Business is Business PT 3 Read online

  “Really?” Kelly’s face lit up with excitement this would be the first time that the two went anywhere together since she was allowed back inside the house. “I’ll be ready in an hour.” Kelly said as she ran off to get dressed.

  Eric sat behind his desk when he felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. “Yeah.” He answered.

  “This is, Chico,” he spoke in a calm tone. “I’m calling to inform you that Joey Alvarez’s body has been found and me as well as all the other members on the council agree that the Mason family is responsible for his death.”

  “How ya’ll figure that?” Eric asked with a raised brow. “Just because ya’ll found his body doesn’t mean that we were responsible for Alvarez’s death.”

  “Joey Alvarez was last seen entering your father’s home,” Chico pointed out. “Which tells me if your father didn’t kill Joey Alvarez himself then he had it done or either he knows who did it.”

  “I hear what you saying Chico, but you have no hard evidence you basically just going off of your gut and I don’t think that’s fair.” Eric said.

  “Listen Eric this isn’t the court of law it’s the streets so I don’t need no hard evidence and let me tell you one thing about my gut,” Chico paused for a second. “My gut is always right and I always follow my gut.”

  “You’re making a big mistake Chico, our family is innocent,” Eric pleaded. He knew he was fucked, but right now, he was just trying to buy his family some time.

  “A hit squad will be coming to kill you and everyone in your entire family within the next 24 hours please don’t try to run or skip town because wherever you go I’ll find you.” Chico said in a calm tone.

  “Chico, my father has brought you millions of dollars and this is how you repay him? There has got to be another way, another way to let us clear our name at least. I’m telling you me and my family is innocent.” Eric told him.

  “Listen Eric, I personally love your father and your entire family. I swear I do, but business is business.” Chico said then hung the phone in Eric’s ear.

  “Shit!” Eric cursed loudly. He knew there was nowhere to run or hide, Chico’s hit squad would hunt him and his family down like a pack of dogs until every last one of them was dead and gone.

  The door to Eric’s office swung open and his hand immediately went to his holster.

  “Baby it’s just me,” Kelly said with her hands up and a frightened look on her face. “You okay?”

  “Yeah I’m fine,” Eric said as he stood up and buttoned the top button on his suit jacket. “What you all dressed up for?”

  “You told me to get dressed so we could go to dinner,” Kelly said with a confused look on her face.

  “Sorry baby,” Eric apologized. “Where do you want to go?”

  “You sure you alright baby?”

  “Stop asking me am I alright. I told you I’m fine.” Eric snapped. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.” Eric quickly ran upstairs and removed his suit jacket and shirt he then walked over to his closet and pulled out a Kevlar vest and strapped it across his chest. He wasn’t about to take no chances.

  Eric made his way back downstairs and saw Pistol Pete snacking on a bag of chips. “I’m about to take Kelly to dinner. I need you and three other men to suit up and join me.”

  Instantly Pistol Pete could tell that something was wrong. “What’s wrong?”

  “Chico called and said they found Joey Alvarez’s body,” Eric shook his head. “Said me and the entire family is dead.”

  “Damn!” Pistol Pete spat. “That’s bullshit!”

  “Yeah I know but it is what it is,” Eric shrugged.

  “So what’s the plan?”

  Eric smiled. “Ain’t no plan. When they come, we banging out.”

  “I’ll round up as many soldiers as I can,” Pistol Pete said. There were already twelve armed bodyguards posted up out front of the mansion and Pistol Pete along with two other guards inside watching over Eric. “Oh and by the way I sent a few soldiers out to take care of Jack.”

  Eric nodded. “Good job and make sure you get word to Jimmy and Mike. Tell them it’s time to go to war.”

  Chapter 10

  Jack

  Jack sat in the passenger seat of the new sleek black Benz staring out the window. He couldn’t believe how fast his life was changing right before his eyes. Less than a month ago, he was a nobody and now here he was riding around in a brand new Benz, wearing thousand dollar suits. Jack loved his new life and was willing to do anything to keep it. Behind the wheel, Black drove as the sounds of Young Jeezy bumped through the speakers. “What you over there thinking about?”

