Monday, September 25, 2017, 9:48 pm
"She still not answering?". St. James said as he scanned the area for Joseph's black Mercedes.
"Nah man. I have been blowing her phone up all afternoon and this evening. I hope she alright. Something doesn't feel right. I can't wait to see this nigga. If he hurt her?.... Man, I swear on everything I love, this nigga gonna die tonight". Akoni hit the wheel with his fist.
"Yo son, he got. Believe that". St. James shook his head.
Akoni was parked half a block away from Trinity Methodist Church. He and St. James sat patiently, waiting for Joseph's car to pull up. He had planned on shooting Joseph in the back of his head. A clean and quick shot with his G45 Glock. After meeting Natalie at the coffee shop, he decided to shoot him in his face. He wanted Joseph to see his smile before he pulled the trigger, a sweet parting gift before joining the afterlife.
Akoni's phone rang, startling both men. "Natalie?". He answered the phone without looking to see who called.
"Natalie? Nah man, dis' Toni". A raspy voice shouted on the other end of the phone.
"Toni? What's up?" Toni was a bar fly that hung out in Akoni's uncle's speakeasy. He glanced over at St. James with a puzzled look on his face.
"Man...You gotta come down here and get Bull. He trippin'. He done locked dem' boys in da' fucking pit". Toni cleared what was lingering in his chest and spit it out on the ground. Akoni frowned at the sound of it.
"Boys? What boys?" Akoni had the phone pressed so hard to his ear that he could feel the heat from the battery warm his hands.
"Meech and em'. Some shit popped off what dem' Russians around the way. Dem' boys were out front Bull's hoopin' and hollerin' ready fight. You know Bull don't want that shit round' there. Bull told' dem' boys to get out from out front of the bar".
White boys left but one of dem' boys that Meech be havin' round him got up in Bull's face. You know Bull don't play that. He had us gather em' together and throw em' in the pit". Toni coughed up phlegm and spit again.
"Man...Meech a grown man. He knows how Unc' is. Fuck it. Let him sit down there and stew". Akoni shook his head.
"Akoni. You caint' let Bull keep dem' boys down there. He walkin' round with a shotgun. Talkin bout' he gonna open the door and put a hole in em'. You gotta get over here". Toni's voice lowered to a whisper. Akoni could hear Bull yelling in the background.
"Fuck! I'm on my way". Akoni hung up the phone and started the car.
"The fuck going on now?" St. James looked over at Akoni with concern.
"Fucking Bull trippin'. We gotta swing through there". Akoni turned the car around and headed up the highway.
"Fuck it... Let's ride". St. James fastened his seat belt and turned up the music.
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10:24 pm......
Cashius "The Bull" James sat at the bar gulping on Hennessey, swirling the brown liquid slowly in the glass, before each swallow. He inhaled deeply off of a Cuban cigar before mashing it in a nearby ashtray. Cashius James was tall, black, and deadly. He wore a dress shirt with a vest and tie every day. He prided himself on being a businessman and was adamant on dressing like one. He ran the bar and the prostitutes outside. Nobody sold dope on Bull's block, without asking permission and giving him a cut, and nobody disrespected "The Bull".
Despite the small crowd of men gathered in the bar shooting pool and drinking, it was as quiet as a mouse, except for the sweet voice of Al Green singing "Love and Happiness" on an old jukebox in the corner. Bull smiled to himself as he pondering over killing the men in the pit with a shotgun or pistol. He hadn't taken a life in five years. He became giddy at the thought of having to do it again.
Akoni pulled up to the brick building at the corner of the street. The sign, "Bull's Joint", was no longer black with white letters. The sun had turned the sign yellow and red. There were two empty wooden chairs sitting out front the door on each side of the step. If not for the neon pink OPEN sign in the window, it would have appeared abandoned like the row homes that took company beside it. Scantily clad women occupied the streets near the bar. Walking and smoking cigarettes in heels and miniskirts, prepositioning what few cars that drove by. As Akoni and St. James exited the car, the women called out there names as though tasting honey. Akoni threw his hand in the air while St. James grinned from ear to ear. The two men walked up to the cement steps to the worn wooden red door. Akoni sighed deeply and went inside.
