“That you don’t fuck with me.”
There was a knock at the door and Kevon stuck his head in. “Nick is here, boss.”
“I have meeting to go to, Martin,” I said and stood up. “So, if we’re done here. .”
Martin stood up and I extended my hand. “Don’t worry, I’m not done with Vinnelli,” I said quietly and shook his hand.
After Martin left, Kevon drove me and Nick out to Yonkers to see Angelo. I had been putting him off for weeks. Now that this Vinnelli business was over, it was time to move forward.
When we got to the social club, I was surprised that Fat Jimmy didn’t meet us at the car, so I asked Angee when we got inside, “Where’s fat Jimmy? He sick or something?”
“Jimmy’s dead, Mikey. His wife caught him with another broad and shot them both.”
“That’s fucked up.”
“It is that. So, Mikey, you been thinkin’ about what I asked you?”
“I have. I thought a lot about it, but for personal reasons that I know you understand, I’m gonna have to say no.”
“That’s unfortunate, but not unexpected.”
“Before you decide to whack me hear me out, Angee.”
“I’m not gonna have you whacked, Mikey.”
“That’s good to know. Like I said, Angee, I can’t get involved for my own reasons, but what I will do as a personal favor to you, is I will offer advice and counsel to Stark, and should the need ever arise, I’ll act as an intermediary to resolve any disputes. You got a problem with him, you come to me. But understand, this is not a service. This I do for you out of friendship. I will not accept a fee. But for reasons that I know you understand, I can’t go any further than that.”
“You know what? That means a lot to me. It does, Mikey. I expected you to say no just like you did. I knew I was askin’ a lot of you, and if you had said yes, I knew it wouldn’t be because you wanted to or because of the money or ’cause it was good business. None of that. If you had said yes to this it would be out of loyalty to our friendship. But this-” Angee stood up with his arms out.
I stood up. “I hope that’s acceptable.” Angee came around table and hugged me. Then he kissed me on both cheeks and held my face in both hands. I thought the kiss of death was coming next.
“This means a lot to me, Mikey,” he said and we left his office. When we came out, Nick and Kevon stood up. Angee walked over and shook Nick’s hand. “Congratulations, Nick, you deserve it.”
“Thank you,” Nick said.
I had Kevon drop Nick back at the club. When he left I had one more stop to make. After Kevon parked the car, I got a briefcase out of the trunk and we went in the building. We took the elevator up and Kevon knocked on the door.
“Who is it?”
I leaned in front of the peephole. “Mike Black.”
“Don’t go nowhere. I gotta put something on.”
“Don’t go to any trouble.”
“I tell you again, maybe you should call first, boss,” Kevon said and leaned against the wall. I took the other wall and once again, we waited. Five minutes later CeCe opened the door.
“Hello Mr. Black.”
“Hello, CeCe. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
“Not at all. Please come in. But you could think about calling first.”
“Kevon said the same thing,” I said and sat down.
“So, I read the paper this morning. I hope you’re pleased?” CeCe sat down next to me.
“I am.” I put the briefcase on the coffee table in front of her.
“Is that for me?”
I nodded my head.
CeCe opened the case, looked at the money, and closed the case.
“I hope you’re pleased?”
“I am.” CeCe put the briefcase on the floor next to her. “This must mean that everything went all right in the Caymans, and that I satisfied my end of the deal?”
“It does.”
“So are you ready to live up to your end of the deal?”
“As soon as you tell me what it is.”
“I want you to take me to dinner and then I want you to take me dancing,” CeCe said.
“That’s it? Dinner and dancing?”
“That’s it, Mr. Black, dinner and dancing.”
“Let’s go.”
“No, not tonight. I want you to make reservations at some place nice. It can be vegetarian, I don’t mind that.”
“You have been talkin’ to Bobby.”
“Bobby likes to talk to me,” CeCe said and smiled. “After you make reservations, I want you to call me and let me know what time to be ready.”
“That’s it? Dinner and dancing?”
“That’s all I want,” CeCe said and showed me to the door.
I called her the next day and told her that we had dinner reservations for six that evening and that I would pick her up at five-thirty. I arrived on time and CeCe was ready as I expected by six. She looked fantastic.
We had dinner reservations at Le Bernardin on 51st Street between 6th and 7th Avenue. CeCe had baked shrimp and striped bass and I ordered the sauteed codfish and we talked. Something she and I hadn’t done a lot of. “Because you avoid me.”
“I don’t avoid you, I’m just busy.”
“I’m busy, too, I have a lot to do to get this store opened, but I seem to find time for the things I want.”
“How’s that goin’?”
“It’s been a little rough. That briefcase you handed me will make things a lot easier. I should be able to open on time.”
“I meant to ask you when you first told me about it, but what do you know about running a store?”
“I used to be a buyer for Nostrums in Seattle.”
“Really?”
“You seem surprised. What did you think I was gonna say; that I used to be a cashier at Macys?”
I laughed, but yeah, I did.
“Well, I was a cashier at Macys, too, but I used to be a buyer.”
“I didn’t know that about you.”
CeCe looked at me like I was stupid. “There’s a lot that you don’t know about me, Mr. Black.”
“You’re right.”
“And I want you to know me. I want you to know that I’m more than just some gold-diggin’ baller’s girlfriend.”
By the time the waiter brought the check I knew that her real name was Cameisha Collins. She graduated from The University of Bridgeport with a degree in fashion merchandising. She moved to Seattle and worked for Nostrums out of their corporate office as a buyer. She came back to New York when her mother got sick. When she couldn’t find a job as a buyer, she got the job as a cashier at Macys and that’s where she met Cash Money. “You know the rest of the story.”
I had found out something else about CeCe. I found that I liked her. I’ve always enjoyed the company of women who could hold a conversation, and CeCe was definitely one of those women. She was intelligent without being snotty about it; she was playful, but not silly. CeCe was flirtatious, but not necessarily sexual.
And she was beautiful to look at.
“What now?” CeCe asked as we walked out of the restaurant arm in arm. “It’s a little early to go dancing.”
“I know it wasn’t part of our deal, but if you’d like, I got tickets for
