Passion for the Heist, page 32
“Passion, what the hell are you doing? I ain’t paying your ass to stand around!” Gus shouted across the restaurant, causing everyone to look her way. It was embarrassing.
“What a fucking asshole,” Pain said, glaring at Gus who was glaring right back at him.
“My life is full of them,” Passion mumbled. “Look, you got to order something or I’m gonna get in trouble.”
“Okay.” Pain picked up the menu and began scanning it. “What do you suggest?”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t eat a damn thing on that menu. The pie is safe, though. We get those from Walmart. Gus don’t make them.”
“Okay, let me get a slice of apple pie.”
“A true-blue American, huh?” Passion teased him.
“No, I just like apple pie.”
“Let me go and get your pie.” She collected his menu.
Pain watched Passion walk away, admiring her curves. Even in the plain black slacks she wore under her apron you could tell that she was holding. When she made it to the counter where the pie displays sat, she was greeted by Gus and he didn’t look happy. They exchanged heated words, which Pain was sitting too far away to hear, but their body language told the tale. Passion was trying to explain herself, but Gus didn’t want to hear it. He barked something at her and she stomped off into the back, out of Pain’s line of vision. Gus said something to one of the other waitresses and then followed Passion into the back. Something was afoot.
The waitress Gus had been speaking to came over to Pain’s table. She tried to hide her nervousness, but did a poor job of it.
“What happened to Passion? She was supposed to bring me my slice of pie,” Pain said before she could open her mouth.
“She … umm…” she stammered. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“Why? What’s the problem?” Pain already suspected the answer to that question but asked it anyway.
“It’s my boss. He has a strict policy about no outside food in the diner.” She pointed to the sign in the window near the entrance that said NO OUTSIDE FOOD, and then gestured at the cupcake.
“So, I guess that booze doesn’t count.” Pain nodded to a table where a group of young men were not-so-discreetly spiking their iced teas with a bottle of liquor.
“Mister, I don’t want any trouble. I’m just doing what I was asked,” the waitress said nervously.
“No worries, love. I’m a man who believes in carrying his own water. Your boss wants me gone? I’ll let him tell me himself.” Pain got up from the table and walked toward where he had seen Passion and Gus disappear.
“Wait … you can’t go back there!” the waitress called after him, but Pain never broke his stride.
The double doors he passed through led him into a storage room. Canned goods and pantry items were hastily stacked on shelves that looked like they had seen better days. From somewhere in the recesses of the room he could hear raised voices. One of them he identified as Passion’s.
“C’mon, Gus. Why are you even acting like that? I wasn’t doing nothing but being nice to a customer like you always tell us to do,” he could hear Passion saying.
“Bullshit!” Gus snapped. “I saw you out there batting your eyes and shaking your ass like the little tramp you are. You all up in that nigga’s face and I can’t get the time of day!”
“You don’t have to be talking to me that way.”
“This is my joint, and I’ll talk to you any damn way I please. You don’t like it, get your shit and get the fuck out. As a matter of fact, you’re done here. Leave your apron and name tag at the front with Heather.”
“Gus, don’t do me like that. I need this job!” Passion pleaded. She was to the point of tears by then. This part-time job was her only source of income. Without it she would never have a shot at escaping Uncle Joe.
“How bad do you need it?” Gus asked sinisterly. He reached out and touched her face. This time she didn’t pull away. Gus wiped a tear from her cheek with one of his fat fingers then stuck it in his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the saltiness. “Damn, you taste good, girl.” He ran his hand down the front of her blouse and cupped one of her breasts. “See, this ain’t so bad, right?”
Passion closed her eyes and tried to shut out the world around her. She knew what Gus was attempting to do was wrong, but the twisted part of her brain told her that she deserved it. If she had only done her job instead of cozying up to Pain this wouldn’t be happening. She was the one in the wrong. She tried to call up the darkness, but it was taking its time. All she had to do was give Gus what he wanted and things would go back to normal. She would be able to keep her job and save for her great escape. She just prayed that it would be over quickly. “What the fuck are you doing back here?” Passion heard Gus ask someone, followed by a loud crashing. When she opened her eyes, she found Gus sprawled on the floor with Pain standing over him.
