“When?”
“Give me an hour.”
He showedup in forty-five minutes.
I heard the car pull up. Heard two doors slam instead of one. Peeked through the blinds and saw Kelvin walking up my steps with some other nigga I ain’t recognize.
Tall. Dark skin. Fresh out the pen look—you know the type. That lean, hard body that comes from years of prison workouts and cafeteria food. Head shaved clean. Scar down his face. Eyes that looked like they’d seen some shit and wasn’t bothered by none of it.
Who the fuck was this?
I opened the door before they could knock. “Kelvin. Who this nigga you bringing to my house?”
Kelvin stepped inside, the stranger following behind him. “Brandi, this Meech. He new. Shadow got him running with me to learn the ropes.”
Shadow. That name still gave me chills. Wasn’t nobody really knew who Shadow was—just that he ran the BCC from somewhere high up. Zoo used to say Shadow was like a ghost. Everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
“I don’t give a fuck who he running with.” I crossed my arms, looking this Meech nigga up and down. “I don’t know him. Why he gotta be here for this?”
“’Cause if Zoo really gone, we got a problem,” Kelvin said, settling onto my couch like this was his place. “And Shadowwants Meech involved in anything that could blow back on the organization.”
I sucked my teeth but ain’t argue. Didn’t have the energy.
Meech ain’t say nothing. Just stood by the door, arms folded, watching me with them dead eyes. Something about him made me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.
“Aight.” I sat down in the armchair across from Kelvin, pulling my robe tighter around me. “So what we gon’ do?”
“First, tell me everything. From the beginning.”
I took a deep breath. Let it out slow.
“It started with my son. Nigel. He was thirteen years old. Sweetest boy you ever met.”
That was a lie. Nigel had been troubled. Running the streets when he should’ve been in school. Getting into fights. Taking other kids’ shit. But he was MY troubled child. My baby. And he ain’t deserve to die.
“He was friends with this boy in our building. Yusef. Quiet little nigga, always had his head in a book or playing piano or some nerdy shit. They was cool for a while. Then something happened between ’em. I don’t know what. But Nigel ended up dead. Shot. And that little bitch Yusef was the last one seen with him.”
Kelvin was nodding along, taking it in. But I noticed Meech had gone real still. His jaw tightened just a little. Barely noticeable.
I kept going.
“The cops ain’t do shit. You know how they is. Black boy dead in Southeast? They don’t give a fuck. So Zoo started investigating himself. Found out Yusef’s mama helped cover the whole thing up. Packed up and moved the same week. Disappeared.”
“Where she at now?” Kelvin asked.
“Zoo found her. She working at some diner in DC. But here’s the crazy part—” I leaned forward. “She fucking with Prentice Banks.”
Kelvin’s eyebrows shot up. “Banks? Like Banks Reserve Banks?”
“The same one. The mayor’s son. That nigga with the pretty eyes.”
“Damn.” Kelvin rubbed his chin. “That’s a problem. We can’t just run up on somebody connected like that.”
“Zoo didn’t care about all that. He wanted blood. For Nigel. So he followed that bitch and was gonna take her out. Make her pay for what her boy did to my baby.” I felt the tears coming but pushed them back. “That was days ago. Ain’t heard from him since.”
“So you think Banks got to him?”
“I know he did. That nigga is dangerous. Got money. Got connections. Probably got bodies too, the way Zoo talked about him.” I wiped my nose with the back of my hand. “They killed my man, Kelvin. They killed Zoo. And they gon’ get away with it just like they got away with killing Nigel.”
