Business is Business PT 4 Page 4

  “Noooo!” Eric yelled as he quickly shoved Pistol Pete’s wrist just in time, causing the bullet to lodge into the wall right next to Mr. Taylor’s head. “Come on let’s go!” Eric said as he and Pistol Pete rushed down the stairs. He knew that if Pistol Pete killed Mr. Taylor, then they would have to kill his wife as well and Eric didn’t want to be the one responsible for taking Kelly’s parents lives. With the direction that Eric’s life was heading, there was only one person that he could talk to that he trusted and could give him some sound advice.

  Chapter 15

  Millie

  Millie laid on her bunk staring up at the ceiling with a smile on her face. The warden may have been keeping Millie out of population, but she could care less. In twenty-eight days, she would be a free woman again and she couldn’t wait. While in the box, a C.O. on Millie’s payroll made sure she had a cell phone, pen, paper, and plenty of books to read. While in isolation, Millie had been spending her time wisely putting together her masterplan for when she returned to the streets. Millie sat up on her bed when she heard her cell crack open and a C.O. walked in.

  “Mason, you have a visitor,” the officer announced as she stood and waited for Millie to get ready so that she could escort her down to the visiting room.

  Seven minutes later, Millie stepped foot in the visiting room and smiled when she saw Eric sitting at the table with a smile on his face. “Heeeeey baby!” Millie said in a loud excited tone as she hugged Eric tightly. Millie sat down and could instantly see that something was bothering her favorite son. “I know that look, what’s wrong?”

  Eric let out a long breath. “Everything,” he began. “I ran into Mike the other day.”

  “Oh yeah?” Millie asked, trying to read Eric’s body language. “How did that go?”

  Eric looked down at the floor. “I couldn’t do it ma, I just couldn’t.”

  Millie placed her hand on top of Eric’s. “It’s okay son, you did the right thing. At the end of the day he is your brother.”

  “But he put pops in jail.”

  “Your father is an O.G. he’ll be alright,” Millie said quickly. “Don’t worry about him. What you need to be focused on is the future. We need Mike and his resources.”

  Eric shook his head. “You don’t get it he’s out of the game, he’s done he won’t help even if we wanted him to.”

  “You let me worry about Mike,” Millie said with a smile. “I’ll be out in less than a month and I’ll take care of everything,” she said confidently. “So I heard you got Chico to call the hit off.”

  Eric nodded his head. “Yeah I got him to call the hit off, but now he’s offering me five million dollars to give him the name and whereabouts of the hitman I hired.”

  “Who’d you hire?” Millie asked. She had to admit that Eric was doing a hell of a job running the family business he was actually doing better than she expected.

  “Some hitter from out in Miami who calls himself the Black Dragon.”

  “I think of heard of him what part of Miami he in?”

  “South beach.”

  “I’m proud of you and want you to know that you are doing a hell of a job keeping this family above water,” Millie looked Eric in his eyes.

  “I still have to find us a connect because Chico still won’t sell to us,” Eric said. “Small-time hustlers are beginning to take over our territory because we haven’t had product in months.”

  “Listen son, don’t worry about all that. I’ll take care of everything when I get home. All I need you do is keep doing what you’re doing,” Millie told him. “I’m going to write Mike a letter and let him know that he’s family and will always be family. What I need you to do is make sure that nothing happens to him. I’ll talk to him when I get home and fix everything.”

  Eric smiled; his mother sure knew how to fix anything no matter how bad they were.

  “So how has that wife of yours been treating you?” Millie asked. She couldn’t stand Kelly’s guts, but stayed respectful because of Eric.

  Eric shook his head. “She left me after Chico put the hit on the family,” he said shamefully.

  “Fuck that bitch!” Millie spat. “You were too good for her anyway. You know what you need?”

  “What?”

  “You need a real woman in your life. Somebody nice, sexy, someone that’s going to hold you down and be there no matter what.”

  “I don’t even think they make girls like that no more,” Eric chuckled. Lately he had been too busy to go out and search for a new woman.

  “I got the perfect girl for you. Her name is Nicole. I’m going to call her to tonight and give her your number,” Millie said. “I want you to go out with her and enjoy yourself.”

