“Well, boys, what do you think so far?” I asked when we returned to the front of the warehouse and headed toward Building 5.
“Looks like you’ve created a goddamn Club Med for the fucking immigrants and niggers. That’s what I think,” Jensen spat, shaking his head in disbelief. “Why not just give them guns and have them kill us all? It’ll be faster.” His reaction didn’t surprise me considering he was a grand dragon for the Louisiana KKK.
“Relax, Jensen. Have a little faith.” I chuckled. “I haven’t completely lost my mind. I can promise you that.”
“KD, you made me fly all the way from DC to show me this? Hell, you’re treating these motherfuckers better than the Democrats, and they can’t even fucking vote.” Wesley had a scowl on his face.
I laughed loudly. “Gentlemen, obviously y’all don’t see the value of what I’m doing here.”
“And what the fuck is that?” Jensen asked, not amused in the slightest.
“More importantly, what the fuck does it have to do with me?” Wesley demanded to know.
“It has everything to do with you, Congressman. You’re the one who inspired this whole damn thing. You just don’t see the big picture yet, but you will once you enter Building Five,” I said smugly, looking up at the building across from us. “Wesley, you’re not just going to be governor of New Mexico if you come on board and work with us. Your ass might just have enough political clout to become President of the United States. And the rest of us will be laughing our way to the fucking bank in the process.”
Vegas
21
“You know she’s pissed, don’t you?” Sasha asked as we walked to my Bentley truck. My sister Paris had just had a meltdown because I wouldn’t take her with us to the Bronx.
“She’ll get over it,” I replied. “She’s way too unpredictable and too damn emotional for something like this. We’re not trying to kill anybody, just get our point across.”
It had already been an emotional day, with Rio coming home from the hospital after his attack. But I’d just gotten a call from my guy in the Bronx with info about who was responsible for Rio’s beatdown, so I needed to check it out. With Junior and Orlando out of town, I asked Sasha to take a ride with me to watch my back. Paris, who was equally capable, had heard where we were going and got offended that I didn’t ask her.
“Sasha, honey, I’m going to sit up front.”
I heard the voice before I turned around and saw my mother, along with Paris, sashaying across the driveway toward the truck. My mom jumped in the front passenger’s seat, and Paris smugly walked around and got in behind the driver’s seat.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“We’re going with you.” My mom looked over at me as she reached for her seatbelt and pulled it across her chest. “You did say you were going to confront Rio’s attackers, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but . . .” It was one thing to put Paris in her place, but my mother was a different story. “Don’t you want to be taking care of Rio?”
“Your brother is fine. London and Harris are there if he needs anything. Now, stop playing around and drive, Vegas.”
I shook my head. “Did you talk to Pop?” I asked.
“Yes, I talked to him a little while ago, and I told him what happened. He’s on his way home from Atlanta. At least he better be.” The aggravation in her voice was obvious, which wasn’t a good sign for my father.
She asked me, “Have you spoken to Nevada? Does he know what happened?”
“No.”
“Why not? You know how close he and Rio are. You need to tell him.”
“He’s already dealing with a lot right now with everything going on between me and his mother. I don’t want to give him anything else to worry about,” I said with a deep sigh.
“What do you mean he’s dealing with a lot? What the hell is going on between you and Consuela now?”
“He’s got baby mama drama,” Paris laughed from the back.
“Shut up, Paris,” Ma snapped before I could get it out. “Vegas?”
“Consuela is tripping.”
“What do you mean? You told me you were going to talk to her about the mix-up with the girls going to the water park.” She sounded so aggravated.
“I tried, but she’s making demands I ain’t willing to entertain.”
“What kind of demands?”
“She says she’s gonna take Nevada back to California if I don’t stop seeing Marie,” I told her.
“What? She can’t do that,” Ma snapped.
“That’s what I say, but that’s the threat.”
“That’s one bold woman, Vegas. You need to do something about this,” Ma said, raising her voice.
“Ma, I tried.” I shook my head. “Nevada has tried. Sometimes you just have to wait for Consuela to cool down.”
“Vegas, two nights ago, I almost lost my son. I refuse to lose my grandson. This family is everything to me, and I will not just sit back and allow it to be destroyed because you can’t keep your women straight,” she said forcefully. “I recognize this is your business, but this is my family, and I will not have it torn apart from the inside.”
“I understand that, Ma, but what do you want me to do?” I pleaded, not wanting to upset her any more than she already was.
“I’d like to speak with her.”
“If you think you can get through to her, have at it.”
“I will.” She folded her arms and sat back in her seat just as we turned into the neighborhood where we were headed.
I pulled over to the curb and leaned past her to get a better look at the house.
“Are you sure this is it?” she asked.
“This is the address he gave me. Says the guy’s name is Vaughn Holmes.”
“Okay, then what are we waiting for?” She reached for the door handle, but I stopped her.
“I don’t
