Takedown (6 page)

Since we were done for the night, Cam and I decided to go somewhere. We both had to take a load off after dealing with unhappy customers all week.

“Should we hit a club?” I asked.

“Yeah. You got ID?”

“Of course.” I showed it to him.

He scrutinized it. “Good match. Where'd you get it?”

“Friend of a friend hooked me up.”

“Nice. How about Chaos?”

“Sure. I've never been.”

“You haven't? You're gonna love it, Dare. The waitresses there are Grade A flesh.”

I had to smile. “You sound like a butcher.”

“I do, don't I? Maybe Zev's Meat Market is hiring.” He touched his bushy red hair. “Think a hairnet could tame this?”

I laughed, imagining Cam in an apron and hairnet. It also got
me wondering. “If the product doesn't get better, DT's operation is going to downsize.”

“True that. You better start making plans. I'm set either way. I'm gonna take my GED.”

“Your mama's idea?”

“Nah, it was mine. Sometimes this whole scene gets tired, you know? I might switch it up one of these days.”

I hoped Cam was serious. With a turf war brewing, none of us was safe. If Cam was wise, he'd get out before things got ugly.

That was an option I didn't have.

The pounding music, the smoke from dry ice machines, and the smell of hot bodies hit me all at once. I'd only been to a couple of clubs since I got my fake ID, and it was still a rush.

Chaos was the type of club you'd see in a music video—big and swanky, with velvet VIP booths raised high like thrones. Everybody was dressed up, putting on a show with their expensive clothes and bling. Truth was, most of the people here probably lived in the nearby projects. Pretending to be rich was part of the draw.

Cam and I snagged a table and stuffed our jackets onto the seat. Forget paying the extra five bucks for the coat check. A waitress in a little black dress appeared. Cam started sweet-talking her, and
she pretended to be flattered, but I doubted she could even hear him over the thumping noise. It was all part of the game to get our money.

“Dayum,”
Cam said as she walked off. “That's all I have to say.”

Cam surveyed the girls on the dance floor and gave them ratings out of five stars, like he did with cars. Tuning him out, I scanned the place. Jessica Thomas was crossing the club with a tray of drinks. She worked here?

She looked phenomenal in a little black dress that hugged her curves. Her makeup was runway style, with smoky eyes and bloodred lips. I was sure most of the guys were going crazy over her.

Jessica stopped at a table, expertly propping her tray on the side. The guys were obviously loving the view when she bent to put the drinks in front of them. I felt a rush of anger. Jessica was too classy for that.

She checked in with another couple of tables, then went to the bar. I was tempted to go up to her, but what would be the point? I hadn't called her all week, and she'd been avoiding eye contact at school. She thought I'd rejected her, and I couldn't explain why I'd done it.

Our waitress returned with our drinks a few minutes later. Cam tried to convince me to dance so we could meet some girls, but I wasn't up for it, so he went alone. The guy had balls, I'd give
him that. Cam started grinding with a girl who didn't even see him behind her. Of course, when her friends pointed out what he was doing, she shoved him away. He struck out a couple more times before he finally gave up.

“The girls here are cold.” Cam shuddered. “Next time we go to the Velvet Room.” Then something caught his attention. “Hey, look who's rolling in.”

I glanced toward the doors. It was Diamond Tony and his entourage. They passed through the club in a cool wave of bling and took up two booths in the VIP section.

Jessica approached them to take their order. I hated the thought of Diamond Tony anywhere near her. Thankfully, he seemed to be plenty occupied with the girls on either side of him.

But that wasn't the case for Marcus, Tony's right-hand man. His eyes were all over Jessica. He cozied up to her, and at one point, he slipped his arm around her waist. She didn't shy away. She just smiled sweetly. If she was uncomfortable, she hid it well. I knew a lot of girls thought Marcus was good-looking, but he was part of the terror monarchy and I hoped Jessica knew enough to stay away.

“I'll be right back,” I told Cam.

