The Syndicate (9 page)

“So, the Irish want to meet with you. Cormac was their man at the table. They'd like to be a part of the next meeting in hopes they can talk about replacing one of their people at the table,” I said to Javon.

Quiet as kept, this old man was glad the young'un stepped up to the plate. This game, this lifestyle was all I knew. When me and Mama officially met, I was twenty. She was ten years older than me, but the woman had a walk on her that would make Jesus sin. I knew I shouldn't have been sniffing after Kingston's old lady, but the woman was beautiful. Once Kingston died in that fire, I moved in where his loss left a void. Took me another five years to get her to look at me as more than her henchman.

I chuckled inwardly thinking of the times she and I shared. I was going to miss that woman. Couldn't get her to give me a child nor her hand in marriage, but she gave me everything else I asked of her. I was working for her husband when we met. I was one of his hit men. Started running errands for him when I was fifteen. Not much mattered to me back then other than staying off the street and having money to eat. At fifteen I would have robbed my mother and grandmother if that meant I could keep food in my mouth.

I wasn't a good kid. I wouldn't make no bones about it. A li'l nigga like me only had two things on my mind: money and who I had to hurt to get it. I grew up in the most fucked up of situations down in Mississippi. So when Mama—I called Claudette Mama from the time I met her—started taking in orphans after Kingston died, I was all for it. A lot of the youngsters reminded me of myself.

But it wasn't until Javon and Cory showed up that I knew Mama would be doing more than just fostering kids and then letting the state come in to take them when they felt the children's time was up. Cory and Javon started the cycle of Mama legally adopting kids.

“I'll meet with them out of respect, but my decision has been made,” he said as he poured himself more Jamaican rum. “How the hell did Mama get this much power, Unc?”

“I'ma tell you, be lucky you knew Mama the saint because Mama the crime lord was a ruthless individual. I've seen her fillet grown men. Seen her slice off dicks, kill women, kidnap children when she had to back in the day. She is one of the reasons the rule about leaving women and children out of the business was made.” I chuckled at the look on Javon's face. “Ya mama was nothing to play with. When Kingston died, she knew she had a right to sit at that table. The same shit she doing for y'all, King did it for her. Left her pristine notes on what was what. Told her who to trust and who not to trust.”

He sat there for a minute like he was letting it all sink in. Shit, over the years, it surprised and impressed me that Mama was able to lead a double life so effortlessly.

“A black woman from the South commanded the respect of an entire syndicate of drug lords. This isn't just some run-of-the-mill shit, Unc. I walked into a room and stuck a fork in the neck of one of the leading members because he said he was trying to get my attention. I know I've walked into some shit I'm not sure I'm ready for,” Javon confessed. “But to think Mama wielded so much power?” He shook his head like he still couldn't believe it.

“Yeah, but you in it now, nephew. You made your mark. Young, intelligent black man walked into a roomful of the top criminals in the underworld and shut shit down. Not to mention at the second meeting you showed respect to each and every man and woman at that table. You asked their thoughts. You asked their apprehensions about you taking over and then you laid down your plans for the future. Hell, I gotta admit, shit even I was impressed.”

“I don't know, Unc,” he said shaking his head. “I did all that shit because Mama wanted me to. I read her notes, took notes on my own, and then walked into that room like I knew what the fuck I was talking about.”

I chuckled and took a sip of moonshine from the blue Mason jar in front of me. “That's the thing, li'l nigga, you did know what you were talking about,” I told him.

After killing Cormac, Javon scheduled another meeting at the table. These old heads couldn't stay around too long, especially not in one place, so for them to agree to meet with Javon a second time shocked the shit outta me.

“Most niggas gotta work damn near they whole lives to get what you got right now, nephew, to get where you at. You got Mama to thank for that. There're levels to this shit and rules that say that if the head of the Syndicate is taken out, the right to their seat goes to their heir unless otherwise delegated. Mama gave you a running head start.”

“Which makes me a fucking target, too.”

I nodded. “Oh, yeah, don't get me wrong, a few of the motherfuckers at that table probably coming up with ways to lay you down.”

“And these are the men and women I'm supposed to trust?”

I threw my head back and laughed, the powerful liquor making me feel better about the void in my heart. “You'd be a fool to, nephew,” I said.

Javon chuckled with me then got quiet. I could tell where his mind was. “How long you been in love with Mama, Unc?” he asked me.

That question sobered me a bit. “Practically since the first day I laid eyes on her. Shit, but she didn't give a li'l cocky nigga like me no play until five years after her husband died.” I smiled at the memory. “Shit, best night of my life was when she was in my small-ass apartment waiting on me when I got home. Boy, y'all's mama was a bad-ass woman back then. I mean she was still bad until the day she died, but back then? Whew. I came home and she was sitting in my recliner with nothing on and some sexy heels.”

