“I’m not going up against anyone. What I’m saying is I’m done. You have what you need. Don’t come looking for me anymore.”
Big Mo was very understanding that things didn’t work like that. He was now a snitch. Patterson had positioned Mo on the wrong side, but Mo knew Patterson had to find him to use him. He planned to make that impossible after today.
“That’s amusing that you think you have a say in it. I’ll see you around when I need you.” Patterson rattled off just as Mo exited his car, slamming the door. He then hurried down the alley, exiting on one end while Patterson drove his car through the other. Patterson was unbothered by Mo’s unwillingness to help him at the moment because he had another idea. A better one from a person who was also indebted to him. It was how things moved in a city where criminals controlled everything. Being a criminal himself, Patterson learned that quickly.
After his dealings with Mo, he made the hour drive out to Brookhaven, pulling up at the small coffee shop he had visited a handful of times.
Once he parked, Patterson located the compact Honda Civic that belonged to the person he was visiting.
The second he walked through the shop, and she laid eyes on him, she glanced over her shoulder and tossed out that she was taking her break. She moved past him, not speaking, causing Patterson to chuckle as he watched her ample ass sway from the weighted, angry steps she took to leave the coffee shop. Unbothered, Patterson followed with a smirk, and the second the door closed behind him, she was in his face.
“What the fuck are you doing out here? I asked you to leave me alone.”
Patterson took in her pretty features, clean face, straight hair pulled into a bun on top of her head, and simple clothes. Asako was dressed in jeans and a green polo with the coffee house logo printed on it, a huge contrast from the days when she used to frequent his bed.
“I’m never going to leave you alone, sweetheart. You owe me.”
“I don’t owe you a damn thing. I paid my debt by having to hide in my own city for the rest of my life.”
Patterson smirked and shook his head. “You don’t have to hide. No one knows what you did, well no one but me.”
“Fuck you,” she gritted. This baby faced angel seemed odd using such language and aggression, but Patterson didn’t let it fool him. He knew who she was and what she was capable of. Asako was half Black, half Asian. Her body was a sin which Patterson knew personally because he had been between her legs many nights experiencing all she had to offer. He was addicted to everything about her and would have her now if she would let him. But Asako made it clear it would never happen. He could blackmail her, forcing his hand, but that was too close to rape. Something he wouldn’t do. Patterson controlled his urges and kept his distance, but she still belonged to him.
“Fuck me?” His tone was smug to match his grin. “I would be glad to, but you swore it would never happen again.” Asako glared at Patterson. She didn’t want to go back and forth, she just wanted to know why he was here. He promised to stay away.
“I need a favor.”
“No. If I go there again, I die. He did three years because of me. Because you lied.”
“I didn’t lie, sweetheart. I never promised I wouldn’t arrest him. You just assumed he would be like the rest but how could I pass up the opportunity to get my hands on Vega Orr and not send him away?”
Asako gritted her teeth, that night cost her so much. She regretted it daily. Her life was good now, or rather decent, but she constantly lived in fear that Vega would find out who she really was and come for her. The only comfort she had was that no one knew her real name. He only knew what the streets called her. Not many men were asking for government names when they wanted to fuck.
Vega’s three years were up, she knew that for sure. Patterson texted her when Vega was released, promising she was still good. No one knew her true identity. In the streets, she was Blaze. The sexy Blasian no man could get enough of. Asako played her role. She loved the wild side, so she frequented the clubs where all the ballers were. She latched on and sexed her way into their lives and pockets. That led her into the fast life which meant drugs that she couldn’t afford. Drugs she was addicted to. It was the reason why she’d gotten tangled up with Patterson.
When she got caught turning tricks one night chasing a high, it was Patterson who arrested Asako and helped her out of a bad situation. She made a deal with the devil. If she promised to get close to those same dealers and feed Patterson information, then he would set her free. She agreed, only the two of them quickly learned the big names would fuck with her but wouldn’t give her any information about their street business. The most she learned was when they had product on them. Product Patterson wanted so he could put it back on the streets and make his own profit. He had no intention of shutting down the local dealers, he only wanted them on his payroll or indebted to him. He also wanted access to rob them in an effort to line his own pockets. Asako helped Patterson with his plight until the night Vega was arrested.
Their deal was that she would let Patterson know when and where for the drugs. He would show up, threaten to throw the dealers in jail or let them go if they handed over the productor a requested amount of money. It worked great, however, Patterson could never catch a break with any of the big names. They were smart and rarely ever handled their product. They paid people to do it for them. So when Asako overheard a conversation about Vega transporting three keys, she quickly let Patterson know. It was a lot of weight and she would get a big cut. The deal was to pull him over, take the product, and let Vega go, but Patterson switched up. He got greedy and assumed he could use Vega to get to Ace and get a better deal. It didn’t work. Vega would never flip on family. He never even mentioned to Ace the offer that Patterson put on the table. Vega simply did his time. No deal was made other than Vega’s time getting cut down from ten years to three because of Ace’s money and connections. That pissed Patterson off even more because he lost out on the money he could have earned had he just stuck to the original plan.
“You’re alive because of me. Vega may not know your real identity, but I do.” The look he gave made Asako tense.
“What do you want?”
“Eastland Joseph.” Patterson watched her face and immediately noticed that she knew the name.
“So you do know him? Good.”
“No, I’m not doing that. He’s in that same circle. I can’t get anywhere near any of them. My life is already fucked up. There are certain places I can’t go. People I can’t talk to. I haven’t been to a club or the city in years. I just want to be left alone. Please leave me the hell alone.”
“You will do whatever I need you to do.” Patterson moved closer to Asako and got right in her face with a scowl on his. “When I call you and let you know what I need, be ready.”
“Please don’t. My family is finally talking to me again after all the drugs and running the streets and Vega will kill me if he sees me. I disappeared, he’s going to know it was me. Then the wholeEast thing. I just…” She paused, thinking about the man named East.
She knew very little about him but what she did know wasn’t good. Women loved him, he was sexy and paid, but he had a dark side that she didn’t want to play with. She had heard the stories about him. If Vega didn’t take her life, if she crossed East, he surely would. Asako just wanted to be left alone. “Please don’t ask me to do anything like that again. My life is finally normal now.”
Asako considered the two-year run where she was rebellious and fighting with her family. She was addicted to the fast life. Dating a thug, getting money, doing drugs. It was two of the craziest years she could have ever imagined, even if she could barely remember most of it. She was wild and doing things she was now embarrassed about. A friend introduced her to that world and Asako quickly fell into it. The attention she got from men compensated for what she thought she was missing at home, but Asako learned fast that she wasn’t prepared to handle it. Asako was just grateful to be alive, which was another reason she wasn’t interested in getting anywhere near Vega or East.
“I’m not going tomakeyou do anything. You’re going to cooperate because the consequences are far worse than you playing nice. Right now, you have me in your corner. I’m sure you don’t want to know what it’s like to not even have me.” He smiled deviously then stepped away, tossing his last regard over his shoulder. “I’ll be in touch.”
