I was Rashid Muhammad. I did not show weakness.
Footsteps on the stairs. Heavy. Hurried. Careless.
Demetrius appeared in the doorway of my study, breathing hard, sweat on his brow despite the December chill.
“Uncle Rashid…”
I moved before he could finish.
The cane I kept by my desk—mahogany, silver-tipped, a gift from a Saudi prince whose son I had once extracted from a delicate situation—connected with the side of his head with a satisfying crack.
Demetrius stumbled. Dropped to one knee. Blood trickled from a gash above his ear.
“Unc—what the fuck?—”
I hit him again. Harder this time. Across the shoulders. The back. The ribs. Each blow punctuated by a word.
“You.” CRACK. “Impulsive.” CRACK. “Reckless.” CRACK. “FOOL.” CRACK.
Demetrius curled into a ball on my floor, arms raised to protect his head, crying out with each impact. I did not stop. Could not stop. All the rage I had been suppressing—at Prentice, at Farah’s kidnapping, at this rotting body that was failing me—poured out through that cane.
“I gave you ONE task,” I snarled, finally pausing to catch my breath. The exertion had triggered another cough, but I swallowed it down. “ONE. Learn the operation. Follow Kelvin. Keep your head down. And what do you do?”
“They was talking about killing Yusef!” Demetrius looked up at me, blood streaming down his face. “I couldn’t let them?—”
“You MURDERED a lieutenant of the BCC!” I slammed the cane against the floor. “Kelvin was one of my most trusted men. He had been with the organization for fifteen years. He moved product worth millions. He kept the soldiers in line. And you shot him in the NECK because you couldn’t control your temper!”
“He was gonna go after my son?—”
“He would have done NOTHING without my approval!” I leaned down, grabbing Demetrius by the collar, hauling his face close to mine. “I am Shadow, you imbecile. I control everything. Every move. Every hit. Every dollar that flows through the BCC. If you had come to me—if you had exercised an OUNCE of patience—I would have told Kelvin to stand down. I would have redirected his focus to Zainab and Prentice. Yusef would have been safe.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“That is precisely the problem!” I released him with disgust, letting him slump back to the floor. “You NEVER think. I have controlled the Brick City Crew for thirty years. Every decision flows through me. Every problem is solved by me. And now, because of YOUR impulsiveness, I have lost Zoo AND Kelvin in the same week.”
I began to pace, my cane tapping against the hardwood with each step.
“Zoo was hunting Zainab. Prentice eliminated him. Unfortunate, but expected…I knew there would be casualties in this war. But Kelvin?” I stopped pacing and stared down at mynephew. “Kelvin was not supposed to be a casualty. Kelvin was supposed to help rebuild after I am gone.”
“After you… what you mean, after you gone?”
I almost laughed. Almost told him the truth—that the body he saw before him was a rotting vessel, that the blood I coughed up every morning was a countdown to my own extinction, that I had perhaps weeks instead of months.
But he did not deserve that truth. He had proven himself unworthy of it.
“You were supposed to be a lieutenant,” I said instead. “I was going to give you a real position in the BCC. Power. Respect. A seat at the table. Prentice was always meant to lead, but you could have been something. Instead?” I shook my head slowly. “You are a disappointment. Impulsive. Emotional. Incapable of strategic thinking.”
“I can do better, Uncle Rashid. I swear, I can?—”
“Silence.”
He fell silent.
“I have another son.” The words came out flat. Emotionless. “Kasim. He is currently incarcerated in Panama on drug trafficking charges. A regrettable situation, but the Panamanian authorities are… flexible. With sufficient financial motivation, he will be released within the year.”
“I ain’t know you had another?—”
“There is much you do not know.” I turned away from him, staring out the window at my manicured grounds. “Kasim is disciplined. Patient. Strategic. Everything you are not. He will inherit what you have squandered.”