  “What she look like?”

  “Trust me, you’re going to love her,” Millie said confidently. “She’s beautiful and a really good woman. I met her while I was in here.”

  “So now you want me to go out with a convict,” Eric joked.

  “She’s a good girl son; she just landed in here because of some scumbag guy she was dealing with. Cops pulled them over and found drugs in the car. Since the car was in her name, the cops arrested her instead of the guy,” Millie explained. “The guy let her take the rap and left her for dead.”

  Eric looked down at his watch. “I have to get going. Tell your girl to call me, but if she’s crazy, I ain’t messing with her.”

  “Trust me, she’ll keep you on your toes,” Millie said with a devilish smile on her face as she stood up and hugged her son tightly then turned and made her exit.

  When Millie made it back to her cell, the first thing she did was grab her cell phone. She dialed a few numbers and then placed the phone up to her ear. On the fourth ring, a man picked up. “Who’s this?”

  “This is Millie Mason. May I speak to Chico please?”

  “What the hell do you want? I already called the hit off,” Chico said with an attitude.

  “I heard you were looking for the hitter that shot your little girl. I think I may can help you.”

  “Don’t fuck with me Millie!” Chico barked and got extremely serious. “If you have some valuable information, give it to me.”

  “Five million and I’ll give you his name and the city you can find him in. You’ll have to do the rest on your own,” Millie offered. “So do we have a deal or what?”

  Chico took a long second to think about it. “Yes we have a deal.”

  “Great I’ll let you know where to wire the money,” Millie said then ended the call.

  Chapter 16

  Rico

  “Last time I’m going to ask you. Where’s the money?” Rico asked in a calm tone with his gun pointed at Peanut’s head. Peanut was a drug dealer well known for showboating and boasting.

  “I don’t have no money man,” Peanut lied as he heard Kaine tearing up his apartment searching for the stash. The money he had stashed away in his apartment was all the money to his name and he couldn’t chance loosing that.

  Rico turned his gun on the girl that laid next to Peanut. “Peanut don’t make me do this, just tell us where the money is and we’ll leave,” he tried to reason with the man. Before Peanut could reply, Kaine emerged from the backroom, carrying a duffle bag and an angry look on his face.

  “Motherfucker!” Kaine growled. “You made me search the whole apartment for $60,000?”

  “I’m sorry I was just trying to...”

  Blocka! Blocka! Blocka!

  Kaine pumped three shots into the back of Peanut’s head then turned his gun on Peanut’s girlfriend and shot her in the face.

  Blocka!

  Rico looked at Kaine and shook his head. “That wasn’t necessary.”

  “We have to let the streets know that we not fucking around,” Kaine said. “Can’t show no weakness in this business.” Kaine was looking to install fear into the rival dealers. So when it was time to take over they wouldn’t have problems. Rico and Kaine made it back downstairs and hopped in the awaiting stolen
car. Benny sat behind the wheel and once he saw that his team was in the car safely he quickly pulled away from the curb.

  “So how did go?” Benny asked keeping his eyes on the road. He could tell by the look on Rico’s face that whatever had went down upstairs wasn’t good.

  “It went according to plan,” Kaine answered quickly. “We letting all these motherfuckers know that there’s a new sheriff in town, one block at a time.”

  “What we need to focus on now is finding a new connect,” Rico said quickly changing the subject. “We have enough product to last us maybe two months.”

  “Well you and Benny can work on the connect, while I’m work on letting the streets know we ain’t fucking around.” Kaine said with a murderous look in his eyes.

  For the rest of the ride, Rico remained quiet as he stared blankly out the window. He had never wanted to be a criminal, but unfortunately, the only thing he was good at was crime. He had tried to get a job and go the civilian route, but after working at his job for three days, he got fired for knocking out his supervisor. From that point on, Rico decided to just stick to what he knows best and that’s the streets.

  Chapter 17

  Eric

  Eric followed the direction of the GPS and arrived in front of a beautiful apartment building. After all, Eric decided to take his mother’s advice and give Nicole a call. He had no clue what Nicole looked like, but at the moment he needed a female to take his mind off of Kelly and figured going out on one date wouldn’t hurt. Eric pulled out his phone and dialed Nicole’s number. On the third ring, she picked up. “Hello?”

