“As a Jew prayin’ at the Wailing Wall; but it ain’t the money, it’s the principle of the thing. You're always on mine when you could just get your own. That’s all I’m sayin’.”
“Whatever, Bobby.” Black gave the ringing phone his full attention.
“What's up, Black?” Freeze asked when he answered the phone.
“Where you at?” was Black’s reply.
“On my way to see how the game is going tonight.”
“We’ll meet you there.” Black pressed end, dug in his pocket and pulled out a dollar. He handed the phone and a dollar to Bobby. “Here, cheap ass. I don’t have a quarter, but that should cover the call.”
Bobby snatched the phone out of Black’s hand but let the dollar drop between them. “I told you it ain’t about the money,” Bobby said as he drove.
“I know, I know, it’s the principle.”
Freeze pulled his Navigator in front of the house and put the car in park. He sat there for a minute thinking about the day that Black gave him control of the operation. It had been a few days after Shy’s funeral before Freeze made it out to Bobby’s house to see Black. He had meant to go the day after, but he got busy and the next day became the next day, but he finally made it.
The truth was, he wasn’t in any hurry to face Black. He still felt responsible for Shy’s death. “It’s my fault she’s dead,” Freeze remembered telling Nick.
“Who, Shy? What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” Nick had replied.
“Shy called me that night and asked me to come over there, but I never went.”
“Why not?” Nick thought for a second. Then he looked at his friend. “You didn’t go ’cause you don’t like the way she talks to you?”
Freeze looked over at Nick, but didn’t answer. Anytime they had business she would talk to him like a child.
“Before me and Black went to Mexico, I talked to Shy about that,” Nick said.
“What you do that for?”
“Because you’re my friend,” Nick answered. “I told her how you felt about it. She had no idea. She called you over there to apologize to you.”
Freeze didn’t say a word after he heard that. What could he say? All Freeze knew now was that he couldn’t carry that burden around any longer. He had to tell Black the truth. If he had been there, Shy would still be alive.
When he finally found the house, Bobby’s wife, Pam, let him in and told him that Black and Bobby were in the basement and that he could go on down.
“There he is,” Black said as Freeze walked down the steps.
“Missed the turn didn’t you?” Bobby asked.
“Every fuckin’ time.” Freeze went toward the bar. Once he poured himself a drink and refreshed everyone else’s, he sat down on the couch next to Black. “How you doin’?” Freeze asked him.
“I guess I’m all right. I mean, I don’t feel like killin’ myself or no dumb shit like that.”
“Yeah, but he been cryin’ all damn day,” Bobby added.
“Fuck you, Bobby. I ain’t been cryin’ all day,” Black told him, although he did feel like crying at times that day. “Anyway, I’m glad you came. I want to talk to you about something,” Black said to Freeze.
“What's that?” Freeze was curious to know.
“Me and Bobby been talking about this and I want you to run things,” Black said, but Freeze didn’t say anything. “I know you been handling shit for years, but it’s always been somebody else, me, then Wanda, then Cassandra, callin’ the shots. But that’s over with. It’s your time now. Me and Bobby are here to advise you if you need it, but you make the decisions.”
“What about Wanda?” Freeze asked.
“What I tell you? You got this, without any interference from Wanda. I wish you had come yesterday while she was here so I could have told you in front of her. If you need her advice, ask her.”
Freeze looked at Black, but didn’t say anything. Feeling the way he was feeling, what could he say? Here he had just been handed everything he wanted and he felt empty.
“Bobby. I need to talk to Black for a minute.” Freeze looked at Bobby, awaiting his response.
Bobby picked up his drink and stood up. “Holla when you're done. I’ll be at the top of the stairs listening,” he said and winked.
Knowing how Bobby was, Freeze waited until he heard the door close before he said anything. “There’s something I gotta tell you about the night Shy got killed.”
“What's that?” Black asked and put down his drink.
“I was supposed to go over there that night,” Freeze confessed.
“I know, she told me. Why didn’t you go?”
Freeze didn’t answer. He felt like a fuckin’ fool having to say it.
“What ever it is, go ahead and say it,” Black told him.
Once again Freeze found himself speechless. He finished his drink and took a deep breath. “I didn’t go ‘cause I didn’t like the way she talked to me.”
Black shook his head. “I know that was hard for you to tell me,” Black said and got up to get the bottle. “You think it’s your fault Cassandra’s dead?”
“If I’d just gone over there, she’d still be alive,” Freeze said while Black refilled his glass.
Black poured himself another drink and sat down. “You gotta let that go. It ain’t your fault. They were listening on the phones; they knew you were coming and they went ahead with it anyway. What does that tell you? It means Bart was ready for you. So you drop that shit. You're gonna need a clear head for what you gotta do for me. You carryin’ that guilt around ain’t gonna do nothing for nobody; understand?”
Freeze told Black that he understood what he was saying, and for the most part, he did. But there was a part of him that still believed that if he had been there that night, things would have been different, even if Bart was ready for him.
Before Black and Bobby got to the house, Freeze had spoken to Nick Simmons. When Freeze told him that Black was on his way there, Nick said that he had some information for Black and that Freeze shouldn’t let Black leave before he got there.
Through his contacts, Nick was able to find out that the men that killed Shy were handled by a guy named Rosstein, but he died suddenly before he told who hired him. Now Nick had gotten information about Rosstein that might be useful.
“What's up, Freeze?” Nick said when he came into the office where Freeze and Mylo were.
“What’s up,” Freeze said and seemed to be looking around or past Nick. “You alone?” Freeze asked.
“Yeah, I’m alone,” Nick replied.
“Where’s Wanda?” Freeze asked and laughed.
“Fuck you, that’s where Wanda is.”
Freeze stood up like he was going to shake hands with Nick, but tapped him on the hip. “I’m just askin’, ‘cause usually she be right there attached to your hip.”
Nick slapped Freeze’s hand away. “Fuck you, Freeze.”
Every time Freeze saw Nick without Wanda, he would kid him about it. She and Nick had sniffed around each other and denied that there was anything going on between them.
If you had asked Wanda, she’d say, “Nick? Please, we are just two old friends that like to hang out.”
While Nick had become notorious for saying. “Hangin’ out with her is like old times, you know, when we all used to hang together.”
That was until they finally got together one night while Black was in jail.
Since that night, they’ve carried on a relatively secret relationship. That’s the way Wanda wanted it; she didn’t want anyone to find out, especially Mike Black. The only person who knew was Freeze, and although Nick was proud to have Wanda and wanted the world to know that she was all his, there were times like this that he wished Freeze had never figured it out.
“What's up, Nick?” Mylo said and got up. Freeze looked at Mylo and he started walking toward the door. “I’m gonna see how the game is goin’.”
“Send somebody in with some drinks,” Freeze ordered.