“Low down, dirty dog nigga. What, you think you was about to take that girl’s pussy? Not on my watch,” Pain hissed.
“Now wait a minute. You got it all wrong. Me and Passion got an understanding, don’t we?” Gus looked to Passion, who said nothing. She was too embarrassed to speak.
“You know, I was in prison with guys like you. Sick fucking perverts who liked to have their way with young girls who ain’t got nobody to protect them. You’re a predator, and would you like to know what we did to predators in prison?” Pain asked. He grabbed a loose knife from one of the shelves and tested the sharpness of its point against his index finger. “We castrated them. Real slow like.” He flung the knife and it embedded itself in the floor between Gus’s legs, narrowly missing his penis.
“Wait … wait … wait. This was all a mix-up. If you want the bitch you can have her. She’s all yours!” Gus told him. This only made Pain angrier.
Pain drew his foot back and kicked Gus in the nuts. “Creep-ass nigga. She ain’t property to be bartered. She’s a person … a fucking human being!”
“Whatever you say, man. I just want you and this nutty broad out of my spot. You’re done here, Passion,” Gus told her.
“I’ve been done, I’m just mad I keep having to go through shit like this to realize it,” Passion said. She had nearly let Gus defile her for eight dollars an hour. That was a new low and it didn’t feel good.
“You straight?” Pain asked, checking her for injures. She was shaken up but otherwise unharmed. Passion nodded her head. “C’mon, we’re getting you out of here.” He draped his arm around her. As he was walking her out, he had some parting words for Gus. “This one here,” he hugged Passion tighter, “she ain’t your victim no more. She ain’t nobody’s victim.”
* * *
When Passion and Pain emerged from the storeroom they found that an audience had gathered. Waitstaff and patrons alike had their eyes glued to the double doors, eager to sip the tea as to whatever was going on back there. Passion had expected that with all the racket someone would have called the police, but they hadn’t. She looked to Heather, who was leaning against the wall where the diner’s phone was mounted. She’s was likely the reason no one had called. When she gave Passion a nod of approval, that confirmed it. She was free, at least of one monster.
They were passing the counter when Pain told her, “Hold tight for a second.” She watched in amusement as he slid across the counter, popped the cash register open, and helped himself to whatever cash was inside. When he made it back to Passion, Pain held the money up and winked at her. “Severance pay.”
That was the first time Passion had laughed in a very long time.
CHAPTER 23
“All my momma gots to do now is collect it and smile…” Case sang along with the Scarface classic featuring the late Tupac. Whenever he was in a mood he bumped either Pac or Face, depending on how he was feeling. That particular song provided him with a dose of both, so it was his go-to when he was trying to sort through a particularly sticky situation, which was what he was doing at that moment.
While Pain might’ve taken a sabbatical from the heist, it was still business as usual for Case and the gang, especially Case. He was out robbing and stealing like a man possessed, and with good reason. He was a marked man and would be so until he cleared his debt. However, the price of clearing this debt had become too high. Money was no longer on the table. The man he owed was asking for blood. He had managed to lie his way to a temporary stay of execution. Case had always been a good talker. He could sell water to a whale, but this was no whale he was dealing with. It was a barracuda. So far, he had been able to stay one step ahead of his karma, but the footfalls were getting closer.