  “Hey this is Eric. I’m downstairs.”

  “Sorry, but I’m running a little late. You are more than welcome to come upstairs. I should be ready in a minute,” Nicole said in her best phone-sex operator voice. “Come on up. I’ll leave the door open apartment 11B.”

  “I’ll be up in a second,” Eric ended the call, turned on his hazard lights. and stepped out of his Benz. He was dressed in an expensive burgundy suit. Parked behind the Benz was a Cadillac truck filled with armed security that was paid to protect Eric. Pistol Pete stepped out the passenger seat of the truck and escorted Eric inside the building.

  “So what shorty look like?” Pistol Pete asked once the two were on the elevator.

  Eric shrugged. “I don’t know. This going to be my first time seeing her.” He stepped off the elevator and headed down the hall until he found the door he was looking for. Eric had never been on a blind date in his life, so he had no clue what was waiting for him on the other side of the door. All he knew was that Millie said he would like her and if it was one person, he trusted, it was Millie. Eric grabbed the doorknob and let himself inside of the apartment. “Hello.” He said out loud.

  “I’ll be out in a second!” Nicole yelled from the bathroom. “Make yourself at home!”

  Eric looked around and had to admit that Nicole’s apartment was nice, and looked as though it was expensive. He helped himself to a seat on the couch and began checking his emails off of his phone.

  Nicole stepped out of the bathroom and cleared her throat. “Well hello handsome,” she smiled. Nicole stood 5’8 with full lips, wide hips, and sexy, toned legs. In the face, she looked just like the actress, Sanaa Lathan.

  Eric quickly stood to his feet with a huge smile on his face. “Hey Nicole, it’s nice to meet you,” he extended his hand.

  “We give hugs over here,” Nicole said, evading Eric’s personal space and wrapping her arms around his muscular back. Eric felt Nicole press her titties up against his chest as he inhaled her fragrance.

  “Damn you smell good.”

  “Good enough to eat I hope,” Nicole bit down on her bottom lip, openly flirting.

  When Eric and Nicole stepped out into the hallway, Pistol Pete had to take a double take. He wasn’t expecting Nicole to look as good as she did.

  “This here is my bodyguard and friend, Pistol Pete.” Eric introduced him.

  “Nice to meet you Pete, I’m Nicole,” she extended her hand only to have Pistol Pete kiss it gently.

  “Pleasure is all mine,” Pistol Pete said with a smile.

  Outside, Eric and Nicole got inside the Benz and pulled out into the street with the Cadillac truck in their rear view mirror.

  “So,” Nicole smiled. “Your mother told you were a very important man.”

  “Yeah sorry about all the security, but it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Eric said.

  “It’s okay I don’t mind, plus I already know what kind of business you and your mother are into,” Nicole said as she openly checked out Eric’s package. “Your mom took me under her wing while I was in jail. I owe her my life,”

  “Yeah Millie is a good woman.”

  “I have good skills but while I was in there she really taught me a better way to put them to use and capitalize off of them,” Nicole said.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Eric said keeping his eyes on the road.

  “So what’s the plan for tonight?” Nicole asked excitedly.

  “Whatever you wanna do,” Eric shrugged. “I’m down for whatever.”

  “Hungry?”

  “I could use a bite.”

  “Great, I heard about this new Jamaican restaurant that’s supposed to be popping. Wanna go check it out?” Nicole asked.

  “Sure,” Eric answered. He didn’t really care where they went. He was just happy to be spending time with Nicole. She was beautiful, funny, and down to earth, not to mention she had an ass like Serena Williams, which Eric loved. Eric pulled up in front of the Jamaican restaurant and immediately felt a bad vibe when he saw three Jamaican men standing posted up in front of the restaurant.

  “I heard the food here is great,” Nicole smiled as she stepped out of the Benz. She wore an all-black sundress that clung perfectly to her body and really showed off her curves well. On her feet were a pair of four inch heels that costed $500, her hair hung freely, stopping just short of her mid-back. Nicole immediately grabbed Eric’s hand when she felt how the Jamaican men were openly checking her out.

