In a Cold Sweat (30 page)

Black looked at Mystique in that fitting black dress and that plunging neck line that showed off her abundant cleavage and thought about saying,
Can’t we talk about this after the fight.
This was a conversation that he didn’t feel like having. The same conversation he thought he was avoiding by not commenting on the whole first date thing.

Black paused for a minute and thought about how he was going to answer her. There is no nice way to say,
It’s
bad for my rep for you to be dancin’ there and I’m fuckin’ you.
But was that all there was to it or was he really starting to feel something for her? He wasn’t sure.

Then she let him off the hook. “I’m not askin’ you for any kind of commitment or anything like that. I know you are nowhere near ready for anything like that.” Then she thought about it. “Are you?”

“No,” Black said quickly.

“And that’s cool, really, it is. I just wanna know where I stand?”

“You’re good,” Black said simply. “And not just because of my shit.”

Mystique threw her arms around him like he had just confessed his love for her.

“Can we go see the fight now?”

“Sure we can, baby,” Mystique said and took one last look at
herself
in the mirror. She grabbed her clutch bag and they were finally out the door.

After stopping in the dressing room to say hello to the champ, Black and Mystique made it to their seats just as the preliminary fight got started. It turned out to be a good fight. Being a real fan of the sweet science, Black loved every minute of it. While Mystique sat next him, happy to be there with him, but hoping that the night would be over soon so they could go.

Once the preliminary bouts were over, more people began filing into the arena. Black sat looking around for Freeze and Mylo. He had called Freeze earlier in the day to make sure that both he and Mylo were coming to the fight. Black felt bad not telling Freeze exactly what was going on; he hated that fact that after all these years and all they’d been through together, that he wasn’t sure that he could trust Freeze.

Mystique leaned in close to Black. “Why is that woman staring at you?”

“What woman?” Black asked and scanned the area with his eyes. They stopped on CeCe.

“Yeah, that one.”

“Excuse me a minute, Maria,” Black said and got up. “I’ll be right back,” he said and left Mystique sitting there with her eyes and mouth opened wide. She wasn’t quite sure whether she was more upset that he left her to talk to other another woman, or surprised that he called her Maria.

Black made his way through the crowd trying to find their seats until he made it to CeCe. “Hello, Mr. Black.”

“How you doin’, CeCe?”

“Much better now that I’ve seen you. You look nice in a suit. You should wear them all the time. Not all men can carry a fine tailored suit, but you wear it well.”

“You look nice too,” Black said and got his eyes full looking at CeCe in that dress she was wearing the hell out of. It was a Just Cavalli Cornucopia-Print gown, with metallic gold spaghetti straps, and a flared mermaid hem.

“I’m glad you like it. I like doin’ stuff that makes you happy.”

“I’m surprised to see you here. You a fight fan?”

“Big-time fan. I love boxing,” and leaned forward to emphasize her point when she said it. Black watched her lips when she talked, the way her words seemed to glide over them. “I got these tickets for Cash. Next week would have been his birthday. I was gonna surprise him with the tickets.”

“No
point lettin’ them go
to waste, especially since you love boxing. But what about that dress? Were you gonna surprise him with that too?”

“Not at all, baby. I got this dress yesterday. See I knew
you
were gonna be here tonight and I wanted to look nice for you.”

“So you got that dress for me?”

“Just for you, baby. And I am so glad you like it,” CeCe said and took a step closer to him.

“I want you to do something for me.”

“You know I will. Just tell me what you need me to do, baby.”

“I need you to get in touch with Stark. I want you to tell him again that we don’t have
no
problems. You tell him that Mylo was our problem.”

“Mylo? Who is Mylo?”

“He’ll know who he is. You tell him that it was Mylo playin’ us against each other. But then you tell him that he ain’t gotta worry ’bout him no more.”

“Why is that?”

“You ask too many questions.”

“What’s the matter, don’t like a thinking woman?”

“I love a thinkin’ a woman,” Black had to admit.

“So why he ain’t gotta worry about him no more? Just in case he asks,” CeCe said. She was flirting with every word she said.

“’Cause by the time you talk to him, Mylo will be dead.”

“I understand,” she said and smiled a very sexual smile, like the fact that Black planned on killing Mylo turned her on. “So,” CeCe said and peeked around Black. “Is that your woman you sittin’ wit’?”

“Now you worried ’bout the wrong thing. You just do what I need you to do for me,” Black said and started to walk away from CeCe. “And I’ll see you around.”

“That you can count on,” CeCe said definitely and watched Black until he reclaimed his seat next to Mystique.

“Who was that?” Mystique asked before he was in the seat good.

“Just somebody I needed to carry a message for me. Why?”

“’Cause it looked like she wanted to do more than just carry a message for you.”

