return is good. We give you a little product, you show good faith, and Botta boom, Botta bang.” He snapped his fingers as if I were some joke.
I nodded. “On behalf of GOLA, fuck you!”
This time, Mr. Fanucci didn’t laugh or budge. “Is this really what you want to do? You know it isn’t safe for you out here once you turn us down.”
When I met his eyes, I didn’t even blink. “Deal is off. I’m not sure what kind of man you take me for, but I need you to understand, I’m not him, respectfully,” I finished as I walked out of the warehouse.
I knew turning down the Italians wasn’t a good idea, but if you stand for nothing, you fall for anything.
They owned most of the territory, except for a small part of the city, which the Black and Spanish shared.
Telling them no was a death sentence, and since Gunz and I were the only ones running things here, I knew it wouldn’t be long before a war broke out or we had to get the fuck out of dodge.
After leaving the warehouse, I considered sneaking back to the hospital and turning Mr. Rogers' ass inside out, but I decided against it. It’s the last thing I needed to think about, especially now that Coffee was finally recovering from the Kira ordeal.
When my driver dropped me off at the condo, I grabbed the few bags of gifts I had brought for the kids and Coffee before heading inside the building.
The doorman and the front desk staff greeted me.
I stepped into the elevator to go upstairs, but it stopped.
She eased on and grinned like she didn’t realize she had stopped the muhfucka before it went up. Between the jazz music and silence, I felt uneasy.
She slowly turned to me and glanced at my bags. “I see you’ve got a lot of gifts. Kids?” she asked.
My eyes slowly drifted toward her. “Wife and kids.” She cleared her throat and turned to look straight ahead.
It’s always something about the holidays that makes me grumpy.
I was trying to turn over a new leaf and get into the holiday spirit, but until my wife showed she was in good spirits, I wouldn’t be either.
I was a scrooge, and I knew it, but unless it was Coffee, everybody else could fuck off.
Once I reached the top floor and entered the condo, the first thing that greeted me was the Christmas tree I had set up a few days ago.
The black tree, adorned with all its red trimmings, sat cozily beside a panoramic window overlooking the city.
My eyes fixed on it as snow continued to fall outside.
The snow was falling heavier now. My phone vibrated with an alert saying a winter storm was approaching. “Shit!”
I knew if we didn’t leave soon, Coffee and I would be stuck here and miss the day that was so special to CJ and Kira.
If that happened, I would be no good. I wanted to be a part of every one of my son’s memories on every holiday.
With Kira, because she didn’t have her family, I wanted to make every year special for her, and there was no way I was fucking missing this one.