I followed Jessica to the bar. Before I could tap her shoulder, she turned and bumped into my chest. “Darren.”

“Were you hoping I'd show up?” I asked, echoing her words
from last week. I knew that Marcus was watching us.

She didn't seem to know how to answer, so I went on. “You don't want to let Marcus get close to you. He's dangerous.”

Her face sobered. “I know. But our manager said to be nice to them, so I'm trying to play along.”

“I have an idea to get him off your back. Do you trust me, Jessica?”

She nodded.

Then I kissed her. At first her whole body stiffened, but then she relaxed against me. She opened her lips, and our kiss deepened. She felt amazing. So amazing I didn't want to stop. She moaned against my mouth, and it drove me crazy.

Finally, I felt her hand touch my chest to push me away, but instead she held on to me. “Did he see us?” she asked in my ear.

“I think so. Stop by my table later to reinforce that we're together.”

“Okay.” She mustered up a smile and went back to work.

I returned to my table. Cam was gaping at me. “Who the hell is that?”

“A girl from school.”

“You never said you had a girlfriend.”

“It's complicated.”

“Looked pretty straightforward to me. Has she got a friend?”

“I'll ask her.” I watched Jessica serve drinks to Marcus's table. Relief flooded through me; he'd already cozied up to another girl. I knew that my plan could've backfired—Marcus could've gone after Jessica even if she had a boyfriend. But Marcus had so many women to pick from that he didn't need to bother.

Jessica came to our table with more drinks. I tried to hand her some money, but she said, “On the house,” and kissed me right on the lips.

Before she walked away, she said, “I'll call
you
.”

D
id you hear what happened last night?” Albert asked me eagerly. We were the first to arrive at the meeting late the next morning. Vinny's basement didn't look or smell any better than it had last time.

“No.”

“One of Andre's top lieutenants got taken out.”

“Nice.” If Diamond Tony wanted to start a war with the Bloods, killing a lieutenant was a great way to do it.

“They say he walked up to a car to make a deal, but got a bullet in the chest instead.”

“Too bad, so sad.” I grinned. “Andre should never have messed with Tony.”

“You said it.”

Tony's message to Andre was clear: Stealing his customers was unacceptable. Even if his product was crap. Even if he was selling nothing but straight baking soda and calling it Diamond Dust. They were his customers and no one else's.

Within ten minutes, everyone else had arrived. They were hyped up about the murder, praising Tony like he was some kind of hero. But I noticed Cam was quiet. He knew what this meant. The bloodshed had just begun.

Vinny clapped twice to shut us up, then started the meeting. “I want to congratulate y'all on holding shit together during this rough time. You made me proud. DT, too.”

“ 'Course we holding shit down,” Albert said. “That's what soljahs do.”

Vinny nodded. “I know the fiends have been wilding out, but don't worry. That's gonna change. We've got premium shit that should last us a few weeks until our supply problem is fixed. DT shelled out some serious cash so we can keep the customers satisfied.”

I could tell that the other dealers were relieved to hear this. But Vinny said himself that the fix was only temporary. Prescott must've been right about how hard it was to secure new suppliers. I bet Tony had paid several drug dealers shitloads of cash to buy
their product. It was a wise move. He was in danger of losing his business if things kept going this way.

“You're going to keep giving out little extras—dope, weed,” Vinny went on. “And we're keeping our prices low. The South Side Bloods are greedy as hell, and it's gonna come back to bite them.”

“I bet Andre went apeshit after what Tony did to his lieutenant,” T-Bone said. “That was slick, yo.”

Vinny held up a hand. “The Bloods
will
be coming after us. It'll be today or tomorrow or next month. But it will happen. We've got to be ready. They have no idea about the shit that'll rain down on them if they come after Diamond Tony's people.”

“Amen,” Albert and Pie said at the same time.

The meeting was over. There was nothing more to say.

Cam and I were the last to step outside. The sun had come out, and I squinted, adjusting to the light against the snow.

I turned to Cam. “Want to get a sub?”

