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  After a brief exchange of words, her brother finally came to the phone. “WHAT!” He snarled.

  “Hold that down, nigga. It’s me fool,” Lou-Loc said in a stern voice.

  “Oh, my bad, cuz,” Pop Top said, realizing who he was talking to. “I thought you was that faggot ass nigga Breeze calling me bout his paper. You know I don’t get up till after one, what’s the deal?”

  “We got a game tonight.” Lou-Loc said speaking in code. “I need the whole team there; the homey Gutter got hurt, and can’t play.”

  “What?” Top asked in disbelief. “Is it bad?”

  “Yea, cuz. He might be out for the season, so you know we gotta play hard. I’m talking free-for-all.” At the mention of violence, Lou-Loc could almost hear Top grinning through the phone. That boy loved to put in work, and Lou-Loc was well aware of it. That’s why he called him first.

  “I’m on it, cuz. Time and place?” Top asked.

  “Home court, baby.” By this Lou-Loc meant St. Nicolas Park, which was a popular meeting spot for the Harlem Crips. “I want everyone there at midnight, and I don’t mean twelve-o-one. You and Snake Eyes will be my co-captains. You’ll be in the field and he’ll be in the front office.”

  “Fo sho,” Top said trying to keep his anger in check, “it’s on baby.”

  “Get them niggaz there, cuz.”

  “You know I will. Let me get up off this jack so I can make it happen.” Without waiting for a response, Top hung up. Lou-Loc knew that if anyone could rally the troops, Pop Top could.

  Lou-Loc dropped a quarter into the phone, and moved on to the next order of business. Lou-Loc didn’t have Anwar’s direct number, so he called the contact who had supplied him with the information. He informed him that the funeral arrangement, which was code for hit, would be handled within the next twenty four hours. The contact thanked him, and said that he could pick up the floral arrangement, payment, the next evening. With that taken care of he was ready to go see his sweetheart before he took it to the streets.

  *

  Snake Eyes hadn’t slept a wink in almost twenty-four hours and only God knew when he would finally be able to with everything that had transpired since he touched down in New York. His intentions were to surprise his homies with his visit and do some partying, but as it turned out the only party he would be attending was a war party.

  After dropping Sharell off, Snake Eyes hopped on the northbound freeway and headed for the Bronx. He really and truly was in a down mood. Not only because his homey was laid up in the hospital, but because of the ripple affect it was having on everyone else. Snake had met Sharell twice before, and spoken to her on the phone dozens of times over the years. He knew she was a good girl and that she loved his friend dearly. He respected her for that. She was in such bad shape that he had to score her some valium so she could calm down. It’s fucked up when the ones you care about are really hurting, and there’s nothing you can do to ease their pain.

  Then there was Lou-Loc. After talking to Lou-Loc, there was no doubt in his mind as to what he had planned. To a lot of people it wouldn’t be a big deal, he’d be just one more nigga with a chip on his shoulder, but that’s because they didn’t know Lou-Loc like he did. Lou-Loc was like a faucet of blood that once turned on there was no way to turn it off. Lou-Loc was one of the kindest dudes he knew but when he was in kill mood he could be unpredictable and even frightening. Lou-Loc was a master schemer, and cold blooded killer, which is why he made O.G. status so quickly. If you asked for it, you got it and that’s just how it was with him. It was strange how someone so intellectual and compassionate about life, could take it away so effortlessly. He was like two sides to a coin. Maybe it was the brutal murder of his father that made him like that, or watching his saint of a mother wither away and die, no one really knew what made him tick. Lou-Loc was a good dude; there was no mistaking that, but in his heart lived a killer.

  Snake Eyes felt bad for his friend. For as long as he’d known him, Lou-Loc had always been a fair man. It just seemed like life didn’t want to be fair to him. The G’s in the hood expected so much from Lou-Loc, and no one ever stopped to consider how he felt. To them, he was just a killing machine, but, Snake Eyes knew different. Lou-Loc was a tortured soul who because of his fanatical loyalty to the set would probably never know peace until he was dead and gone.

