Chapter 10
Hondo
One minute we were talking on the phone and I was thinking about all the shit I wanted to do to her.
The next I heard gunshots, glass shattering, and yelling.
Everything in me in that moment saw red because what the fuck?
Then to make matters so much fucking worse, after telling me she was okay, I heard the phone drop then my mother told the driver to get them to a hospital because Nic had passed out.
My wife fucking passed out and I was nowhere near her.
My mind thought the worst the entire ride because she could’ve passed out from anything.
Things could have been worse than they sounded.
My nerves didn’t settle until I was looking at her, and even then, I was still on edge because she wasn’t looking at me.
Her eyes were closed and they said she was resting.
That didn’t help me because I needed to hear her tell me she was fine.
I needed to look into those blue eyes, but I couldn’t.
So for two and a half hours, I sat at the end of the bed and watched her.
The moment I dropped my head for all of five seconds, talking to a God I didn’t often consult with, she awakened.
From the moment the worry dissipated, the anger festered.
I wasn’t trying to hear a damn thing about resolutions and diplomacy, I wanted blood.
This was essentially the second time a motherfucker had come for her, now proving to me that she was the intended target.
With that being said, too fucking much was happening without enough answers.
I turned my head to the side, looking at Nic out of the corner of my eye. I needed her to rest even though I couldn’t. I wanted blood so badly that I could taste that shit like I was a motherfucking cannibal.
“So Amethyst said she saw that nigga Kolton at the restaurant before everything happened. You don’t think that was a coincidence, do you?”
“Nah, I don’t. I’m treating everything as a fucking transgression. Ain’t no way I have words with his people and out of nowhere he’s in the same vicinity of them just before something pops off. I’on give a fuck if he didn’t have anything to do with it, let him tell me that shit himself.”
“What time are you leaving in the morning?” Otto asked, realizing there was no reasoning with me because I wasn’t doing a damn thing formally.
Motherfuckers best be lucky I didn’t blow down families just off my suspicions alone.
I didn’t care about the proper course of action at all, especially when it came to my wife.
“Who said anything about the morning, Otto?”
He sighed into the phone. “Damn, I’m on my way. I shouldn’t have even left your house.”
“For what? I don’t need you coming with me.” I stood up straight then turned to face the bedroom where Patience was asleep. She would be out for the rest of the night and I made good and damn sure of that during our shower earlier. She’d sleep well into the morning.
“The fuck you don’t. You’re raw right now, Hon. I’ll be there in a few.” He hung up before I could say anything else, and lowkey, that was smart on his part. He knew me well enough to know that too.
“Where are you going?” Her sleep laced tone caught me by surprise.
“How do you know I’m going somewhere, Nic?”
“Because you’re not in bed with me.”
I grinned, moving toward her. “You should be sleep.”
“I should, but then I woke up and you weren’t in bed with me. You don’t normally get up in the middle of the night, Hondo. So, again, where are you going?” Those crystal blue eyes bored into mine for an answer.
“Waiting on Otto. ’Bout to go see about something. You need something?” I pulled a white T-shirt over my head, eyes living on her.
“Besides you, no.” She lay there, simply fucking perfect, watching me.
“You got me. Now go ahead back to sleep. We’ll have breakfast when you wake up.” I pulled my hoodie on, then zipped it up.
“You promise?”
I leaned over. “Yes. Now gimme kiss so I can go.”
She lifted her head slightly, allowing me to kiss the side of her face. She was trying hard as fuck to fight her sleep, but regardless of her little fight, it would win. I’d put in too much work hours ago for it not to.
“I think I want a dog,” she said in a sleep laced tone right before I closed our bedroom door.
I laughed to myself as I descended the steps. The fuck she gonna do with a dog when she’s about to have all these fucking animals?
I was downstairs for all of five minutes before Otto texted me, letting me know he was outside, which I expected.
He probably thought I was gonna leave without him, so he rushed here.
When I opened the door, he was ashing his blunt and telling somebody he’d catch them another time and to lock a door.
Nigga had company but didn’t hesitate to come babysit me.
“You were busy.”
“Not even close. Now I am.” He slipped his phone into the back pocket of his jeans. To be the oldest, this nigga looked and dressed like the youngest.
