Chapter 2 #2
“Bronze. And I handled it because I didn’t overbook his ass.
And Naja will be aight, that’s why I pay her to do her job.
Now please be quiet, you too damn loud in my shit.
” I hustled around the room to get his work phone so I could pull the schedule and put this fire out first. For the last six months, Boss had been off his shit, but not like this.
Our crew was tight and we didn’t talk to them that way.
Boss understood keeping loyal employees meant respect was the first thing on the table next to competitive wages, great benefits, and bonuses.
“I’ma have Rickey come in to cover that shift since he’s clear for the day. And your ass did put him on both jobs. If you need me—"
“No. I got it. Damn, Tunk, again you’re here but you should be somewhere too.
Worried about the next muthafucka got you fucking up my longtime contract, but telling me if I need you…
I need you to do what I’m paying you for.
” I chuckled humorlessly as I shook my head.
Yeah, the alcohol was no excuse for his behavior, but if I knew Boss, it was more than alcohol when he got to talking crazy.
I finished scrolling through his phone until I found the information I needed, sending it to myself at the same time, Rickey messaged back, letting me know he would be at the other location within forty-five minutes.
My next move was to call BK, one of Boss’s longtime best friends.
Between him and Tino, I knew they would know how to handle Boss since I had to go.
He answered on the third ring.
“Yo fool, what’s going on?”
“Hey, it’s Tunk. Are you or Tino free to come pick his ass up from the office? He’s drunk as shit,” I said. There was a pause before he released a frustrated sigh.
“Fuck! It’s not even nine in the morning. Yeah, I’ma head that way. Is that all you found there?” I peered over my shoulder to see Boss now leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. I then quickly glanced around the room to see if I could find a pill bottle.
Beyond drinking, when Boss’s demons were present, he fought them by self-medicating like me. But his monsters looked different than mine and seemed to require a stronger pill to keep them at bay.
“Yeah, just the Black Ops, but I’m sure it wasn’t a solo mission. But, ay, BK, I’m taking his work phone and keys with me. Not sure if he has his main line, so use your key once you get here.”
“Okay, I’m on my way. Thanks for calling, Tunk.” Without saying anything else, I hung up. He didn’t have to thank me. I loved Boss like a brother just like them. I hated seeing him back on the same shit he battled with for years.
I grabbed his keys from his desk, turned off the lights, locked him inside, and headed back out. I still needed to call Bronze and defuse that situation, but first I had to call my client and apologize for my delay.
The phone rang a few times before a sweet voice came over the line.
“Hello, Boss, your guy never showed.”
“Hey, Mrs. Brooks, my apologies, I had the wrong address. I promise I got everything squared away and will be there shortly.”
“Oh, okay, I hoped my husband hadn’t confused him by giving him our old address. We just recently moved. Please tell me you have the one in Chandler Heights.” I looked down at my phone as I put the address in the GPS.
“Yes. He actually had you down for the jewelry store, Ace of Diamonds though.” Her laugh was light as if I had said something funny.
“Oh my gosh, that’s my brother’s store. Now I see where the confusion came in. We’re still on schedule for me to make the studio, so it’s no worries. Boss has been with us for a while now. It’s all good. I’ll see you shortly.”
I got to the neighborhood in record time, reaching the gate, putting in the code, granting myself access into the subdivision.
It was nice as hell out here. I always wondered why my brother Lando and Liv didn’t move out this way once their family started growing.
Then my mind went to how my life would be had I gone that route. A wife and kids were once on the agenda, but when my mom passed, then Leslie died, I felt the best way to avoid that type of heartache was to never fall in love. But now, I wished I had at least let myself experience it.
It’s never too late.
I scoffed at my own words as I pulled into the driveway, hopping out to greet Mrs. Oakley Charles, or Brooks now, since she had recently got married.
“Again, please excuse my tardiness. It won’t happen again,” I assured her as I quickly shook her hand so I could grab her bags from her hand before opening the back door for her.
“I promise it’s okay. Let’s just keep this between us okay, though? My husband can go on about unnecessary stuff.” I nodded as I secured her door, then made my way around the SUV to put her bags in, then got in myself so we could head to her first stop of the day.
We would be running for a good majority of the day.
This was another part of bodyguard life I didn’t miss.
“Unc Tuk, me next!” Talia’s little voice called out as I tossed her big sister, Neela, around in the air.
Between the giggles, the two older pirates calling my name, and my sister-in-law Liv yelling to stop manhandling her babies, it was a lot going on.
But this was a normal occurrence whenever I stopped over Lando’s house.
He and Liv had four kids and counting, since she was currently pregnant again.
We were in their backyard down on the island with the grill cooking the main dishes while Liv had taken care of the sides. My one and only job was to be the best uncle I could be and run my pirates’ energy down for their parents.