  Snake Eyes reached the rundown auto shop Lou-Loc had directed him to in the Hunts Point area of the Bronx, and parked his hog around back. The front of the place was littered with beat up cars and trucks. Some in need of repair, others hooked up and ready to go. Snake Eyes entered the auto body shop, and was overwhelmed by the smell of gas fumes mixed in with sweat and urine. Before he got all the way inside, he was cut off by a hulking Mexican wearing a tattered blue overall. From the look in the behemoth’s eyes, he didn’t want to make nice.

  “Fuck you want homes?” The Mexican asked.

  “Name’s Snake Eyes,” he said matching his opponent’s tone, “I’m looking for Wiz. You him?”

  “What you want with Wiz?”

  “If you ain’t him, don’t worry about it.”

  “I think you better watch your mouth, ma fucka.” said a voice from behind him. Snake Eyes turned to find himself staring at a gorgeous Mexican women. She wore a tight fitting leather jump suit, and her silky black pony tail was held in place by a single blue ribbon. Her brown eyes looked Snake Eyes up and down like a hungry lioness eyeing a gazelle. This woman was the baddest thing he’d seen since his arrival in the Big Apple, but the AK-47 she had aimed at his dick kept him from admiring her for too long.

  “Maybe you didn’t understand my brother’s question, so let me give it a shot. You’ve got five seconds to tell us what the fuck you want with Wiz or I’m gonna change your gender,” she told him.

  Snake Eyes had no choice but to spill the beans, but he told himself that the chick would answer for pointing a gun at him. “Listen, honey, my name is Snake Eyes. Lou-Loc sent me up here to pick something up from Wiz.”

  The girl narrowed her eyes at him and began nodding her head. For the first time, he noticed a small device sticking out from her ear. After a few moments of debating and mumbling in Spanish, she lowered her gun. “Sorry about that.” She said, brushing her hair from her forehead. “You can never be too careful. Our shop is smack dab in the middle of enemy territory.”

  “Ain’t nothing,” he said relaxing, “I know how it is to live the life. So where is this Wiz?”

  “Go on in the back and get yourself a soda from the vending machine. I recommend the orange.” She said.

  “I don’t want a soda. I just wanna get what I came for and bounce.” Snake Eyes told her. He was tired and frustrated so he wanted to get what he had to from Wiz and bounce.

  “Just go to the vending machine and get your soda.” She said sounding irritated.

  Snake Eyes walked to where the old vending machine sat, and eye balled it suspiciously. The button for the orange soda had a sticker on it that said out of order. He looked back at the brother and sister team, and they were covering their mouths trying to keep from laughing. Seeing that he was getting frustrated, they both motioned for him to push the button. With a shrug of his shoulders, he did. That’s when the floor fell from under him.

  Snake Eyes’ heart plummeted as he fell through the floor and down a circular tube. The only thought flashing through his mind was that he was taking his last breaths. To his surprise, he slid out of the tube and landed hard on his ass. As quickly as his good leg would allow him, he sprang to his feet and clutched his cane like a club. He quickly scanned the room and noticed he was in some kind of work shop. The floor was littered with old papers and scraps of metal. There were charts and diagrams covering the walls with a large file cabinet of sorts near the hole he exited. In a far corner of the room was a table with all kinds of equipment on it. They were the kind of things one might see in a chemist’s lab. Sitting behind the table was the man Snake Eyes was seeking.

&n
bsp; Wiz wasn’t at all what Snake was expecting. When he stood up and came around to greet Snake Eyes, he couldn’t have been any taller five-foot-three or so. He was a short Mexican, with slick black hair, wearing a pair of grease covered khakis with a pearl white T-shirt. On his face, he wore thick rimmed glasses that resembled coke bottles. He looked more like a mad scientist than a gangster, but word around town was that Wiz was a reputable member of the Crips.

  “So, you’re the lawyer?” Wiz asked extending his hand.

  “Yea, the name’s, Snake Eyes.” he responded shaking Wiz’s hand. “Lou-Loc sent me for the package.”

