RedBone 2 (21 page)

 

 

Markee sat on a chair across from Randy and his men, with a hand towel draped over his shoulder. He was sweating so much it looked like he showered with his clothes on. He hated having to meet with him for anything, especially matters pertaining to his cousins.

“I see you lost a lot of weight,” Randy said, looking him over. “Where were you? At some fat camp?” Randy asked in an accusatory voice.

“I just needed to get away. A lot of shit been on my mind.”

“Is there any particular reason you haven’t arranged a meeting with Slade like I asked? Despite the fact that this nigga robbed my stash houses and killed another one of my men? Where . . . is . . . Slade?”

“He’s been trying to find my cousin Knox and—”

“That nigga is dead!” Randy yelled. Markee shifted in his seat, and The Vet moved closer to him, in case Randy gave the word to put him out of his misery. “Even if he was alive, it don’t stop the fact that my business has been stopped behind this shit. Are you refusing to set the meeting up?”

He swallowed and rubbed his face with his hand towel. “I can’t do it, man.” Markee sobbed. “I can’t do what you’re asking. Slade is my cousin, and he was the only nigga who looked after me when I was a kid. I can’t betray him or my family like that. I hope you can respect that.”

“I can’t respect shit about you. You’re a weak-ass nigga, Markee. Always have been and always will be. Have you forgotten how you landed here from Mississippi with nothing but a pair of overalls and thick-ass accent? It was me who put you on, not your cousins. And this is how you repay me? By being disloyal? Why would I respect a nigga like that?”

“I appreciate everything you did for me, man. I really do. Maybe I can set up a meeting with both of you in an open place or something like that. I haven’t spoken to Slade about it yet, so I don’t know if he’ll be with it, but I can’t blindside him.” He wiped his face again. “If something happened to him it would devastate my Aunt Della and the rest of the family. We lost too many already.”

There was a place in the pit of Randy’s stomach that brewed with jealousy. He didn’t have an honest member in his family or his life. His father had chosen sides with the Baker family, and he was officially alone. What was it about the Baker men that people couldn’t betray? He was such an evil-minded person that he didn’t understand their undying loyalty.

“Let me work off whatever you think they stole from you, man,” Markee suggested. “I’ll do whatever you want. Just don’t kill me.”

Randy strutted up to him and rubbed his head. “Look at you all nervous and shit. You need to relax, man. I’m not going to hurt you.” He grinned. “Breathe, my nigga.”

Markee took his advice and breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh my God! You don’t know how bad you had my heart kicking.” He laughed. “I’m gonna make this up to you. I promise! I’ll see to it whatever you lost will be paid back in full.”

“It’s not a problem. Rest easy, man. You’re safe with me.”

 

 

Randy sat on the sofa in Mrs. Hammond’s house, drinking a glass of Rémy, while looking at a black TV screen. When she died, he wasted no time setting up inside her home officially. He drank so much lately that his thoughts were all over the place. Something told him that he would not live too much longer if he didn’t get a hold of his affairs, but he didn’t even know where to start. Getting a hold of one of the Baker Boys seemed next to impossible.

“I took care of it,” The Vet said. “We dumped his body in front of Platinum Lofts like you asked. You need anything else?”

“Wasn’t nobody out there?” he asked, sipping his tipsy juice again. “I mean, you weren’t followed, were you?”

“Nobody followed me after I dumped him. Me and Musty wore pizza uniforms.” He walked closer to him and looked at the condition his leader was in. “But you know we just turned up the dial on this war, right? Them niggas are gonna flip when they see the condition we left him in.”

“You plucked out his eyes and heart?”

“Yes.” The Vet nodded.

“Well, you did what I wanted, and I don’t give a fuck what they think,” Randy replied. “They took out two of my men!” he yelled, raising two fingers. “Lollipop and Tornado.” He shook his head. “Not only that, I’m sick of these mothafuckas thinking we had something to do with this Knox nigga going missing. Now they got something to be mad about.”

When there was a knock at the door, Randy sat up straight. “Is Musty still with you?”

“No. I dropped him off at his crib before I came.” He put his hand on the weapon under his jacket.

“Well, go see who that is.” Randy nodded toward the door.

The Vet moved toward the door slowly. When he was close enough, he looked through the peephole. “It’s your father.” He removed the gun from the holster. “I don’t trust this shit, Randy. I don’t think we should let him in.”

“How the fuck did he find out where I lived?” Randy stood up. “You sure you weren’t followed?”

“On my daughter’s heart I made sure nobody was following me. What you want me to do? I ain’t got no problem laying him down, if that’s what you want. It’s your call.” The Vet was eager to get revenge for Willie fucking his wife and impregnating her.

Randy saw it a different way. He and his father had beef, but he wasn’t sure about killing him. Not yet anyway. What he really wanted was to repair the bond. He wished he could talk to him to find out where his mind was. After all this time, Randy still feared his father’s presence, but he wasn’t some little boy looking for love anymore. He was a man who lost everything at his father’s hands.

Randy brushed his shoulders off. “Naw, don’t send him away. Open the door. I want to see what the fuck this nigga got to say for himself.”

The Vet opened the door, and Willie strolled in with a brown suit with fine blue pinstripes. He glided up to Randy and extended his hand. Randy hesitantly accepted, and when their hands embraced, Willie wouldn’t let it go. “Did you have something to do with the Baker boy being thrown in front of the apartment building tonight for his entire family to see?”

Randy snatched his hand away from his father and wiped it on his jeans. “You come over my house to insult me?”

“Your house?” He laughed, looking around. “You mean the one you stole from that old bitch in that home? I don’t know if you realize it or not, but the FBI is seconds away from bringing you down. You done dropped drugs and got into fraud?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Randy lied.

“Sure you do, son.”

“Why do you hate me so much?”

“It’s not like you haven’t given me plenty reason,” Willie said calmly. When he felt the extra heat in the room, he looked over to The Vet. “Leave me alone with my boy. We have to talk in private.” The Vet didn’t move, and he focused back on Randy. “After all this time, you still working with a nigga who used to be my friend and betrayed me?” Willie asked Randy. “This is one of the reasons we will never have the relationship you want. You’re not loyal.”

“You’re the one who slept with my wife,” The Vet reminded him. “And you’re talking to us about loyalty?”

“Always a smug mothafucka!” Willie shook his head.

“You can leave,” Randy told The Vet, who walked out slowly.

“Did you have something to do with that Baker boy being murdered tonight?” Willie asked again.

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.” He stuffed his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t see them shaking. “If I did, what makes you think I would tell you?”

Willie shook his head. “What about Knox Baker? I guess you had something to do with him going missing too, huh?”

“Pops, I haven’t seen you in months, and when I do, you ask me about two niggas I couldn’t give a fuck about. This is not how Ma would’ve wanted us to carry shit. But you don’t care, do you?”

“Is this beef you have with the Baker Boys over Farah? Or Knox? If it is, you need to get over it. Nothing is worth what’s getting ready to happen if you keep this up. Especially not some bloodsucking bitch.”

“Even if our beef had anything to do with Farah, which it doesn’t, I don’t know shit about no Knox.” Randy sat down. “She’s Slade’s problem now.”

“From what I understand, they aren’t together anymore, and it’s because of Knox.” Willie paused. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What does is that you stay as far away from them as possible.” He looked around the house. “I’m not sure how you looking on money, but I’ll give you whatever I can to keep you away.”

Randy raised his eyebrows. “Why would you do that? You haven’t done anything for me in years.”

“Is it too late to start?” Willie grinned. “Just stay away, Randy.”

Randy looked into his hands. “I don’t know nothing about no Knox, but I do know I had a lot of product stolen from me, and to this day I haven’t received a decent explanation about what happened.”

The grin Willie wore on his face up to that moment was gone. “You really are fucked up in the head, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Ain’t nobody took shit from you! I just took back what was mine.”

Now he wished he didn’t send The Vet away, because he may have given the order to have him taken out. “At least you finally admitted the truth. So I guess Slade helped you, too.”

“I told you what I want from you: for you to stay away,” Willie said, ignoring his question. “I’ll give you enough money to see that you’re okay.” Willie would never tell him that he wanted Randy to remain in hiding so that the Baker Boys would not have a reason to return home. He just hoped he was greedy and smart enough to accept his offer. “If you don’t accept my offering and decide to jump into the bed with the Baker Boys, then that’s on you. Just know that I’ve seen your crew lately, and if you ask me, it’s looking a little light. Be careful about starting a war you aren’t prepared for, son.”

“I’m ready for whatever.”

“You know what? For the first time ever you sounded like my son. Too bad it’s too late.”

“It’s never too late,” Randy said arrogantly.

“You give yourself too much credit. If it wasn’t for the fact that you’re holding my last name, you’d be dead already. Stay away from me and my business, or I won’t continue to extend you my good graces.”

 

 

Lately Farah had been spending an extended amount of time with the Fold. If they weren’t drinking and mixing pain with sex, they were getting high and indulging excessively in alcohol. She was dressed and ready to meet Mayoni and Carlton for brunch when she opened her door and was met by Della, Judge, and Grant instead. They were dressed in all black like they were going to a funeral.

“Who died?” she joked.

“Markee,” Della said flatly. “My nephew and Slade’s cousin.”

Farah stumbled backward. She wasn’t close to him, but she could only imagine what Slade was going through. “I’m so sorry, Ms. Della.” She paused. “How is Slade doing?”

“He’s holding up as best as he can. We just got back from Mississippi from burying him.” Della sighed. “Anyway, I’m sorry to bother you, darling”—she held firmly on to her cane—“but can we come in? We have matters to discuss with you and shouldn’t be long.”

She stomped back into her apartment, and they followed. Once inside, Farah flopped on the sofa and folded her arms over her chest. “Where is Slade now? Still in Mississippi?”

“He’s not here, and that’s all you should be concerned about. I told him we would handle you fairly though.” Della smiled, although her disposition was far from kind. “Have you seen Eleanor?”

The Baker family was making her ass itch. “I’ve been looking for her, Miss Della. I really have. Just the other day I went to a dope house, but things didn’t go as planned.”

“What does that mean?” Della questioned.

“Let’s just say I was robbed, beat, and almost raped trying to find this woman.” Farah cried for sympathy points, but Della wasn’t giving them. “I’m trying my best, but at this point, I don’t think there’s anything else I can do. All I want to be right now is left alone.”

“Left alone?” She laughed. “Bitch, you better be glad my hands aren’t wrapped around your throat right now. My son may still think you’re innocent, but I know evil when I see it. It’s all in your eyes. If only Slade could see you for who you really are, I’d put you out of your misery right now. Fortunately for you, he’s still in love.”

“Please just leave!”

“Fuck please!” Della laughed. “You got a week to find this Eleanor person, and if you don’t, I promise you this, I will see to it that you’re never found again. I’m talking about the place where bodies are not found. Do you understand me?”

Farah straightened her shoulders and stood up. She stepped toward Della until she was pushed back a little by Judge’s massive hand. “Della, I don’t like threats.” She wiped the fake tears off of her face. “Whatever you gonna do, just do it already.”

“Be careful what you ask for, little girl,” Della told her. “Where I’m from, wishes like yours are granted every day.”

“So I’m supposed to be scared of you now?”

“You may not feel the need to be scared of her, but you should be frightened of us,” Grant interrupted, stepping between them. “I know all about the people you were with who were killed later.”

“So what are you gonna do?” Farah asked. “Snitch on me?”

He gripped her throat until she reddened. When he realized he was about to kill her without knowing anything, he let her go. “Don’t ever disrespect me like that again,” Grant told her.

She laughed. “If you not gonna snitch, what do you want with me now?”

Grant took a deep breath. Farah’s cool demeanor put him out of character. “We didn’t come all this way to play games with you. We came for one purpose and one purpose only, and that’s to find our cousin.”

“And we not leaving without him,” Judge added.

“Then knock yourselves out.”

After the Baker family left, she couldn’t make brunch with the Fold. Since she was broke anyway, she decided to visit her cash cows, Coconut and Jake. She finished taking care of business and was waiting to be cashed out for her services.

“Well, I’m about to go.” Farah eased into her jeans. When she was dressed, she stood at the edge of the bed and looked up at them. “Can I have my money? I got a lot of stuff to do today.”

“Sit down for a second, Farah,” Jake said with his hand outstretched to her. “You always rolling out, and we never have time to rap.”

“Yeah, Farah,” Coconut said, playing with the hairs on Jake’s chest. “What’s the rush? I haven’t had a chance to talk to you since before Rhonda died. Chill with us for a minute. We were thinking about grabbing something to eat.”

“There’s no rush,” she lied, “I just figured you guys wanted some privacy. It’s not like I’m hitting and running.” She giggled.

“Why would we want privacy when you’re good company?” He patted the bed. “Now, sit your sexy ass down. I want to rap to you about a few things.” He opened the covers for her to reenter.

