“What are you sayin’?”
“Lakeda went to see daddy that night after she’d caught you. You know as well as I do that Jeff Ritchie would never do anything like that. He wouldn’t send men to kill her; not unless daddy told him to.”
Miles dropped his head.
“I asked daddy about it that night at the hospital. He didn’t answer me then, but before he died, he told me that I was right, and to tell you that he was sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wouldn’t change anything. Daddy was dead. You was in here. I just didn’t see the point in makin’ you relive all that and be mad at daddy,” I said and wished I had told him before now.
“You still could have told me, but I understand why you didn’t. But that don’t change what I’m talking about. You need to go and make sure the Lakeda and the kids are safe. You gotta do that for me, Rain. I know how you feel about Lakeda, but that is your niece and nephew, do it for them.”
“Okay, Miles, I got you,” I said. “I’ll be back to check on you in a couple of days. I got a lot going on right now. But I’ma take care of this for you.”
I left Rikers and went by the club to pick up another gun. When he left, Nick took mine. I really didn’t think that Jay Easy’s people would go after Lakeda and the kids, but I couldn’t afford to be wrong. Shit, I didn’t think they’d go after Miles over some shit I did, but they did.
I had a good idea who set that shit up. It had to be Jay Easy’s younger brother, Kevin. But what I didn’t understand was, why go after Miles? Why not bring that shit to me? I ain’t hard to find. Then I thought about that shit and smiled. I may not be hard to find, but the people I’m with carry a lot of weight. Last thing a mutha fucka wants do is run the risk of havin’ Mike Black’s whole crew gunnin’ for them. I had to laugh ’cause I knew that some of them would think me dyin’ was a good thing, and be glad that they didn’t have to do it. But Kevin wouldn’t know that, so goin’ after Miles probably seemed like a good move to Kevin. I would make sure that before he died he would regret that shit.
When I got to the club and went to my office, Rose was in there with Danielle doing paperwork. Rose had recently hired her to be the food and beverage manager. You ever meet somebody and you just don’t like them? That was Danielle. It was nothing she’d done or said to me, I just don’t like her. But Rose says that since Danielle started workin’ there that profits on food and liquor are up, so I guess I ain’t mad at her.
“Hey, Rain,” they both said.