“Tunk, you better not put my baby in the air. She’s too young.” Liv chastised me as she snatched Talia who began to cry and fall out in her mother’s arms. The terrible twos were fucking horrible and they came early for Talia.
“And you better put her down before Lando comes out here cussing me out. Because me and you both know he’ll blame me for letting you do it,” I said as I put Neela down so I could get baby girl who was still giving Liv the blues.
“I mean it, Tunk, don’t toss her up.” I held my youngest niece with one hand while I threw my free hand up in mock surrender to her request.
As soon as Liv turned her back, I sent Talia flying, but too high. It was enough to cause an eruption of laughter from her and Neela, who was standing by, waiting for her turn again.
“Ooh, Mommy!” I looked over at the oldest pirate, Cece, who had just called me out. I put Talia down and gave Cece the look before my hands formed into claw-like positions as I charged toward her.
“Snitches get tickles, Cece.” She was growing up on me, but this was the one who’d made me Uncle Tunk.
So just like everyone else in our family, we were soaking up all these moments.
Her laughter filled the room with her brother, JoJo, coming to her rescue.
I yeeted him out of the way, sending him splashing into the pool.
The sound of him yelling my name let me know he was cool, so I kept going.
“Alright now, Tunk, chill out.” Lando’s voice rang out from behind me, but it was too late, I already had Cece in my grasp and tickled her into a fit of hysteria.
“That’s how you doing me, Cece. I thought you were still living by the code,” I said as her giggles overtook whatever Lando was saying.
“Dead men tell no lies, dead men tell no lies!” Her voice broke through her chuckles, getting out the vow that had me smiling as I eased up. I took that as her call to surrender.
“I don’t know. I think you gotta walk the plank.
Let’s cast a vote. Okay, my pirates, small and tall, who all thinks Cece needs to walk the plank for her crimes against the code to remain loyal to the crew and not to the captain?
” Talia’s little hand went up so quickly, causing Liv to break out into giggles before her head shook.
“Aight, fool, now you got my kids going against each other? That ain’t even how we get down. Lia, sisters never fold on each other. And you just laughing, Neela. I swear my girls gotta do better.” Lando stepped in, walking past us, going for the grill. I was sure he was putting his beef ribs on.
I let go of Cece who ran over to the rest of the kids, now getting in the pool with JoJo, while I followed Lando to the grill.
“Yo, you never finished telling me about Boss. Is he cool?”
“Hell no. After I called BK, he made it home, slept it off, and made his way back to the office the next day. No apologies or nothing. It took me two hours to talk Bronze out of quitting too! It took a dollar raise and promises for me to double check the schedule going forward for him to stay. BK said the spiral is coming in fast this time. I don’t know what to do. Last time—”
I stopped talking mid-sentence as I grabbed the back of my neck, hoping to rub the tension out. Lando put his hand on my shoulder.
“Ay, this isn’t last time, but like then to now, he’ll bounce back. Do you want me to see if Liv can have one of the cuddlers or her therapist friend take him on or—”
“I’ma see what BK and Tino are thinking. They get first call when it comes to him since, you know, his sperm donor ain’t shit.”
Like us, Boss grew up in a military family, but his father brought home his trauma and dumped that shit right on Boss. And to my knowledge, he was still causing problems, which didn’t help with any of the issues that he came home with from the war.
“Just let me know.”
“I will.”
“Now, tell me, how does it feel to be back on the other side?”
“Man, different as hell this time.” I dragged my hand down my face. “I got the entertainment clients since the killa twins, Jury and Judge, took my only couple politicians. I had Oakley Charles these last couple of days. It ain’t bad, just a lot of driving. But she’s cool.”
Lando laughed as he flipped the chicken wings.
“Nigga, you gotta stop giving these people nicknames because my ass be fucking up whenever I see them in person, calling them everything but their damn names. I ran into Judge at The Marketplace and slipped and said killa, had this man looking at me weird as hell.” I tilted my head to the side before my laugh came rumbling out.
“No, fool, you gotta stop breaking our code. Worse than these damn kids. Now, hurry up. I got moves to make.”
“Always moving. Slow the fuck down. Whoever keeps you sprinting away on the weekends now can’t be more important than family if you can’t even bring them home to meet anybody.”
“I told you, if it were someone worth meeting, you would. Now, instead of focusing on me, put your attention back on the grill. Don’t nobody want no burnt ass food, Lando.”
I was talking shit. Bringing somebody home to meet my family from Seventh Heaven was never going to happen, and not because I wouldn’t want to.
No lie, I enjoyed a couple of ladies at the club from time to time that had potential to be more, like Ms. Lourdè, but Seventh Heaven, like any other sex club, had rules.
We couldn’t even acknowledge anyone we recognized in public when we saw them out.
And trust me, I had noticed quite a few people, but I loved playing with the women I met there far too much to risk my extremely expensive membership for a hello.