Chapter 9

"When the fuck were you gonna tell me your name is Tyrese. Like the Reese that we've all been waiting for?" I whisper-yell at Reese.

"When should I have introduced myself? When we was fucking in the shower or before you ran off this morning?" Reese says.

I roll my eyes and cross my arms over my chest. He was right but damn, I was in a heap load of shit right now and it was all his fault. If he never approached me in the club, we wouldn't even be sneaking, having this conversation in the downstairs lobby of The Loft.

"Whatever, Ty or Reese, whatever you go by. Look, just don't tell my brother or Caesar about last night."

"You don't gotta worry about that. I'm not tryna catch a charge. When were you gonna tell me you was 17?" Reese says.

My stomach flip-flops. I never told him my age cause I didn't want to scare him off. Besides, I really didn't think I would ever see him again. So why would we start sharing trade secrets for one night of fun? Make it make sense.

"Honestly, I didn't think I would see you again so my age didn't even matter."

"Shid if it don't. You wouldn't be the one arrested. I am," Reese points at his chest when he talks.

I have to refrain from laughing at his antics only cause I can see how serious he is about this.

"Dude, does it look like I'ma run my mouth? Besides, you got more illegal shit going on. If the cops come asking questions, best believe it ain't cause of me. We got bigger fish to fry than a statuary rape case. Plus, if it makes you feel better, my birthday's in three months so technically, I'm seventeen and a half."

Reese deadpans me before rolling his eyes. I start laughing and pull him by his arm back to me.

"I'm sorry okay? I should have told you. But if I did, would you have even looked at me the same?" I say.

"Nah. I wouldn't have looked at you at all. I'm 21, Candyce. 17 is like a baby to me."

I wave my hand dismissively, "Oh please. Caesar's 21."

Reese scrunches his face up. "What does Caese have to do with anything?"

My eyes widen at my slip-up. Damn, Candyce. Just go around spilling all yo secrets to one night stands why don't you?

Just in time, Caesar and Ace steps off the elevator. I distance myself from Reese as they walk over to us.

"Everything good?" Ace asks me.

"Yeah. All cool," I say.

I twirl my finger around one of my curls to make it seem like I'm bored with having to entertain Reese for a few minutes.

"Candyce, you rolling with me," Ace says as he limps towards the lobby's front door,

"Where we going?" I ask.

"Does it matter? Let's go."

I roll my eyes yet again. It's like Ace lived to boss me around. He was lucky I was still in the doghouse with him or I would have been gave him lip for treating me like a child. Especially in front of Reese who knows more than anyone that I'm the furthest thing from a child.

Thinking all this, I still follow Ace outside. Caesar stares at me the entire time but I don't ask him what his deal is. He said all he needed to say last night. There was nothing else to talk about.

Playing chauffer to Ace felt like a long time simply cause he insisted on lecturing me about last night, even after I told him his boy Caesar handled it for him. When he gives me his final direction, we're no longer on the East Bank at all. We're now on the West Bank, where the air is more humid and the land is all but familiar to me. I had never been on this side of the river for more than a second. It was weird that Ace had business to tend to that wasn't on the East Bank. I mean, that's where his whole operation was.

I take the keys out of the ignition and hand them over to Ace. He doesn't let me keep them. I don't know, I guess he assumes that I'm gonna drive off with them or something. Which I can't lie, does sound a little like me.

The house we pull up to is two-story, nothing major or unique. There's a for-sale sign in the grass when we approach. Reese pulls up in his white Audi and Caesar in his grey one. With them walking side by side, I notice how different they are. Caesar is dressed in his usual white T-shirt and gold medallion. Reese has on another designer T-shirt except today he's sporting all white G-Nikes instead of designer shoes. His watch and tennis chain glint under the summer sun. Besides the cars and the tattoos, they didn't have much in common at all.

When Reese reaches us, he picks the for-sale sign out of the grass and carries it into the house. The lower level of the house ain't nun special. Brown hardwood floors, a kitchen, no furniture. Upstairs I realize why Reese didn't invite me back here instead of the hotel.

