Animal (13 page)

“Thanks, baby.” Shai patted her on the ass as he passed her on his way to the stairs that lead to the main house.

“Shai, what is it that you’re not telling me?” Honey was right on his heels.

He downplayed it. “Nothing for you to worry about, ma.”

“Shai,” she grabbed his arm and spun him to face her, “don’t talk to me like I’m some random chick off the streets that doesn’t know what time it is. You don’t think I didn’t peep those two detectives show up at the grand opening? Every time those two crooked muthafuckas show up, something bad is about to go down, and if that’s the case, then I need to know.”

Shai stopped short of the door leading to the kitchen. “Honey, all I will say and should have to say is that it’s
family
business.” He left it at that and went up into the kitchen where Swann was waiting for him.

Big Suge made her way around the kitchen, rattling pots and pans as she prepared dinner for the Clarks. Perched on two stools around the kitchen’s island were Swann and little cousin Nicky, whom they all called Nickels. Swann had given him that nickname because the youngster was always asking him for change. Nickels was only fourteen, but had the soul of a man who had
been here before
and was far wiser than he should’ve been at that age. He was well read, polite, and
soft spoken, but had hustler in his blood, which was apparent from all the mischief he’d managed to get into during the short time he had been living with the Clarks. He was every bit of his father’s child, and Gator was probably smiling from the grave.

Gator had been Shai’s cousin and the man who had stood the tallest on the front lines when the streets moved on Shai to take what Poppa had left him. In the end, his young life was cut short in a gun battle with the police outside a seedy motel where they had just executed one of Shai’s rivals. He sacrificed himself so that his comrades could escape, and Shai would be forever in his debt for the selfless act. Years later when Nickels and his mother Janette showed up on Shai’s doorstep with a story of hard times and poverty, he would have a chance to pay it forward.

Shai had heard Gator speak of the shorty he had left back in Florida but never of fathering a child with her so her sudden appearance was suspect, but when Shai laid eyes on the boy, he knew Nickels was a Clark. Sol called in some favors and managed to get a sample of Gator’s DNA, which was on record with the Dade County Department of Corrections, and to everyone’s shock, Janette was telling the truth and there was a new addition to the Clark family.

Janette and Nickels stayed with Shai and Honey at the compound for two weeks while Shai got to know the little boy that his cousin had abandoned. Nicky was a little rough around the edges, but he was a good kid who had been through some real grown-up things. When Janette announced that she was ready to head back to Florida, Shai found himself reluctant to toss his little cousin back to what was waiting for him, so he set Nickels
and his mother up in the guest house while she tried to get herself together.

Shai enrolled Nickels in a private school in New Jersey, and his abilities on the court and engaging personality quickly made him popular in school and the transition that much easier. It wasn’t long before Janette fell back into her old routine of partying. She fit right into the New Jersey underworld society and spent more time with hustlers than she did with Nickels. Though he never said anything, Shai and Honey knew it bothered the boy, so they went out of their way to make sure Nickels always knew that he was loved under their roof. A little over a month ago, Janette said she was going to Florida to take care of some business and would only be gone a week. That was the last time anyone saw her alive. Shortly after she left, Janette was found murdered in the home of a notorious Miami drug dealer. They had both been shot, execution style. Social Services wanted to take Nicky, but Shai wasn’t trying to hear it. Nicky was one of the few people who carried Clark blood in their veins, and his place was with his family.

“What it do?” Shai came into the kitchen and gave Swann dap. He leaned in to hug him, but Swann held him at arm’s length.

“Chill, my nigga; you too sweaty to be all up on me. You might fuck up my white tee.” Then he brushed imaginary dirt from the white T-shirt he was wearing.

“My dude, that’s a five-dollar T-shirt not Versace.” Shai leaned on Swann, getting sweat on his T-shirt. “What’s goodie though, my G? I know you ain’t burn up that high-ass New York gas just to come over here and shoot the shit.”

“Fuck you, Shai,” Swann laughed. What Shai said wasn’t
that funny, but the way that he said it reminded Swann of Tommy Gunz.

“Watch your mouth.” Shai nodded at Nickels, who was looking back and forth between them, grinning.

“Who this li’l nigga?” Swann mussed Nickels’s hair. “Shorty got a worse mouth than mine.”

“He better not let me catch him cussing,” Suge said over her shoulder. They had all almost forgotten she was standing there.

“But on the real, Shai,” Swann continued, “you ever had a conversation with this li’l dude? I mean a
real
conversation?”

“I know just how deep the rabbit hole goes with this li’l one, don’t I, Nickels?” Shai smirked at his little cousin.

“Yeah, cuz,” Nickels said, smiling back mischievously.

“So as long as you know that I know, then we’re all good.” Shai bumped fists with Nickels. “Now, go watch TV in the other room so I can rap with your uncle Swann right quick.”

“A’ight.” Nickels slid off the stool with a saddened look on his face. He gave Swann dap before disappearing into the living room.

Swann waited until he was sure they were alone before he addressed Shai in a hushed tone. “I got some scuttle on that shit them two dicks was talking about the other night . . .” he began, but Shai cut him off with a raised finger.

“Let’s go outside and talk.” Shai led the way through the glass doors from the kitchen into the sprawling green acres of land that was his backyard. They walked down the cobblestone path to the duck pond, where they posted up on a wooden bench. There Shai nodded, letting Swann know it was okay to talk.