  “I just got word that Chico is sending a hit squad to take out the Mason family. That means the streets are officially ours now,” Jack said with a crooked smile on his face. “All they had to do was play nice but no they wanted to be greedy.” He said under his breath. Most of his life, Jack Mason got looked over and was forced to play the background, but not anymore. From now on people were not only going to respect him but fear him as well. “Yo, pull over right here!” Jack barked when he spotted one of the Mason family employers standing on one of his corners.

  The passenger side door swung open and Jack stepped out the vehicle and headed straight for the man standing on the corner followed by Black.

  “You got permission to be standing on this block?” Jack asked looking down at the shorter man.

  “Who the fuck is you?” The man spat with his face crumbled up. “I work for the Mason family.”

  “Check this out my man,” Jack began. “This block is now under new management. If I catch you on this block again it’s going to be fireworks.”

  “Fireworks?” The man echoed taking an aggressive stance. “Don’t threaten me with a good time.” He said as his hand slipped down towards his waistline. Before the man could grab his gun from off his waist, Jack caught him with a sucker punch and grabbed his wrist denying him access to his weapon. While Jack and the man scuffled, Black crept up behind the man and swept his legs from up under him. The man’s gun fell from his waist and hit the ground with a loud clank.

  “You crazy!” Jack barked as him and Black stomped the man’s face into the concrete. Jack pulled his 9mm from his holster. He thought about shooting the man but changed his mind when he saw the crowd that had formed out of nowhere. Jack raised his leg and stomped the man’s face into the concrete one last time before him and Black returned back to their vehicle.

  Just as Black pulled away from the curb, Jack saw an old school car pull up with two men hanging out of the window. He immediately recognized one of the men as Jimmy Mason. Jack quickly ducked his head down as bullets tore through the passenger door and windows. The loud sound of tires screeching filled the air as Black recklessly pulled out into traffic. Black stepped on the gas flying right through a red light as bullets pinged loudly off the body of the car.

  Jack felt the car swerve, looked up, and saw Black with his head resting on the steering wheel. “Shit,” he cursed as he held on for dear life as the car ran off the side of the road off into the woods. The car ran over bushes and hit hard bumps until finally crashing into a tree.

  * * *

  Jimmy and, Murder hopped out the van and headed down into the woods. They slowly made their way down the steep hill towards the mangled vehicle. Jimmy was planning to put an end to Jack and his grimy ways once and for all. Jimmy slowly crept around to the front of the car and snatched the door open only to find the passenger seat empty.

  “Fuck!” Jimmy barked as he looked around and saw no sign of Jack.

  Chapter 11

  Mike

  Mike stepped onto the hospital elevator and breathed a sigh of relief. It had been two long weeks and they were now finally releasing him from the hospital. When he turned his phone back on, it was blowing up with missed calls and messages. Mike clicked two unread messages from Eric. His mood immediately changed from good to sour after reading Eric’s text message about Chico putting
a hit on the entire family. No matter what happened it seemed like things kept getting worse and never better. Mike stepped off the elevator and immediately noticed two Columbian-looking men with no nonsense looks on their face pretending to be reading an old newspaper. The jeans and trench coats were a dead giveaways, especially with it being the middle of summer. Mike walked towards the exit and just as he suspected the two Columbian men got up and headed towards the exit as well. Mike discreetly pulled his 9mm from his holster and cocked a round into the chamber. He’d just got out of the hospital and wasn’t about to go back. Mike thought about turning around and opening fire on the two men but then thought about all the innocent people, he would put in harm’s way if he did that, so he decided to lead the two men out into the parking lot and hold court there.

  Mike walked through the parking lot and as soon as he was about to confront the two men a fellow officer walked up on him.

  “Detective Brown its good to see you back on the streets.” The officer said with a smile. His smile quickly faded when he noticed the gun that Mike held in his hand. “Is everything alright?”

  “I think these men are following me,” Mike said in a light whisper. The officer looked over Mike’s shoulder and saw the two men in trench coats.