There are duffle bags covering every length of the floor in one room. Reese crosses into the room and unzips a couple of the bags to show Ace packages of white powder wrapped in saran wrap. Caesar uses his key to cut a hole in one of them and taste it to his tongue. He nods his head and gives Ace the okay for the product.

Of course this ain't my first time seeing cocaine. Some of my friends in high school used to snort here and there. It wasn't my steeze, but who was I to knock it? This was, however, my first time seeing so many kilos at once. I didn't know how the hell Ace planned on pushing all this weight without gaining traction from the Feds.

Caesar once said that Reese's position had once been his before he handed it over to him. With all this dope, Caesar must have been the supplier for many organizations. No way these black motherfuckers was flying back and forth across domestic lines to cop this shit. Reese must be in direct contact with someone overseas who ships the product to him to distribute amongst people. Putting it all together in my mind, it's weird seeing Ace and Caesar's power switch for me. In probably more ways than I realized, Caese was captain of this ship. And my nosey, reckless ass was the iceberg that sunk the Titanic.

Ace goes through opening every duffle bag to check for product although Reese assured him it was all there.

"Really Caese? What's with ya boy? This shit is insulting," Reese says.

Caesar shrugged his shoulders, "If it's all there then you shouldn't have nun to worry about."

"Ain't nun personal, young. I don't put nothing past nobody," Ace says as he squats to unzip yet another bag.

When Ace is done, we all follow Reese down the hall into the next room. Of course, there's no furniture either. Except for a bar stool placed right in the center of the floor. I lean against the doorway watching Reese's thumbs move across his phone screen. I wonder who he's texting but I know better to mind business. Besides, I can't have him thinking I'm checking for him or something.

We wait in silence while Ace and Caesar go back to the car. They come back with three brown leather bags. When Reese opens them, I see that they're filled with stacks of cash held together by official labels stating how much was in each stack. No rubber bands in sight. Meaning, all this money was clean cash. Ace was further along in his business than I ever imagined.

Reese counts the money and then sends us downstairs so he can put it up.

"None personal. I'm just cautious," He says, looking straight at Ace.

We waited in the living room, when Caesar's phone started going off. He stepped further into the kitchen to take the call. When he joins us again, Reese is jogging down the stairs.

"Change of plans," Caesar announces.

Everyone looks at him.

"Cam just picked Gecko up and brought him back to The Loft. He fucked him up a lil bit but Gecko ain't give him shit. But you know Cam more on the business side of things so I'm sure he ain't do em like we would have," Caesar says.

My heart leaps into my throat. They talked about hurting people so casually. No one blinked an eye at Caesar's revelation. This was all business to them. Meanwhile, I was over here panicking, hoping they just left the boy alone. But Ace is still steaming about the Galvez raid and Caesar is down for whatever. Reese is my only hope but he was new to the organization. He wasn't boutta overstep by giving his opinion. Plus, that nigga probably woulda felt the same way if there was a snitch in his New York business.

"We don't got much time. Cam gotta catch that flight for four. I say we handle it now," Caesar says.

Ace nods like he's weighing his options. Then he whispers "Fuck it" under his breath.

"Let's do it," He says.

"Ace," I call to remind him that I'm still here.

"Maybe we should drop her off first," Caesar says.

"Nah. You just said we don't have much time. You said to let her in on this shit right? That's what we gon do. Candyce'll be aight. She Santana's daughter. She straight," Ace says.

Caesar looks at me again, but he doesn't push Ace on it. I don't blame him, not after last time he made a suggestion to Ace about me. Reese gives me a sympathetic look, but then his face hardens like my brother's. I honestly don't know what I expected from a group of drug dealers.

...

The ride to The Loft is eerily quiet between Ace and I. I'm not sure what's going through his mind right now but the crease in his forehead and the lock of his jaw lets me know that it's nothing good. I don't ask him cause I'm busy trying to think of ways to get Gecko out of this alive. A part of me is hoping that I'm being dramatic. There was no way Ace would kill somebody in front of me. But then again, my mind keeps going back to the threat Ace made my first time visiting The Loft.