  “Right, right. Hold up a sec.” Wiz walked over to a small freezer unit and removed a box. After checking the contents of the box, Wiz placed the first box inside of a slightly larger one. The larger box had what looked like a battery attached to the back of it. “A’ight,” Wiz said handing Snake Eyes the box, “tell Lou-Loc to follow the instructions to the letter. Once he takes these out of the case, he’ll only have a little while before they become unstable. One of those bust in his hand and he’s gonna have a serious problem.”

  Snake Eyes looked at the black box suspiciously. He wanted to ask what was in it, but he figured it wasn’t his business. If Lou-Loc wanted him to know he’d tell him on his own. Besides, from the way Wiz was talking, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

  “Well then, our business is concluded. That,” Wiz pointed to the file cabinet, “is the elevator. You can take it back to the main floor. Tell Lou-Loc that I said good luck.”

  As Wiz turned to go back to what ever he was doing, Snake Eyes stopped him. “Say, homie, what’s wit that vending machine shit?”

  “Sorry about that,” Wiz smiled revealing a mouth full of braces, “I’m afraid my siblings have a weird sense of humor. That’s an emergency entrance to my lab. I guess it was their idea of a joke.”

  “Very fucking funny,” Snake Eyes mumbled as he climbed into the tiny elevator.

  CHAPTER 15

  Satin just finished putting the finishing touches on her hair, when her buzzer rang. She saw Lou-Loc when he pulled up in front of her building, so she didn’t need to ask who it was. She buzzed him in, and then went about making sure all the scented candles were in place and lit. When she opened the door, Lou-Loc greeted her with a smile and a hug. As he stepped in she sized him up. Even though he was conservatively dressed in a gray sweat suit, he still looked as good as ever.

  Lou-Loc openly admired the decor of her small loft. Her walls were lined with pictures of her friends and family. In addition to the pictures, there were artifacts and pieces from various Latino cultures. In the one corner, there was a book shelf that took up almost an entire section of the wall. In the bookshelf she had everything from Tolstoy to the popular urban author K’wan. Lou-Loc was quite impressed.

  When Lou-Loc went into the kitchen, it was Satin’s turn to be impressed. He began to empty the contents of the shopping bag he was carrying onto the counter. Inside the bag, there were all kinds of foods. There were fresh fruits, vegetables, pastries, thin steaks, eggs, fresh cheese, and an exotic wine that Satin knew ran him quite a few dollars. She had never had a man cook for her before, and here he was not only cooking, but going all out. This was going to be interesting.

  Lou-Loc noticed Satin staring at the bottle, and felt a little ashamed. The morning had given way to the afternoon, but it was still a bit early to be drinking. The last thing he wanted to do was give Satin the impression that he was an alcoholic. “I hope you don’t mind? I thought you might like a glass of wine with your meal? I can run out and get some juice if you like.”

  “No, wine will be fine,” she told him.

  After washing his hands, Lou-Loc began preparing the meal. By the time he was done in the kitchen, he had prepared quite the little feast. The steak was lightly breaded and sent waves of pleasure through Satins taste buds every time she took a bite. The cheese eggs were light and fluffy. They almost seemed to melt in her mouth. In addition to the steak and eggs, Lou-Loc had chopped up the assorted fruits, and arranged them in the shapes of beautiful flowers. If Satin had any doubts before, she was sure now. She was falling in love with this man.

  As they ate, they talked about everything from books, to movies, to politics. She was knew Lou-Loc was intelligent, but she was actually quite surprised at how informed he was. He kept abreast of everything that was going on in the hood as well as in government. After the meal, they moved in to the living room where they sipped hazelnut coffee and ate marble cake. As the smooth sounds of Billie Holiday seeped from the CD player, Satin couldn’t help but to smile at how together Lou-Loc was. He even turned off his beeper and cell phone. He didn’t think she was paying attention when he did it, but she was. That was very gentlemanly of him, and he scored big points with her for the act. The morning turned to afternoon, and afternoon started giving way to evening. Satin was having a wonderful time with Lou-Loc. As wonderful a time as she was having, the thought of his girl was nagging at him. It was then that she decided to lay her cards on the table.

  “Lou-Loc,” she said touching his hand, “I wanna thank you for such a beautiful day.”