“Come on, Uncle Snap, I didn't need to hear all that,” Javon said with a disgusted frown on his face.

“Boy, looka here, I'm trying to tell you. I think I died and went to heaven a few times that night. Never had no woman work me over like that,” I said with a grin, just fucking with him at this point.

Javon stood and shoved my shoulder. “Uncle, chill on all that shit right there, a'ight?” he said then chuckled.

“A'ight, a'ight. You got that. But back to business; what about the Irish?”

“Like I said, I'll meet them, but I already picked a replacement. Also, I think a lot more people in the Syndicate about to be pissed off at the new plans I'm proposing.”

I took a long swallow of the moonshine then set the glass back down on the table. “Wha'chu mean?” I asked him.

“The Syndicate has had the same women and men for over fifty years in some seats. It's time for change, Unc. If I'm going to run this joint, then I'm going to run it my way.”

Something told me that what he was about to say I wasn't gon' agree with. “Say what's on your mind, son.”

“I'm removing six seats from the Syndicate. Once those six are gone, I'm replacing six of the old with six new.”

I shook my head, already seeing that he was about to create enemies he wasn't ready to deal with. The shit storm he was about to cause could mean blood would be raining on over Atlanta for years to come. “Whoa, Javon, wait a minute. You trying to commit suicide? These men and women been running the Syndicate and the trade for decades and you think you gon' just come in and tell folk they can't eat no more?” I asked him, still shaking my head.

“This ain't about telling them they can't eat or making folk starve. This is about evolving with the times, Unc. We need fresh thoughts, new ideas. New product. Jojo can make any damn thing he puts his mind to. He went in that basement and in less than a few weeks presented me with new products. Now I know Naveen helped him with the mechanics of the electric cigarette, but Jojo's chemist mind made the liquid shit that goes inside of it. The old heads still think the only way to make money in the drug trade is coke, crack, and heroin. I'm young. I know how to compound on what we already have. I know how to make it ten times better. The money that could be made on club drugs alone, we're losing it to the rich white college kid drug dealers because the old heads won't see the value in it.”

“I mean the coke, the kind we bring in, is the best in the South. We got that on lock,” I reminded him.

“That's the thing, Unc, we have to expand. Broaden our horizons. Not to mention, Mama was saying the same thing in her notes. Before I even read that part, my mind was ticking away about what I could change to make it better.”

“Yeah, but,” I started, then blew out air like steam was coming from my mouth, “you're ruffling feathers here, Javon, and I don't see how this shit gon' work out for you.”

“I got it, Uncle Snap. Trust me.”

“Trust you?” I repeated then chuckled although I found nothing funny. “You're the same man who just last week wanted nothing to do with this shit and now you want me to trust you?” I stood and moved closer to Javon so we could be face to face. “What you're about to do will change everything and though Mama put you in this place of power, don't think these old-world gangsters won't take you out; and then they'll take out your family. These same men and women had something to do with Mama being murdered.”

Javon stood, shoulders squared, head held high. “I know, which is why I'm surprised you wouldn't be more supportive of me getting rid of the people who may have put a hit out on her.”

“I'm not saying that, son. What I'm saying is you need to ease into this thang. You can't just walk into the Syndicate and push all those people out. There will be backlash.”

“Backlash that I'm prepared for, but the threat of it isn't going to stop me.”

I was sure my face carried the angst I felt. God knew I didn't want anything to happen to this boy, but if he was willing to put his damn life on the line just so he could prove to the Syndicate how big his dick was then so be it. Mama would kick my ass once I got to wherever she was one day, but as long as she knew I tried to keep him from signing his own death warrant then I'd take it.

Lucky wasn't what I was expecting. I thought some smooth Italian dude was going to open the door to the condo to meet us. I mean, Lucky was Italian, he was just Italian and black. Tall, maybe an inch or so taller than Javon. The suit he had on had been tailored to fit his broad shoulders and athletic physique. I couldn't see his eyes that well in the morning dawn until he flipped on a light switch, but the way the man moved reminded me of the alpha in Javon. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. I was tired and hadn't slept.

The fight between Inez and me once I had gotten to Mama's house still weighed on me. The girl had a bruise on the left of her face the size of Texas. I'd walked in the house to her on the phone apologizing to some nigga. She was begging him to come see her and apologized for making him hit her. I'd never been so angry in my life. Inez could never seem to find a man who didn't like putting his foot in her ass. I didn't know why she always attracted the worst of the worst kind of man.

“You okay?” Javon asked me for the second time since we had left the house.

