Business is Business PT 5 Read online

“Eric just called me and told me he needs us to go rough up some fake Italian dudes,” Jimmy shrugged. Jimmy had no clue who the Russo family was nor did he care. If Eric wanted them taken care of, it was as good as done.

  “What Italian dudes?”

  “Frank and Alex Russo,” Jimmy answered.

  “I heard of those clowns,” Murder said. “I think they got connects with the mob. You sure that’s who Eric wants us to hit?”

  “You sound scared.” Jimmy took a sip from his cup. “This ain’t the 80’s no more. Fuck the mob.”

  Murder laughed. “You a funny guy. I was just asking because of all of the heat that’s been coming down on the family.” Murder pulled up in front of a low-key bar and killed the engine.

  “Yo, pop the trunk!” Jimmy said as he smoothly stepped out the passenger seat, made his way to the trunk, and removed a wooden baseball bat. Jimmy stepped inside the bar and immediately all eyes were on him and Murder. Jimmy walked up to the closest person to him and swung the baseball bat with all his might. The entire bar watched in horror as Jimmy beat the innocent man to a bloody pulp with the baseball bat. Once Jimmy was done, he walked over to the bar and helped himself to a seat. “Vodka and orange juice!” The bartender quickly made Jimmy’s drink and sat it down in front of him. Jimmy downed the drink in a few gulps then stood back to his feet. “I’m looking for Frank or Alex Russo. Anyone know where I can find either one of them?” Everyone remained quiet.

  Murder walked up and shot three men who sat at the bar in the head.

  BLOCKA!

  BLOCKA!

  BLOCKA!

  “Now I’m going to ask y’all one more time!” Jimmy barked. “Do anyone know where I can find Frank or Alex Russo?”

  “They just left about twenty minutes ago!” the bartender spoke up.

  Jimmy slowly walked over towards the bartender. “Do you mind delivering a message for me?”

  “Of course I don’t mind,” he said.

  “Tell them to stay the fuck out of the Mason’s family business before this shit get real ugly. You think you can do that for me?” Jimmy asked with a smirk on his face.

  “Yes sir,” the bartender replied with a terrified look on his face.

  Jimmy reached over the counter and grabbed a bottle of vodka. “Thank you,” he said as him and Murder made their exit.

  CHAPTER 6

  Eric

  Eric sat in his living room talking to Pistol Pete. The two were trying to come up with a strategy on how they were going to handle this Black Dragon situation. “I say we hit him before he gets us,” Pistol Pete suggested.

  “I say we should maybe set him up and lead him into a trap,” Eric said. He figured that would be better than just going to war with a professional assassin. “We know he’ll be following us so I say we have a bunch of our soldiers waiting at one of our warehouses or something and lead the Black Dragon into a deadly trap.”

  Pistol Pete rubbed his chin. “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Now all we have to do is find the perfect spot.”

  Before Eric could say another word, he saw Millie, Nicole, and some big strong looking guy being escorted through his mansion.

  “The Queen is back,” Millie smiled as she leaned in and gave Eric a tight hug followed by a kiss on the cheek.

  “We thought you had got lost for a second,” Eric laughed. He couldn’t hide the excitement on his face. At heart, he would always be a momma’s boy. “I’m glad you’re here. Pistol Pete and I were just trying to come up with a little plan. A lot of stuff has been going on while you were away,” Eric said happy to have his mother back in his corner.

  “Before we get started, I want to introduce you guys to someone,” Millie said. “This here is Knuckles. He’s family.”

  “I remember you when you was this little,” Knuckles said holding his hands not far apart from one another as he looked at Eric with a bright smile on his face.

  “Well, welcome to the family and I look forward to working with you,” Eric said as him and Knuckles shook hands. He then turned his focus back on Millie. “We have a bit of a problem.”

  Millie helped herself to a seat on the couch and crossed her legs. “Hit me with it.”

  “I’ll go get everyone a drink,” Nicole got up and excused herself so that they could talk business.

  “Remember that assassin I hired to take out Chico’s family?”

