Animal 2 (6 page)

“This is some bullshit,” Cain said while being handcuffed.

“Thank your mentor, Ashanti, for the heat you guys are catching,” Brown whispered to Cain as he shoved him into the car.

“Alvarez, I used to have some respect for you, but this is some low shit. You know collaring me for anything less than a murder is a discredit to both our reputations,” Ashanti said.

“I'll take my victories where I can get them. You have the right to remain silent . . .”

“I'm trying to kill him, and he's trying to stop me from killing him. That ain't beef, that's fact.”

—Animal

“W
HERE ARE YOU TAKING ME?”
Animal asked, noticing the signs welcoming them to Rye, New York.

“I told you, to a funeral. I figured on the way, we could have some time to talk,” Priest told him, watching the road.

Animal gave him a comical look. “What do we possibly have to talk about?”

“Animal, beneath all that Buster Bad Ass shit you keep kicking, I'm sure you're at least curious about our history,” Priest said.

“Our history is pretty clear. You fucked my crackhead mother and then cut out, same as every other nigga she ever brought in the house,” Animal said venomously.

“Why don't you watch your fucking mouth? Marie had her hang-ups, but she still brought you into the world. If your little ass can't show some appreciation, at least show some damn respect.”

“Yes,
Father
,” Animal said sarcastically.

Priest took his eye off the road to shoot Animal a look. “You make it really hard to like you, kid.”

“Obviously, since not even the two people who brought me into the world wanted anything to do with me.”

“You really think it was just that simple, don't you?”

Animal shrugged. “Unless you plan to convince me differently during our little outing.”

Priest sighed. “Listen, Tayshawn, I know you think me and ya mom were just two fucked-up kids who brought a baby in the world that they couldn't raise, but it wasn't like that. You weren't just some popped condom or result of me forgetting to pull out. We wanted you. Your mom and I had a whole game plan.”

His unexpected admission got him Animal's undivided attention.

“Your mom turned into a different person when that shit took hold of her, but she wasn't always like that. She used to be the finest thing in New York, and whenever we'd walk into a spot together, she'd turn every head in the joint,” Priest reminisced. “Back then, Poppa Clark had just become boss, and I was his right-hand man. Me, him, ya mama, and his wife, June, used to run around heavy. The four of us were like family, which makes your beef with Shai so ironic. Y'all damn near kin.”

“It ain't no beef. I'm trying to kill him, and he's trying to stop me from killing him. That ain't beef, that's fact,” Animal said.

“Call it what you want, Animal, but it still doesn't change the fact that you're my son and he's the son of a man who was once my best friend, so your destinies are intertwined whether you like it or not,” Priest told him. “Like I was saying, Poppa was the new king, and I was his right-hand man. Shit was good for us, but to keep things good, we had to put in the work. Me
and Poppa were always in the streets, so your mother and June occupied their time partying and spending money. I heard things about your mother, and some of them were not so nice. I was losing my lady to the same streets I was running in, and I needed to do something to get a handle on things. It was around then I suggested we have a kid. She already had Justice from that pretty nigga she used to run with, but you would be the symbol of our union.”

Animal laughed. “And what a union that turned out to be.”

“Call it what you want, but in the beginning, it was pure . . . beautiful,” Priest recalled. “When you were a baby, you spent more time with me than you did with your mother. You were my little soldier, and I was the happiest nigga north of 110th Street. Then a cat named Mobi came to town, and everything changed.”

The name rang familiar to Animal. He could remember a few years before hearing Tech and some of the older heads talking about a dude named Mobi who was supposed to have been a real maniac. One story that stuck out was how he supposedly cut a kid's feet off for accidentally stepping on his shoes in a crowded club.

