The Black Kiss Of Death, page 10
part #1 of Montega Chronicles Series
Charles chuckled. “Carlton said that it was best not to draw too much attention. Besides, the hotel is only a few blocks down the street. If we get into a jam, back up can get here in a minute’s time,” Charles stated.
Looking at the bar again, Sam saw that there was one-way in and one-way out. He didn’t feel comfortable, but he had to watch Charles’s back. He had a good reason; parked ahead, across the street, were Mad Max, Pete, and a Colombian hit man named Fernando in a gold Cadillac. Once they spotted Charles walking into the bar with only two henchman, they knew they had him trapped like a rat.
Max got on the cell phone and called his boss, “Hey, boss, your source was right. We got him now.”
“Good. Call me when it’s done,” Zelinski said before hanging up.
Given the go-ahead, Mad Max tucked his .45 in his waistband while eyeing the Colombian who spoke no English. Nodding, he got out with the Colombian on his heels, concealing a weapon in his trench coat far bigger than a .45.
“If I’m not out in ten minutes, come in shooting,” Max instructed Pete’s men before closing the door and heading inside.
When Charles entered the lounge, he spotted Brenda seated at the other end of the bar. He headed towards her. Neither Two Gun Sam nor Whisky noticed a Russian and a Colombian walk in and sit in the corner.
“How ya doin’, Bee? What’s been goin’ on with you?” Charles asked, giving her a big hug before sitting next to her.
“A little bit of me and a whole lot of you. Why haven’t you been by the house lately? Wifey had you occupied?” Brenda joked.
Charles smiled at the sarcasm. He and Brenda shared a history together that not many people knew about.
“So, how’s Clyde doing?” she asked.
“He’s good. If you ask me, I think he acts just like his mother, if you know what I mean,” he replied while giving Brenda a nudge.
Brenda chuckled. “You can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto out of the boy. I know that’s right. How’s your daughter, Diamond? How old is she now?”
“She’s 19. She’s doing pretty well for herself. Even though she didn’t go to college like me and her mother planned, she’s taking medical classes, and she’s in love with some knucklehead, who she refuses to let me meet.”
“I’ll never forget that day you brought her over,” Brenda said, shaking her head.
“How can I forget? Somehow, your son got hurt. Did he ever tell you how he fell?” Charles asked.
“Nope. He doesn’t even remember your daughter, which is a good thing because that would be weird if he ever caught feelings for her, right?”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Charles replied.
Brenda looked down at her shoes. Something was on her mind. She looked up at Charles. “Charles, there’s a favor I need to ask of you. It’s about my son.”
“What is it?” Charles said while checking his watch.
“Well, he’s out there in the streets a lot, and I think…no, I know he’s in the drug game. I don’t know who he’s dealing with, and I don’t like it. He’s just like his father, Salideen, God rest his soul. I just want the best for my son, regardless of what he does, so I wonder if you can help him. I know the stuff he does is illegal, but I’d rather have you deal with him than anyone else,” Brenda confessed.
“Sure, I can talk to him. Don’t worry, Brenda. The position I’ll put your boy in, he’ll never have to worry, about--”
Charles stopped in midsentence when he saw Mad Max standing beside a Colombian, who had a fully automatic AR-15 pointed right at him. His eyes went wide and he froze.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Mad Max fired at both Two Gun Sam and Whisky while Fernando’s automatic riddled Charles’s black Valentino suit with holes. Brenda got hit, as well. The burning slugs knocked her off the stool as blood soaked her mini-dress. Two Gun Sam quickly whipped out two cannons and fired back as the other bar patrons fled in a panic. Mad Max and Fernando, blending in with the fleeing crowd, disappeared out the door.
When Whisky and Two Gun Sam got to Charles, he was on the verge of his last breath. Looking at his lips, they could tell he was trying to say something. “WA…Watch…O…O…over my…family.” Then came the blank stare with glassy eyes.
With Charles dead, Two Gun Sam and Whisky knew they had to get out of that bar. They grabbed Charles’s gun and cautiously walked out the door.
