“Hold on, Joseph. I know these gentlemen,” Wesley said, staring at me with disdain.
I didn’t give a shit. I just stared back. I’d known him almost forty years, back to when he was just plain old Wes, way before he was a town clerk, then the mayor of some backwoods town in New Mexico, and then a fucking congressman.
“Y’all go ahead and get on the plane. This’ll only take a minute.”
The male staffer followed his direction, but Joseph and the woman beside him hesitated.
“Go on, now. I’ll be fine,” Wesley told them, and they finally began walking up the steps.
Once they were out of sight on the plane, Wesley turned to me. “KD, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I heard you were in town, and I came by to talk a few minutes, that’s all,” I explained to him calmly. “Would you rather I stopped by your office?”
“Hell no! You know I can’t afford to be talking to you. Not after what happened last time. That shit got you put away for years, and I was almost caught up in that mess.” He shook his head angrily.
“You were caught up in it, and I’ve got the Polaroid to prove it. I just took the blame so you could get the job you’re in now, Congressman.”
“And I used that job to get your ass out in two years instead of twenty. As far as I’m concerned, we’re even.”
“The fuck we are,” I said in no uncertain terms. You know, it amazed me how short these sons of bitches’ memories were. “I lost my job, my wife, and my reputation protecting you. More importantly, I lost two years of seeing my boy grow up. So I don’t wanna hear we’re even.”
“Shit. What do you want, KD?” he blurted out in disgust.
“I’m having an event out at my place Friday night. I need you to make an appearance.”
“I won’t even be in town Friday night. I’m headed to D.C. for the next week and a half, so whatever event you’re having, I can’t make it.” He turned to walk away.
“Now, we both know you can go and come as you fucking choose, especially since you have the use of this nice plane at your disposal.” I looked at the Cessna and waved at the staffers who were peering through the windows. They quickly turned away as if they hadn’t been watching us. I continued, “Now, ask yourself this: what would happen if your wife and constituents found out that you were with me that night? And that it was your idea, mister holy roller congressman?” I said with an innocent shrug.
Wesley gave me a death stare. “You son of a bitch. You know this is blackmail.”
“Call it what you want, but if I were you, I’d call it an opportunity from a friend.”
“You’re calling yourself my friend while you blackmail me into an opportunity?”
“I was your friend when you left me in that warehouse alone with those three girls,” I said, faking indignation. “You know how loyal I am and the lengths I’m willing to go to protect my friends. So, if you think about it, being my friend is not necessarily a bad thing. Please don’t force my hand.”
I could tell he wanted to run on that plane and fly away, but he was trapped, and we both knew it. I wanted to laugh.
“Now, I need you at this party. I’d like you to come as a friend, but if need be, it can be as my fucking bitch.”
“And if I come to this gathering, what then? What’s the upside for me?”
“How about the beginning of your gubernatorial run?”
He raised an eyebrow, and I watched as he shed all concern. That’s when I really knew I had him right where I needed him. As I’d expected, talk of more political power was just the thing to get his dick hard.
Chippy
13
“LC, you need to call me as soon as possible. Rio’s been hurt—bad.”
I hated leaving a message like that for my husband, but he’d left me no choice. I’d attempted to call him twice and got no answer. All I knew was that he had caught a flight from Baltimore to Atlanta, so I supposed his phone could have been turned off. But then again, it wasn’t like he was flying commercial where they make you turn them off. On a normal day, I would have cursed his ass out for ignoring my calls like that, but now I had much more serious things to worry about. My son needed me.
“Ma, I’m gonna let you out and park the—”
By the time Vegas pulled up to the hospital, I had jumped out and was halfway to the entrance of the emergency room. I heard him trying to tell me something, but I was too busy rushing inside.
“I’m looking for my son, Rio Duncan,” I said to the woman at the reception desk. I scanned the crowded waiting room, looking for Paris and Sasha, but they were nowhere to be found. “He was brought here by ambulance a little while ago.”
She didn’t respond immediately, and I was two seconds away from going off on her when she finally looked up from her computer. “He’s in the back. Have a seat and we’ll call you when he’s either admitted or discharged.”
I fought the urge to scream. In my head, I was saying, Bitch, if you don’t take me to my son! But I mustered up enough self-control to politely respond.
“I understand, but I’m his mother, and I need to be back there with him.”
She sighed heavily, as if I was annoying her. “Look, there are already two people back there with him, and that’s the limit. I don’t make the rules.”
I took a deep breath, reached in my purse, and pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, which I placed on the desk. “Are you sure? I think there’s only one