“Mobi was what you would call a man without honor,” Priest continued. “Because of his family's political status, he felt like he was entitled to whatever he wanted, and what he wanted was what belonged to Poppa Clark. So we went to war. We immediately saw what kind of man we were dealing with when Mobi went to Poppa Clark's favorite little bakery and killed the baker and his wife because they refused to poison Poppa Clark's morning coffee. Nothing was off-limits to him, including family. I had to protect you at all costs.”

Animal could vaguely remember flashes of him and his mother always living in different places. She would tell him it was because his father was in the military and his job required them to move around, but none of the apartments was ever outside the five boroughs.

“I tried to kick the real deal to your mom, but she was too caught up in the lifestyle to hear what I was saying, so I had no choice but to put some distance between us. For as much as it hurt me to be away from my son, I couldn't run the risk of Mobi finding out about my family and paying y'all a visit. The only sure way to keep you out of harm's way was to kill Mobi.”

“Judging from the fact that you're here telling me this story, I'm gonna assume you succeeded in killing Mobi. So what stopped you from coming back for us when he was dead?” Animal wanted to know.

Priest hesitated before answering so that he could check the address he had written on a slip of paper against the dilapidated bar they'd just pulled up in front of. When he confirmed he was at the right location, he killed the engine, but he didn't get out of the car yet. There was still much to be said between him and Animal, and he needed to get it off his chest as much as his son needed to hear it.

“The feud between Mobi's crew and the Clarks went on for longer than any of us expected. It took me almost three years to finally corner him and kill him, and that came at a price. His uncle was a heavyweight in Africa. He was connected politically and had a strong hand in the streets, which made him twice as dangerous. When he found out that it was me who put the love on his nephew, he demanded compensation. Back then, the Clark family didn't have the political connections they have
now, and Mobi's uncle would've crushed us like bugs. Still, Poppa Clark was my friend, and he refused to turn me over. He was ready to kick off a war that we had no chance of winning to protect me. Mobi's uncle saw this, and it gave him a newfound respect for the Clarks, so he offered a compromise.”

“Which was?” Animal asked in a very interested tone.

“I was put on loan in the service of Mobi's uncle to take out one of his rivals in Africa. To settle the blood debt over Mobi's life, he demanded the life of his enemy and the lives of the enemy's family,” Priest explained. “It went against my beliefs, when I still believed in anything, but I didn't have much of a choice. The children I gave quick deaths. With each dimming of their young lights, my soul became darker, more stained. I took my self-hate out on their parents and killed them in the messiest ways I could think of. I slaughtered everyone in the house, except the slave girl. She wasn't of their blood. When Mobi's uncle released me from his service and I was allowed to leave, I brought her with me.”

“Kahllah,” Animal said, putting the pieces together in his head.

“Yes, my little Black Lotus. It's funny how I saved her from a life of servitude and she saved me from myself.” Priest chuckled. “After the things I'd seen and done in Africa, I wasn't the same person Poppa Clark had put on that plane. Everywhere I looked, I saw the faces of the children I'd murdered, and it drove me mad. I retreated into the furthest corners of my mind and had no desire to leave, but Kahllah refused to let me slip away. Even when I was at my lowest point, Kahllah never left my side.”

“And what of us?” Animal asked, trying to keep his emotions
in check. Listening to the pain in Priest's voice as he told the story was getting to him.

Priest blinked, and when he opened his eye it was moist. “By the time I got myself together, Marie was a washed-up base head, and the streets had you. My little boy was gone, and you were the Animal.”

For a long while, Animal said nothing. He just sat in the passenger seat, weighing everything. Animal didn't know Priest very well, but he was an expert on the hearts of men, and there was too much genuine pain in Priest's voice for it to have been a lie. In a few short hours, the man claiming to be his father had told him more about his origins than his mother had in all the time he was with her. He felt like a weight had been lifted as some of the blanks in his life had finally been filled in, but the bitterness of being abandoned and abused remained.