  “Is there something I can help you gentlemen with?” The officer asked in a stern tone. Before Mike could fully turn around, the officer’s head exploded like a melon as blood splattered all over Mike’s face. Mike quickly fired two shots over his shoulder blindly as he took cover behind the closest car in the parking lot. He heard one of the gunmen drop to the ground as several bullets pinged loudly against the body of the car.

  When the taller gunman saw his partner hit the floor, he went crazy. He pressed his finger down on the trigger and lit the car up.

  Mike moved around to the other side of the vehicle in a low crouch when he got a clean shot of the gunman he took the shot.

  Blocka!

  Mike watched as the second gunman crumbled down to the ground with a gunshot wound in his neck. He slowly walked up on the gunman and kicked his gun out of arms reach. “Who sent you?”

  The gunman flashed a bloody smile. “There are thousands of us in the states. It won’t be long until you and your entire family are dead.” He said as he took his last breath.

  Mike stood over the dead man and shook his head. It was obvious these gunmen had no respect for human life if they were willing to have a shootout in a crowded hospital with a cop. Mike knew this was going to be an ugly outcome. He just hoped and prayed that his family was on the winning side.

  Chapter 12

  Jimmy

  “Look at the flicka da wrist!” Jimmy sang along with the rest of the club as he watched the dancefloor go crazy. He got word that the Columbians were in town and looking to kill anyone with the last name Mason. The last thing he was going to do was sitting around and cry. The Mason family had made their bed now it was time for them to sleep in it. Jimmy stood in the VIP section of the club surrounded by thirty of his best goons. A Kevlar vest protected his chest, not to mention him and his crew were armed to the tee. All Jimmy knew was violence so this wasn’t nothing new to him, but what did bother him was the amount of Columbians shooters that were said to be in America just for the Mason family. Word on the streets was that five thousand Columbian hit men were sent to take out the, Mason family.

  Sitting on the couch behind Jimmy was his new girlfriend Cherokee. She was a caramel complexion with full lips and the body of a stripper. She rocked a short cute hairdo. In her hand was a glass of wine. Cherokee stood up and tapped Jimmy on his shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a second?” She said leading him over in the corner.

  “What’s up?”

  “Don’t you think you should slow down,” Cherokee nodded down at the bottle that Jimmy held in his hand. “Just in case these punk-ass Columbians show up you need to be on point.” She pointed out. Cherokee new all about the Columbian hit and still chose to deal with Jimmy even though she knew being with him could eventually cost her, her life.

  Jimmy flashed a drunken smile and palmed Cherokee’s ass. “You talking like you love me or something.”

  Cherokee plunked the bottle from Jimmy’s hand. “I do.”

  “Let me holla at you for minute,” Murder cut in and pulled Jimmy over to the side. “Just got a text from one the look outs outside he said that four pickup trucks just pulled up outside with a bunch of Columbians men carrying assault rifles!”

  “Right now?” Jimmy asked. As soon as the words left his mouth the sound of gunfire crackled through the air. Jimmy quickly ran over towards the couch, removed a tech-9 from under the cushion, and let it rip. Partygoers ran for their lives stepping over one another in an attempt to get to the exit.

  Jimmy put down the twelve Columbian men that stormed inside the club. “Yeah motherfuckers!” He yelled with a smile. Seconds later, the smile was quickly removed from his face when he saw sixty Columbians run up in the club shooting anything moving as if it was the Wild West.

  “Come on motherfuckers!” Jimmy yelled as he and his crew returned fire on the Columbians.

  Cherokee stood crouched behind the sofa as she watched several bodies drop right next to her. She reached out and picked up one of the dead goons 9mm. She looked up and saw a Columbian man with wild hair trying to creep up on Jimmy from behind. Cherokee quickly snuck up on the Columbian and blew his brains out. Jimmy spun around and saw Cherokee standing there holding a smoking gun in her hand.

