Beauty and the Beast (26 page)

“What changed his mind, and where can I buy some? This is amazing.”

The car turned onto a private road that cut through cornfields. “Are you sitting down?”

“Boy, if you don’t stop dragging this on...”

“He’s in love, or lust. I really don’t give a damn which because once she whispered in his ear, he changed his tune and kicked me out of his office.” He laughed. “Talk about whipped! But I’m not mad at him. If I had a piece like that hot and ready for me… Oh yeah, baby, it would be on.” The sway of Tee’s hips as she ascended the stairwell had called to him. And her voice… He could practically hear her cry out his name as he hit his climax.

“Wait a second. Are you serious?”

“Hell yeah!” The car sped smoothly along the private two-lane road toward the highway. “And check this out. He makes her cover herself from head to toe. I spoke to her before we entered his office. She isn’t some Muslim, Hindu or anything like that. But once we were in the room with him, it was like she lost her voice. She would only whisper in his ear.”

“Wow. I’m totally stunned.”

“Yeah, tripped me the hell out.” The car veered right onto a lane that ran along the highway. “Man, you should have seen her eyes. She couldn’t take those big lovely babies off me.”

“You sound so high school? If you start describing this woman’s body, I take back what I said about taking back all of the negative things I said about you.”

“I’m just saying we have an ally in Tee.” He leaned back in the seat with his eyes closed and envisioned Tee pleasuring him orally. He’d bet Bruce had her well trained.

“Don’t make a move on her.”

“Come on, Catherine. I’d wait until the deal was closed first.”
 

“Listen to me carefully, Roy. This Tee is off limits to you forever. If Maxwell even suspects something between you two, he’ll come after us. Back off.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.”

“I’m serious. You’re too old to be acting like your life will end if you don’t have sex with every woman you’re attracted to. We caught a break, don’t screw it up.”

“I won’t.”

Marco threw a barstool against the paneled wall of his poolroom. “What the hell you mean, Redman?”

Redman’s eyes grew large, and he moved to the opposite side of the pool table from Marco.

“There can’t be that many cats out there named Jay in cahoots with sick assed bastards getting their kicks from slashing up bitches. Why can’t you find his ass?”

Hands raised slightly, Redman admitted, “The only Jay I know of is a car thief and is out of town. I’m tellin’ ya, he ain’t the cat we lookin’ for. I been thankin’ this Jay is a Jason, Jaylin, or some shit like that, but damn, man,” he ran his shaky tan hands over his reddish hair, “there’s a ton of ’em. Instead, I been checkin’ into fences for art and shit.”

“Aw, hell naw,” cut in Deuce Deuce. “I know yo’ illiterate ass ain’t tryin’ ta talk to them stiff suits. No wonda yo’ ass can’t find shit out.” The other five men in the room joined Deuce Deuce in laughing. Even Redman chuckled.

“Now you see my problem. They won’t tell me who been tryin’ to sell them shit.”

Marco crossed his arms over his plump chest and paced between the bar and pool table. His boys remained quiet as he thought. “We need someone who can relate to them stuck-up bastards.” He planted one of his heavy hocks on a barstool and leaned against the bar.

“What ’bout Dennis?” Redman asked. “It was his girl’s paintin’s Butch was after in the first place. Hell, he should be mad as hell at this Jay. I say knock off part of Dennis’s debt if he can find out who the hell Jay is.”

“Call his ass up and put him on it. Give him the name of them art folk you got and tell him I want to know the identity of Jay. How long you think it’ll take?”

Redman hunched his shoulders. “I ain’t sure, man. They ain’t tellin’ me shit. It may take him a few weeks for them to get comfortable around him, especially since I been askin’ about Jay. He can’t go in there doin’ the same shit.”

Marco strummed his fingers along the bar counter. “I need this shit cleaned up. They took my ass in for questioning today. That crack head Ezel must have said something. I should have had his ass whacked.”

“How ’bout ’til Labor Day,” one of his other boys said as Marco returned to his pool game. “That’s almost two weeks. Then he can give some sort of update or something.”

“Tell his ass if he can deliver Jay by Labor Day, I’ll forgive his loan.”

“What the—” All of his boys gasped or did double takes.

Marco laughed. “Hold up. I ain’t done. The day after Labor Day, I only forgive half the loan. The next week, a quarter. The next week, an eighth… You see what I’m getting’ at?”

“Yeah, man.” Redman bobbed his head. “That shit is tight.”

“What if he can’t find out who Jay is?” Deuce Deuce asked.

