Payback

'No, that is all I can tell you. Mr. Black, I am sorry to say that I did nothing to help your wife. It happen so quickly, and I don’t carry a gun anymore.'

'No need to apologize, Mr. Elgin. If you had tried to help her, those men would have killed you,' Mike said as Nick walked up on them.

'The plane is ready, Black. We gotta go,' Nick said.

'Thank you, Mr. Elgin. You’ve been a big help getting this information to us,' Mike said as he walked toward the plane.

'No problem, Mr. Black.'

Chapter Four

Freeze walked into Cynt’s, a gambling club they had run for years. He had received a call from Cynt that there were some men who had posted up in the back of her spot, and they appeared to be selling drugs. The night before, he and Nick had a run-in with two other men who were trying to set up shop at another one of the spots they ran. Freeze was confident that these were not the same men, because those men were no longer breathing.

As he wandered around the spot looking for Cynt, Freeze was surprised but not shocked to see Travis Burns sitting by the bar, enjoying the company of two dancers. Travis, along with Jackie Washington and Ronnie Grier, were a robbing crew that made Freeze plenty of money. This was the first time that he had seen Travis since Freeze killed Ronnie over a business matter concerning his long-time female associate, Paulleen. After that, Travis and Jackie did an occasional job, but only if there was enough money involved and absolutely no risk.

As Freeze walked toward Travis, he looked around for Jackie, who, unlike Travis, was gambling at Cynt’s all the time. Not too long after Ronnie’s murder, Jackie approached Freeze about her desire to have someone assassinated, but when she told him that the person was Me’shelle Lawrence, Travis’s ex-girlfriend, Freeze declined and told Jackie to get over it. However, every time Jackie looked at Travis and saw the pain in his eyes, she knew that she wouldn’t get over it until Me’shelle was dead.

'Mind if I join you?' Freeze said as Travis turned slowly and looked at him.

'This is your world, Freeze. I’m just trying to live in it.'

'I hadn’t seen you around much lately, Travis. What’s been up?'

'Nothing, man. Just trying to make a living, same as always,' Travis replied. He had a feeling that it was Freeze who killed Ronnie, or at the very least, had him killed, but he had no desire to die trying to get revenge.

'I’m just sayin’, you don’t come up here anymore like you used to, and you have Jackie bring me my taste from your jobs.'

'Yeah, well, Jackie’s up here all the time doin’ her thing anyway. Why not let her do it?'

'Yeah, okay, whatever.' Freeze looked around the room. 'Jackie here?'

'Of course she is. She’s downstairs doin’ her thing. Why?'

'You strapped?'

'No.'

'I may need you and her to back me up,' Freeze told Travis, even though he knew he could handle the situation without him. It was more important to know where his head was. 'And I need to know if I can count on you.'

'You know you can,' Travis said. 'Like you said, whatever went down was business, not personal, and got nothing to do with you and me,' Travis said to let Freeze know that he knew what was going on, but he was still loyal to him.

'Here,' Freeze said and discreetly passed a Travis a gun.

'I’ll go get Jackie,' Travis said.

Freeze followed Travis downstairs to the gambling area where, as expected, they found Jackie, doin’ her thing. Only nowadays, Jackie wasn’t losing at poker anymore.

Early one morning, around four a.m., Mike Black came into the gambling area while Jackie was literally losing her shirt. She waved and smiled when she saw him standing directly across from her, and Mike nodded his head in response. Jackie thought Mike Black was sexy from the first time she met him. Although she’d never admit it to anyone, Jackie had the kind of crush that a young girl has on her teacher. It had gotten to the point where Jackie thought about making herself available for him.

Mr. Black, Mike Black, but you are so married. So, we can be cool or whatever, but I gotta respect your wife, Jackie told her mirror one day.

Mike stood and watched while Jackie continued drop to money on losing hands. Once he had seen enough, Mike went and sat down. When Jackie lost all her money and got up from the table, Mike motioned for her to join him.

'Bad night,' Mike said to her, stating the obvious.

'No more than any other night.' Jackie laughed, trying to make light of it.

'Freeze says that you’re good people; that you and your boy are good earners. But you’re here a lot. Drop a lot of money.' Mike signaled a waitress for a drink.

'I’d say that was the truth.'

'It’s the way you play,' Mike said nonchalantly.

'What do you mean?'

'I watched you play. I could tell when you had a good hand, and when your cards weren’t shit. I could tell when you were nervous. I could even tell every time you had a strong card, and when you were bluffing.'

'Could you let me in on it, or is it a secret? I lost a lot of money to the house too. Your house.'

'No, I don’t mind tellin’ you, Jackie. It’s written all over your face. It’s your eyes, actually.'

Jackie smiled. 'So, you were looking at my eyes?'

'You have very pretty eyes, but they betray you every hand. All anyone you’re gambling with has to do is watch your eyes.'

'Anything else?' Jackie asked as the waitress set a glass of Remy Martin VSOP in front of Mike and asked her if she wanted anything.

'Hennessy.'

'You’re reckless and greedy.'

'Reckless and greedy!' Jackie barked, looking very incensed. 'What do you mean by that?'

Mike took a sip of his Remy. 'Before I answer your question, let me ask you one.'

'Okay, go ahead,' Jackie said excitedly. This was the longest conversation she’d had with Mike, and she planned on dragging it out for as long as she could. And that voice, hmm. Maybe I gave up on you a bit too soon, Mr. Black, Mike Black.

'Are you trying to make money gambling, or is this just a sport to you?'

'I’m trying to make money, no doubt. But I would be interested in hearing you explain the difference between the two.' I’d be interested in hearing you explain how grass grows. 'If you have time. I know that you’re a busy man, and I appreciate you taking the time to talk to me.' I can’t believe you said that.

Mike looked at Jackie and let out a little laugh. 'If you’re gambling for sport, you really don’t care if you make money or not. You just enjoy the game, the tension, the anticipation, and the camaraderie; that’s sport. But when you’re gambling to make money, then that’s all it’s about-money; fuck all the rest of that shit.'

'From what you see, which one am I?'

'You gamble for the sport of it. That’s what makes you reckless and greedy.' Mike paused and then went on to explain his point. 'When you got money sittin’ in front of you, you make reckless bets, and when you lose, you try to laugh it off, like it’s only money.'

Jackie had to laugh because she knew it was true. 'That’s me.'

'You chase the big pots.' Mike paused to emphasize his point. 'Greedy. And you chase them with weak hands, and since we already talked about your inability to bluff, that makes you reckless and greedy.'

'Damn,' Jackie said slowly. 'You really have been watching me.'

'Watching you lose, Jackie. Watching you lose money to me,' Mike said and sat back in his chair.