  “It’s cool. I really enjoy your company, Satin. It wasn’t nothing for me to come throw a meal together for you. In fact we need to do this more often,” he suggested, sliding a little closer to her.

  “I’d like that, but for as much as I wanna fall for you I have to stop myself. I keep thinking about your girl,” she said honestly.

  Lou-Loc stood up, and pulled her to her feet. He took her in a gentle embrace. “Satin, it’s like I told you; I fucks wit her but it ain’t like that.”

  “So why don’t you tell me what it’s like St. Louis.” She said with attitude.

  Lou-Loc took a deep breath, and began speaking. “The only thing I’ve ever been a fool for is love, which is what has me in this twisted situation. To be perfectly honest, I love Martina but I’m not in love with her, haven’t been for a while.”

  “Then why are you still with her?” Satin snapped.

  Lou-Loc shrugged. “Just stupid I guess. I kept trying to tell myself that she would change but what I’m beginning to understand is that people are going to be who they are and it’s wrong to expect them to change, even if it is for the better.”

  “And you expect me to believe that?”

  “Satin don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t too much care what you believe as long as I know my words are genuine. I should hope that you believe me but if you don’t I can’t stop living because of it. Things between me and Martina are gonna play out how they play out whether you’re there to see it or not, but I would like for you to be there when it’s all said and done.”

  Satin turned her face away so he couldn’t see the tears welling up in her eyes. “I don’t know, Lou-Loc,” she sobbed, “I can’t play second fiddle to nobody, no matter how I may feel about you.”

  Lou-Loc wiped the tears from her cheeks. “Listen, baby,” he said softly, “I’m gonna run something down to you, and I hope you don’t think I’m a sucker for it. I’ve only known you for a few days but I feel like I’ve been searching for you my entire life. I’m falling for you, baby, falling hard and helpless to stop it.”

  “Stop it, Lou-Loc, just stop it. Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

  “Don’t mean?” he asked shocked. “I don’t bullshit with my emotions, girl. Soon as my man float me the info I need on this phony ass broad, I’m in the wind. She can keep the crib and the rest of that funky ass shit. I’m getting out of this game, and that’s real. I got some bread put up, and I plan on doing something with my life. If you were to ask me to pick up and leave all this shit behind just to be with you I would do it in a heartbeat.”

  “Just like that?” She asked suspiciously.

  “Just like that,” he assured her. “Don’t get it fucked up though, Satin. I ain’t no trick ass nigga, not by a long shot. The only reason I’m laying it all on the table this way
is because I believe you’re the real deal and not just a passing thing. Now if I’m wrong about you, speak on it. Let me know that I’m full of shit, and I’ll be on my way.” Satin was silent. “I see,” Lou-Loc lowered his head. “Thank you for the wonderful day, Satin. I’ll always cherish the memories of the brief time we shared together,” he broke the embrace and headed for the door.

  Satin just stood there for a while weighing her options. She knew guys were notorious for running game, but something in Lou-Loc’s eyes made her want to believe him. Without giving it a second thought rushed to the door and stopped him. When she spun him to face her she was shocked to see tears in his eyes. “I believe you Lou-Loc. I may be a fool for it, but I believe you,” she wrapped her arms around him. “It may sound silly, but my heart tells me you’re being real. Just don’t hurt me like the rest.”

  “I would never,” he said sincerely. He was a little embarrassed about Satin catching him in a weak moment but what mattered was that his words rang true. “Satin,” he said playing with her hair, “I’d rather go blind and broke before I caused you to ever shed one more tear over a nigga like me.”

  “Stay with me?” she pleaded. “I hope you don’t think poorly of me, but I want you to make love to me. Seal the deal and become my man.”

  Lou-Loc reluctantly broke the grip she had on his neck. “I wish I could,” he said stroking her cheek, “but I got some things I need to handle tonight. But I’ll be through to see you tomorrow.”

  “You promise?”

  “Satin, you are my shining diamond amongst a field of coal. Light the way for me so I can always find you always.” Lou-Loc kissed her softly on her forehead, and made his way down the stairs.