Chapter 14
Hondo
Days later…
Briar South was a beautiful city if you knew the ins and outs. It was one of those places where someone could get lost in the richness of its history. It was home, even though me and my family lived on the outside, in the burbs that bordered other cities. It was where I was raised and did business.
It was my home turf.
“He’s at the door, boss.” Steeve’s voice alerted me before the door opened and Mayor Winston Joseph slid into the back seat next to me.
“Good seeing you, Hondo.”
I glanced in his direction and shook my head. “Cut the shit, Winston. It’s never good to see me. It’s better to be paid and never have to sit next to me.”
He chuckled uneasily. “I don’t think of it that way.”
“You should. We aren’t friends nor are we enemies. This between us is purely transactional.” I kept my eyes on the moving parts outside the car.
“Understood.”
“Good. I want Logan gone.” The next statement from my lips made him tense immediately. I could feel it.
“Like how?”
“Out of a job, Winston. Do you think I’d bring you here to ask you to kill your own chief of police?” I laughed at the mood.
“No.”
“Good because I have people for that and I damn sure wouldn’t be asking you.
It has to be clean, well… maybe not that clean.
” I shrugged. I owed Logan this much, especially when all that shit went down, he instructed the department to cooperate with the feds.
Damn all the donations from my families and parks we made happen.
At the end of the day, the system was against me and he did the pointing on record.
He took joy in the whole ordeal, which was why I was about to enjoy every bit of how the chips fell.
“You know that’s impossible, right?” he asked after silence fell in the car.
I laughed. “How? You’re the fucking mayor, Winston.
I put you in that chair and on that fucking ballot.
I did the impossible to get you where you are right now, so no, you can’t tell me what’s impossible.
You don’t have the right to deem anything impossible.
Make that shit happen and be aware of political standings and affiliations when you weigh in on the options for a new police chief. ”
He was silent but nodded so he understood the implications of my request.
“Good talk. You can go now.”
He was out of the car in seconds, leaving me to my thoughts before Steeve spoke. “Curr is Mainstream enjoying a meal with his mistress.
I nodded with a smile. “Let’s go have a word.”
I sat back in my seat as he pulled off, my thoughts immediately filled with Nic.
Today she was back at the sanctuary and, from our earlier conversation, loving it.
I loved her happiness and fulfillment like it was my own, because shit, truthfully it was.
When she was happy and floating, so was I.
When she was scared and fearful, I was pissed. Her feelings and experiences were mine.
The drive to Mainstream wasn’t long given that Uptown Briar was a massive business enclave. Everything was within walking distance for tourists to feel close to the action.
My phone rang, stealing my attention. Apparently I had conjured up a call from my wife, but then again, it was knocking on six-thirty and I told her I wouldn’t have a late day.
“What’s up, Nic?” I asked, mashing the phone against my ear to answer.
“You’re not here. But you’re on your way, right?” she asked, her voice desperately telling me to say yeah.
“I should be in a few. I’m leaving the city. You need anything?” I asked.
“Honeybun brownie from Best Kept Secret?”
I laughed. Ever since that day at the hospital, Nic had been obsessed with those fucking brownies. No lie, they were good, but baby was feral over them. “Aight, I got you.”
“Okay, see you soon. Love you.”
“You better.”
We hung up a few seconds later, and right after that, we were in front of Mainstream. It was a privately owned space where people went to be left alone. No pictures nor cameras. It was strictly for comfortable, private experiences.
From the moment I got out of the car, I had all eyes, but I didn’t give a fuck.
I entered swiftly, moving to the side stairs and up.
Joe met me at the top, then pointed to a booth in the corner where my eyes landed on Charles Curr ducked off to the side.
I guess he couldn’t be too careful when he was creeping.
I walked over toward Curr’s table with Joe in front of me and Steeve behind me. As soon as I reached his table, I grabbed a chair from the table behind his and took a seat at the end.
“Fancy catching you here,” I greeted him, sitting back, eyes on him.
He was so pissed that the wrinkles in his pasty, ashen face deepened. He dropped the napkin on the empty plate and stared at me. “I didn’t realize this was a reservation for three.”
“Nah it isn’t. You can creep in peace, figured I’d drop by and have a little heart to heart with you. Things didn’t go too well at the last meeting, so I wanted to set the tone for the next.” I acted like I gave a fuck.
“And you think this is the place to address it?”
