The next night when I got to The Late Night, Freeze was there talkin' to Black. They sat there for most of the night, and then Freeze jumped up and headed for the door. A couple of days later, Freeze had caught all of the guys that robbed us.
After that, