The Mike Black Saga; MOB (19 page)

When his cab arrived, Travis got in and headed for Cynt’s.
Easy to miss, but you should have seen them anyway.

Freeze had arrived at Cynt’s early and was there, waiting for Travis when Wanda came in.

“What brings you up here so early in the day, Freeze?” Wanda asked and sat down next to him.

“I was just about to ask you that,” Freeze replied.

“Cynt asked me to stop by to discuss a legal problem she’s having.”

“What problem she havin’?”

“Calm down, Freeze. She said it was a personal problem. If it’s something that you need to know about, I’ll tell you. So, what are you doing here?”

“I got to meet somebody here at one. And I had to bring some money up here so they could open the tables.”

“Why?”

“It was a weird night in the NBA. A lot of upsets,” Freeze said then pushed the newspaper in front of Wanda.

“Knicks beat the Lakers, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s the one that broke us. Everybody made that sentimental bet on the Knicks to win.”

“Shit happens,” Wanda said. “We aren’t that bad off, are we?”

“Nothing we can’t handle, but we need to bust ’em on down at football this weekend or everybody’s envelope gonna be a little light this week.”

“That’s how it goes,” Wanda said. “Who are you meeting with?”

“Travis Burns.”

Wanda rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “The wannabe robber.”

“No, baby, my nigga’s the real thing.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I didn’t notice you complainin’ or callin’ him no wannabe when he personally made your envelope a little fatter. My nigga is smart; he’s organized, he’s disciplined, he’s got his crew under control. They execute their jobs like clockwork, and he’s a good earner. So, tell me the truth, Wanda, why don’t you like him?”

“Think about what you just said: smart, organized, disciplined, in control. He reminds me too much of Mike Black.”

Freeze thought about it for a second. “Now that you mention it, he damn sure does.”

When Travis arrived at Cynt’s a little early, he was surprised to see that Freeze was already waiting for him. He expected Freeze to keep him waiting like he usually did. Wanda saw Travis coming toward the table. “Here comes your nigga,” she said mockingly. “I’ll leave you two to talk.” Wanda got up from the table and headed for the stairs to the offices for her meeting with Cynt. She passed Travis on the way. Travis smiled as men did when they saw Wanda walking toward them.

“Hello Travis,” she said and kept walking.

“Hello, Wanda,” Travis said nervously.
What’s up with that? Wanda never speaks to me.

Travis sat down at the table with Freeze. “So, what’s the word?”

“The word is good. I got it on good information that the cops don’t have a clue on who ran that job at the grocery store. They assume that the same people that ran that job ran the jewelry store job, but they got no leads on either case. I know there was some concern about the video surveillance of the parking lot, but they gone over it a bunch of times and they remain clueless. But that’s a cop’s nature.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Don’t you know? I know everything,” Freeze said flatly. “But in this particular case, I know a little cutie that’s bangin’ the lead detective on the case. He tells her everything and then she tells me. That pillow talk is a muthafucka.” Freeze laughed. “But I still think you should chill for a while.” He stood up.

“That’s what I got in mind,” Travis said as Freeze walked away.

It was a little before 2:00 when Ronnie got to Cynt’s. He wandered around the club looking for Travis and finally found him sitting in the back corner with Mystique. She was burning up his ear when Ronnie came toward them. Once Mystique turned and saw Ronnie coming, she stood up and slapped the shit out of Travis. “You ain’t shit,” Mystique said and walked away.

Ronnie came to the table laughing his ass off. “What’s happenin’, player? Havin’ some problems with your people today?”

“Something like that,” Travis said, rubbing his face. “I told Mystique that I didn’t want to see her anymore.”

“I guess that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.”

“I guess not. Like you said, she gets real funky when you tell her no,” Travis said and laughed a little. “So, what’s up with you?”

“I’m cool,” Ronnie said as Jackie joined them at the table. “What’s up, Jackie? You’re just in time. Travis was just about to tell me the deal.”

“Well, let’s hear it. How bad are we?” Jackie asked.

“We aren’t bad at all. Cops aren’t looking for us, and since we didn’t leave them any, they have no clues that will lead them to us,” Travis said confidently.

“What about the parking lot footage they were showing every day on the news?” Jackie asked.

“Consider that your fifteen minutes of fame,” Travis said. “There’s nothing on that tape to lead them to us.”

“What about while you were doing surveillance? Won’t that lead them to you?” Jackie asked.

“Jackie, I’m tellin’ you, they got nothing they can use, and more to the point, they don’t have anything that points to me. I even sold the Thunderbird in Miami while I was down there. I’m tellin’ you, we’re good on this,” Travis said. He looked at Ronnie, who was surprisingly calm and quiet. “You don’t have any questions, Ron?”

“Nope. Jackie got all the questions now. You answered all my questions when you came back to the city and told me it was all good. You woulda stayed your ass in the Caymans if there was any problems at all.”

“You’re right. I probably would have. The Caymans is nice.”

“Oh, so you woulda left us to twist in the wind for it?” Jackie asked.

“Hell no. I knew you were talkin’ to Freeze. He woulda gave you the heads up if it wasn’t all good.”

“That is something I do have a problem with,” Ronnie said. “Why we gotta give that nigga so much money?”

“Ronnie, how you think I got to the Caymans? What did you think, I walked up to the counter at Miami International Airport with a bag full of money? I flew down there on a charter plane. Freeze put me on to a guy named Pete. He flew me in and out of there, no customs, nothing like that.

