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“I don’t know all of it but I know most of what he does isn’t legal.”
“Why don’t you wait for me at the bar over there? I shouldn’t be long.”
She nodded and glanced over at McCants’s section once more but I lifted her chin so her eyes met mine. “Even if he sees you, you have nothing to worry about. You’re with me.”
“Okay.” She forced a smile but was still uneasy. I would grant her that. She didn’t know me well enough yet to understand she would never have to be uneasy when she was with me.
“Go ’head.”
I waited until she was seated at the bar then crossed the room, pausing at the entrance to McCants’s section. Instead of addressing him right away, I turned my focus on the two women draped over his bulky frame. They needed to leave.
“Omari. To what do I owe the pleasure? Damn sure wasn’t expecting to see you in my neck of the woods.”
“You fucked with my business which pretty much guaranteed you would see me.”
“I did.” He smiled smugly and looked past me. “Who is that you’re with? She looks familiar. I think I know her or have at least seen her before.”
“Even if you did, you didn’t.”
His eyes left Jhorie and landed on me again. “I see. Glad to know you’re moving on with your life. It’s about damn time.”
“How about you stay focused? I’m here. What the fuck do you want? Because you have no interest in discussing my personal life and neither do I. Send your company away.”
“Ladies, if you’ll give us a minute, please.” McCants addressed the two women with him. They looked me over then stood, moving closer to the bar behind him, eye fucking me like they weren’t just in heat for him.
Once they were gone he smirked at me. “That wasn’t me, Ezekiel. The Mission thing.”
“The message came from your office.”
“But sent from the powers that be, they’re applying pressure. You’re not doing what they want you to.”
“And I never will. I’m not my father oryou.”
Our eyes warred in challenge because I was right and he didn’t like that.
“You’re young. Your position will eventually change.”
I laughed dryly and he relented before explaining, “You’re fucking up their plans.”
“Their plans don’t concern me.”
“Their plans keep things moving between all of us. Your lack of support is a problem. You can’t honestly believe they wouldn’t push for a decision one way or another.”
“I don’t give fuck what you want. The decisions are my own…”
“Are they?”
We all had certain obligations because of our positions. If they made the decision that Christian no longer fit their agenda, anyone who stood in support of him would no longer fit that agenda.
“That’s completely up to me. Be a fucking man and let them deliver their own messages. Stay the fuck out of my shit.”
“Amanknows what side of business he needs to stand on. What you do affects me. Christian is a liability…”
“You don’t know that and if you can’t say with certainty you shouldn’t be so quick to choose sides.”
“You’re right, I don’t. What I do know is his name is attached to some shit that makes us all look bad. If the governor starts talking, other people do too. Right now the power tips in our favor. If they feel they can’t trust us holding that power, they make decisions that take it from us. I like my life the way it is, so I vote for whatever doesn’t disrupt my current lifestyle. And now that I have your attention, let me express how much you need to take that same stance.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “We’ll always have power because they don’t want to get their hands dirty doing what we do. We do the work. They benefit from it but at least there is a payoff. They’re too fucking lazy to directly touch the people who matter. We are not, which means we get to be a voice for our communities. Nepotism and white privilege is the real issue. One we are put in place to challenge. We control the narrative. The minute you forget that then you’re right, the power is no longer in our hands. But regardless, whatever I decide will be based on my evaluations, not a hidden agenda. Stay the fuck out of my way, McCants, and tell them if they want a conversation, we can have one. Stop allowing them to use you to reach out to me. I don’t scare easily. Again, I’m not my father.”