“Like I was saying, I got word back on one of them bodies them bitch-ass detectives came at us about,” Swann said.

“Well, don’t keep an asshole in suspense,” Shai said sarcastically.

“The boy’s name was Slick. He was one of our lieutenants who had it clicking on the Westside,” Swann explained.

Shai searched his memory bank and shrugged. “I don’t know that nigga.”

“Of course you don’t, because you got a nigga like me to keep you insulated from the soldiers,” Swann said proudly. “Anyhow, I managed to track down the broad who had been with Slick that night and got the
E! True Hollywood Story
of what happened, and it ain’t good.”

“Swann, please stop setting the scene and tell me what the fuck
is
good.” Shai was agitated.

“Slick had just dropped off the package and picked up the bread for the night when some nigga wearing a Halloween mask got the drop on them. He roughed the broad up but let her go, then he murdered a cat in front of one hundred people before he bounced with Slick and the car.”

“So what happened to the bread?” Shai asked, more concerned about the money than the life lost.

“That’s the thing. When the police found Slick’s car, all the money was still there, the whole twenty-five thousand,” Swann said.

Shai was shocked. “Get the fuck outta here.”

“On my li’l ones, that money is sitting in a police evidence locker as we speak. To keep it one hundred, that’s the thing that’s fucking with me the most. Why go through all that trouble and risk having those kinds of problems and not take a dime for your trouble?” Swann wondered.

“War,” Shai said, remembering the photograph.

“Huh?” Swann was lost.

“War. It was the word carved into homie’s forehead. Whoever did that was an attention whore and wanted to be seen, so we’re gonna make sure we see them.” Shai nodded in anticipation of retaliation.

“I’m with you on that. There are a few cats who’d like to see us knocked outta the box, but if I had to place a bet, then my money would be on them cats from Grant Projects we got into it with at Brick City. I had my ear to the streets, and the word is that nigga King James been selling wolf tickets about how it’s over for us.”

Shai’s mind flashed back to the altercation in the VIP. “You talking about the bum-ass nigga with the big chain? Them dudes is bottom-feeders; they ain’t got the balls or the resources to get it popping with us. On our long list of enemies he falls at the bottom,” he boasted.

“Maybe, maybe not. I’m just trying to make sure we cross all
t
’s and dot all
i
’s going into this,” Swann told him.

“You right, my nigga, so instead of focusing on one, we’ll make our rounds and touch ’em all. We gonna pat these niggaz on the asses right quick to let ’em know that the Clark name still rings bells in Harlem!”

Honey sat on the living-room couch with her arms folded and her leg bobbing up and down. Shai and Swann came through the living room on their way out to only God knew where. She said good-bye to Swann, but rolled her eyes at Shai. When he leaned in to kiss her, she made sure to nick his bottom lip with her teeth. When he told her he loved her, she just rolled her eyes and let him leave without giving
him a second look. She was heated and wanted him to know it.

The conversation she and Shai had on the stairs a few hours prior was still fresh in her mind, and she got angrier the more she thought about it. She understood that he kept certain things from her for her own protection, but the way that he had dismissed her, stating that it was
family business,
stung her. She had known Shai since he was still a screwed up teenager playing gangster in the streets. She was wearing his ring and about to welcome his child into the world, so in Honey’s mind, she was a Clark and part of the family, but the way that he’d carried her showed Honey that there was still an imaginary line in the sand that she wasn’t allowed to cross.

“You okay?” Nickels asked, coming to sit on the couch beside Honey. He had a pair of oversized headphones on his head and a portable CD player in his hand.

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks, Nicky.” Honey patted his leg. “What you listen to?”

“Oh, this new CD I got. This joint is cold!” he said excitedly.

“I thought when you liked something you said it was fire?” Honey said.

“Nah, y’all say fire up North; down South, we say cold.”

Honey laughed. “Okay, so what is this cold CD?”

“I ain’t never heard of him before, but he’s pretty tight.” He handed Honey the CD case.

When Honey looked down at the artwork on the CD case and saw the diamond and gold grill sneering back at her she dropped the CD to the carpet and clutched her chest. As cautiously as if it was a snake, she picked up the CD case and stared at it in horror. When she saw the signature on the cover she felt
a sharp pain shoot through her side. Without realizing what she was doing Honey grabbed Nickels and began shaking him. “Where did you get that CD?” she asked.

“Honey, why you tripping?” Nickels was getting nervous. The look in her eyes was the same one he would see in his mother’s eyes right before she hit him.

“Where the hell did you get this?” she repeated.

“I got it from a guy at the park where we have basketball practice on Saturdays. The dude was blasting it from his car, and when I told him how much I liked the song he gave me the CD. Did I do something wrong?” Nickels’s eyes were pleading and frightened.

“No, I’m sorry, Nicky.” Honey hugged him to her. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” she consoled him. She continued to reassure Nickels that he wasn’t in trouble, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of the CD. Was someone giving Nickels the CD a coincidence or an omen?

THIRTEEN

A
NIMAL TRIED TO GET SOME REST BEFORE
he initiated the next phase of his plan that night, but it was futile. He had too much weighing on him to sleep, so he decided to go out for a walk. It was risky considering he was a hunted man, but between his long voyage and being holed up in a motel room the whole time he had been back was starting to make him feel caged. Besides, it had been far too long since he’d taken a stroll through Harlem.