TYCE II (9 page)

Armando’s jaws clenched with anger as he resisted the urge to punch him in his fucking face. The only thing that stopped him from taking action and granting the wishes of his fists was the fact that he knew his brother was serious. The one person he feared in this world was Diego. That fear was well warranted, everybody feared him bec
ause he was vicious and brutal.

“Are you mad because he blew up your little billboard? Armando sneered.

“
No I’m not mad at all…I have his attention now
.”
“Just explain to me why you’re so obsessed with him. I mean, we’ve killed niggers before but you never acted like this, what’s so different about this one?” Armando stepped back a little.

Diego cleared his throat, “
Because he had the balls to steal frum me. He didn’t even bother tu leave town. He’s walking around spending my dinero in
my
fucking city
!
Yu know how that makes me look
?”

Armando grabbed a towel off the ground and sat down in a chair.

“I get it, I get it, but can we please talk about business instead for a change? I called the bank today and we’re short six hundred thousand this month. The balance was supposed to be over six million but we haven’t got paid for all the drops yet, you need to be focused on that.”

“
I tol
yu befur, yu haf a lot tu learn
Armando
;
don’t yu see ef one person can steal frum me than sumone else will thenk they can tu
.”

Diego walked over to Armando and handed him a business card.

Armando read the card aloud, “
Pamela Adkins, your personal private eye
.” He looked confused, “What the fuck is this for; I don’t need a private eye to find him.”

Diego smiled, “
She’s not jus
’
a private eye stupid
o…she’s hi
s mother
.”

             
Tyrese
’s
melodic voice crooned softly in the background as Ranae cleaned the messy living room after the day’s activities. The kids built a fort earlier in the evening using couch cushions and sheets. They’d stocked their make shift house with pretzels, kettle corn, and juice boxes, all of which were devoured an hour ago. After the junk food binge both of them were fast asleep with crumbs all over their mouths and Ranae had to scoop them up and carry them upstairs to bed. As usual these past few weeks Sway was not home to assist her with the kids; after dinner he told her he was going to the gym to check out a new boxer he might promote and would be home later. That wasn’t uncommon for him to do that, but, what was unlike him was not to call and check in
or tell his children goodnight.

             
So like a good little wife she straightened up the house, put the food away, cleaned the kitchen and put on slow jams that expressed her mood as well as her growing discontent. Having money was supposed to make life easier she thought. Sway and her would comment all the time about how if they just had money everything would be perfect. Well, they had over a million dollars in a fire proof safe, they owned a successful daycare center, three automobiles, and the balance in her checking account was just shy of fifty four thousand dollars. Yet, here she was side by side with unhappiness because her soul mate, the man she vowed to be true to was fucking up!

“Why can’t men jus’ fuckin’ do right?” She asked herself out loud. “I mean, what’s so damn hard? They act like their dick is gonna fall off if they tell the truth! I’m not stupid, I know somethin’ is wrong with him, he doesn’t sleep, he barely eats, and
now he’s rarely home!”

She stormed into the walk in closet of their bedroom and started separating the clothes. Random thoughts circled her mind, she heard her mother’s voice in her head saying, “
When truth leaves, imagination takes over
” that was so very true. All she could do was speculate and wonde
r what was up with her husband.

             
She continued the solo conversation, “Is he not attracted to me anymore? Does he have regrets about marrying me? Do my stretch marks and my slight pooch suddenly turn him off? What the fuck is going on?”

             
Little piles stacked up all around her as she organized the white’s and colored clothes for the laundry. Her hands were moving rapidly, snatching shirts and socks flinging them in different directions. Her increasing anger from this unsecure relationship fueled her body making her work at a fast pace. She snatched a pair of Sway’s slacks, threw them in the dry clean only pile, and felt something hit her bare foot. Her eyes averted to the ground where she saw the back of a card laying on her pretty brown toes. She reached down, picked the card up and read it out loud.

“
The Ready Room
…
cum & play
”

Ranae stared at the scarlet red card with black cursive letters. She looked for an address but all she saw was a phone number.

“
310 547-8964
”

She tucked the card inside her sports bra and shook her head slowly from side to side. The dirty clothes became a memory as she headed down stairs to the kitchen. The bottom of her feet hit the cool tile on her way to the refrigerator. Ranae opened the door with more force than necessary seized the tequila bottle and slammed the door shut. She didn’t bother to search for a shot glass; choosing to drink straight from the bottle instead. The golden liquid flowed down her throat and into her stomach, setting her chest on fire on its way down. Pulling the card out again she eyed it carefully.

“
310-547-8964
.
”
Again, she read it out loud as she stood in her gourmet kitchen drinking tequila…by herself.

Tyrese
attempted to calm her down with his smooth voice, but even when he hit the high notes, he failed to lift her spirits, stop her eyes from tearing up and her hands from trembling uncontrollably.

             
Tyce and Sway walked into the park just as the sun was setting in the sky. The evening was warm and children were squeezing the last little bit of playing time in before it got dark. Taking a seat away from the playground on a stone bench, they scanned the park for someone that resembled the description Da
llas gave of her cousin Khalil.

