AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He wanted their old territories, Treme and Algiers. He chose Algiers, and I compromised and gave it to him. Still wants Treme.”
Roberto clapped his hands together. “Then we go after the greedy bastard. He should’ve remained in hiding. Now that we know Diamond is not Wisdom, we can kill the mothafucka. Once we take down Wisdom, Desire is no more. Without a leader, they won’t make it.”
I contradicted, “There’s always a soldier waiting to rise like we once did. Killing Wisdom will only make them angrier.”
“We have more resources.”
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “We have to be smart about it because Wisdom is my son’s uncle.”
Mamma placed her hand over her mouth.
Roberto exclaimed, “What are you talking about? A son? You have a black son?”
“I found out yesterday that I got Diamond pregnant when we were teenagers, and she kept it from me until yesterday. I confronted her about lying to me about Wisdom, who happens to be her brother.” I looked at Roberto, who kept shaking his head in disbelief. “My son is the one who escorted us through the club.”
Roberto asked, “How can you be sure he’s yours? Women lie all the time.”
“Except for his brown skin, he looks more like me than his mother. He’s mine, and so we have to move differently.” I placed my hand on top of his shaky hand. “I’m asking you to stand down for now. Not an order but a request from one friend to another. Give me time to see if I can make our temporary truce with the Desire stand, see if I can talk sense into Wisdom. I can’t destroy the only father figure my son has known before getting to know my son. In the meantime, find out if anyone else is gunning for us.”
Roberto clenched and unclenched his jaw several times before he closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. He opened his eyes slowly before he spoke, “Sure, Gianni. I can do that.” He then bent to kiss Mamma’s cheek and left my office. We soon heard the front door close.
“Wisdom is Lafayette, isn’t he?” Mamma asked quietly.
I admitted, “Yeah. His family faked Laffy’s death to avoid him being killed by Tucci, and they still murdered his father.”
“Treme and Algiers used to belong to Desire before the war. Lafayette wants back what he believes is theirs?”
“Yes.”
Mamma shook her head. “All of these years, and he’s back.”
“Yes.”
She looked at me. “Then give Lafayette what he’s asking for. Make the solution simple.”
“Giving him Treme and Algiers makes me look weak.”
She lifted her chin. “Since when do you care what others think?”
I retorted defensively, “I don’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“Fine, Mamma. I don’t want to look weak in front of you.”
“If you weren’t worried about my opinion or Roberto’s, what would you do?
I picked up her hand. “I don’t care about what Roberto thinks. Only you.”
Mamma squeezed my hand impatiently. “What would you do, Gianni?”
“I would give him both territories.”
“Then do it.”
I half-smiled. “It’s done.”
She kissed my cheek, her expression still worried. “I wish giving Lafayette the territories would solve everything.”