He said that the only way those people in the room left the crew was through a body bag. I just hoped Gecko wasn't stupid enough to lie about whatever it was he had done. Though, I doubted Ace would believe anything he had to say. He damn near engraved the next bullet with Gecko's name after Caesar ran down what happened at the raid.

Maybe my attempt to save Gecko had nothing to do with whether he was guilty or not. Maybe I was just tired of seeing the people around me drop like flies ever since I started coming around.

We're the first to pull up to The Loft. Reese and Caesar are still a ways behind us.

Ace rolls the car to a stop but doesn't reach to take the keys out of the ignition. Instead he leans his head back against the headrest and stare straight out of the windshield. I wait for him to say something but when it becomes obvious that he has no intention of justifying himself to me, I throw myself out as bait.

"Ace. Promise me that you won't kill Gecko."

Ace closes his eyes and lets out a deep, aggravated sigh. I bet now he wished that he had brought me home like Caesar suggested. I didn't care how aggravating my voice of reason was being. Someone had to tell him cause his conscious had clearly taken a hiatus.

"Candyce, you don't get it, aight? I don't wanna do the lil nigga nothing, but I can't just let him walk back into my organization like he can't be touched. He was responsible for that trap. He gotta be the one to answer for it."

I digest what he's saying but none of it is leading me to a concrete reason why he had to die. Ace looks relieved when I don't say anything at first. When I open my mouth to protest, he lets out a deep groan.

"Candyce, I'm really not bout to argue with you about this aight? This my business. You just here for the ride. Maybe I should have just brought you home but it's too late now. If you don't wanna see what the fuck I'm bout to do to Gecko, then stay ya ass in the car. But don't try to be the lil angel on my shoulder cause I'm not for hearing that shit right now," Ace unlocks the doors and gets out of the car.

I follow him out, determined to get my point across.

"I wouldn't have to play the angel on yo shoulder if you stopped tryna play God!"

Ace shakes his head as he limps away. I try again.

"Bad enough you killed Tony--"

He's in my face before I have time to catch my next breath. I didn't even think he could move that fast with his limp. He steps closer to me.

"Say that shit a lil louder. I dare you," He says through gritted teeth.

My breath hitches in my throat. If I didn't think Ace was capable of killing yet another person, I now see that I'm wrong. He looks so mean in my face, I have to step back out of his rage. All of the anger from missing out on the coke from the Galvez raid and the possibility that Gecko could have snitched was finally seeping out of him. He couldn't contain it. If he couldn't control his emotions with me, I knew for a fact that I was wasting my time trying to convince him to go easy on Gecko. This was out of my hands now.

"Go back to the car, Candyce," Ace takes a step away, his voice a lot softer than before.

I swallow. I stretch my neck to glance at all of the windows in The Loft. Somewhere behind one of those blue panels was a man probably tied up who hoped he would make it out of there alive.

I don't know if it's the gnawing faith that I still have that Ace won't do it in front of me that compels me to the front doors of The Loft, or my need to see Ace and this business for what it really is. Either way, my feet carry me to the entrance and into the lobby all the same. I wait in the lobby while Caesar and Ace huddle together talking outside.

The elevator dings next to me and out walks Cam. He doesn't notice me at first. He's too busy wiping blood off his hands with a white bandanna. When he sees me, he doesn't say anything. Just sort of nods his head in my direction and then walk outside to join Ace and Caesar. After a few minutes, all four men walk back inside. Ace takes the lead. I quietly follow them into the elevator like a lost puppy.

My legs shake the whole way up the elevator. Ace hit the button with "Roof" stamped on it in wide black letters.

The metal doors scrap open to reveal a wide enclosure with white walls and pillars. There's clear tarp covering random windows as if the place isn't done yet. The wide space and the natural light hitting the white paint from the windows would have made for a beautiful scene... If there wasn't a man strapped in a wooden chair with rope wrapped around his chest and feet to keep him in place.

"Oh my god," I whisper.

As we get closer, I see there are nails in both of his hands, pinning him to the chair. His head hangs and sways with blood and drool mixing to make a puddle near his feet. His hair is in twists and it's blocking my view of his face. But measuring from the amount of blood that was on the floor, I know his face must be really fucked up.

