Out of Control (20 page)

“I’m glad you gettin’ outta here,” Rain said quietly.

“I am too.”

“I been missin’ you out in them streets with me. I need my king.”

“Even if Perry doesn’t want me to, I’m still gettin’ outta here tomorrow. I’m tired of sitting around here doin nothing. Jap is a good soldier, but I know he’s ready to go too. Even if he has got the number of most of the nurses,” Nick laughed and for the first since he’d been there it didn’t hurt.

“I got some shit I need to tell you. I know you didn’t want me to do nothin’, but I was so mad that night you got shot, I had to do somethin’.”

“Like what? Kill Grant and burn his club to the ground. Or did you wanna tell me about how you drove a truck through the window of one of his number joints?”

“You know about all that?”

“How many times I gotta tell you, I know everything.”

“And you ain’t mad at me?”

“I was at first. But I know who you are and why you had to do it. And you did the right thing.”

“I did?”

“If you didn’t do anything they would have thought you were weak or scared and they would have moved ahead with their plans.”

“I thought you was gonna be mad at me,” Rain said. “That you was gonna say I was all outta control and shit.”

“No. You held them off until I could get back on my feet.”

“Well, since you ain’t mad, let me tell you what happened today.”

“What happened?”

“Some of his men caught us coming out of a store. Brandon is dead.”

“I was wonderin’ why he wasn’t with you when you got here.”

“Yeah, he’s dead.”

“How you leave it?”

“There were four of them. They’re all dead,” Rain told Nick. “But after, we took care of Brandon’s body.”

“What you do with him?”

“Took him to the parlor and called his people.”

“Go on.”

“Anyway after that, we went by Jackie’s spot.”

“What you go by there for?”

“I wanted to get Jackie with us.”

“What she say?”

“We never got that far.”

“Why not?”

“We started talkin’ and before I knew it, my gun was in her face.”

“You didn’t kill Jackie, did you?”

“No. Travis slipped up behind me and took my gun.”

Nick laughed at her. “Don’t take them lightly. Black got them up there for a reason. You underestimated them.”

“Yeah I know. After Travis took my gun Jackie pulls out two 9’s and shoved them in my face. Then they walked me out at gunpoint. That shit was embarrassing.”

“Anything else you wanna tell me about?”

“No that’s it,” Rain said. “What you gonna do now?”

“Nothing. You took down four more of his men. See if they come at you again. If not and things stay quiet for a couple of days I want you to arrange a meeting with Wanda. Go through Doc to set it up. Howard talked to Doc and he really didn’t want to be part of this. See if we can’t settle this before anybody else gets killed.”

“Okay.”

“I mean it Rain. Don’t do nothing. And that means you need to control your Purple Gang.”

“Yes, sir,” Rain said and snuggled up closer to Nick. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Meanwhile, Chris Toney, Memphis and Donavan were on their way to the club. “Where you goin’?” Memphis asked. “JR’s is that way.”

“We ain’t goin’ to JR’s. We always hang out there. We goin’ to Impressions tonight. I’m tired of pushin’ up on the same women. Time to see some new shit.”

“I’m for that,” Donavan said. “Have a drink to our fallen soldier; fuck some new pussy.”

“I’m for all that,” Memphis said.

 
It was another busy night at Impressions and Tara was out on the floor checking the bars when she got the word that three of Rain’s men were in the club. She tried not to panic, but she couldn’t help but think that this was what she and Lexi were worried about. She walked around the club and saw them at one of the bars. They were drinking and messing with the women that always seem be around when men are buying drinks. Then she got the word that one said that they came for the money. Tara was afraid that they were just waiting until the club closed to take it. She pushed her way though the crowd and made her way to her office. She sat down at her desk and called Jackie. “Hey, Tara. What’s up?”

“Rain’s men are here.”

“What do they want?” Jackie asked.

“They haven’t said anything to me. But I think they came for the money and they are just waiting until the club closes to take it.”

“Is Rain with them?”

“I didn’t see her. But that don’t mean she ain’t here. She’s a sneaky bitch, Jackie, you know that.”

Jackie held the phone for a minute and thought about her encounter with Rain earlier that evening. Rain had come to her for a reason, but guns were drawn before Rain actually said what she wanted. Maybe Rain had sent them for the money. It takes money to fight a war.

“Jackie you still there?” Tara asked.

“Yeah, I’m still here.”

“What should I do?” Tara asked fanatically.

“First thing is you need to calm down. It’s important that you don’t panic. They may just be there to have a good time. But just in case I’m wrong, I’m gonna send four men over there to back you up and protect the money.”

“Thank you, Jackie,” Tara said and hung up the phone.

Jackie hung up and looked at Travis. “What now?”

“Rain’s men are at Impressions. Tara thinks she sent them to take her money.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. You want me to go over there?”

“No. You stay here with me,” Jackie said and picked up the phone.

As promised, she sent four men to Impressions, then she sent three more to back up Lexi, just in case Cuisine was their next target.

An hour later, Jackie’s men were at Impressions and Tara pointed out Rain’s men. Memphis saw her pointing them out and told Donavan. At the time, Chris Toney was on the dance floor, when he came back to the bar they told him they were being watched.

It didn’t take long for Chris Toney to have enough of that and they approached Jackie’s men. “Why y’all niggas watchin’ us?”

“Who’s says we’re watchin’ you?” one said.

“I guess since it’s me sayin’ it, that it’s me who says y’all is watchin’ us,” Chris Toney said and stepped closer.