“So what now? Are we supposed to go toss a football in the park or some shit? I can respect the position you were put in, especially being in a similar situation. I'd do everything I could to protect someone I love, even if it meant letting them go.” He thought of Gucci and the constant danger she was in by being with him. “Sacrifice is sometimes a necessary evil, but that still doesn't absolve you from abandoning your responsibilities.”

Priest turned to face Animal. “You still don't get it, do you? This isn't about absolution. I'll be judged by a much higher authority than you or anyone else. I don't expect you to forgive me; I just want you to understand.”

Animal nodded. “One thing I still don't get is if you're so loyal to the Clarks, then why help me? And don't feed me that family shit, because we hardly know each other. What's your angle?”

“Poppa Clark is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I watched him bust his ass for decades trying to create the American dream for his kids, only to have his youngest offshoot piss it all to hell with his Hollywood shit. Shai is a good kid, but I'm not a fan of the way he's running his father's empire. Maybe a good pat on the ass is what he needs to get his head back in the game and get you out of the fire all at the same time. If we play this right, then everybody walks away with what they want. Shai gets a wake-up call, the feud is ended, and I can die knowing I helped my son when he truly needed me.”

“Shai hates my guts, and I hate his. The only way he's gonna ever truly let go of the grudge is if one of us is dead,” Animal said.

“Animal, death is the most effective resolution to most problems but not always the only resolution. Pay attention, and you just might learn something from your old man before it's all said and done.” Priest got out of the car.

“I
THOUGHT YOU SAID WE
were going to a funeral,” Animal said, once they crossed the threshold of the tavern. It was a cramped little bar that smelled of musk and alcohol.

“We are,” Priest said, scanning the room. He spotted the man he was looking for, hunched over the bar, nursing a glass of something brown. “Follow me, and say nothing unless I tell you to,” Priest told Animal, before making his way to the bar.

The man nursing the drink must've felt Priest approaching, because he looked up from his glass. He was a light-skinned man who looked to be about fifty, with a balding head. His eyes were beet-red, but the dried tears on his face said it wasn't from the alcohol. He had been crying.

“Ain't you afraid you might burst into flames coming in this hellhole, Father?” the old man said over his shoulder.

“I go wherever the word needs to be heard.” Priest invited himself to the stool next to the old man. “How are you, Charlie?”

“Not too good,” Charlie said, tossing the drink back and
motioning for the bartender to bring him another one. “I buried my wife this morning.”

“I heard. You have my condolences. Nancy was a good woman,” Priest said sincerely.

“Too good for a wretch like me,” Charlie said. “You know, she could've had any guy in the world, but she chose me. I always asked God what made me such a lucky bastard.”

“Sometimes it's senseless to question his will. Everything the most high does, he does for a reason, and the reasons aren't always for us to understand,” Priest said, watching Charlie take the fresh shot down.

“Would've been nice if you could've been there to say a few words,” Charlie said. “I know you take that collar about as seriously as I take my liver, but it still would've been good for show, huh? Nancy never did give up hope that you'd find your way again one day.”

“I wish I had half the faith in myself as Nancy had in me.” Priest raised his hand and motioned for the bartender to bring them three more shots of whatever Charlie was drinking. When she set them down, he slid one to Charlie and one to Animal and kept one. Animal stared down at the glass quizzically.

“Who's this, your new altar boy?” Charlie asked Priest.

“No, this is my son,” Priest said.

Charlie turned around on his stool and gave Animal the once-over. “I ain't seen him since he was knee-high. Where you been hiding him, Priest?”

“We're estranged,” Animal answered for him.

Charlie laughed. “He abandoned you, too, huh? Yeah, Priest is good at walking away from shit. Cold-blooded, that one is.”

“Compassion is only a friend to a fool. When people find
places in your heart, they use them to their advantage.” Priest raised his glass.

“Touché, nigga.” Charlie threw his shot back. Priest sipped his. “Never known you to be much of a drinker,” he said to Priest.

“I'm not, but I make allowances for special occasions.” Priest took another sip.