I nodded, then looked straight ahead at Steeve pulling up to the round curb of my driveway. I closed the door of the house, instinctively making sure it was locked before I descended the couple stairs to the truck Joe was now standing outside the rear door of.
“How do you know where ol’ boy is right now anyway?” my brother asked, falling in step with me.
“Sent Shawn ahead earlier. He’s at his business that doesn’t close until five. Opens at five and closes at five.” We got into the car.
“Let me guess, it’s closed now, at your insistence.”
I laughed. “Hell yeah. Tryna make this shit quick.”
The drive to the city wasn’t quick at all given it was a Friday night and late summer in Briar. Everybody was outside while niggas like me were trying to handle business and get back to the house. I had all I needed there.
Thirty-five minutes later we pulled right in front of the establishment and of course Shawn was standing out front with his hands at his sides like he hadn’t just emptied the building on my command.
“It’s clear, boss. You can go right in,” he said, just as another of my guards held the door open for me and my brother to enter.
When we entered, I was thoroughly impressed by the interior. It was decked out, a nice lounge vibe, enough to pull in a good amount of folks, especially with the hours he was open. I glanced ahead and he was seated in a half circle booth, looking in my direction.
“Must’ve fucked up really bad to have Pops sending you after me, huh?” he asked. Then he put a glass of brown liquor to his lips.
His statement caught me by surprise, but I didn’t let on that it did.
I shook my head before taking a seat in the booth. My brother grabbed himself a chair, placing it at the edge of the velvety red pool inspired table.
“Fucked up how?” Otto asked what I didn’t.
He shrugged carelessly. Another young cocky nigga with apparent daddy issues. This, I didn’t have time for. “You tell me. I came out of my office to see your men shutting my business down during prime time. Something happened, right?”
I shook my head. “That’s a fucked-up way to think. But since you asked, what were you doing at Bistro this afternoon?”
“Paying a bitch to get rid of a baby,” he responded in a matter of fact tone. Yep, another young cocky nigga.
I studied his reaction and there wasn’t one. He didn’t flinch or anything. His facial expression didn’t even change.
“This got something to do with the shooting that happened outside?”
My ears perked up.
“What do you know about it?” Otto asked.
“That it happened and saved me a couple dollars.” He shrugged, letting us know without explicitly letting us know what he meant.
“My wife was out there. You know anything about that part?”
His eyes jumped from me to my brother, then back toward me. “I ain’t have shit to do with that, but if you know her people like I do, I wouldn’t be searching so far out, maybe even my people.”
“Fuck is that supposed to mean?” Otto asked.
“You see where I’m at. No security behind me.
Couple months back Pops called me and said O’Leary wanted to see me.
Said he had a proposition. I went to meet with him and he offered me ol’ girl’s hand, telling me it was a good business move.
Turned him down. I ain’t with all that, never have been.
Anyway, Pops called me right after, telling me I blew my chances and how it would have been over before it started anyway.
I didn’t ask what he meant, but if you saying somebody tried to kill your wife, I’d look at the marriage contract.
Not only that, but fucking with Shamus, you should probably pay attention to how much they have on her head. ”
“What do you mean on her head?” Otto asked, because lowkey, my mind was everywhere.
“Word is Shamus’s wife didn’t die as a casualty of war or anything like that. I know who handled it personally and he said Shamus only paid him after it was confirmed that his wife died from that bombing.”
Insurance fraud. But why would you need insurance money if you had money? Unless you didn’t have any money…
My blood was boiling hot, because if what he said was true, those motherfuckers tried to back door me, and worse, they were behind what happened today.
“Why are you telling us this?” Otto asked.
“Because you know like I know, my father should have been stepped down. But instead he’s taking lessons from a half dead motherfucker who’s fucking over his own blood. Nasty work like that tends to be contagious.”
I had heard enough and immediately felt sick to my stomach. None of us in this game were squeaky clean or saints, but Shamus O’Leary was the worst part of the game. He was the snake with no remorse, one who would rather swallow everything around him than let go.
“I’ll make sure you’re paid for the rest of your day,” I tossed over my shoulder before leaving the exact way I came. This was all types of fucked up and had just become so much more complicated.