The Family Business 3(24)
Once again he clamped his mouth shut, so Sasha pointed her gun at his temple. “You better tell this fool who I am, Paris, ’cause I’m about to blow his brains out his f*cking head.”
I shook my head slowly. “Lojack, Lojack, Lojack, I think I would tell her what she wants to know, ’cause she’s the crazy one in the family, not me.”
He looked at Sasha’s determined face as she kept her gun aimed at his head, and he started talking. “Brother Samuel is one of X’s key guys. He trusts him with his life. If you can find him, then you locate Xavier.”
“So where the f*ck do we find him?” I shouted. I didn’t have time for the games. This was my brother’s life, and every second counted. I’d already been here long enough.
“Well, publicly Brother Samuel is a good Muslim man. Married, with a couple of kids. Not so publicly, he has a taste for the girly-boys, even set one up in his own place when he got out of prison.” He looked disgusted by the thought.
“You think women have big mouths?” he continued. “Talk to the swishy ones. They love to brag about their conquests: who has to have them, and all that shit. Well, this one lives in a fly-ass, high-end spot in Brooklyn, which is the perfect place to hide your secret. You know those Muslims don’t go anywhere near that place. Too many white people.”
“And you know the address?” I asked.
Perhaps I was asking too much of Lojack. He froze up again. “Lojack, I understand you’re a little fearful, but sometimes you’ve gotta deal with the devil who’s right in your face versus the one who’s around the block.”
Lojack looked down the barrel of Sasha’s gun. Sweat beads had begun to form on his forehead. Still, he remained silent.
Deciding he needed a little more encouragement, I pulled out my gun and pressed it against his groin area. “I hear you like to spend your money on *, Lojack. Well, if you don’t keep talking, you won’t have this money to buy any * with, or a dick to f*ck it with, even if it was free. You feel me?” I pressed the gun harder into his nuts.
He exhaled hard then began talking like the snitch I counted on him to be. “All I know is that he works at a salon on Montague Street. Loud-mouth little PR with blonde hair, goes by the name of Darlene. Rumor has it that he might be skinny, but he’s packing. I don’t think a day goes by that Samuel ain’t try’na connect with his sidepiece. Darlene is not the most faithful type, so there is a mighty short leash.”
I palmed the cash into Lojack’s hand, and we lowered our guns and turned to leave. We were almost out of there when he stopped me. “Wait, you want me to keep an eye out for Xavier? I can ask around. That’s worth something, ain’t it?” he begged, desperate to get his hands on some more cash.
“What the hell.” I handed him a couple more hundreds and we were in the wind.
Rio
15
Despite everything that was going on with Brother X, I could hardly contain myself as we rode to Sonya’s house to look for Junior. I was beside myself at the fact that Pop had actually sent me on a mission with Kennedy, our top security guy. Kennedy and James, my father’s driver/bodyguard, had been with the family for years. If Kennedy was involved, it meant this wasn’t just a task to keep me busy and make me feel like I was part of the family business. This was some serious shit. I hadn’t been sent off to some fancy killing school to get trained like my twin, Paris, or my cousin Sasha, but it felt good knowing that Pop trusted me enough to ride shotgun with a man like Kennedy. He didn’t consider me just some flaming f*ck-up.
If there was anyone in the Duncan organization I respected, it was Kennedy. He never showed any sign that he cared about my sexuality one way or the other, unlike some of our other employees, who were so bothered by my homosexuality that they refused to even make eye contact with me. One dude always took a slight step away from me, like my “gayness” was contagious. I tried not to take it personally. Those were their insecurities, not mine. But it definitely made me appreciate Kennedy more, because he was secure enough that he had no qualms one way or the other. When Pop gave us our instructions, Kennedy didn’t even question the fact that I was the one he was on this mission with instead of a more experienced Duncan. Hell, London only got her hands dirty when she had to, but those other dudes still would have rather had her by their side than me. Not Kennedy.
Okay, now if I’m being completely honest, the fact that Kennedy was so nice to me was kind of a turn-on. I mean, what gay man wouldn’t get excited about going on a mission with someone so fine that he could just as easily have been a movie star instead of the hired gun he was? It took some effort on my part not to reveal my crush, but I did what I had to, because I didn’t want to embarrass myself or make things awkward for him. Just because he wasn’t homophobic didn’t mean he was down with the program, if you know what I mean. Considering the fact that we were entering a potentially dangerous situation, now was not the time to be distracting Kennedy with sexual advances, whether they were unwanted or not.
“Here we are,” Kennedy said as we pulled up to Sonya’s house. While my mind had been wandering, his serious expression told me he was totally focused on our mission. “You ready for this?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Are you?”