  Millie nodded.

  “Well, someone told him that I gave his whereabouts to Chico and now he wants me dead,” Eric explained. “I have no clue why he would think that I gave him up to Chico.”

  Millie sat on the couch with a straight face. There was no way she was going to tell Eric that it was her who had told Chico about the Black Dragon’s whereabouts. “Listen son, if the Black Dragon wants to go to war then I say we take him to war.”

  “We also have a problem with the Russo family,” Eric said. “I bought one of their hotels and now they want their hotel back and it doesn’t look like they’re willing to take no for an answer.”

  Millie sucked her teeth. “The Russo family still out here making noise?” She remembered having a run in with the Russo family back in the day. “Listen, I’ll go and talk to Frank Russo. Me and him have a little history.” Millie stood to her feet. “But I have to get going. I have a few things that needs my immediate attention. I’ll call you later,” Millie said as she and Knuckles made their exit.

  Eric got ready to finish his conversation with Pistol Pete when he heard Nicole clear her throat. “Hey baby, can I have a word with you in the room for a second?”

  “Of course,” Eric stood to his feet and headed to their bedroom. “Hey, baby. What’s up?”

  “Is everything alright? I overheard a little bit of the conversation back there,” Nicole said with a nervous look on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me that your life or that our life was in danger?”

  “Sorry, baby. I didn’t want to worry you,” he replied.

  “Eric, we are supposed to be a team. You can’t have me walking out here blindly.” Nicole put on her mad face. The truth was, Nicole had already known about the Black Dragon hit. She just wanted something to fuss about. “What if something would have happened to me while I was out? Then what?”

  Eric positioned himself behind Nicole and gently began to rub her shoulders. “You are absolutely right baby and I’m sorry. Some assassin that goes by the name the Black Dragon is out to kill me.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he thinks that I gave his whereabouts to an enemy of his.” Eric paused for a second. “I have no idea where he could have gotten a thought like that from.”

  “Well, just know that I got your back and as long as I’m around I won’t let anyone hurt you,” Nicole smiled.

  “Get over here!” Eric playfully tossed Nicole on the bed and straddled her. “You still love me?”

  “No matter what.”

  CHAPTER 7

  Frank Russo

  Frank Russo sat in his office with a cold look on his face and a strong drink in his hand. He had just gotten word about what Jimmy Mason had done to one of his bars. The more he thought about the Mason family the angrier he became. Sitting in front of him were two of his best enforcers. First was a big man that went by the name Lethal Weapon. He got that name because he was a killing machine and known to turn any object he touches into a lethal weapon. Sitting next to him was a man with a mean scowl on his face. A man that went by the name Bad News. Bad News was well known by the law for his violent ways. Back in the day, it was said that he was a hitman for the mob and had a lot of bodies under his belt.

  “I have a problem,” Frank Russo began. “And their name is the Mason family. They’ve been nothing but a pain in the ass since the first time I had a run in with them back in the 90’s. I need you two to get rid of the Mason family for me once and for all,” Frank barked. He was getting old in age and refused to let the Mason Family bully him around and take over the all the businesses that he had wo
rked so hard to maintain.

  “This is going to be a piece of cake,” Lethal Weapon waved him off. “I thought you had a real problem,” he said arrogantly.

  “The Mason family ain’t no joke so please be careful,” Frank warned.

  Lethal Weapon chuckled. “I ain’t no joke either.”

  Later On That Night

  Lethal Weapon pulled up in front of Eric’s hotel and killed the engine. On the passenger seat sat an AR-15 assault rifle. “Time to go to work,” Lethal Weapon said to himself as he rolled a ski mask down over his face, grabbed the rifle from off the front seat, and headed inside the hotel. Lethal Weapon strolled into the lobby of the hotel and opened fire on any and everything moving. He waved his arms from side to side, as the assault rifle rattled in his hands dropping innocent civilians like flies. Once his clip was empty, Lethal Weapon back-peddled out of the hotel and sprinted back to his car.