“Maybe we’re here to make sure you niggas behave yourselves.”

“What?” Memphis said.

“You heard me. So whatever you were thinkin’ you came here for, you need to forget about it and move on.”

Both Memphis and Donavan started to go for their guns, but Chris Toney stopped them. “Don’t. This is just what Rain told us not to do.” He looked at Jackie’s men. “You ain’t got no problem with us. We just here to drink,” Chris Toney said and walked away. Memphis and Donavan backed away from them with their hand close to their guns. After a couple more hours, Rain’s men left without incident.

When Perry got to the convalescent home the next afternoon, Nick was dressed and ready to leave. “I get the feeling that no matter what I say to you that you’re leaving anyway,” Perry said.

“You’re right,” Nick said and Jap laughed.

“And you shouldn’t be encouraging him, Jap,” Perry said sternly. “Nick, you’ve been shot twice in the chest. You should be dead now.”

“Maybe I’m just hard to kill,” Nick said.

“Or maybe you’re just lucky to be alive. You need to rest, give your body the time it needs to heal properly.”

In spite of his objections, Nick walked out of the home, only after he promised to go straight home and get some rest. But Nick had other ideas. “You want me to take you home?”

“No. I got a few stops to make first. Then you can take me home.”

After he did what he had to do, Nick and Jap arrived at JR’s. When they got there, the club employees who were getting ready to open the club gave him a round of applause. Once he was finished with his well-wishers, Nick headed for the liquor room. He knocked on the door and startled Danielle. “Did I scare you?”

“No, just caught me off guard. Nobody ever knocks. They just walk in and start talking.” Danielle fought the urge to jump out of her chair and hug him. She was just that glad to see him.

“You mean like I usually do?”

“Yeah.” Danielle smiled. “So I see you’re all right.”

“Just got out today.”

Danielle’s smile grew. “And you came to see me?”

“I wanted to say thank you for taking me to Perry,” Nick said and sat down in the chair next to Danielle.

“Yeah, well, what was I supposed to do, stand there and scream like an idiot?”

“You could have, but you didn’t. You saved my life.”

“I think Perry deserves that credit more than me. All I did was drive the car.”

“By the way, did you get the blood out?”

“Yes I did.”

“How much did it cost you?”

“Nothing. Rain told me to take it to a place called Clay’s Garage. They were able to get most of it out. Only reason I can see it is because I’m looking for it.”

Nick took a box out of his pocket. “This is just my way of saying thank you,” he said and handed the box to Danielle.

“What’s in it?”

“Open it.”

Danielle opened the box. There were keys to a car and a stack of bills. She took out the keys and looked at them. “These are Volvo keys.”

“A Volvo XC90 to be exact; that and ten thousand dollars.”

“Ten thousand dollars!”

Nick stood up. “Just my way of sayin’ thank you.”

At that point, Danielle could no longer contain herself. She jumped up from her chair and gave Nick a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Ouch.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Danielle said and jumped back. “I’m sorry I forgot all about that. Did I hurt you?”

“Not really it just stung a bit.”

“Thank you, Nick,” she said as Nick started to leave her office.

“Cars outside,” Nick said and went to his office.

Jackie sat patiently in the lobby of Wanda’s office. She had gotten got a call from Wanda’s admin that Ms. Moore would like to see her as soon as possible. When Jackie hung up the phone, she looked at Travis.

“What was that about?” he asked.

“I’ve been summoned to Mount Olympus,” Jackie said.

“What?”

“Wanda wants to see me in her office.”

“You think it has anything to do with Rain’s visit last night?”

“Think? I’m sure of it. First Lexi and Tara tell me that Wanda tried to have Nick killed. Then Rain shows up here and we walk her out at gunpoint. Then the so called Purple Gang shows up at Impressions and I send men there to Cuisine to back them up.”

“It’s a good bet that she heard about all that and wants to know where you stand,” Travis said.

“She’s gonna try to recruit us into this shit, Travis. I feel it.”

“Face it Jackie, we were involved the minute I put my gun to Rain’s head. Shit, Wanda probably thinks you’re on her side.”

“That’s the problem, I ain’t on anybody side. I don’t want no parts of this family feud,” Jackie said and got ready to go.

“Want me to go with you?”

“No, you stay here and mind the store. I think one of us needs to be here all the times until this thing is over with.”

“I don’t know if I like the idea of you goin’ alone. Not after the stunt Rain pulled.”

“I don’t see Wanda as the pull a gun type,” Jackie laughed.

“No. She’s more the pick up the phone and order the hit type.”

“I see your point. If it makes you feel better, I’ll take a couple of guy’s with me.”

“It will make me feel a lot better. In fact, I talked to Monika this morning, she says she’s coming up here tonight. I’d rather you wait and take her with you.”

“Don’t you think Monika is like, overkill?”

“Yes, but you’d be safer with her than anybody in the world.”

“True. But I need to get this over with. Monika may not show up here until two in the morning and I don’t need or want to keep her majesty waiting.”

“Yeah, it might give her the wrong impression.”

“I’ll call you when it’s over,” Jackie said and left her office. She rounded up a couple of her guys and headed downtown.

They had been waiting for over an hour when Wanda’s admin finally came out. “Ms. Moore will see you now.”

Jackie stood up and so did her men. Wanda’s admin frowned and Jackie smiled at her. “Wait here for me,” Jackie said and was led into Wanda’s office.

Wanda stood up and came from around her desk when Jackie was led in. “Jackie, come in and have a seat.

“Thank you,” Jackie said and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk.