Alwayne and Suave shared a hearty laugh, lessening the tension that was in the air.
“Oh, before I forget, service begins at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday,” Alwayne informed Suave. “Please don’t be late.”
* * *
“Hello?” King Kong answered his ringing cell phone. He was sitting on the couch in the back of his restaurant.
“You know who this is,” Mr. Dapper said. “Can you talk?”
“Yes, yes, of course,” King Kong replied nervously. “How are you?”
“I have a business proposal for you that should get us back on track.” Mr. Dapper wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. “Are you interested, or what?”
King Kong started to beam from ear to ear. He owed Mr. Dapper a lot of money, thanks to Smooth Suave. He had been hustling hard to pay up but was still behind. “Yes, I am,” he answered eagerly.
“I’ll be sending you a huge shipment on consignment in eight weeks. I want you to turn this around, and split it fifty-fifty between us. This will square us off.”
King Kong almost wet his white linen pants. He looked up at the heavens as if he expected to see some angels playing on their trumpets. Hallelujah! “You ain’t said nothing but a word, Mr. Dapper. I promise I won’t disappoint you.”
“I hope not. This is your last chance.”
“Thank y—” The dial tone rang in King Kong’s ear, but he was too happy to care. King Kong stood and walked to the front. “Yo, Saddam,” he waved to get Saddam’s attention as he sat drinking a bowl of red pea soup, “come to the back.”
Saddam got up with the soup bowl in his hand and followed King Kong to the back room.
“You won’t believe this.” King Kong then relayed his conversation with Mr. Dapper.
Saddam rested the soup bowl on a small table in the corner before he gave his boss a man hug. “This is good news.” Saddam’s eyes were sparkling. “I bet he heard that our little friend is facing a murder rap, so he wanted to get us on top.”
King Kong nodded in agreement. “I’m glad he didn’t ask about that traitor Phil.” His ugly face screwed up, just mentioning Phil’s name. “We had everything planned out, and that fool betrayed us and gave Suave his son back.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll catch him soon.” Saddam had been actually looking forward to sending pieces of Suave’s son to his father, little by little. “I bet he went to the country to hide.”
“Anyway, that’s his bad luck because you and I are about to take over Jamaica.” King Kong was back in the groove. “Not even that fat pig can test us now,” he said in reference to Queen Bee.
“We’re going to slaughter the pig anyway,” Saddam reminded his boss. “So, oink oink oink.” King Kong and Saddam fell out laughing. They laughed so hard that tears ran down their faces.
Chapter Forty-four
“Hello, Mr. Brown. I’m Annette Clark,” said the tall, light-skinned, strikingly beautiful woman who greeted Suave at the door. “Please come in.” She waved her hand toward her office.
Suave swallowed and stepped into the professional, elegantly decorated office. He flinched when Annette closed the door behind him, still unsure if he were actually doing the right thing.
“You’re already here, so you might as well just give me a few minutes,” Annette said as if she had read Suave’s mind. She walked over to the beige, leather, La-Z-Boy chair and lowered herself into it. “Please have a seat.” Annette pointed to the matching couch that faced her.
Suave perched on the edge of the couch and looked at Alwayne’s wife’s pleasant face and found himself relaxing.
“I’m glad you decided to come.” Annette smiled at him. “I promise you that I’m only here to help you, and anything said in this room is strictly between us.” She was now all business, her expression seriously conveying her message.
“That’s what your husband told me. You know he’s representing me on a murder charge.”
“Yes, he mentioned it, but never went into detail. He also has a level of confidentiality to maintain.”
“Yeah, he is the best, and I have faith that he will help me,” Suave noted.
Annette bobbed her head in agreement. “He’s very good at what he does,” she said proudly. “I’m not too bad in my field, either.” She winked at Suave.
“I don’t encounter many people like you and your husband.”
This was the opening Annette was waiting for. “What kind of people do you usually deal with, Mr. Brown?”
“You can call me Suave. People who want to use or abuse me,” he informed Annette. “Except for my children, and my boys, Daddy Lizard and Cobra, most people only want what they can get from me.”
“And how does this make you feel?”
Suave relaxed back into the couch and crossed his legs. “I’m not a fool. I’m in control of my own destiny, and I don’t allow anyone to play me. It’s kill or be killed.”
“Powerful statement. Are we talking about killing in the physical sense of the word or are you speaking in general?”
“A very wise man once told me when I was very young that if you cut off the head off the snake, you’ll kill the body. I’ve been living by that principle ever since, and he was right.”
“Seems as if you really respect this man’s opinion,” Annette noted. “Care to tell me some more about him?”
A smile appeared on Suave’s face as he reflected on Mason Sr. Surprisingly, without much prompting, he began to tell Annette about his parents’ death, how he went to live with his uncle who got killed, and Mason took him in. “I don’t care what people say about Mason, he was there for me when I needed him, and I’ll always be grateful. Doesn’t matter that he eventually turned his back on me. I still love and respect him,” Suave said with conviction.
“I understand. And I’m sorry about your uncle getting killed,” Annette said with sympathy. “To lose your parents, and then your
