Dirty Work: Part 2

“I don’t know how y’all play this game. It’s just so hard.”

“It just takes time to learn the game, and it takes patience and a third eye to master it.”

“You damn sure mastered it, Kid. You’re unbeatable,” she proclaimed.

“When you love something, then you believe in it, and once you believe in it, then yo

u become the best at it.”

Eshon stared at the chess pieces, looking transfixed by a sudden thought. Without looking at Kid, she said, “The only thing I’ve been good at was loving your brother and helping him rob people.”

“You’re smart, Eshon.”

“I’m not smart like you.”

“Everybody’s born with an individual talent.”

“And I never found mine. I’m just a cute girl from the projects now caught up in some crazy shit.”

“You need to stop beating yourself up and stay focused, Eshon. This isn’t going to be your end—our end.”

“But what next?” she said.

“I don’t know what’s next. We just have to take things one day at a time. We have enough money to live comfortably for now, so we stay in New Rochelle and stay under the radar. Do you like the place?”

“It’s nice. It’s definitely not the projects.”

Motel life was becoming too confined, so Kid set out to find them a rental place somewhere in the area. He went online and searched for something convenient, affordable, and comfortable. He found a location in Oakwood Heights, New Rochelle. There was an elderly widow looking to rent out her house for $2,000 a month. It was a modest house, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The Kid jumped at it.

Mrs. Prestano was white and Italian. The Kid and Eshon met with the woman under the guise that they were a recently married couple looking for their first home. When the woman saw The Kid in a wheelchair, she was immediately sympathetic toward him. First impressions were lasting impressions, and The Kid and Eshon put on one hell of a show for the lady. She couldn’t deny a couple the place when one of the pair was handicapped. Kid paid her three months’ rent in advance.

With their new place, The Kid advised Papa John and Devon to move someplace safe as well, until the death of Maserati Meek. He knew they couldn’t stay there with him and Eshon. They would bring too much attention to the place. It was a quiet and polite neighborhood. The last thing The Kid wanted was attention. Devon wasn’t fit for suburban life, and Papa John wasn’t either. So the two men continued to live out of motels.

And Brandy suddenly became homesick.

Eshon had always been good to The Kid, and he trusted her and was loyal to her. They had a special bond—a friendship that seemed unbending and unbreakable. Kip’s death had made their friendship even stronger. Away from it all—the violence, the murders, the concrete jungle of Harlem—things seemed normal for them. But how long would things stay normal?

The Kid didn’t mind it. He allowed Eshon to assume the role that his brother had filled. She made sure he ate and kept the place clean. She had become his impromptu caretaker. They talked every night, sometimes for hours, and most times it was about Kip and Harlem.

One night The Kid caught a glimpse of her bona fide outer beauty. She had just taken a shower, and the bathroom door to the lower floor was ajar. He happened to roll by and got a glimpse of her toweling off. He sat there mesmerized by her nudity. Her sexy curves and perky breasts were exceptional. How could Kip mistreat her sometimes, when every man in Harlem chased her and wanted to cherish her? he thought. She was definitely a man’s dream girl. Eshon was a beautiful woman with so much to offer a man. She was caring by nature, and though she could be rough around the edges, there was something special about her.

She turned and caught his stare upon her. Eshon didn’t become startled by his clear perversion, but she simply smiled and politely closed the bathroom door. The Kid smiled himself and wheeled himself into the next room. Once again, if only she knew the truth—who he really was—a mobile killer like the others. What would her reaction be? Would her smile still be there? He was a lie to her, but the lie felt so good. Their friendship was so real. But would their friendship be decapitated if one day he stood up in front of her and walked her way? If he told her about the killings he committed, even killing his own Nana, would Eshon see him as a cold-blooded monster like Devon?

They decided to play one more game of chess. The Kid wanted to teach her the game. He liked teaching others to play.

“I wanted to teach Kip the game, but he never had time to play with me. He didn’t want to learn it,” he said.

“He was always a busy man.”

“He was. Always too busy for the two people that loved him the most.”

Eshon tried to concentrate harder on this new game. She moved her knight recklessly. The Kid saw it was a damaging move and made her recant it. He explained why it was a reckless move. Every move she made, he criticized it.

He picked up a pawn piece, and then said to her, “I see this chessboard as the world. Every move we make, there’s always someone or something trying to take us out—trying to knock us off the board. And you got to respect that some people were meant to be pawns and some meant to be kings and queens. But don’t underestimate the pawns. Though they have one simple move, they’re still able to take out higher opponents if they’re moved just right. And when these little bitches somehow make it to the other side of the board without being taken out, then they’re promoted. They can either become a queen, a rook, a knight, or a bishop. They just have to make it to the other side of the board, which most times, looks almost impossible with what they’re up against, but it can happen.”

She listened. His parables were interesting. Her next move on the board was more thought out.

The Kid smiled and said, “Nice one.”