Page 62 of Mr. Calloway

“Touche, bitch.” I laughed.

He pulled a chair up to the table and sat. “Zaria, I wanted to thank you for extending that job to Lakia. She loves it, and I want you to know I appreciate it.”

I smiled. “You don’t have to thank me. We’re family.”

He ran his hand over his head. “Yeah, well, I wish everyone thought like that. She and Foe are still barely talking.”

Yana looked him up and down. “They’ll talk again, but you’ve got to let it happen. Every family is different.”

He gave a weak smile. “I know. Oh, I thought I saw y’all’s sister the other day, but I may have been tripping. We got a call out on the east side of the Cove. We were going so fast I could have been tripping.”

That was odd. “You sure it was her?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Anyway, let me grab food and get out of here. You ladies be easy, and I’ll see you all at bike weekend.”

“Bike weekend?” I blurted out.

He looked at me like I was crazy. Then Yana sipped on her drink. “I forgot to tell you. It was Dio’s idea. They’re planning a Zoo Day. It’s really for Chevy, but more of a surprise, so don’t go jumping on the dick and running your mouth, Zari.”

“Well, excuse me.”

A surprise for June sounded nice. Whether he would be receptive was really the question.

Clark

Since the Tyrant became unmanageable and destroyed FBP, I had to stay out of the way. I got me a nice spot at a hotel, but when I spotted him in the lobby, I knew he was on a hunt. When I felt like it was clear, I checked out early and found myself standing at the door of someone I hadn’t spoken to since trying to take the Tyrant down the first time.

When she opened the door, she stood there like she didn’t know who I was.

“Are you going to let me in or stand there?”

Nyomi crossed her arms over her chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I need your help.”

“Do you have money? Clark, I heard you were broke.”

I sucked my teeth. “Nyomi, don’t believe everything you hear. Let me in, and we will talk details.”

“Clark, you make promises you can’t keep.”

Nyomi and her audacity. It was women like her who made me sick to my stomach. However, it was also women like her who made my life a little easier when money was involved. Did I have the money to give her? Yes. Did she need to know that? No. Nyomi had one job, and she couldn’t get it done. It was her mereincompetence that made shit like this hard, but she was the only one I could ask since Cynthia had ruined what little control I had over Sandra.

I went to step inside her house, and she stopped me. She shook her head. “No! Clark, if you want to get your grandson, you’re doing it on your own. I don’t have time to fight with his wife over a man who’s clearly minding his goddamn business. You got yourself in whatever situation you’re in, and you’re going to get yourself out. Now go home to your wife!” she spat.

As she went to close the door, I panicked. “Cynthia died,” I mustered up tears. “My wife couldn’t take it anymore, and she—” I paused, peeking through my fake tears to see if she was buying what I was selling.

She nodded as she came forward just a smidge. “I’m sorry that your wife passed, I am. But whatever the cause was—probably your ways—you can take all of your juju shit somewhere else,” she finished before stepping back and closing the door in my face.

“Shit!”

I hurried back to my car and drove off. I rode until I ended up in the Cove City neighborhood. Parkside Cove looked so different than what I remembered. The city’s middle class looked so deprived, like it was starving, and all it needed was enough funding to get it back on its feet.

As I continued to navigate, I noticed a construction site being prepared. My foot eased on the brakes to get a better look at the sign.C&P Enterprises.I pulled out my phone to look it up and see the name, and it told me I wasn’t just going against a monster, but a monster with a soul.

“Calloway and Prince Enterprise. June Calloway and Bishop Prince. I’ll be goddamn,” I mumbled.

Even without our share of the money, they still moved forward with the project. I didn’t know what to think as I tookoff. A city I once controlled was no longer under my thumb. I had depleted it of everything, only for my grandson to breathe life back into it, and I held no involvement. No ties to bring my name in a good light, and that made me sick.