When Pain touched down and decided to throw his hat back in the ring, it made Case hopeful. That was his ride or die and someone who he knew would pursue the bag with him full throttle. He just knew that once he filled Pain in on the jam he found himself in, his childhood friend would be able to get him out of it. Then when the situation with Hook came about it changed the dynamics of their relationship. Pain was a legend in the streets, but Hook was a respected member of the team. Some had considered the way Pain had left him for dead to be sucker shit, and they weren’t wrong. Though Case understood why Pain handled it the way he did, it didn’t make it any less wrong. He had sacrificed one of their own, which brought his pedigree into question. Pain fucking Hook over, for whatever the reason was, hadn’t gained him any brownie points in the streets or amongst the crew. The fact that Case as their leader had let it slide only made things tenser. Hook had been one of them, and Pain had betrayed him, but so far there had been no consequences for his actions. Case had instilled the mantra of “no one man above the team” in all of his soldiers, but the fact that he was willing to turn a blind eye to what Pain had done called his leadership into question. This he could not have, so he did damage control as best he could.
Case picked up the glass on the bar top in front of him and sipped from it. As a second thought, he downed it and motioned for the bartender to bring him another one. Case was known to turn up, but he was mostly a social drinker. You never caught him at a function too drunk, or out in the streets off his square. “Be aware and be prepared,” is what Pain used to tell him when they first started going out on heists together. Those were words Case had carried with him into any room he planned to leave with more than he walked in with, and they had always carried him home safely. But that day the lessons his best friend had taught him didn’t hold as much weight.
“You got something for me?” JK-47 slipped onto the barstool next to Case.
“What happened to ‘hello’?” Case asked without bothering to look in Jay’s direction. The bartender had just brought him another drink and that currently had his attention.
“Pleasantries between us went out the window when your folks’ bullshit put my people in harm’s way. My little sister could’ve been hurt!” Jay said sternly. “You rolled in shorthanded and the job played out sloppy, like I told you it would,” Jay said. His tone was condescending.
Case glanced up from his glass at Jay. He understood that Jay was upset because his little sister had unexpectedly been caught up in the robbery, but at the end of the day, what was a girl her age doing in a den of killers in the first place? Case was okay with being empathetic, but not a scapegoat. “It ain’t my job to keep track of your sister’s comings and goings. That’s on you.” Case took an envelope from his pocket and slid it across the bar to Jay. He watched as Jay took his time counting through the money, before adding, “Five grand for your providing the inside track, and the rest of what I owed your people for the toys.” It was Jay who had given them the intel about the rotating security shifts and the swipe cards that allowed entry into the house. “Thanks, by the way, for speaking with them and getting them to show me a little love on the down payment. I know that wasn’t easy for you to swing.”
“That’s an understatement. I had to use my personal guarantee that you would make good on what you owed. And with these guys your life is used as collateral for these kinds of guarantees. Had you fucked them over we’d both be dead,” Jay told him.
“Well, I didn’t and we’re both very much alive.”
“You know, I admit that it struck me as a little odd when you added the battering ram and concussion grenade to your shopping list. My people thought maybe you were on some terrorist shit and were a little skeptical about it. Local heat is easy enough for those guys to deal with, but terrorism is federal territory.”
“That was Pain’s idea,” Case admitted. He too had been skeptical when his friend had requested those items. Even when Pain tried to explain to him what he planned to use them for, Case was still on the fence. He thought Pain had a better chance at killing himself in the attempt than he actually did at making it through the wall. Once again, his friend had proven him wrong.
“I’m big enough to admit when I’m wrong, and I was definitely wrong about your buddy Blackbird. Seeing him in action, I can understand why he was so well-respected back in his day. That cat is like a freaking action hero.”
“I tried to tell you young punks that, Blackbird was the truth!” Case bragged.
“Yeah, you did and he is. Though I think Hook probably feels differently. I heard he’s looking at an asshole full of time and doesn’t plan on taking it lying down. He’s in the city jail’s infirmary talking real crazy. One of my people’s wife works there as a nurse. You better watch yourself, man,” Jay warned.
“Hook ain’t no snitch,” Case dismissed Jay’s warning. “Besides, he’d never turn on the crew.”
“Why not, when the crew turned on him?” Jay questioned.