Instead she took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked at both of them.
Damn, these mothafuckas freaked out. Just leave me the fuck alone.
“What’s up?”

“Like Coconut said, I wanted to take both of my girls out to dinner and maybe catch that new hood movie that just dropped. I think it’s called
Pitbulls in a Skirt.
”

Coconut crawled up under him. “I’m with that shit, baby!” She looked down at her friend. “What about you, Farah?”

It wasn’t like they were the worst people to be around. In fact, she really enjoyed the way they handled business in the bedroom. It was just that she had a lot of things to handle, and the last thing she wanted was to be snuggled up under the sex-crazed couple.

“I kinda want to go home.” Farah shrugged. “I didn’t want to tell you guys, but I think I’m coming down with a cold or something.” She stood up again. “Can I please have my money now?”

Jake sighed. “I’m not going to lie, Farah. Your response kind of hurts my feelings.” He grabbed the belt loop of Farah’s jeans, forcing her into the space on the bed next to him. “Because I was thinking about taking my babies out shopping too.” He kissed her on the neck and small chills traveled down her body. “Now, are you sure you can’t make a little more time for me?”

He won her over, because although she wanted to be alone, Jake spending paper on her was not a bad idea. She hadn’t been shopping since Randy cut her off. “Can I ask both of you something?” They nodded simultaneously. “How do I fit into this equation with you two? Am I a fuck buddy, a fuck homie, or what?”

Jake looked at her inquisitively before focusing on Coconut. “Wait, you didn’t tell her?”

“I didn’t get a chance to,” she responded, looking nervously into her eyes. “Farah has been hard to find these days.” He seemed irritated. “Let me explain it to her now, baby.” Coconut exhaled. “Farah, I think I gave you the wrong impression on what Jake was looking for when we first spoke.”

“Can you just spit the shit out?” Farah said combatively. “You’re scaring me.”

“Okay.” She sighed. “Jake . . . I mean . . .
we’re
looking for an exclusive thing. Not just a sexual thing.”

“An exclusive thing?” She laughed, looking between them. In her book this was utterly ridiculous. “How can it be exclusive if there’s three people involved?”

“When I was coming up, my father always had these types of relationships,” Jake said. “And it worked because nobody ever had a reason to cheat. All three people were stimulated on a consistent basis. In my mind, it keeps the excitement alive.”

“You mean you grew up like a Mormon?”

He laughed. “Not exactly. I don’t remember them being real religious or nothing like that. There were a lot of swinger parties, but that was it. Anyway, I knew as a kid that I wanted the same.” He rubbed Coconut’s hair. “When I met Coco, I told her from the jump what I was about. She told me she had the perfect person for us, and when I saw your face, I knew it would work. But Park was with me, and since I didn’t tell him my plan, he put his bid in and y’all started kicking it. That was then and this is now. I really hope you can get wit’ this.”

“So that means I got to be in a relationship with you and my best friend?”

He nodded. “Trust me, if we try hard enough we can make this shit work. Niggas do it all the time, but they never involve the women. I’m not like that. I’m trying to keep shit on the up and up.”

Farah immediately thought about Slade. Although he saw her with Bones and told her to fuck off, she didn’t want to be in a relationship with anyone else until she was sure. Then there was Bones. She still had yet to see what was up with him. What Jake wanted could complicate everything.

“I’m gonna be honest. This may be deeper than where I’m trying to go right now. Can I have time to think about it first?”

Coconut shook her head. “Farah, don’t mess this up for me, please. Jake has been good to you. Plus you kind of owe me.”

Farah grimaced. “Why do I owe you?”

Coconut sat up in the bed and crossed her arms over her chest. “After that video that was placed on You-Tube? Of you smacking me? You mean to tell me that you don’t remember that shit? Technically we aren’t supposed to be even talking right now, but I forgave you.”

“Coconut, I wasn’t the one who uploaded that video, so you can’t hardly blame me for that.”

“Let me come at you a different way,” Jake interrupted, not feeling the petty girl shit. “You obviously can’t take care of yourself, because you always asking for money. I’m in a position to look out, but if I do, I need to know I’m getting what I want in return. A full-time scenario, on a permanent basis.” He rubbed her long hair. “And that means you not giving up the pussy to nobody but me.” With a serious face, he asked, “Do we have a deal or not?”

Farah had no intention of staying true to this deal no matter what she told him, but to get money, for now, she would tell him anything he wanted to hear.