Page 165 of Justice II

“What’s up? How you feelin’?” he asked as he dapped me.

“Chillin’. Work. Meetings with lawyers and PR firms. Trying to bounce back from this blunder,” I replied.

“Oh, y’all will be good. Back in 1980 there was a huge fire at the MGM Grand that killed over 80 people and injured over 600. You can bounce back.”

“Thanks, bro. How’s Deacon?”

“Nigga mad. He would’ve won had it not been for that bomb. Nigga said you shouldn’t have turned those dudes over to the police so he could handle them.”

We both laughed. “We had to comply. There were way too many eyes on us to avoid that.”

“Oh, I know. Try explaining that to somebody like him.”

I shook my head. I understood. I wanted to kill Kyle, but prison would be hell enough. And on top of that he lost his sister. It still bothered me that this was somewhat my fault for believing in Storie’s lies.

“Your cousin Tavares…”

“This the second time you done asked me about that nigga,” he laughed.

“Aight, the real… I think Monica fucked him before he went away to prison. And I think Storie might be his,” I confessed.

“Oh shit. I don’t know nothing about that. I can ask around though,” he offered.

“I just want to know what kinda dude he is. Is he crazy? What’s what?” I was trying to see if whatever was wrong with Storie was genetic.

“Listen, he got popped for manslaughter. Punched a nigga in a fight and the dude died. If the cops knew the other shit he was into, he might have gotten ten lifetime sentences. One time he set a crackhouse on fire. Boarded it up and set that shit ablaze. Remember that fire way back on Dumont?” he asked.

“Shit, I do. They never caught the person.”

“The police ain’t care. They knew it was him. But they don’t see crackheads as real people. Shit, that was your mother’s call to pull back the investigation. Look, he is not someone you want around your child. And that nigga just got out a couple of days ago.”

“Thanks for that.”

That incident was clear in my mind. I recalled Vivica saying that she told the police chief that they had real crimes to solve. It was so fuckin’ cold. But the person who did it was colder. And that was Storie’s real pops.

“I can check to see if anyone knew about an affair between Monica and him. But he didn’t really kiss and tell. You know?”

“Yeah, I do.”

We chatted more about potential fights, but I couldn’t get Storie or Tavares off my mind. She was the product of someone truly evil. It just confirmed there was no saving her.

52

Melody

“This is damn good. This could be a television series,” Aubrey complimented.

She came over to see the penthouse after work and begged me to read the first few chapters of my book. I was afraid of her judgment, but she wouldn’t stop guilting me into it.

I gave you a job. I’m the reason you met Justice. But I’m your best friend.

So I gave in.

“You think so?”

“I know so! Call Shonda Rhimes. Reese Witherspoon. Even Kerry Washington is producing thrillers,” she exclaimed.

“Let me get an agent first,” I laughed.