I knew he was looking down at me, but I was staring straight ahead. I nodded. “Yeah, just tired,” I said.

“You sure?”

I glanced over at him. “Yes, I'm sure.”

I didn't want to bog him down with female bullshit. I still couldn't help but think back on what had gone down. Melissa had walked in on Inez and me about to come to blows.

“Oh my God, Inez. Cut it out,” Melissa said. “What I said
. . .
That was a long time ago.”

“That's because you were his
—
”

Still, the fact that Inez had effectively used manipulation to get the heat off her bothered me, not to mention all the other shit she had said. I couldn't wait to get her alone so we could talk again. She was going to tell me who the motherfucker was who had hit her and there would be no way around it. I wouldn't stand for one of my sisters allowing a man to beat her down. I just wouldn't.

I had to focus on that later though. As Lucky ushered us in, my eyes widened a bit. Brother man was fine. Black Italian leather dress shoes that looked fresh from the cobbler clacked against the marble flooring. He had a half-crested gold ring on his finger, which drew my attention. He was the color of raw honey that heat hadn't touched yet. His close-cropped silky black hair was tapered to perfection. His face was free of any hair and diamond studs were in his left and right earlobes.

He smiled and extended his big hand. “Nice to meet you, Javon.”

Javon smiled and grasped Lucky's hand in a firm handshake. “Glad you could get out here on such short notice,” Javon responded.

Lucky turned his eyes to me and I glanced away before looking back at him.

“This is my fiancée, Shanelle,” Javon introduced me with a hand on the small of my back.

Lucky extended his hand, but for some reason I hesitated to shake it. I didn't know why. Just something in my gut clenched like a fist around my insides and wouldn't let go. But for the sake of decorum, I smiled and shook the man's hand. “Hello, Lucky. Nice to meet you,” I greeted him.

The smile on Lucky's face was a lascivious one and he turned my hand and kissed the back of it. “The pleasure is all mine of course,” he said.

My hand started to tingle. I cleared my throat then removed my hand from his. I glanced at the floor as I used my left hand to push my hair behind my ear. I felt when Javon's hand tensed a bit on my back. I would have chuckled and rolled my eyes if I didn't know any better. But I did know better. I also knew Javon's temper. So I kept it cute and stayed in my place for the time being.

We all made our way to the front room where staff had already placed out refreshments. Javon ushered me to the sofa to sit while he and Lucky took the two wingback Tudor-style chairs across from one another. After we had been served drinks of our choice, Javon got right down to business.

“I don't want to pussyfoot around or waste time,” he said to Lucky. “I called you here because I want to offer you a seat at the table of the Syndicate. Lots of things are about to change around here and Mama spoke highly of you. You're already running a fine enterprise up North and you get your product through us already. Getting a seat in the Syndicate would mean you wouldn't have to deal with day-to-day details. You could turn that over to a general and deal with only the logistics, money, and distribution. Not to mention we each take our cut off the top when new product comes in. You could focus on other things like your overseas enterprises.”

Lucky took a sip of his drink, crossed his ankle over his left leg, and studied Javon. “Lots of talk about you going on in the circuits. Is it true? Did you really off Cormac?” he asked.

“Whether I answer yes or no, the question will still remain if you want the seat at the table. But to answer honestly, yes, I did. He said he wanted my attention so I gave it to him. May not have been the attention he had in mind, but he got it nonetheless.”

“You comfortable with cutting the Irish from the table like that?”

Javon nodded. “I have to be because I've done it now. They want to speak with me as well.”

“And you plan to?”

Javon nodded once. “I'll give them time to speak their piece. We don't really need the Irish if you want me to be honest. We got the Mexicans, Africans, Jews, Italians, and once I make this change, I have Natives I can bring in as well. The reservations have potential to bring in a lot of money for us.”

Lucky clicked his tongue a few times then chuckled. “That's some old-world shit you up against right now. Starting a war with them could potentially crumble the Syndicate.”

“I'm aware. But they are not our only worries, especially since I plan to eliminate six chairs at the Syndicate anyway and replace the remaining six with new and younger people.”

I looked at Javon. That was something new he hadn't told me. I mean I knew he didn't have to tell me everything, but I assumed with a move that calculating he would have run it by me. “Baby, how is that going to work?” I asked. “These are dangerous people.”

He looked at me. I could tell he knew what I was thinking, which was why he nodded and answered, “I have the plans all laid out, but the first order of business is to see if Lucky is going to take the seat I'm offering. Bringing him on will start the process. The six chairs I eliminate altogether will have no dealings with Syndicate business. The six chairs I replace will form something like a council of elders. They will retire and I will allow them to have a hand in who they choose from their families to take their seats.”