  “Bum-ba-clot!” One of the Jamaican men said loudly when Nicole walked pass. The remark caused Eric to stop dead in his tracks.

  “Fuck you just said?” Eric said heading in the direction of the three men. He knew Nicole wasn’t his girl, but she could have been.

  “Me nah talk eh to you pussy boy,” the Jamaican said with a heavy accent as his hand slipped down to his waistline. Before the Jamaican knew what was going on, Pistol Pete and several other of Eric’s bodyguards had their guns trained on him.

  “Apologize to my lady,” Eric said standing nose to nose with the Jamaican man.

  “Me sorry,” The Jamaican flashed a yellow tooth smile. “Me no mean no harm.”

  “Come on baby, let’s go eat,” Nicole grabbed Eric’s arm and pulled him towards the entrance. “Don’t pay those clowns no mind.”

  Eric sat down at the table with a frown on his face. He couldn’t believe the audacity of the Jamaican men that stood out front. Sitting at the table across from Eric and Nicole were Pistol Pete and another one of his bodyguards.

  “Calm down Eric, don’t let them get ruin your night,” Nicole said as she heard her cell phone ringing. She removed her phone from her pocketbook and saw Millie’s name flashing across the screen. “It’s your mom,” she said as she answered. “Hey girl.”

  “Did you take care of that for me yet?” Millie asked.

  “Not yet we just got here,” Nicole smiled.

  “Aight cool. Text me when it’s done and don’t forget don’t let Eric know what’s going on,” Millie reminded her.

  “Yes of course, I’ll let you know how the food is,” Nicole said then ended the call so Eric wouldn’t get suspicious.

  “She still checking up on me like I’m a kid,” Eric laughed.

  “There goes that pretty smile,” Nicole reached out and pinched his cheek like a baby.

  “I’m sorry, but if you don’t mind, I�
��d like to go somewhere else and eat,” Eric said. “These fucking Jamaicans done really pissed me off.”

  “Sure no problem. I just need to run to the little girl’s room real quick,” Nicole grabbed her oversized pocketbook and headed towards the back of the restaurant. Nicole reached the restroom, but instead of going inside, she made a detour towards the door that said employees only. Nicole walked through the door and was immediately stopped by a rough looking Jamaican.

  “Hey you no come back here!” The Jamaican barked as he started towards Nicole. Nicole slipped her hand down inside her purse and when she removed her hand, a four-inch blade was in it. Before the Jamaican knew what was going on, Nicole quickly slid the blade across the man’s throat, and dropped her pocketbook. Before Nicole’s pocketbook hit the floor, she had already removed her silenced .380 from her thigh holster and put a bullet right between the Jamaican man’s eyes. The sound of the Jamaican man’s body hitting the floor grabbed the attention of two other Jamaicans. The two Jamaican men rounded the corner and Nicole quickly put them both down with headshots.

  Pst! Pst!

  Nicole eased her way down the hall, when another Jamaican man surprised her and knocked her gun out of her. The man grabbed Nicole by the throat and roughly forced her back into the wall. He went to punch Nicole in the face, but she weaved the punch just in time causing the man’s fist to lodge in the wall. Nicole grabbed the man’s arm and hit it upward, snapping it at the elbow; with the same hand, she landed a crushing elbow to the man’s rib cage before she hip tossed him down to the floor. Nicole took the man down so fast that it looked like a scene in a Kung-Fu movie. Nicole looked up and saw another Jamaican man emerge from around the corner with a machete in his hand. Before the man got a chance to swing the machete, Nicole had already kicked him in his face three times with the same leg. She then finished him off with a spinning wheel kick to the side of the head. Nicole watched as the man’s head violently bounced off the floor. She quickly walked over, grabbed her gun off the floor along with her pocket, and headed to the back door. Nicole raised her gun and shot the lock off the back door then kicked it open. She stepped inside the back room and saw a Jamaican man sitting at a table covered in cash with a scared look on his face. “Please don’t shoot I’m just...”