“Make sure he’s gone,” Angelo said and raised his glass. “And I was too there when you made your bones.”
“No, Angee, I couldn’t do it ’cause of the kid. Remember?”
Angelo took another swallow and I guess he thought about it. “You know what? You’re right. His little girl came out the house and you backed off.”
“I knew you’d remember.”
“You did the right thing. I couldn’ta shot him in front of his kid either.”
“What did you say?”
“What, are you drunk? I said you fuckin’ did the right thing; Shootin’ him in front of his kid wouldn’ta been right.”
I got up and punched Angee in the face. He fell off his chair and hit the floor hard.
“What the fuck, Mikey!”
I helped him get up, sat down, and poured us both another drink.
“What the fuck you hit me for?” Angelo asked and shot his drink.
“You woulda done the same shit?” I shot mine and poured us another.
“Yeah. Whackin’ the guy in front of his family ain’t right.”
“Now it ain’t right. Now it ain’t fuckin’ right! Is that what you’re sayin’, Angee? The shit ain’t fuckin’ right! After all these fuckin’ years later, and now you say it ain’t right.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin’. What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Back then it was all about how I was a chicken shit, a punk, that I was a fuckin’ coward!”
“I never said that shit.”
“Yes, you fuckin’ did, Angee. The whole way back to Andre’s that’s all you kept sayin’. Chicken shit!”
Angee took another sip of his drink, and started nodding his head. I guess he remembered that too. “I guess you’re right. I did say that shit.”
“You know how long I carried that shit around?” I respected Angee; wanted him to respect me. I didn’t want him thinkin’ I was a coward.
“Sorry, Mikey. I didn’t know that shit bothered you. You wanna lay down on the couch and tell me about it?”
“I’m ’bout to take out my gun and shoot your ass.”
“If that’s what you’re gonna do to make it right, Mikey, go ahead and shoot. But you’ll miss me.” Angee finished his drink and motioned for me to drink up so he could pour me another. “So you gonna tell me about it?”
“About what?”
“Your first.”
“First what?”
“What the fuck have we been talkin’ about? How you made your bones!” Angee said, much louder than I needed him to.
“Why you yellin’?”
“I’m not yellin’.” Angelo poured me another drink.
I took a swallow. “When I got back to Andre’s, he was there with Bobby and five women.”
“Five of them?
“Andre was the king of the orgy, and he didn’t mind sharin’. After the women left I told him what happened, and after they both had a good laugh, he told me and Bobby to go a little bar up on Bronxwood later that night,” I said and laughed.
“What’s so funny?”
“That bar is a church now.”
“Go figure.”
“Anyway, he gives us a picture of these two guys, and tells us what he wants us to do. Since I’d just got punked out on a job, he asks me if I’m sure I can handle it.”
“Hell yeah, I can handle it,” I told Andre that day. I was pretty sure that none of their kids would be hangin’ out with them at the bar. “The rest of the day, neither me or Bobby did much talkin’,” I continued tellin’ Angee, “which was rare for Bobby. Truth was, we were both nervous, especially since I had just fucked around and couldn’t kill Chicago.”
Angee’s facial expression changed. He put down his glass and looked at me. “You know, until you said his name, I forgot who he was and what that meant to you.”
“You are drunk.” Chicago was Cassandra’s father, and it was Angee who put me on to it ’cause I had no idea that they were related.
“I know that shit, Mikey.”
“You wanna hear this shit or not?”
Angee raised his glass. “Go ahead.”
“When we get to the spot, the guy won’t let us in.”
“Why not?”
“He said we looked too young to be in there, until Bobby said that Andre sent us. After that it was all good.”
Once we went in and sat down I asked Bobby, “What you tell him that for?”
“It got us in, right?” Bobby said. “And besides, Andre wants everybody to know it was him behind it.”
I couldn’t argue with his logic.
“Just relax. Have a drink and enjoy yourself,” Bobby said and stared at the lone naked dancer behind the bar. “You ain’t scared are you?”
“No! And don’t you start with me. I heard enough of that shit from Angelo.”
“Angelo.” Bobby shook his head. “Why you hangout with that guy anyway?” Bobby tolerates my friendship with Angee, but he never did like him, and wonders why I do.
“Angelo’s a good guy. Give him a chance. He’s gonna be a good guy to know,” I told Bobby that night and we waited.
It was two in the morning before the guys we were looking for got there. I tapped Bobby on the shoulder.
“You ready?” I asked and Bobby nodded.
We both put on gloves and stood up.
“Let’s do it,” Bobby said, and we walked toward them at the bar.
Once we were standing behind them, it was like time was standing still. I can’t speak for Bobby, and we never talked about it after it was done, but honestly, its one thing to talk shit about doin’ it, but pullin’ the trigger and blowin’ a hole in the back of somebody’s head is another. To that point, we had collected money and roughed up a few people, which was fun, but we were about to kill these muthafuckas.
We never even knew their names, much less who they were and what they had done for Andre to want them dead. But the time for thinkin’ was past; nothing to do then but pull and blast. I looked at Bobby, we pulled out our guns and we fired.
“What happened then?”
“What do you think happened? We dropped our gats and got the fuck outta there.”
“What you gonna do now?” Angee asked after another swallow.
“I’m gonna kill the corner of this Remy and get outta here.” I picked up the bottle and poured the last of the Remy into my glass, and maybe for the first time, was glad that Bobby made me get a driver.
He said that with all that we had goin’ on lately-muthafuckas tryin’ to kill me and shit-that I needed to have somebody with me at all times and he couldn’t always be there.
At first I resisted it. I don’t need no fuckin’ bodyguard. But I knew he was right, so I got a driver.
His name is Kevon. He used to work for Jamaica in the Bahamas. He drove me around on my last trip. I picked him because he didn’t know anybody in this country, so his loyalty to me and only me wouldn’t be a question.
“I’m talkin’ about this other DEA fuck. What’s his name?”
“Vinnelli.”