“Even if that were the case, she can’t do any more than I allow her to,” Black said hoping to end the discussion.

“So is that the case?”

“Not that I know of,” Black lied and was glad that Bobby arrived with a female guest.

“What’s up, Mike?” Bobby said and Black stood up to allow Bobby to get to his seat. “This is—what’s your name again, honey?”

“Tatiana,” the woman said with attitude.

“This is Mike Black, and this is Mystique,” Bobby said to Tatiana.

Black nodded at Tatiana.

“Call me Maria,” she said as they passed.

“I saw CeCe on the way in,” Bobby pointed out.

“Yeah, I saw her,” Black said.

“You give her a message for her boy?”

“Yeah, I just talked to her,” Black said and looked at Mystique. She posted a weak smile in response.

“You seen Freeze or Mylo yet?”

“No.”

“They still got time to—,” Bobby started to say, when he noticed Nick come into the arena, and Wanda was with him.

The decision for Nick and Wanda to come to the fight together was not one that they arrived at easily. At first, Wanda was totally against the idea, while Nick didn’t see a problem with it. But after a while, Nick was able to convince her that nobody will even think twice about two friends coming to the fight together.

Not really thinking anything of it, Bobby continued. “Time to make it before the fight starts. You still haven’t talked to Freeze?”

“No.”

“What you gonna do?”

Black looked up and saw Nick and Wanda. “I’m gonna put this man on him,” he said and stood up. “How you doin’, Wanda?” He gave Wanda a hug before turning to Nick. “We need to talk. Come on.”

Nick and Wanda looked at each other in horror. Freeze had told Nick what Black said about killing whoever Wanda was involved with.

Black kept walking. “You comin’, Nick?”

“Right behind you,” Nick said and trotted off to catch up with Black.

As Wanda watched Nick she thought about all the reasons why she was right about them not coming to the fight together. Wanda took a deep breath before turning to Bobby. “How you doin’, Bobby?”

“I’m good,” Bobby said and stepped aside so Wanda could get to her seat. She was about to ask Bobby what Black wanted with Nick, but that’s when she noticed Mystique.

Wanda gave her a,
what the fuck are you doin’ here, bitch
look, and Mystique dropped her head. Naturally, Wanda had seen her at Cynt's and had heard the rumors about Black and a dancer that looked a little like
Shy
, but she didn’t believe them. Wanda did see a slight resemblance, but no. And even if the rumors were true, and apparently they were, Wanda didn’t think Black would bring her out in public.

Then Wanda looked at Tatiana.
Maybe
it’s
take your hooker to the fight night,
Wanda thought and sat down. The fact that Bobby didn’t make any comment about her coming with Nick made her feel a little more at ease, but she still wondered what Black and Nick were talking about.

“What's up, Black?” Nick asked.

Black leaned close to him and spoke slowly. “I gotta ask you to do something, and I don’t like askin’ it.”

“Whatever you need. You know that.”

“I need you to watch Freeze.”

“Freeze? Why?”

Black took a step closer and whispered. “His boy Mylo arranged for Frank to take a dive.”

“What?”

“Told Frank I wanted him to do it.”

“You think Freeze knew about it?”

“I don’t think so, but this nigga Mylo is his boy. Keep your eye on Freeze, but you don’t let Mylo outta your sight.”

“I’m on them, Black,” Nick said and followed Black back to their seats, relieved that Black didn’t want to kill him over Wanda.

When it came time for the main event of the evening, Irish Stevie Dudgeon came to the ring with a small entourage, accompanied by
The Orange and the Green
, an old Irish drinking song about an Irishman whose father was a Protestant and mother was a Catholic. There was a large cheering section in attendance for the fighter from Hoboken, New Jersey.

However, when it came time for Frank Sparrow to make his way to the ring, the crowd prepared for his usual big entrance, with his big entourage, lights, props, dancers and smoke, accompanied by the live music of whatever Bronx rapper was hot at the time. But not that night.

That night, Sparrow came out with just his trainer and cut man to a recording of the LL Cool J classic,
Mama Said Knock You Out
. Sparrow always wore fancy robes and took his time getting to the ring, stopping to shake hands and greet fans, a tactic designed to make his opponent wait, but not that night. That night, Sparrow entered the arena wearing a wife beater, and he and his corner men ran to the ring.

There was something else different about Sparrow that night. He had developed a reputation for coming out cold, therefore it always took him a few rounds to warm up; a fact Mylo counted on. That night, Sparrow entered the ring dripping with sweat.

Instead of sitting quietly and meditating about the fight as he usually did, Sparrow stood up and meditated, throwing the punches and making the faints and moves he saw in his mind.
No weaknesses,
he remembered Black telling him. Sparrow kept moving during the national anthem and the introductions, so when the bell sounded, he came out ready for battle.