“What’s this about? I know it’s not just because you enjoy my company,” he asks, and I can feel his eyes boring into the side of my head.
“I told you. You wanted in, so I’m giving you your in.” I glance over at him and then back to the road. “You know Les would never let you fucking do this.”
He barks a laugh. “Les doesn’t know, does she?”
“Nope,” I reply honestly. Okay. Maybe she’ll kick my ass. But he needs this freedom to see what he’s made of.
He nods and looks out the window. “What are we doing?”
“Small-time gang rivals. It’s not a big deal, but we need to make our presence known, so they back the fuck off.”
“Why do we care about a small-time gang rivalry?”
“Les owns them. She tells them to jump, and they ask how fucking high. We don’t usually get involved, but she’s fond of this gang. I’m helping out before shit gets too far out of control.”
Squid is one she pulled back from the brink of addiction when she found him at one of the clubs we raided last year. She cleaned him up, and he took over the Disciples a few months ago at twenty when she realized he’s made for that shit.
“The more this shit goes down, the more I realize I don’t know,” Leo says angrily.
“Ask dumbass,” I say back just as angrily. “Half the time, we fucking forget that you don’t know. So quit being a bitch and ask.”
“You’re a fucking dick.”
I shrug. “Yeah. Most of the time. But you know I’m right.”
“Whatever. Just fucking drive,” Leo says, staring out of his window.
In silence, I drive into Concrete Row, gang territory, letting Leo stew in his bullshit. I don’t have it in me to be easy on him. I barely tolerate him being around Les.
I pull in front of Squid’s pool hall and throw the car into park. “Stay with me,” I order Leo before sliding out of the car.
To his credit, he falls into step with me when I round to his side. He may hate me, but he isn’t stupid.
“Yo!” Squid yells from the back of the place. He walks over and pulls me into a one-armed hug, slapping me on the back. “Long time, man.” He looks good and healthy. He put most of his weight back on, and his face doesn’t have that sunken look anymore. His hair is cut neat, even if it is dyed blue, and his brown eyes are clear. Les would be happy to see him like this.
I return the hug before stepping back. “You got somewhere we can talk?” I ask, eyeing the innocents in here shooting pool.
“Yeah.” He motions for us to follow him. We walk through a door labeled employees only, and most of his guys are sitting around the backroom. “Have a seat,” he says, nodding his head at a table.
We all get situated around the table, and I get the first thing out of the way. “This is Leo,” I introduce, so he will stop giving me curious looks. “What’s going on?”
“Like I said on the phone, man. I’ve got problems with Tink.” Tink is the leader of the rival gang, The Hellraisers. The irony doesn’t escape me that the Disciples and the Hellraisers are rivals. “He started pushing in on my territory, and I warned him. He retaliated by shooting up my fucking pool hall.” I noticed the wood covering the windows and didn’t figure they were just redecorating.
“Was anyone here?” I ask, sitting back in my chair.
Squid shakes his head. “Nah. It was after hours; it was a warning.”
“Where’s his spot at?”
“About two blocks north. We have a long-standing agreement that we don’t cross paths. He broke it.” Squid runs his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t want to call, bro, but I don’t have a good feeling about this.”
“You did the right thing,” I assure him. “We’ll pay him a visit.”
“I appreciate it, man.”
We talk about business for a little while before Squid asks us to shoot a couple of games of pool. We make our way to the main pool hall; I stay back at the bar while Leo goes off to shoot pool with a bunch of Squid’s guys.
Squid leans back on the bar beside me. “What’s his deal?”