             
They spotted a man coming towards them with that classic limp style walk and assumed he was the dude they came to meet. Tyce dusted off his limited edition
Jordan’s
and pulled out a pack of Djarums from the front pocket of his jeans. He looked like he was waiting on a blind date. A powder blue V-neck shirt, light blue jeans, and matching J’s completed the outfit. All the proper accessories; platinum watch, diamond earrings, platinum bracelet were on display adding sparkle to the casual outfit. His skin was a shade darker from the hot California sun and glowed from a fresh coat of lotion. Sway was equally dapper; sporting jeans and a cream sleeveless sweater. Everything seemed kosher on him except for his reddish eyes
and overly laid back demeanor.

“I think that’s him.” Tyce lit his cigarette while noddi
ng in the stranger’s direction.

“Yeah, he looks like the dude; Dallas said he was dark right?”

“Yeah, with dimples.” Tyce blew smoke out as he answered.

Seconds later Khalil walked up looking nervous.

             
“Wasup fellas? Which one of ya’ll is Tyce?”

             
“Guilty.” Tyce nodded his head.

“Alright, I’m Khalil.” He extended his hand for the customary hood handshake; first to Tyce followed by Sway.

“Have a seat man, this is my partner Sway.”

“Wasup nigga?” Khalil nodded.

Tyce took another drag from his cigarette and flicked the ashes in the tall green grass. He looked Khalil up and down, checking out his body language. The last thing he did was look him in his eyes; he did this to read him, to gauge his manhood. When the new comer didn’t flinch but returned the stare down, Tyce proceeded with the meeting.

“So Dallas thinks we have somethin’ in common.”
“Yeah, my cousin said I should meet you, she wouldn’t say that shit if she didn’t think so.” Khalil took his phone out and turned it off.

That was another impressive move on his part. He was becoming more and more likable by the minute. Tyce could appreciate a man that gave his full attention to important situations.

             
Sway got in the conversation. “Alright, so fill us in.”
Tyce relaxed a little on the bench and listened as Khalil laid out what happened between him, Armando, and Silk. At times in his story, he appeared agitated while other times he expressed sadness. Tyce could relate to how he felt about losing his friend in such a way. It wasn’t like he was there with him and could have done something to stop it, Silk died alone without his best friend to help him. The pain of that type of shit was still with Tyce, it had only been a few months since Lil Flash was murdered and the grief was still fresh in his soul. As Khalil wrapped up his tale, Tyce shook his head in sympathy.

“Damn man, that shit was fucked up, he killed him cuz you was ten minutes late?”

“Yeah.” Khalil simply responded.

Khalil suddenly jumped up, “Wait a minute, you that nigga from the billboard!”

Sway looked at him squarely, “What billboard?”
“Yeah, that shit is gone now.” Khalil chuckled. “I aint got no beef with you, I jus’ recognized you that’s all, I’ve been racking my brain tryna place where I seen your face and now I know it’s from the fuckin’ sign. I see why Dallas wanted us to meet…we got common enemies.”

Tyce smiled, “Not for long.” He looked up at Khalil, “What bank were you at when you deposited the money?”

“First National…why?”

Tyce turned to Sway and smiled that wicked grin of his. Once again the wheels started turning in his head.

“Alright Khalil, how you feel about gettin’ all your money back plus a lil extra?”

“What the fuck you mean how I feel about that? I feel fuckin’ great about that!”

Tyce laughed a little, “I thought you would, you got that receipt for the deposit?”

“Yeah I got it.”

“Alright get that to me as soon as you can, I also need that cell phone number for Armando.”

Tyce was all set to part ways for the time being but Khalil had one more thing he wanted to share.

“Ay Tyce, I make it point to know who I’m dealing with and I wouldn’t be fuckin’ with you if your rep was shaky. I never met you until now but I heard good shit about you. How long you been in the dope game?”

“I’m not in the dope game, I take care of my business for a liv
ing…that’s what keeps me paid.”

This time Khalil smiled at the comment. He made his exit promising to get the receipt to Tyce by the next day. Tyce and Sway watched him as he jogged out the park disappearing around the corner before they got up and prepared to leave. Tyce eyed Sway carefully as they left the park walking side by side.

“Why ya eyes so red? Were up late or somethin’?” “My shit red?” Sway rubbed them.

“Yeah, it looks like you rolled em around in ketchup. “I jus’ need to get some sleep that’s all.”
“Alright…well we got work to do, so get all the rest you need.”

             
Angelique fastened the strap on her heels and stood up to inspect herself in the full-length mirror. S
he was satisfied with the woman
she saw looking back at her. The dress was short, the heels were tall, the hair was shining, and the booty was looking like a bac
kwards C attached to her body.     P
erfect.

             
As she
sprayed gold speckled body mist
on her neck and extra long legs her phone started buzzing on her bed. She floated across her room, grabbed the
phone,
and sa
t on the bed to talk.

“Hey you, I was jus’ about to call you.”
She answered.

“Oh really, look who’s the late one now.” Sway said sarcastically.

“I know I know; I had to get dressed.”

“Well
…
I’ll let you pass this time, but next time I won’t be so nice.”

Angelique chuckled, “You could never be mean to me marine, you like me too much.”

“Yeah but don’t push your luck, I jus’ left the park and now you got me waiting for you at your club lookin’ all stood up and shit.”

“Be patient, I’m leavin’ now…see you in a bit.”

“Alright.”

Angelique stood up, rushed to the mirror to apply her lipstick blowing herself a kiss in the process. After flirting with herself, she
scurried to the door, opened it and was shocked to see Dallas standing there. She
was
casually eating a pear and
not attempting
to move.