Then I heard a burst of loud pops, like fireworks.

Bullets sprayed the air. Snow dusted up around us in a white cloud.

Down! Go down!

I dropped to the ground, then crawled behind a tree. I peered around it. The bullets were coming from a car parked a few yards
from the house. A tinted window in the backseat was lowered and the barrel of a gun stuck out.

If someone got out of the car, I was a sitting duck. I'd have to run, but in which direction?

Behind the house. That's where Cam was headed. Behind the house and over the fence.

The car's wheels spun in the snow, then it sped down the street and took a corner.

I jumped to my feet. A short distance in front of me, two guys were lying on the ground. I ran up to one of them and grabbed the back of his jacket. Pie struggled, like he thought I was attacking him.

“Easy, easy. It's Darren. You hit?”

“I don't know!” He frantically felt over his body, which told me he wasn't hit.

I went to Albert. When I turned him onto his side, I saw the blood. So much blood. Albert's eyes stared into mine. I could see he was scared and struggling to breathe. Most of the bleeding was coming from his abdomen. Taking off my coat, I applied pressure like I'd seen on TV.

“Goddamn . . . ,” Albert muttered, then his eyes lost focus.

People surrounded us. In the distance, sirens blared.

I moved away when the paramedics came. They tried to revive
him. For several minutes everybody stood around watching as they worked on him.

It was too late. Albert was gone.

I kept thinking of what Vinny had said.

It'll be today or tomorrow or next month. But it will happen.

W
hat if I'd been the first to walk outside?
I kept asking myself. What would have gone through my mind while I was bleeding out in the snow?

I wondered if Albert's life had flashed before his eyes and whether he'd seen a white light. I wondered if he'd been in pain, or if, at the moment of death, he'd felt numb.

I didn't want to think about it. But I couldn't focus on anything else.

Around midnight I got a text from Jessica.

Meet me after work?

I texted back:
Ok.

It was too late to pretend I wasn't into her. The kiss at the club had given me away. And the truth was, I didn't want to be alone. I needed some Jessica right now.

At 2:05, Jessica left the club in a faux-fur coat and leather boots. She saw me on the sidewalk and gave me a hug that warmed me through our coats.

“There's a place around the corner,” she said, hooking her arm through mine. I didn't know if she was worried about slipping on the ice or if she wanted to be close to me, but I liked it either way.

Jessica took me to a Middle-Eastern diner. Huge hunks of chicken and beef rotated on spits behind the counter, filling the air with the mouthwatering smells of spicy meat. The place was empty except for a group of old Arab guys sitting at the counter, chatting with the owner. We ordered hot chocolates and sat down.

“I heard what happened today,” she said. “Are you okay?”

I hesitated. Was this why she'd wanted to meet with me—to get the gory details? But no, that wasn't Jessica.

“I'm fine.”

“Must've been scary. Anyone could've gotten hit.”

“I know.”

She obviously expected me to say something more, something deep, but I didn't know what that was.

“I'm surprised you got back into the game after juvie,” she said after a moment.

There it was. The question nobody had dared to ask. Jessica was even bolder than I'd thought. She must've been nervous, though—her napkin was torn to pieces in front of her.

I played it cool. “Nobody wants to hire you out of juvie. Anyway, this is a temporary thing.”

“My boss is looking for another coat check person. I could ask him for you.”

“Thanks, but don't worry about it.”

Jessica didn't want me selling drugs. That made me respect her even more. But I wondered why she'd bothered with me in the first place.

I changed the topic. “So how'd you end up working at Chaos?”

“My friend Natalie works there, so she got me an interview.”

I raised an eyebrow teasingly. “How does an interview work? You put on a tight skirt and heels and walk with a tray?”

“Ha-ha. The tips are amazing. I had to work at Wendy's five nights a week to make the same money I make Friday and Saturday nights. And if I wasn't already working there, I'd be trying to find a way in.”

“I don't blame you. I'm just worried you'll slip on all those guys' drool.”