When Mad Max got to the car, he had a big smile on his face as he dialed Zelinski’s number. “Hello, boss? It’s done. We got him.”
“Excellent,” Zelinski said. “You done a good job. Keep me posted.”
‘Sure thing, boss.”
In Miami, Florida, Carlton Butler sat on the sofa in a Fisher Island mansion with the notorious drug lord, Verningo Castor. Castor was the Russian mob’s main cocaine supplier. He also supplied a number of big-time drug syndicates. He was infamous for putting out hits on anyone who tried to muscle into his territory. But with Charles, it was different.
“So, tell me, Mr. Butler, now that Charles is out of the way, how do you plan on getting rid of his son,” Castor asked.
“I know Clyde will come for his father’s share of the underworld. I also know the Great White committee won’t listen to anyone but one of their own, so I plan to let Clyde have his father’s share. I’m getting old in this business, so I want to keep everything simple. This is why I’m putting my son in charge of the Wolf Pack.”
“So I take it that with Deshawn and Clyde running the business, you’re gonna play the puppet master?” Castor asked.
“Your exactly right Mr. Castor, because I fear the consequences if you’re wrong,” Castor said before walking to the table and grabbing his briefcase.
He brought the briefcase over to Carlton and sat it in front of him. “Here’s your ten million for helping me set up Charles. I guess you can buy your son Stephon a new sponsor now,” Castor joked. “I saw his fight the other day on DISH. He’s very talented.”
“Of course, he is. He’s a Butler,” Carlton said.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Butler stopped. “Speak.”
“You still haven’t said anything about Charles’s associates. I’m sure they’ll try to get revenge.”
Butler chuckled arrogantly. “You know, for a man that is like a God in his country, you worry too much. I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk to Clyde personally. By the time I finish with him, he’ll think that it was all Charles’s associates’ fault. And then you know what happens after that.”
Chapter 25
DEATH OF THE SNOW WHITE KING
Montega sat in the empty pew in the first row of the empty church, silently staring at his mother’s casket. The church was quiet, dark, and gloomy. The wooden pews were so hard, his ass felt numb. Montega looked up from the casket to the statue of Jesus, hanging from the cross and wondered why God had dealt him such a fucked up hand in life. He didn’t cry because there was no one he could lean on.
Only a handful of people were there; Brenda never had many friends. However, an anonymous someone had been generous enough to pay for the funeral. Among the few who did come to pay their respects were Lil Man, his little sister, Faith, and his mother, Stephanie, Stacy, her two children, Kia and Taliban. Brenda’s parents and her nephew, Rodney, came all the way from Atlanta. Seated in the last row were two homicide detectives.
Montega didn’t show tears, nor did he show anger. He knew that his mother was in a better place. Now he was looking for answers. All he knew was that she was a victim of a shootout between three men, and now she was dead, just like his father, 16 years ago. Now he was all alone. After the funeral, as Montega got up to leave, he spotted Stacy talking with his grandparents just before his sister, Kia, came up to hug him.
“I’m sorry, boo. My mom just talked to the detectives. They said that your mom’s killers got away. They don’t even have the description of the guys,” Kia explained.
“So, my mom’s killer is still out there somewhere?” Montega asked.
Kia nodded. They both knew there was nothing anyone could do about it. For now.
As Montega hung his head, Stacy approached. “I talked to your grandparents. They want you to come stay with them in Atlanta. But I figured you wouldn’t want to leave everything behind. Plus, I don’t think it’s right to break up a family that’s already established so you can stay with me if you want. That is, until you find an apartment,” Stacy said before hugging him and kissing him on the forehead.
His mother had schooled him so much in the past about how to move and how to be a man. Even though it was hard for a mother to teach that, she still did her best with what she knew. Now it was time for her son to be the man of the house. That was harder than it sounded; he felt like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. And the only way to survive in that world was to make it his own.