  “Come on baby we have to go!” Jimmy yelled as he grabbed, Cherokee by the arm and roughly escorted her towards the back exit. Jimmy and Cherokee spilled out of a side door and jetted down the hall when they saw two Columbian men bust through the emergency staircase. Jimmy quickly raised his arm and put both gunmen down.

  Blocka! Blocka!

  Jimmy and Cherokee stepped over the two dead bodies and quickly ran down the stairs when they reached the main floor. Jimmy slowly opened the side door and peeked out before two shots loudly bounced off the metal door inches away from his head. “Shit!” Jimmy cursed as he slammed the door as several more shots exploded into the door. Jimmy quickly removed his suit jacket and tossed it down to the floor. “You know how to use that thing?” He said looking down at the gun in Cherokee’s hand. She nodded her head with a scared look on her face.

  “Good cause on the count of three I’m going to open this door and air these Columbian motherfuckers out!” Jimmy paused for a second to take in Cherokee’s reaction. “While I do that I want you to run to the car and wait for me at that hotel that I took you too when we first met.”

  “But what about you?”

  “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” Jimmy kissed Cherokee on the lips. “One... Two... Three!” Jimmy pushed the door open and blindly opened fire on the Columbians keeping his body In front of the metal door using it as a shield. Cherokee kicked her heels off and dashed from out of the building she ran full speed. As she ran, she felt bullets whizzing by her head and face. Cherokee made it to the Benz, hopped in, and pulled out of the parking lot like a mad man.

  Jimmy fired round after round until his gun clicked empty. He peeked around the corner and saw several Columbian men closing in on him. “Shit!” Jimmy cursed as he ran and dived behind a rusty looking dumpster. With no more bullets, there wasn’t much he could do but wait to die. The loud pinging of bullets ricocheting off of the dumpster caused Jimmy’s stomach to leap up into his throat. All he could hear was the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. Jimmy closed his eyes and prepared to die.

  “A nigga!” He heard a voice shout. Jimmy opened his eyes, looked up, and saw, Murder standing over him holding a smoking gun in his hand. “Come on we gotta go!” He yelled as he helped, Jimmy up to his feet. The two men quickly ran through the parking lot, hopped in one of gunmen’s pickup trucks, and peeled out of the parking lot.

  Chapter 13

  Millie

  Millie stepped out of her cell and
was escorted straight towards the visiting room. They had been calling her name over the loud speaker but she didn’t hear it because she was sleeping. Millie stepped foot in the visiting room and smiled when she saw Eric sitting at the table waiting for her. “Hey son it’s good to see you!” She smiled as she wrapped him in a bear hug. “So how have you been?”

  “Hanging in there,” Eric said in a voice just above a whisper.

  “Talk to me, what’s been going on?”

  “Chico put a hit out on the entire family,”

  “What!” Millie snapped. “When the fuck was someone planning on telling me?”

  “Didn’t want to worry you while you were in here,” Eric explained. “They found Alvarez’s body.”

  Millie shook her head. “I’ll make some calls and see if I can fix this somehow.”

  “I can handle it mom.”

  “How?”

  “Simple,” Eric said with a straight face. “We going to war!”

  Millie gave Eric a sad look. “I never wanted this life for you.” She paused for a second. “I fought so hard to keep you away from this.”

  “I know ma, but I’m grown and make my own decisions,” he told her. He knew him sitting across this table right now was breaking his mother’s heart, but he had been chosen to run the family business while Derrick was away. “How have you been holding up in here?”

  “I’ll be home in 90 days but you know what they say, these last days be the hardest.” Millie flashed a phony smile. She hoped and prayed that when she made it home her family would still be alive. “You be safe and stay alive.”

  Eric smiled. “I’ll be waiting outside to pick you up in 90 days.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that,” Millie said as she hugged Eric tightly then headed back to the search room. While all the other female inmates were being searched, Millie stood off to the side and had a conversation with one of the correction officers she had on her payroll. Thirty minutes later, Millie stepped foot back on the tear and could immediately feel the tension in the air. Millie walked towards her cell where she saw her best friend Pam waiting for her. Millie walked up and bumped fist with, Pam. “What’s the word?”