The Mike Black Saga; Payback (4 page)

"Because when I turn to see, she was looking at me the entire time. As they drag her to
she
feet, she continue to look at me. And I am sure she mouth the words
help me
. When I move closer, I hear her ask ‘where are you taking me?’ The white
man say
they were taking a little trip to Miami."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I may be an old
mon
and not worthy of young
mon’s
respect, but I can still hear."

"Did you recognize the men?"

"No. I never see them before."

"What they look like, Mr. Elgin?"

"I didn’t get a really good look, but as I say, one was white and the other was of Latin descent. It appeared that he was hurt. I say this because
him
move slow and hold his stomach the whole time."

"Anything else you can tell me about them?"

"No, that is all I can tell you. Mr. Black, I am sorry to say that I did nothing to help your wife. It
happen
so quickly, and I don’t carry a gun anymore."

"No need to apologize, Mr. Elgin. If you had tried to help her, those men would have killed you," Mike said as Nick walked up on them.

"The plane is ready, Black. We gotta go," Nick said.

"Thank you, Mr. Elgin. You’ve been a big help getting this information to us," Mike said as he walked toward the plane.

"No problem, Mr. Black."

Chapter Four

Freeze walked into Cynt’s, a gambling club they had run for years. He had received a call from Cynt that there were some men who had posted up in the back of her spot, and they appeared to be selling drugs. The night before, he and Nick had a run-in with two other men who were trying to set up shop at another one of the spots they ran. Freeze was confident that these were not the same men, because those men were no longer breathing.

As he wandered around the spot looking for Cynt, Freeze was surprised but not shocked to see Travis Burns sitting by the bar, enjoying the company of two dancers. Travis, along with Jackie Washington and Ronnie Grier, were a robbing crew that made Freeze plenty of money. This was the first time that he had seen Travis since Freeze killed Ronnie over a business matter concerning his long-time female associate, Paulleen. After that, Travis and Jackie did an occasional job, but only if there was enough money involved and absolutely no risk.

As Freeze walked toward Travis, he looked around for Jackie, who, unlike Travis, was gambling at Cynt’s all the time. Not too long after Ronnie’s murder, Jackie approached Freeze about her desire to have someone assassinated, but when she told him that the person was Me’shelle Lawrence, Travis’s ex-girlfriend, Freeze declined and told Jackie to get over it. However, every time Jackie looked at Travis and saw the pain in his eyes, she knew that she wouldn’t
get over it
until Me’shelle was dead.

"Mind if I join you?" Freeze said as Travis turned slowly and looked at him.

"This is your world, Freeze. I’m just trying to live in it."

"I hadn’t seen you around much lately, Travis. What’s been up?"

"Nothing, man. Just trying to make a living, same as always," Travis replied. He had a feeling that it was
Freeze
who killed Ronnie, or at the very least, had him killed, but he had no desire to die trying to get revenge.

"I’m just sayin’, you don’t come up here anymore like you used to, and you have Jackie bring me my taste from your jobs."

"Yeah, well, Jackie’s up here all the time doin’ her thing anyway. Why not let her do it?"

"Yeah, okay, whatever." Freeze looked around the room. "Jackie here?"

"Of course she is. She’s downstairs doin’ her thing. Why?"

"You strapped?"

"No."

"I may need you and her to back me up," Freeze told Travis, even though he knew he could handle the situation without him. It was more important to know where his head was. "And I need to know if I can count on you."

"You know you can," Travis said. "Like you said, whatever went down was business, not personal, and got nothing to do with you and me," Travis said to let Freeze know that he knew what was going on, but he was still loyal to him.

"Here," Freeze said and discreetly passed a Travis a gun.

"I’ll go get Jackie," Travis said.

Freeze followed Travis downstairs to the gambling area where, as expected, they found Jackie, doin’ her thing. Only nowadays, Jackie wasn’t losing at poker anymore.

Early one morning, around four a.m., Mike Black came into the gambling area while Jackie was literally losing her shirt. She waved and smiled when she saw him standing directly across from her, and Mike nodded his head in response. Jackie thought Mike Black was sexy from the first time she met him. Although she’d never admit it to anyone, Jackie had the kind of crush that a young girl has on her teacher. It had gotten to the point where Jackie thought about making herself available for him.

Mr. Black, Mike Black, but you are so married. So, we can be cool or whatever, but I gotta respect your wife,
Jackie told her mirror one day.

Mike stood and watched while Jackie continued drop to money on losing hands. Once he had seen enough, Mike went and sat down. When Jackie lost all her money and got up from the table, Mike motioned for her to join him.

"Bad night," Mike said to her, stating the obvious.

"No more than any other night." Jackie laughed, trying to make light of it.

"Freeze says that you’re good people; that you and your boy are good earners. But you’re here a lot. Drop a lot of money." Mike signaled a waitress for a drink.