“That wasn’t a decision made by the crew. That’s all on Blackbird.” Case had tried to express this same sentiment to Hook when he’d called him a few days ago, but Hook didn’t want to hear it. If whatever Case had to say didn’t start and end with Pain’s death then Hook was deaf to it. “You owe this to me,” had been Hook’s exact words, and technically he wasn’t wrong. Hook had been Case’s right hand when Pain was gone. He knew where all the bodies were buried, figuratively and literally. If he wanted, he could burn the whole crew down. Case doubted that he would go there, but the only way to ensure it would be to have Hook murdered in prison or do something to appease him.
“Yeah, I was there. I know,” Jay continued. “I wouldn’t wish prison on my worst enemy, but your boy was out of line for putting his hands on that little girl.”
“What little girl?” Case asked, confused.
“The chick Passion that my sister hangs around with. Hook roughed her up over some earrings, even ripped one of the girl’s earlobes over them. Pain took it personal. Shit went left from there.” Jay filled in the blanks.
Case tried to hide his utter shock at this piece of news. Pain and Lil Sorrow had told him that Pain and Hook’s fight had been over Hook taking unnecessary chances and pulling a gun on Pain. Neither of them had mentioned a girl being involved. He had been lied to, but why? If only one of them had told the lie, he still wouldn’t like it but could understand, but the fact that both of them were telling the same story meant that they had conspired to come up with it. This made Case wonder what else the two of them were in cahoots about. He then thought back to Hook’s warning about Pain usurping leadership of the crew. At the time it had been laughable, but in light of this new information it wasn’t so funny anymore.
“So, what you about to get into? I’m gonna slide uptown and get some bud from my guys. They just got some new shit in from Denver that’s supposed to be bomb as fuck. Roll with me and I’ll throw you an ounce on the strength,” Jay offered.
“Thanks, but I got somewhere else that I need to be.” Case slid off the barstool and hit the exit.
* * *
The bombshell Jay had just dropped on Case had killed his buzz and he was completely sober when he left the bar. After all he had done for Pain since he’d come home from prison, and this was how he repaid him? Case had not only put Pain back on his feet, but he had been his veil of protection. There were some who would’ve liked to see the Blackbird fried, and it had been Case who was standing between Pain and those who wished him harm. Case was tempted to step to the side and let the chips fall, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. At least not yet.
The logical part of him said to just confront Pain and see what he had to say about it, but his bruised ego told him otherwise. Pain was a master manipulator and all he would do was try to spin it and have Case feeling like he was being paranoid, while he continued to plot on snatching his crew out from under him. Case didn’t even know why he was surprised. Pain had always been an overly ambitious son of a bitch. Since they were kids, Pain always had to be the one to outside everybody else. When they became Crows it remained the same, especially with that bitch Cassandra always feeding his ego. Pain had always been the Queen’s favorite. Even when Case was the one to bring the licks to the table, somehow Pain got the credit. Everything had to be about Blackbird. Pain soaked that shit up like he was a movie star and everyone else just spectators at his films. This decision Case had finally come to hadn’t been an easy one to make, but he felt like his hand had been forced. The law of the jungle was survival of the fittest. He had hoped that prison would’ve humbled Pain, but since it hadn’t he’d have to be the one to do it.
* * *
Hook sat in the infirmary of Rikers Island city lockup, which was to be his home for the next few months while he fought his case. His leg and shoulder were still killing him, and the generic meds they had been pumping him full of did nothing to help. In the time he had been there, all he’d had to occupy himself were his pain and his rage.
He had spoken to Case a few times, and of course Case had tried his best to quell the boxer’s rage. He had promised Hook that all of his legal expenses would be covered and his share of the heist would go to his family. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to take care of everything. You got my word,” Case had promised. But the last Hook had heard, Pain was still alive and living it up, so Case’s word didn’t count for shit. He was tired of waiting around for the situation to be corrected, so he decided to be proactive.