  CHAPTER 8

  Derrick Mason

  Derrick sat in the mess hall eating lunch when a guy that went by the name Russel sat down next to him.

  “Yo, you ain’t hear this from me but I heard a couple of Italian dudes are supposed to be running down on you today,” Russel whispered.

  “Word?” Derrick asked while still eating his food. He didn’t know what was going on but he was thankful for Russel giving him the heads up.

  “Yeah, I heard the Mason family and the Russo family going hard at each other out there in them streets,” Russel said.

  Derrick nodded his head as if this wasn’t news to him but the truth was he had no clue what was going on out on the streets. Ever since Millie had been home, he hadn’t heard a word from her or anyone else in the family for that matter. “Good looking.”

  “No doubt,” Russel said as he knocked on the table, stood up, and then made his exit. Derrick finished his meal and stood up. As he went to dump his tray, someone hit him hard tackling him down to the floor from behind. Derrick hit the floor and spun around just in time to see an Italian man coming towards him holding a shank in his hand. With one Italian man’s arms wrapped around his waist and another one moving in on him, it forced his survival skills to kick in. Derrick quickly took his fingers and clawed the eyes of the Italian man that had tackled him and held him around the waist. The Italian man howled in pain before releasing his grip on Derrick. Derrick quickly shot to his feet and grabbed a hold of the wrist of the knifed man. The Italian man landed a vicious head butt that caused all the inmates that were now standing on their feet in mess hall to roar. Some men rooting for the Italian men while the others rooted and cheered for Derrick.

  The two men struggled and fought over the shank, neither one wanting to be on the receiving end of the sharp blade. Once the Italian man realized that he wouldn’t be able to get Derrick to release the grip that he held on his wrist he quickly resorted to Plan B. Without warning the Italian man dropped the shank, dipped low, and scooped Derrick’s legs up from under him causing both men to hit the floor hard. Derrick landed on the bottom but held a firm grip around the Italian man’s head and neck. Derrick applied pressure to the chokehold. As soon as it seemed like the Italian man was about to pass out several correctional officers came and broke up the fight separating the two men.

  CHAPTER 9

  Bad News

  Bad News pulled up in front of a lounge that was located in the middle of the hood. He had gotten word that Jimmy Mason would be at this lounge tonight celebrating his comrade’s birthday. Bad News decided to crash the party. He couldn’t think of a better way to make an example out of Jimmy than to kill him in front of all of the losers that looked up to him. Bad News stepped out of his vehicle and made his way towards the entrance of the lounge. Immediately, he spotted several men loitering in front of the entrance smoking weed and loud talking.

  “Look at this motherfucker,” one of the men said loudly causing the rest of his buddies to laugh. “This fool must be lost. Hey, dickhead! You know where the fuck you at?”

  Bad News ignored the men who stood out front. He had hoped and prayed that one of them would have tried to make a move on him but luckily for them they hadn’t. He entered the lounge and headed straight for the bar where he ordered a drink, then stood off to the side and took in his surroundings. Bad News watched as women danced on women. He thought it was strange how all the men seemed to be too cool to dance. Instead, they all stood around with drinks in their hands and mean looks on their faces. Bad News walked around the lounge sipping his drink when he spotted Jimmy Mason and some big booty girl over in the cut arguing. Bad News had no clue who the girl was but from the looks of it, she was furious with Jimmy and she wasn’t afraid to let him know. Bad News stood off to the side and continued to watch Jimmy. He made sure he watched him closely as he tried to pinpoint how many of the men that stood around Jimmy were his main muscle. Bad News watched as one of Jimmy’s main goons headed to the bathroom. He smoothly slid off the wall and followed the rough faced looking man into the men’s room. Bad News figured he’d start with taking out the muscle first. He squeezed his way through the crowd and pushed his way inside the men’s room. Immediately, Bad News noticed that the rest room was empty except for Jimmy’s rough faced friend. He quickly removed a sharp wire from the sleeves of his trench coat. Bad News faked like he was about to use the urinal beside the rough faced man and as soon as he saw an opening he looped the wire around the man’s neck and applied a tremendous amount of pressure. The rough faced man peed all over his shoes as he fought and struggled to try and remove the wire from around his neck but it was no use. The more he tried to remove the wire from around his neck, the more the wire cut through his skin cutting off his circulation and his access to oxygen. Bad News kept applying pressure to the wire until finally the man stopped moving and his body laid limp on the dirty bathroom floor. Once that was done, he quickly exited the rest room. His next target was Jimmy Mason.