“I don’t give a fuck about place. Business is business in any space or structure. I’m hearing you still haven’t made anything shake on the casino front.”
“That is a matter of paperwork and legalities.”
“I’m glad you said that. I’m sure these are legalities and things you’ll have taken care of by tomorrow, right? And maybe I can forgive your transgressions where my wife is concerned. Especially you being aware of plots that include her.”
He choked on the spit in his mouth, letting me know he knew exactly what I was talking about. “Excuse me.”
“You’re excused. Now tell your girl to go get a drink from the bar.” I looked from him to a woman who had to be twenty years his junior. She had a lighter complexion with bright red hair.
“Lana, give us a minute.”
She didn’t speak, but got to her feet in seconds, moving away from the table.
Once she was out of earshot, my eyes were back on him. “My forgiveness only extends so far. You should take it while it’s still on the table.”
“Is that a threat, Carter?”
“Not at all, but when I tell you to find yourself on the right side of history, I mean just that. Now that, is a threat.”
I stood, then returned the chair to the table I took it from.
“And that means?”
“Infer.”
Within an hour and a half, I’d arrived home and of course Nic was on that ugly ass couch. I fucking hated it, but she loved it, so I dealt with it.
“Do you want me to warm your dinner?” she asked, her tone housing just how tired she was.
“Nope. You boutta share this brownie with me and tell me about your day before we both knockout.”
“But you haven’t eaten real food,” she called to me from the living room.
“I ate earlier. I’m not all that hungry, baby.”
When I had a fork in my hand, I moved toward her cuddled on the sofa, looking at me with those doe eyes. Her hair was pushed behind her ear and one of my hoodies peeked from under the fuzzy tan blanket.
“How was your day?” I asked, taking a seat and holding out her pastry box.
She stood, walking on the couch until she was right next to me to take the box. “Good. Everything at the sanctuary seems to be coming together. I was able to get in touch with most of the old staff at Meadows.”
“Except that nigga, right?”
“What nigga, Hondo?” She opened the box, smiling like a fat kid.
“The one who was all in your fucking face.”
She laughed. “Actually no, and that shouldn’t matter, because the only nigga I like in my face is you.” She then held out a forkful of the brownie for me.
“Good answer.”
She laughed. “So my father has called a million times over the last several days trying to get me to meet him. And yes I know, that’s a no. But the way he acts oblivious leads me to question if he actually knew what was going on.”
“He may not have known explicitly, but I refuse to believe he was all the way in the dark about that shit, Nic. He’s been in this game too long to be so na?ve.”
She nodded. “I hear you. Now can I ask something and you not get mad at me?”
“Shoot.”
“Where is my brother?” Her eyes bored into mine, looking for an answer.
Instead of responding, I pulled my phone from my pocket and dialed Otto on speaker.
“Yo, what’s up? I’m kind of in the middle of something, nigga. You good?” he asked all in one breath.
“Yeah, I’m straight. Nic was looking for you.” I looked from my phone to her and her expression was comical. I told her them niggas weren’t her family.
“Yo, what’s up, sis? You good?” Otto asked.
She mugged the shit out of me before responding. “Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Cool. I’ma have to drop by the sanctuary. I’m tryna see why I ain’t met the family tiger yet.”
She laughed. They talked for a few minutes about Zar before he said he’d call back. As soon as we hung up, she nailed me in the chest.
“Otto is my brother, but you know that’s not who I was asking about.”
“I told you those niggas weren’t your family and I meant it. Now stop being stingy and share some more of that.” I motioned toward the box in her hand before pushing my hand under the sweatshirt and resting it on her stomach.
She laughed, then dipped the fork into the box and pushed it toward my lips.
“So, tell me about your day.”
“Nothing to tell really. I had a couple meetings and some business with my lawyer. My day was long and nothing interesting. Too much shit to be handled and not enough handlers.”
She nodded. “Speaking of handlers, I really think my sister may be coming back here. She asked if I was serious about her being able to stay here.”
“You told her yeah, right? In-law suite wouldn’t be used any other way.”
She sighed. “Yeah, I did. She’s just iffy and feels like she’s impeding. I told her this is a lot of house, that she wouldn’t be. But that’s Paige. I think she’s overthinking everything with my father and grandfather.”
“I’m handling that shit soon, so don’t stress.”
She looked at me for a while, her eyes studying mine before she nodded. “Okay.”