“How you think I know that the cops ain’t got nothing on us? Freeze got that handled. He got an in to the cops. Like I told you when we started, we give Freeze that money for his protection and services,” Travis explained as Wanda came down the steps and walked across the floor. “And we pay for the legal services of that fine-ass muthafucka there,” he said and pointed at Wanda.

“God damn that woman is so fine,” Jackie said.

“I see all that,” Ronnie said, seeming to ignore Jackie’s observation about Wanda. “But I still think we give that nigga too much of our money, so forgive me if I bitch a little. We gave that nigga damn near fifty grand of our money. And while we’re talkin’ about money, why you feel the need to run to the Caymans to get rid of your money? Why didn’t you just let the white boy handle it like he always does?”

“I didn’t feel comfortable giving him that much money,” Travis said. “I didn’t want him to make no connection to the job. Y’all all right with your money?”

“I just feed it to him a little at a time. He didn’t make no connection. He thinks we’re big time drug dealers anyway,” Ronnie said.

“Why does he think that?”

“Boy is a fiend for X. Every time I see him, I give him enough Ecstasy to freak half the women in New York.”

“So, what next, Travis?” Jackie asked.

“Best thing we can do for the next couple of months is keep a very low profile.”

Over the next couple of months, all three kept as low a profile as they could. Thinking that it would improve his chances of getting with Jackie, Freeze was instrumental in getting her a few modeling jobs. But she was gambling more now than she usually did, so she was spending the money as quickly as she made it. Ronnie started working on making his next fortune from home as a day trader.

Travis got called for a contract programmer job, and went to work three days a week. The contract was in Long Island and the building was next to a bank. Although the idea of getting out still had a haunting pull on him, Travis couldn’t resist the temptation of planning their next job—if there was to be a next job.

From his office window, Travis could watch the comings and goings without even trying. He opened an account at the bank to deposit his checks. While he was in the bank conducting business, he observed the layout of the bank and studied their procedures.

Travis spent most of his time, though, getting to know Me’shelle, and he was loving every minute of it. Their time together had been like one long conversation. It was an old fashioned courtship. They spent a lot of time together, slowly getting to know one another. They talked a lot, went to the movies, to concerts, to plays and they danced. They both loved to dance.

During this courtship, Me’shelle learned something about herself: “I love to eat out.”  In fact, she loved to go out period.  While she was with Trent, they never went anywhere. He was a homebody. She finally concluded he was just too cheap to want to go anywhere. Trent would show up at Me’shelle’s house in time for dinner, which she would always have to cook, with a couple of movies and some microwave popcorn.

“You know what I wanna try?” Me’shelle asked.

“What’s that?”

“Jerk chicken.”

“You’ve never had Caribbean food?”

“Nope. I’ve got a rich southern heritage. That’s where my family’s from. My aunt cooks southern food. But I’ve heard so much about Caribbean, I just have to try it.”

“That’s cool. I know a little place on Sixteenth Street called Maroons. You’ll love it. They serve both southern and Caribbean food. I always have Aunt Sarah’s stewed oxtails.” 

“You go there a lot?”

“Not really, but it is one of my favorites,” Travis replied.

They had their first fight at Foley’s restaurant on Seventh Avenue. It all began one day when Mystique showed up at Travis’s house unannounced and uninvited, while they were on their way out.

When Travis came out of the house, Mystique was coming up the walkway. He froze in his tracks.

“Travis, you and I need to talk, baby,” Mystique said and put her hands on his chest. “I’m sorry that I slapped you. I really miss you.”

“I told you it’s over between us,” Travis said.

“I just want things to get back to the way they were,” she said. That was when Me’shelle walked out the door. “Who the fuck is this bitch?”

Me’shelle didn’t like being called a bitch, but she kept her cool and let Travis handle his business.

“This is Me’shelle,” Travis said.

“So, is this the bitch you dumped me for, Travis?”

I ain’t gonna be too many more bitches
, Me’shelle thought.

“This cidity bitch!”

“That’s it,” Me’shelle said as she stepped toward Mystique. Travis tried to step in between them, but he was too slow. Before he knew it, Me’shelle was all up in Mystique’s grill. “Who the fuck are you callin’ a bitch?” Me’shelle said. “I only see one bitch here, and it damn sure ain’t me, bitch.”

Mystique rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “Don’t you know I will kick your ass, bitch?” she threatened.

Me’shelle started taking off her earrings. “Well, come on wit’ it then!” she challenged. Travis grabbed Mystique and carried her away from Me’shelle. “No, let the bitch go, Travis!” she shouted, but that wasn’t about to happen.

It took about ten minutes for Travis to convince Mystique to leave, but to Me’shelle it seemed longer. She watched them talk from the window to observe their body language. When he came inside, he had to convince Me’shelle that they should still go to Foley’s for dinner. Me’shelle was mad as hell, but what she was more was hungry, so she agreed to go.

She wasn’t even all that mad at Travis, although she let him think that she was. She was mad at Mystique and madder at herself. They said little if anything on the drive downtown. Me’shelle simply looked out the window.

When they got to the restaurant and were seated, the waiter came to take their order. Me’shelle had barely looked at the menu. “For starters, how about some Boston Clam Chowder, with chunky potatoes and frizzled onions?” the waiter asked.

“That sounds good to me,” Travis told him.

“And for the lady?”

She didn’t answer.