I opened the conference door and saw the Strong cousins sitting at the table. Nine sat in the middle, with Zero to his left. Six and Mahogany on his right. Their partners weren’t present, but I knew all it took was for Mahogany to breathe too hard or for Six to tense up, and Focus and December would come in, guns blazing and not asking a single question ever. If this wasn’t a show of force, then I didn’t know what it was, and I couldn’t do anything but respect it.
“I appreciate y’all coming,” I said as we sat across from them. “How is Four?”
“Let’s not waste time. Why did you ask to meet with us, Amethyst?” Nine said, shaking his head. The number of years we had in our friendship didn’t mean shit when it came to his family.
“Alright,” I said, nodding. “I spoke with my Pop this morning after Corinthians showed up at my parents’ house.”
“Her only act of mercy,” Nine replied with a grunt. “Don’t take it lightly.”
“I don’t,” I said. “Listen, I fucked up and asked her to put the word out for Quincy to show his face. I didn’t think that this would be the result. The shooting was the last thing I expected to happen.”
“What did you think was going to happen?” Nine chuckled. “You thought he was going to show up and just let you kill him?” His nostrils flaring was the only sign that he was annoyed. “You stepped into a situation that you had no control over and brought in the last fucking person who needed to be involved. Do you realize what the fuck you did? Do you know how many people are going to die over this shit? Innocent or not, you are now responsible for their deaths.”
“Wait a minute now, Nine,” Citrine interjected, shaking his head. “This ain’t only on Amethyst, Corinthians could’ve said no.”
“You’re right, she could’ve, but she didn’t. She warned Amethyst that there would be problems.” Nine sat forward. “She warned your Pop and Tulane of the repercussions, and they said do it anyway. Right now, she’s sitting at Four’s bedside praying, and we all know that Corinthians doesn’t pray.”
“Listen--”
“No, Amethyst, I want you to listen for a second,” Six cut in. Her southern accent was heavy, which meant she was pissed. “You asked for her help, which means you asked for our help. My cousins, my husband, every connection we have. You asked for that. Do you even know who you are going after now?”
“I want Quincy.”
“This is bigger than Quincy,” she laughed, then turned her attention to Pyrite. “It’s bigger than Javien.” She turned to Citrine. “It’s bigger than the Carver and the bullshit they were up to and what you think Xayne was up to when he met with them.”
“Everybody keeps saying that, yet nobody has said shit worth listening to,” Pyrite grunted. “Who the fuck is the nigga running this shit. Who is Robert Strong?”
“Four’s daddy,” Nine answered. “The nigga running all this shit is Four’s got-damn daddy.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Robert Strong is the oldest of the Strong siblings. He runs Strong Pharmaceuticals. He’s the nigga behind a few of our downfalls and a lot of fucking deaths. You aren’t just walking into some bullshit, and your parents tried to keep you the fuck out of it for your safety. But you didn’t listen, Amethyst.”
“I’m tired of hearing niggas say I didn’t listen,” I replied.
“Then start fucking listening,” Six said, sitting forward. She stabbed the table with her index finger. “You walked into this shit with your blinders on and thought everyone was just being hard on you for no reason. Your parents, along with Tulane, were trying to fix this shit. It didn’t happen, so now we.” Shepointed to herself and her cousins. “Have to fix this shit before Uri wakes up, and that’s if he wakes up, Amethyst, and if you want to be honest, it’s only one damn reason right now we think he will wake up.”
“And why is that?”
“For her,” Six said, nodding to the glass wall behind us. “For Corinthians.” We turned around to see Corinthians standing in the hallway talking to her sister. She’d changed out of her dress that we’d seen her in and was now in a pair of black sweats and a white t-shirt. “He’s going to wake up because he knows if he doesn’t, she’s going to do everything in her power to remind people why they left her alone for so long.”
“He’s your uncle, can’t you just go get him?” I asked after I turned around. “You still have stock in your family business, right? Call a meeting, make him show his face.” I was grasping at straws, but I didn’t care. If they wanted him that badly, they had ways to get him. Nine and Zero exchanged a look before shaking their heads. “What?”
“Pyrite, explain to your brother how corporations work,” Nine laughed.
“I don’t need him to explain shit to me,” I said, mugging him. “Call that shit, make him show up. Kill his ass. We move on with life.”
“You have a young nigga’s mentality,” Zero said, shaking his head. “Robert isn’t dumb; he has representatives for shit like that. And his reach?” Zero smirked. “That nigga will touch people just to show you he’s untouchable. Case in point, last night. Everybody is saying that was Quincy, and it may have been, but it was at Robert’s command. It was too clean, thought-out, and executed. Quincy is reckless and sloppy.”
“So, you’re scared?” I grunted. “Noted.” I pushed up from my seat.
“Scared?” Zero said, standing. “Nigga, what part of anything that I said made me sound scared?”
“All of it,” I grilled him. “Every fucking word you said screamed you’re scared. As a matter of fact, all y’all been doing it, saying how scared you are. Let me ask y’all a question. How long have y’all known that your uncle runs this shit?” I turned to Nine and smirked. “I know you, nigga. I know how you move and think. You don’t leave shit to chance. Not a fucking thing. So, I’m asking you, man, to fucking man. How long have you been working this shit? How long have you known that our parents knew each other? How long have you been playing chess, not checkers? Did you know when you met us all those years ago? What about Cross; did you know when you met her? Or was it when you were dragging Citrine here to meet her family? A fucking family, you already had your family’s hooks into. Zero has been friends with Krude for how long? Longer than you and Cross, right? You were friends with Focus when Mahogany was in college, right? How long ago was that?”
“Amethyst.” Citrine stood and pulled me away from the table. “Come on, baby bro.”
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head as I pushed against his hold. “Start fucking talking, Mecca! How fucking long have you been working this shit?”
“Years,” he answered with a chuckle as he stood. “I’ve been moving shit from the time I met y’all in that park all those years ago. That meeting wasn’t by chance either. December and I found y’all for a reason, and that was for Four to put a bullet in your skulls.”
“Come on, Amethyst,” Pyrite said, standing.