  CHAPTER 10

  Jimmy Mason

  “But why you gotta be all up in that girl’s face?” Cherokee huffed, all up in Jimmy’s face. “You want me to go over there and slap the bitch or something?”

  “Chill out, baby. I was just talking to her,” Jimmy said trying to downplay what his intentions really were.

  “Talking to her about what?” Cherokee folded her arms across her chest.

  “I know shorty from high school. What’s the big deal?” Jimmy said, now with an attitude. “Listen if you going to be acting all insecure anytime some beautiful ladies come around then I’m going to have to demote you,” he said in a slick tone.

  “Demote me?” Cherokee echoed. Before Jimmy could fix his mouth to say another word, Cherokee had already swung on him. “Don’t you ever try to play me like I’m some chick that you just met!” she yelled as she managed to punch Jimmy in his face three times and rip his shirt before security got a chance to get her up off of him. “You better not come home tonight motherfucker!” she yelled as security escorted her towards the exit.

  “You cancelled!” Jimmy yelled over the loud music with an embarrassed look on his face.

  “You good?” Murder asked coming over to Jimmy’s side with a concerned look on his face.

  “Yeah, I’m good,” Jimmy said trying to fix his shirt but it was no use. Cherokee had ripped it at the collar. Having no other choice, Jimmy removed his shirt and just rocked a plain white wife beater.

  “As soon as I seen shorty with that big ole ass talking to you I already knew it was about to be problems,” Murder laughed.

  Jimmy’s laugh quickly came to an end when he saw a big Italian man knock two of his henchmen out cold with one punch.

  * * *

  Bad News reached Jimmy’s VIP section and knocked out two men he saw leaning up against the rail trying to look cool. He was tired of sitting back waiting. He knew he was out numbered but Bad News loved a challenge. Bad News grabbed another one of Jimmy’s goons and violently snapped his neck. He went to move on to the next man when a champagne bottle shattered
violently over his head from behind. One of Jimmy’s goons, a big man named Beans, who had just came home from jail after doing seven years, grabbed Bad News from behind. The two big men tussled until finally Beans and Bad News flipped over the rail and went crashing violently down to the slippery floor. Once Jimmy realized what was going on he quickly hopped over the rail as him and the rest of his team proceeded to stomp the big man out.

  “Is you crazy! Come up in my party acting stupid!” Jimmy growled as he violently stomped the big man’s head down into the floor. Somehow, Bad News managed to climb up from off the floor. His face was a bloody mess but still he held a sickening smile on his face. Bad News dropped two more of Jimmy’s goons with wild haymakers as he began to backpedal towards the exit. Murder weaved one of the big man’s punches and stabbed him in the rib area with his pocketknife. “Don’t try to run now, motherfucker!” Murder yelled as he stabbed the big man several times before several bouncers came to Bad News’s rescue. The bouncers quickly stopped Jimmy’s crew from killing the Italian man.

  “Chill, there’s too many witnesses in here!” one of the bouncers yelled at Jimmy snapping him out of his trance. For a second Jimmy had blacked out and all he saw was red.

  “Get that white boy the fuck up out of here before I kill him!” Jimmy warned. The bouncer was right. The place was packed with eyewitnesses and the last thing Jimmy needed was another charge. “Yo!” Jimmy called Murder over. Jimmy removed his 9mm from the small of his back, reached down in his pocket, screwed the silencer onto the barrel, and discreetly handed the gun to Murder. “Go outside and take care of that clown.”

  Murder nodded and turned heading for the exit. Murder stepped outside and looked up and down the street. “Damn!” Murder cursed. The Italian man was nowhere in sight.