Throughout the city of LA, an almost endless line of cars crowded the streets as people from all over the country came to pay their respects to the White Family and remember the Snow White King. Diamond sat in the Catholic church next to her family, dressed in a black Donna Karen dress with matching shades and shoes and she listened to the priest speak. It was tough to pick up on what he was saying while her mother engaged in hysterics.
Pearl broke down at the news of Charles’ death. She didn’t know what hurt her more-- that her husband was dead or that he had cheated on her. This despair had led her to a suicide attempt. She was only still alive because Diamond had found her in the tub, trying to slit her wrists.
Diamond sat quietly and hid her face behind the veil. Had it not been for the black satin gloves she wore, her sweat would have dripped from her closed fist of anger. Inside her, a storm was raging. She was too angry and too proud to cry. What she wanted was revenge.
But no revenge was as sinister as what Clyde had on his mind. Clyde not only wanted the blood from those responsible for his father’s death, he also wanted it from the people who didn’t save him. Before the funeral, he had a serious talk with the chairman of the underworld, Carlton Butler. After listening to him, he made up his mind.
At the cemetery, Clyde couldn’t take his eyes off of Two Gun Sam and his cronies. He felt that they were to blame; they were there to protect his father, and yet, not one of them had a scratch. Pearl’s hysterics also had him flaming. Clyde had always accepted Pearl since he didn’t know his real mother, but now that his father was dead, he decided to cut his ties as soon as he got back home.
As he continued to stare at his father’s so called friends, someone moved through the crowd of people gathered all the way up to the casket. Diamond thought maybe the guy was mourning, until she saw him go into his pocket and pull out a grenade. Her eyes got wide. She wanted to stop him as he pulled the pin and tossed it into the grave, but instincts told her to push her mother to the ground and cover her. Clyde, too, saw the man, but couldn’t believe his own eyes. As the man made a run for it, Charles’s casket exploded. The Russian whipped out a mini AR-15 and started firing on the stunned crowd, sending everyone in a panic. Diamond, who was covering her screaming mother, looked around and spotted the man running. She quickly went for her bag to get her gun. Even from the distance where the Russian was running, she had no doubts about her aim. But before she could get to the gun, a hail fire of bullets ripped into his back. The Russian fell face-first to the ground, just before another Great White henchman walked up on him and shot him in the head. Pearl pushed her daughter away from her and looked to where Charles’s casket once sat and saw nothing but body parts. At the sight of that, she passed out. Clyde shook his head as his new business partner, Deshawn “Scar” Butler, and his father, Carlton, approached.
“I don’t believe this shit,” Clyde said, looking at the scene.
Carlton Butler placed his hand on his shoulder. “See what happens when you don’t have tight security?”
Carlton looked at Two Gun Sam.
Clyde followed his gaze. Carlton whispered in his ear, “Keep your circle tight, Clyde. Don’t make the same mistake your father did.”
After the tragic event, just before Sam left the cemetery, Tommy stopped him. “Yo, Sam, Clyde wants you to ride with me to pick up a package.”
Still in mourning, Sam couldn’t believe that Clyde insisted on work at a time like this, but out of respect for Charles, he got into the car and rode off with Tommy, with no idea where he was going.
Chapter 26
CHANGING THE GAME
When Diamond got home from the funeral, she headed straight up to her bedroom, where she flopped down on her bed and stared at the ceiling in silence. Instantly, her emotions broke through the barrier of her strong will. She was devastated. All her life, she had been shielded by the horrors of life. Now, they were coming at her from every angle. Eventually, her sorrow transformed into anger, and anger turned into rage.
Diamond sat up, grabbed the crystal ball on her dresser, and threw it at her mirror. The glass shattered into tiny pieces. Seeing the damage she’d done, she fell back to the bed and sighed. Her mouth felt dry, and her stomach started to growl, but she ignored it. She was too exhausted and hurt too much inside to eat. Not only had she lost her father, but her best friend and first love was also gone. What left a bad taste in her mouth was the simple fact that none of their killers were brought to justice. A teardrop swelled in her eyes for the 20th time. This time, she let it roll down her cheek as JR’s cell phone rang; it was still sitting on her nightstand.
