asked and Rain stopped right in front of me.
She was breathing hard.
So was I.
I could feel my heart pumping blood through my body and for the first time since Freeze died, I felt good. Felt alive.
“Yeah.” I could tell that Rain felt it too. I should see it, it was written all over her. She was practically glowing.
“Any more back there?”
“No. I got his ass.”
“We should go. Come on.”
Rain and I left the building the same way we came in, down the stairs, and out the front door with a group of residents. We took our time walking to my car; neither of us said a word until we were out of Co-op and on I-95.
Rain let out a deep breath; it was more like a moan. “Hmmm.” Like the experience was almost sexual to her. It wasn’t that good for me, but I did need to get some of the rage that I was feeling off of me.
I was starting to like Rain.
I didn’t trust her, but I was definitely starting to like her. But I wasn’t about to tell her that.
I was more interested in finding out why we just wiped out Nacho and his crew. “You wanna tell me what just happened.”
“Family business, Nick. Nacho was a snitch and had to be dealt with.”
“You need to come a little better than that, Rain.”
“You mind if I smoke?”
“Go ahead. Just tell me why we—and I do mean we—why we just killed Nacho.”
Rain lit a cigarette and rolled down the window. “I had to take care of him for my father.”
“What does JR have to do with this?”
“A couple of days ago, my father told me that he was worried about Nacho.”
“Why?”
“He said that Nacho called and wanted to come by to talk ’bout the money he owed him. Only Nacho don’t owe Pops no dough.”
“What did JR think he really wanted?”
“He thought Nacho was tryin’ to set him up.” Rain took a deep drag from her cigarette. “You see, my father is a silent partner in a porno flick company with a guy named Paul Gaggiano. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Nacho was there to see one of the chicks in the movie. The cops raided the set and Nacho gets arrested along with everybody else.”
“Was your father there?”
“No. But Jeff Ritchie was. Jeff Ritchie is a freaky fuck. He goes there all the time to watch. He was arrested too. But Nacho was back on the street before Jeff Ritchie even got his one fuckin’ call. You know what I’m sayin’?”
“Nacho gave the cops something.”
“What he gave up was my father. That’s why I had to do this and not him. Jeff Ritchie is hot now.”
“Go on.”
“Pops began to suspect that Nacho had folded under pressure. Nacho’s a weak-ass bitch, you know the type, can’t do the time. So he told the cops that both my father and Jeff Ritchie were involved in gambling and were extorting money from him.”
“How do you know this?”
“Pops may be a step or two slower, but he still got his sources. They was tellin’ Pops that Nacho hadn’t signed anything official, but he had more than one meeting with the cops. Bottom line, the bitch needed to be dealt with.”
I didn’t know if I believed her or not, and I wasn’t sure if I really cared. If I really needed to know if she was lyin’ or not, I could check her story with Tamia Adams or even her father. “I’m sure that JR will be relieved that you took care of that for him.”
“He would, but he don’t know and I got no plans of tellin’ him. Both him and Jeff Ritchie are at the club with plenty of witnesses. They don’t need to know nothin’ ’bout this. All they need to know is that the bitch nigga is dead and he ain’t no threat no more. End of story.”
“That the way you want it?”
“That’s the way it’s gonna be. ’ Cause I hope you ain’t plannin’ on tellin’ him nothin’ ’bout what happened in these streets tonight. This between you and me. Cool?”
“You askin’ me or tellin’ me?”
“Honestly, Nick, it’s both.”
“Don’t worry, Rain. Your secret is safe with me. You don’t need to tell
She was breathing hard.
So was I.
I could feel my heart pumping blood through my body and for the first time since Freeze died, I felt good. Felt alive.
“Yeah.” I could tell that Rain felt it too. I should see it, it was written all over her. She was practically glowing.
“Any more back there?”
“No. I got his ass.”
“We should go. Come on.”
Rain and I left the building the same way we came in, down the stairs, and out the front door with a group of residents. We took our time walking to my car; neither of us said a word until we were out of Co-op and on I-95.
Rain let out a deep breath; it was more like a moan. “Hmmm.” Like the experience was almost sexual to her. It wasn’t that good for me, but I did need to get some of the rage that I was feeling off of me.
I was starting to like Rain.
I didn’t trust her, but I was definitely starting to like her. But I wasn’t about to tell her that.
I was more interested in finding out why we just wiped out Nacho and his crew. “You wanna tell me what just happened.”
“Family business, Nick. Nacho was a snitch and had to be dealt with.”
“You need to come a little better than that, Rain.”
“You mind if I smoke?”
“Go ahead. Just tell me why we—and I do mean we—why we just killed Nacho.”
Rain lit a cigarette and rolled down the window. “I had to take care of him for my father.”
“What does JR have to do with this?”
“A couple of days ago, my father told me that he was worried about Nacho.”
“Why?”
“He said that Nacho called and wanted to come by to talk ’bout the money he owed him. Only Nacho don’t owe Pops no dough.”
“What did JR think he really wanted?”
“He thought Nacho was tryin’ to set him up.” Rain took a deep drag from her cigarette. “You see, my father is a silent partner in a porno flick company with a guy named Paul Gaggiano. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Nacho was there to see one of the chicks in the movie. The cops raided the set and Nacho gets arrested along with everybody else.”
“Was your father there?”
“No. But Jeff Ritchie was. Jeff Ritchie is a freaky fuck. He goes there all the time to watch. He was arrested too. But Nacho was back on the street before Jeff Ritchie even got his one fuckin’ call. You know what I’m sayin’?”
“Nacho gave the cops something.”
“What he gave up was my father. That’s why I had to do this and not him. Jeff Ritchie is hot now.”
“Go on.”
“Pops began to suspect that Nacho had folded under pressure. Nacho’s a weak-ass bitch, you know the type, can’t do the time. So he told the cops that both my father and Jeff Ritchie were involved in gambling and were extorting money from him.”
“How do you know this?”
“Pops may be a step or two slower, but he still got his sources. They was tellin’ Pops that Nacho hadn’t signed anything official, but he had more than one meeting with the cops. Bottom line, the bitch needed to be dealt with.”
I didn’t know if I believed her or not, and I wasn’t sure if I really cared. If I really needed to know if she was lyin’ or not, I could check her story with Tamia Adams or even her father. “I’m sure that JR will be relieved that you took care of that for him.”
“He would, but he don’t know and I got no plans of tellin’ him. Both him and Jeff Ritchie are at the club with plenty of witnesses. They don’t need to know nothin’ ’bout this. All they need to know is that the bitch nigga is dead and he ain’t no threat no more. End of story.”
“That the way you want it?”
“That’s the way it’s gonna be. ’ Cause I hope you ain’t plannin’ on tellin’ him nothin’ ’bout what happened in these streets tonight. This between you and me. Cool?”
“You askin’ me or tellin’ me?”
“Honestly, Nick, it’s both.”
“Don’t worry, Rain. Your secret is safe with me. You don’t need to tell
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