I walked up the steps, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. The house was dark and quiet and smelled like dust and closed windows. Nobody had been here in months. I set my purse on the foyer table and flipped the light switch and stood there in the silence of my own home breathing free air and planning my next move.
They thought the trial was the end. My boys thought getting me acquitted meant the war was over and mama was coming home humbled and grateful. They didn’t know me at all. The trial was just the intermission. The second act was about to begin and every single one of them was going to feel it.
I walked to the kitchen to pour myself a drink. First real glass of wine in months. I deserved it.
49
Quest
A month since the acquittal and the city still didn’t want Vivica back. She did her press conference on the courthouse steps talking about suing for her title and rebuilding her legacy and DC responded with a collective shrug. Her approval rating was cooked. The council wasn’t returning her calls. Even the donors who rode for her before the arrest had quietly moved their money somewhere else because nobody wanted their name next to a woman whose freaky text messages were still circulating on the internet like a meme that wouldn’t die. The court of public opinion don’t care about verdicts. They care about screenshots.
She was sitting in that brownstone thinking she still had moves left. I almost felt sorry for her.
It was a Tuesday afternoon and the casino floor was running slow because midday on a weekday was strictly retirees and degenerate gamblers territory. Prime, Justice, and I were posted up in the VIP lounge on the second level with a bottle of Banks Reserve between us and nowhere to be for the next hour. That kind of downtime was rare for us so we were milking it.
“So how’s Mehar feeling?” Prime asked, pouring himself another round. “She still throwing up every morning?”
“That passed last week, thank God. Because she was blaming me for it every single time. Talking about ‘your baby is doing this to me’ like the baby was on my payroll following orders.”
“That’s how it works, bro,” Justice laughed. “Everything is your fault from conception to delivery. You caused the pregnancy, you caused the morning sickness, you caused her feet to swell, you caused the baby to look like you instead of her. Just accept it now and save yourself the argument.”
“Man, this is gonna be a long nine months,” I laughed.
“Nah, it’s going to be a long life,” Justice said.
Prime raised his glass. “To Quest. About to find out what sleep deprivation and unconditional love feel like at the same damn time.”
We touched glasses and drank and for a minute it was just three brothers talking about babies instead of business and I realized how much I’d missed that. These last few months had been nonstop and this little pocket of normal felt like something I should’ve been protecting all along.
“Yo, those India photos were clean work,” I said to Prime. “Gerald damn near fell out his chair when he saw them. Prosecution folded before the judge even finished reviewing the evidence.”
Prime just shrugged. “Yeah, I been keepin’ tabs on her ever since I told her ass to go over there. She wasn’t even hiding that well. Going to the same market every Thursday with a new name but the same face. People who feel safe get sloppy.”
“Well it worked. Vivica walked out of that courtroom thinking God was on her side when really it was us on the other end pulling strings.” I took a sip. “She’s at home right now planning her big comeback and she has no idea that shit has an expiration date.”
“You figured out the when?” Justice asked, keeping his voice low even though nobody else was up here.
“Soon. I’m letting her marinate first. Let her feel safe, let her start making noise, let her think she’s back on top. Comfortable people make easy targets.”
“That’s cold, bro,” Prime said. But he wasn’t objecting. He was acknowledging. There’s a difference.
“I learned from her.”
We sat with that for a second. Three sons drinking bourbon and quietly mapping out their mother’s end. The only good thing she had ever done was give birth to us. I loved my family and wouldn’t choose another.
Justice’s phone buzzed. He looked at the screen and sat up straighter. “They’re here.”
“Already?” I checked my watch. “They’re early. That’s rude.”
“Who’s early?” Prime asked.
“The feds.” I finished my drink and set the glass down. “Vivica filed those warrants she was threatening. She wanted Banks Reserve raided, the casino searched, all of it. Farah gave us the heads up weeks ago so we’ve been ready. Every truck is clean, every account is straight, every shipment is legit. There isn’t a single piece of paper in this building that doesn’t belong here.”
They had already raided our main offices, but I’m sure they walked away with nothing. Now it was time for the casino.
Through the lounge window we could see them filing onto the casino floor. Six agents in blue windbreakers with FEDERAL AGENT on the back, moving through the gaming area with that stiff, serious energy that federal employees bring to everything including apparently interrupting a perfectly good Tuesday afternoon. A few of the retirees at the slot machines looked up, mildly confused, then went right back to losing their Social Security checks because nothing stops a gambling addiction. Not even the government.
“Should we go down there?” Prime asked, not moving from his seat.
