Asante cut him off. “You don’t talk to me. Ever,” he snapped and I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard his voice sound the way that it did. “What do you want me to do, B? Kill him?”
I turned around slowly.
“Take two steps back and drop to your knees. You can do it willingly or I can blow your head off and have you drop to your back.” I heard Asante’s gun click in place. “Move.”
The younger Cortez dropped to his knees and linked his hands behind his head. Asante grabbed both guns from his hand and pat him down quickly.
“Bishop?” Asante addressed me without his eyes ever leaving the man. “Make a choice and do it now. Do you want me to kill him?”
“Nah.” I reached for my phone immediately and dialed Rook who answered on the fourth ring.
“What’s up?”
“Little Cortez just pulled up on me. If you want him, come get him from the club. Now.”
“I’m on my way.” The line went dead and I looked from Cortez to Asante and back.
“Rook is on his way.”
“Alright.” Asante adjusted his hold on his gun and I took a step back when he closed the space between him and Cortez, put him in a headlock and took a few steps back to drag him off his knees.
Cortez started kicking immediately and his hands rose to Asante’s arms. He dug his nails in and Asante hissed through his teeth. I watched his muscles flex and it was over as quickly as it started. Cortez went limp in his grasp.
“Open the trunk,” Asante said simply.
I grabbed my keys and popped it open. Asante lifted Cortez up, walked him over and tossed him in. He slammed the trunk shut then looked at me.
“You good?” he asked. He closed the space between us and looked me over, his hands frantically rushing over my arms and chest.
“I’m good.” I nodded.
I couldn’t even think about the fact that Cortez could have killed me. All I could think about was that Asante had been willing to put a bullet in someone’s head for me without question.
“You got a cigarette?” he asked.
“Yeah.” I quickly got one for him and he took it in exchange for both guns, Cortez’s and mine.
I lit his cigarette for him and he took a few steps away while he took his first hit. He walked a short line, back and forth while he smoked and I just leaned against my car and watched him. I knew he probably had a lot of thoughts and concerns but I didn’t know how to alleviate any of it just yet.
When he finished smoking his cigarette, he walked over and leaned on my car beside me. We stood there side by side in silence until Rook showed up. He whipped into the parking lot beside us and hopped out.
He looked between us but didn’t ask any questions.
“Pop the trunk,” I instructed.
He did as he was told and I popped mine. Asante moved Cortez from one trunk to the other.
“You good?” Rook asked.
“I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. I’m positive.” I cleared my throat. “Can I uh, holla’ at my brother alone real quick?” I asked Asante.
“Yeah. Sure.” Asante exhaled and walked off.
I watched him as he headed toward his own car in the parking lot.
