Page 78 of A King’s Obsession

Darnell knew that shit better than anybody.

I called him.

“Chi,” he answered, sounding relaxed, like he wasn't expecting anything other than a regular conversation.

“What’s happening?” I asked, leaning back in my chair while I waited to hear what kind of mood he was in.

“Same shit. What’s good?”

“Been a minute. Pull up and have a drink with me.” I kept my tone casual. No sense in giving him a reason to think something was wrong before we sat down.

“Where?” he asked without hesitation.

I gave him the name of a little bar deep on the west side, somewhere we could sit down without everybody being in our fucking business.

“Aight. Give me about forty-five,” he replied.

“Bet.” I ended the call, staring at the screen for a moment before pulling up E's number.

As soon as we hung up, I called E.

He answered on the second ring. “What’s up?”

“I confirmed that shit.” I didn't bother easing into the conversation. E already knew what I'd been looking into.

A short silence came through the phone before his voice changed. “Darnell?”

“Yeah. Terrance been feeding him information.” I rubbed a hand over my beard, still irritated that somebody we'd known that long had decided to pull some snake shit.

“Where you at?” E asked, his voice losing whatever patience he'd had when he answered.

“I’m meeting Darnell at that little bar off Mercer in about forty-five. Let me get there first. Give us about twenty minutes, then come through.”

“I got you.”

That was all we needed to say.

The bar was low-key, dark and full of people who knew how to mind their fucking business. I grabbed a booth toward the back, and Darnell came through not long after.

“What’s good, Chi?” he greeted me, approaching the table with the same easy smile he'd always worn whenever we got together.

I stood and clasped his hand before we sat down. “Same shit. How you been?”

“Can’t complain.” He settled into the booth across from me, glancing around the bar before getting comfortable.

He ordered a drink, and we spent the next few minutes catching up. Nothing deep. Just two niggas who had known each other a long time and hadn’t sat across from each other in a while.

Darnell was in the middle of telling me some funny shit when his attention shifted over my shoulder.

His smile faded slightly.

I didn’t have to turn around.

E was right on time.

“What’s happening, Nell?” E greeted him, approaching the table like he'd just happened to run into an old friend.

Darnell looked from E to me as E reached the table. “Well, damn. Where the fuck you come from?” He laughed, but his eyes lingered on me a second longer than they had before.