Wiping her cheek, she sat up, picked up the phone, and answered it with a raspy voice. “Hello?”
“Que pasa?” Someone with a Spanish accent spoke on the other end. “Is JR there?”
“No, he isn’t. May I take a message?” she asked coyly.
“Can you tell him that I’m ready to see him?” he asked.
At first, Diamond thought about telling him about JR’s murder, but then she got an inspiration. “You know what? Can I call you right back?” she asked.
“Yeah, mommy. Sure,” he said before she clicked over to the other line.
The man’s name was Spud, and his intentions were the same. Diamond put him on stand-by, along with five other guys who had called within 10 minutes. Diamond quickly figured out that the cell phone was used for drug transactions.
Once she put all the clients on stand-by, she searched through the phone for the Russian man she once met with JR at a restaurant on La Cienga Boulevard. She remembered it being a business conference. And now her boyfriend was gone, and yet his old clients kept calling. She remembered the lessons that JR had taught her about the drug game.
As she searched through the list of numbers she recognized a name: Semok Budinov. She then made a call. Three rings later, the Russian answered.
“I was wondering when you would call,” he said.
“Um, is this Mr. Budinov?” she asked nervously.
“Who is this?” Semok wondered.
“Mr. Budinov, I believe we met once at a restaurant on La Cienga Boulevard. I accompanied my boyfriend, JR,” she said, hoping to jog his memory.
“Oh, yes, I remember. Why have you called me?”
“Well, if you didn’t know already, my boyfriend was murdered a week ago,” she lamented.
Semok got quiet for a moment. “I see. I’m truly sorry, my dear. JR was a good business man. He will be tough to replace in LA.”
“Well, you see, Mr. Budinov, that’s actually what I need to talk to you about,” Diamond hinted.
“What are you saying?” Semok asked.
“I really don’t want to discuss business over the phone, but we can meet up at the same place, at, say, 3:00 PM?” Diamond asked, checking her watch.
“Listen, miss…”
“Diamond. My name is Diamond,” she said.
“Yes, well, Diamond, I’m a very busy man and I--”
“I know,” she interjected. “I’ve been around busy men all my life. One thing I learned about them is that they never turn down anything worth their while,” she said, tossing him the bait. She wanted to convince him that she was serious.
“Okay, be at the restaurant at precisely 3:00. If you’re late, you must never call my phone again,” Semok warned.
“Yeah, I understand,” Diamond said before hanging up and rushing to get herself together.
She knew what she was about to get herself into, so she had to look the part. She wanted to project pure business. So she dove into her walk-in closet, searching for the right outfit: a charcoal Armani two-piece form fitted skirt suit.
Diamond thought she would never dress like a business woman, being as though she had her heart set to tackle the medical world. Today was different. Today she was set to tackle a totally different world that was far more dangerous than anything she could ever imagine. Today she wanted Semok to know just how serious she was. Not only was her suit a perfect fit on her immaculate curves, but her black pumps and blouse set it off. She strutted to her burgundy S500 Mercedes Benz. It was time for the princess to take her place as the queen. What she was about to do would change the game.
When Tommy and Two Gun Sam arrived at the spot in Compton, they both got out of the car and headed for the door. Tommy knocked twice but no one answered. He knocked again; still no answer. Tommy then tried the knob, which was surprisingly unlocked, allowing them to enter. The house was empty, and none of the light switches worked. Once inside, Two Gun Sam searched for the package.
“I think he said it was in there,” Tommy said, pointing to the bedroom.
Two Gun Sam pulled out one of his Colts, just in case someone was behind the door. Cautiously, he turned the knob and swung the door open and pointed his weapon at an empty room. What he saw sitting in the middle of the floor was a large wooden box that he had mistaken for a chest. Two Gun Sam frowned as he approached it. “What the hell is that?” Tommy asked, following his tall, skinny partner.
