Page 125 of At The End Of The Day

He snorted and fanned his hands out. “Ain’t worried ‘bout nothing, man,” he clearly lied, his focus on my piece. “I just wanna set the record straight here. Me, you, and Jackyl made a pact, and I ain’t in no damn mood for another turf war.”

“So, you’re here to keep the peace.”

“Yeah.”

“That’s good, Red. That’s real good, cuz if you think things was bad with Jackyl, now that me and Dash are running things, you can pretty much expect things to be a little worse.”

He swallowed and licked his lips, his sight darting back and forth between us. “Yeah, that’s why I’m here.”

“Why are you here, man?”

He lifted the hem of his shirt and slowly made a full circle. “Look, man, I ain’t packing. Can you please just chill the fuck out?” he shouted, throwing his arms out, his shoulders curled to his ears.

“You keep your hands up and we’ll move ours,” Dash offered.

Huffing, he did as told, his palms facing us. “I know you killed my boy last night.”

My hand immediately returned to my gun, ready to fire.

“Whoa, whoa!” His voice actually cracked as he stumbled backward a few more feet. “Vinny, man, chill!”

“What the fuck you want, Red?”

“To apologize!” he blurted, sweat coating his face.

Me and Dash exchanged curious looks, but we both moved away from the guns. My arms crossing, I shifted to one leg, peering down the length of my nose.

“For what?”

“Man, he had no business on your grounds. He knows, dammit. He knows the rules, they all know the pact we made with y’all years ago. He was new, Vin, and he had an ego problem.”

“He had a bigger problem than his ego,” Dash grumbled, folding his arms, as well.

He pulled another deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure what happened last night and, again, all I can do is apologize.”

A brow lifting, I snorted. “So, you’re okay that we’re gay?”

“Man, I always knew you was.”

Doing a doubletake, I quickly masked my shock. “Since when?”

“Since before we made the pact.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“I mean, it ain’t a choice I’d make, but what’s that gotta do with me?” His sight lowered to the gun with another gulp. “People out here on the street always known about you, Vin, but no one never said nothing cuz we don’t wanna die.”

A small victory exploded inside, expanding my ribs to contain the thrill. “So, my rep is solid, huh?”

He snorted, a leg bouncing nervously. “No one ‘round these parts stupid enough to test you, Vin.”

“Your boy last night sure thought differently.”

His focus shifted to Dash. “And look where it got him.”

He stepped past the threshold of the door to the carport, his stance wide, chin lifted high. “You afraid of Vin?”

He looked at me and gulped, a bead of sweat trickling down his face from the bandana on his forehead. “No,” he croaked, shaking his head. “I ain’t afraid of no one or no thing. This is about peace.”