My stomach riles up. Caesar said Cam was the nicer one of the bunch. If he managed to do all of this than what exactly did Ace plan on doing that could be worse than this.

"Motherfucker kept tryna run. I found a nail gun over there and nailed his ass to the chair. He ain't moving so much now," Cam says.

"What about talking?" Ace asks. The scene before him barely makes him blink an eye.

Cam shakes his head, "He ain't saying shit we tryna hear. Just that it wasn't him and the Feds set him up to make it look like he was the rat."

I find a moment to jump in.

"Well maybe he's telling the truth. You did all that to him and he still ain't saying shit, probably means he ain't do nothing," I say.

Cam looks at me and then back at Ace. He whispers something in Ace's ear but Ace look like he ain't tryna hear nun of that shit. He waves Cam off.

"Candyce, shut up aight? I told you to wait in the car but you didn't listen. You never fucking listen. So now, you gotta shut up and watch okay?" Ace says.

I cut my eyes at him but I do shut up. I could tell that I was testing his patience.

"Gecko! My main man! Wake yo ass up nigga," Ace says.

I watch as he places brass knuckles on one fist. He steps closer to Gecko.

"What happened? Was I not feeding you enough? Tell me what I could have done differently to avoid all this shit," Ace says.

Gecko continues to sway his head. I'm 90% sure that he's on the brink of unconsciousness.

Ace lifts his head by pulling on his twists. He pats the sides of his face until Gecko's left eye flutters open. His right eye is too damaged to open.

"Ace. Help me," Gecko chokes out.

"Help you? I can't do that until you help me. You the snitch Gecko?" Ace says.

Gecko tries to shake his head but his movements are too slow. Besides, Ace is still tugging on his hair, forcing him to look up at him.

"Aight. If you ain't the snitch tell me who is. I know you know," Ace says.

"A-A-Ace. I promise. I ain-"

I flinch as Ace's brass knuckles collide with Gecko's face. Tears well in my eyes as Gecko starts to cry out.

"Stop saying my fucking name, nigga. You wearing a wire or some?" Ace says.

"I didn't do it, man. I didn't do it. They setting me up."

"Who setting you up? The Feds?"

Gecko nods his head.

"The Feds setting you up and you tried to set Caesar up right? That's why you called him over there the day the trap got raided?" Ace says.

Caesar crosses his arm over his chest. He must have been thinking the same thing.

"Well that ain't gon work Gecko. Because of Caesar, we get to fix yo mistake. You let the Feds take all my fucking product. All my fucking money! I should fucking cut yo tongue out. Matter fact, Cam, go get me something to cut this rat's tongue out," Ace says.

Cam starts to move across the room.

"Ace! What the fuck are you doing? Stop!" I yell.

"Caesar, bring ha ass downstairs," Ace says.

Caesar grabs me by my arm and I push him off.

"Don't fucking touch me," I say slowly to make sure he feels it.

He takes a step back at the intensity in my eyes. He could never touch me again. Not after what he said last night.

"Shut the fuck up then, Candyce. Cam hurry the fuck up!" Ace says.

When Cam returns, he has one of those electric blades in hand. Gecko starts to squirm in his chair when he sees it. Ace places one knee on his lap to keep him steady. He holds Gecko's head back and mouth open with his hands.

"Caesar, take the blade from Cam. He can't get on a plane with blood all over his fit."

Caesar walks over to Cam and takes the blade away from him before I can stop him.

I watch in horror as Caesar and Ace work together to cut Gecko's tongue out of his mouth. There's blood spewing everywhere. Gecko is hollering at the top of his lungs. I think I'm gonna be sick.

When they're done, Gecko's tongue falls to the ground in the pool of his own blood. He's wailing out but the only sounds coming out of his mouth are animalistic. If he's trying to talk, no one can understand him without his tongue. Ace could care less though. He had heard all he had to hear. Honestly, I think Ace knew Gecko was gonna die before we even pulled into the driveway. He had called it that day at Keyana's house.

Gecko had lost so much blood and undergone so much trauma, I was sure he was on the brink of dying. But that doesn't stop me from interrupting when Ace pulls out a gun.