"I’d say that was the truth."

"It’s the way you play," Mike said nonchalantly.

"What do you mean?"

"I watched you play. I could tell when you had a good hand, and when your cards weren’t shit. I could tell when you were nervous. I could even tell every time you had a strong card, and when you were bluffing."

"Could you let me in on it, or is it a secret? I lost a lot of money to the house too. Your house."

"No, I don’t mind tellin’ you, Jackie. It’s written all over your face. It’s your eyes, actually."

Jackie smiled. "So, you were looking at my eyes?"

"You have very pretty eyes, but they betray you every hand. All anyone you’re gambling with has to do is watch your eyes."

"Anything else?" Jackie asked as the waitress set a glass of Remy Martin VSOP in front of Mike and asked her if she wanted anything.

"Hennessy."

"You’re reckless and greedy."

"Reckless and greedy!" Jackie barked, looking very incensed. "What do you mean by that?"

Mike took a sip of his Remy. "Before I answer your question, let me ask you one."

"Okay, go ahead," Jackie said excitedly. This was the longest conversation she’d had with Mike, and she planned on dragging it out for as long as she could.
And that voice, hmm. Maybe I gave up on you a bit too soon, Mr. Black, Mike Black.

"Are you trying to make money gambling, or is this just a sport to you?"

"I’m trying to make money, no doubt. But I would be interested in hearing you explain the difference between the two."
I’d be interested in hearing you explain how grass grows.
"If you have time. I know that you’re a busy man, and I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me."
I can’t believe you said that.

Mike looked at Jackie and let out a little laugh. "If you’re gambling for sport, you really don’t care if you make money or not. You just enjoy the game, the tension, the anticipation, and the camaraderie; that’s sport. But when you’re gambling to make money, then that’s all it’s about—money; fuck all the rest of that shit."

"From what you see, which one am I?"

"You gamble for the sport of it. That’s what makes you reckless and greedy." Mike paused and then went on to explain his point. "When you got money sittin’ in front of you, you make reckless bets, and when you lose, you try to laugh it off, like
it’s
only money."

Jackie had to laugh because she knew it was true. "That’s me."

"You chase the big pots." Mike paused to emphasize his point. "Greedy. And you chase them with weak hands, and since we already talked about your inability to bluff, that makes you reckless and greedy."

"Damn," Jackie said slowly. "You really have been watching me."

"Watching you lose, Jackie. Watching you lose money to me," Mike said and sat back in his chair.

"You have any advice for me? ’Cause I really am trying to make money. Yes, I enjoy the game, the tension, the anticipation, the camaraderie, all that good shit, but I need to make money. I ain’t making money like I used to."

"Then you have to learn some discipline. Get yourself and your emotions under control like you would be when you’re doin’ a job. And the most important thing is that you know how much money you want to make every time you sit down. When you’re gambling, you’re gonna win some and you’re gonna lose some. But if you’re any type of player, at some point during the night, you are going to have in front of you the amount of money you wanna make. Get up and say goodnight."

"Discipline."

"Jackie, I’ve seen you with ten, fifteen grand in front of you and then watched you lose it all. Discipline. You see, what the house wants is to keep you there and keep you coming back, because sooner or later, you’re gonna lose."

With that thought in mind, Jackie made a few changes the next time she sat down at the table; changes not only to her look, but to her attitude.
Focus and discipline, baby, ’cause Jackie is here to get paid.
She figured that if they were paying that much attention to her face, she would give them something else to look at. Her new "uniform" became a tight red leather jumpsuit that zipped up the front, which she opened just far enough to give everybody an excellent view of her cleavage. She even wore a push-up bra to make the twins outstanding.

On this particular night, her attire was a black leather jacket and pants. Jackie had on sunglasses, and her hair hung over the frames. When Travis and Freeze approached her, Jackie was raking in a nice-sized pot. Travis tapped her on the shoulder. "Jackie."

"What’s up, Travis?"

"Let me holla at you, Jackie."

Jackie turned around and
lookedto
look at Travis and saw Freeze standing next to him. "Hello, Freeze." Jackie pulled back from the table and stood up. "This must be something important."

"Of course it is," Freeze said and looked around the table. "Otherwise I wouldn’t bother you." This stopped any grumbles about Jackie leaving before they got started.

Jackie looked down at the money she had in front of her, trying to decide whether she needed to come back. "Fellas, as much as I’d love to stay here and continue to take your money, I gotta say goodnight."

Once they were away from the table, Jackie asked, "What’s up?"

"I need you to watch my back," Freeze replied. "You armed?"

Jackie unbuttoned her jacket and opened both sides to reveal her now signature push-up bra and a 9-millimeter in each holster. "Always armed and extremely dangerous."

Travis and Jackie followed behind Freeze until he saw Cynt coming toward him. "Where they at, Cynt?" Freeze asked.