“We don’t have no choice but find his ass before the cops do. If we don’t, that means Ezel was lyin’.” Marco chuckled. “Which wouldn’t be a surprise.”

“I don’t know, man.” Deuce Deuce chewed on his inner jaw. “I think he was tellin’ the truth. At least most of it was the truth.”

“Yeah, I’m with ya. Let’s just find this bastard and get this shit cleared up. The trial is right around the corner.” Marco jerked his designer jogging suit sleeve up and checked his watch. “It’s after six. Dennis should be home by now.”

“R-redman.” Dennis opened the door to his apartment fully and allowed Redman in. “What are you doing here?” He peeked into the hallway to see who was around. The hallway was empty.

“Marco has a sweet ass deal for you.” Redman walked in as if he owned the place. “I was gonna call, but decided to deliver the message personally.”

Dennis closed the door and motioned toward his suede sofa. Someone less experienced with Marco would have clung to the word deal and thought they were somehow getting out of paying, but Dennis had learned the hard way that deals with Marco seldom benefited anyone besides Marco. They just looked sweet until you bit into the apple and discovered a lemon in disguise.

“What kind of deal?”

“You got a beer, man?”

Dennis left Redman alone in the living room. Redman was the least scary of Marco’s crew, but he was still dangerous. As he opened the refrigerator door, the phone rang. He snatched the phone with one hand and propped it between his ear and shoulder and grabbed a beer with his other hand. “What’s up?”

“Hey, cuz.”

Shit.
“I can’t really talk right now.”

“What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing. I just have a guest right now.”

“I know you ain’t bangin’ some bitch when I’m down here working my ass off to save your ass.”

“Of course not. Damn, man.” He closed the refrigerator door. “I’ll call you later.” He disconnected and set the phone on the counter, then returned to the living room with Redman.

“Who was that?”

He wanted to tell him none of his damn business, but said, “Just my family gettin’ all up in my business.”

“Damn, I know how you feel, dawg.” Brows furrowed, he stared at Dennis. “Don’t you have a cousin or somethin’ named Jay?”

“Not that I know of.” Lying was easy for Dennis. His expertise at lying had won him many a hand in poker, helped him embezzle over a million dollars from his employer and freelance clients, and had had Nefertiti believing he was financially stable. “Why?”

“It’s part of the deal Marco has for you.” He motioned around the expensive furnishings of the two bedroom flat. “How yo’ broke ass afford this place?”

“Damn, you all up in mine today. This spot is nice, but you should have seen my condo in the Loop.” He sighed. If things kept spiraling downward, he might end up in a dump like his cousin’s rat hole. “I had to give it up. Now what does Marco want?”

As Redman explained Marco’s offer, all Dennis could think was,
I know this is not happening. First, some nutso slices up my girl, then I actually murdered a man, now to save my ass I’d have to turn over my cousin, which would screw my ass over also. How did this shit get so out of control?

“… You listenin’?”

“Yeah, I hear you. So what happens if I can’t figure out who this Jay is?”

“You know Marco. You just better find his ass. Who the hell were ya goin’ to sell them paintin’s to anyway? I have some names, but work yo’ own connections also. I’ll bet you can figure it out. Yo’ ass is slick. Them tight suits won’t even know what hit ’em.”

Dennis ran his dark hands over his bald head. “Tell Marco I’ll figure out who Jay is, but I can’t work on his time line.”

“You know that shit won’t fly.”

“Don’t worry. I know not to dick around with Marco. I’ll need at least a month. And I want the full debt forgiven if I find this guy. If I don’t find him, then we carry on as before. I won’t be an additional month behind and no interest will accrue.”

“So you want a free month. Hell no! You’d best think of somthin’ Marco will go for.”

Dennis rested his elbows on his knees. “It’s this simple. I won’t have time to find Jay and raise money for a payment. Marco can have one or the other, not both.”

“Humph.” Redman guzzled the remainder of his beer. “Your in-debt-ass sure is demanding.”

“I have nothing else to lose. Believe me, I want to find this Jay. I’ll finally be free of Marco. But I need time. I think a month is fair.”

Redman called Marco and explained the situation to him. Marco wasn’t too happy with Dennis’s new show of balls, and decided to talk to him himself. Redman handed Dennis the phone.

“So you say you can’t work with my time line! I tried to play this shit fair, but you had to jack it up. No problem. Here’s the deal. You bring me Jay before the cops find him, I’ll forgive all of your debt and give you an additional hundred big ones for your trouble.”