The inside of the bar was dimly lit. A haze of cigar and cigarette smoke clung to the air like a storm cloud that lost its place in the sky. There were men scattered about. Some were watching TV while others were playing pool, still dressed in their work clothes from nearby factories and utility companies. The men acknowledged Akoni and St. James with a simple nod. Akoni spotted Toni sitting at a table in the middle of the bar with uneven legs. Toni turned around and pointed to Bull sitting at the bar. Bull was counting money with a fresh cigar hanging out of his mouth. A double-barrel Smith & Wesson sat beside him on the floor, leaning against the bar table.
"What's going on nephew?" Bull never turned around from counting his money.
"How you know it was me?", Akoni asked walking up to the bar.
"I know everything blood. You should know that by now. Have a seat. How many times I gotta tell you I don't like nobody behind me lookin' over my shoulder". Bull inhaled off the cigar.
Akoni pulled up a stool next to his uncle. He motioned for St. James to have a seat.
"What up Unc?" St. James asked pulling up a stool.
"Nothing blood. How's your family out in York?" Bull blew out a thick trail of smoke.
"They good". St. James nodded to the bartender for a drink.
"I know why you here Koni. Dem' boys alright. I ain't kill em'...Yet. Been livin' and runnin' business on 42nd and East for 34 years. Ain't neva had no trouble". Bull's words were squeezed through a cloud of smoke.
"I watch da' streets and mine my own business. I done seen trouble near here and around the way but neva' here on my block. Ya, hear what I'm saying?" Akoni shook his head yes.
"Everybody knows, dis' Bull Joint. Including Reggie's son Meechie. And still, this Lil' nigga and his crew chose to argue with dem' Russians up the street". Bull took a gulp of the brown liquid.
"So Meech started the argument?" Akoni asked watching his uncle carefully.
"I don't know who started it and don't give a fuck but what I do know, is that it betta' not happen again. You gotta check dem' young niggas Koni...Before I do. I..We cain't have no trouble around here. You hear me?" Bull took a set of keys out of his pocket and slammed them down on the bar.
"I understand Unc. You got my word". Akoni grabbed the keys and started to head downstairs with St. James in tow.
A light bulb, that dangled like a wilted spider over the stairs, had blown out. The basement's only source of light was coming from the outside street lamp shining through a small window near the top of the ceiling. Akoni turned the flashlight on his phone to brighten the room. Boxes of beer, liquor, and wine cases were stacked neatly in a large corner of the wall. The boxes hid the steel door leading to "The Pit".
Akoni had only seen the pit twice in his life. Once by accident. He was downstairs in the basement doing his homework. He was 11 years old at the time. Akoni usually hung at his uncle's bar on the weekends. On this particular weekday, he couldn't concentrate at home, so he walked to the bar and went into the basement to do his schoolwork, unbeknownst to his uncle. Later on that night, two men had cheated Bull on a dice game. He brought them downstairs, shot them, and threw them in the pit in front of Akoni.
The second time, at the ripe age of 15, he helped his uncle pull a dead body from the pit. Till this day, he could still smell the stench of rotting flesh, years after the man was buried in a nearby creek.
Bewildered, St. James helped Akoni move the boxes until the steel door was revealed. The Pit was an old walk-in freezer that never worked. St. James held the phone giving Akoni light to furbish the keys. Bull had eased his way down the steps and watched Akoni and St. James in the darkness.
When he opened the door, Meech, a tall reddish-haired man, and a short stocky man rushed out of the room. Meech and the short and stocky man began to swear and curse. The reddish-haired man stood silent. He was staring at the small orange stem burning from Bull's cigar. Without saying a word, he lunged in the darkness towards Bull. He was met by Bull's fist.
Bull knocked the young man to the floor, pummeling him with the butt of his gun.
"Unc! Unc!, Akoni yelled. He tried to pull Bull away from the cowering boy but Bull was too strong. St. James rushed over to help Akoni. After struggling for what seemed like hours, they were able to subdue Bull.
"Imma' kill that lil' nigga". Bull yelled beneath Akoni and St. James's hold.
"Meech! Get that nigga upstairs and yall get the fuck out. Now!" Akoni bellowed.
Once the men were upstairs and out the door, Akoni and St. James let Bull go.
"That lil' nigga better not ever step foot in my bar again or he dead". Bull promised.
Akoni and St. James joined Bull upstairs in the bar. The patrons had never moved despite the commotion.
Stunned, St. James and Akoni sat back down at the bar while Bull went to play pool.
"What the fuck just happened?" St. James asked finishing up his drink from earlier.
"I don't know...But I need a drink. Matter fact, I need three drinks". Akoni motioned for the bartender.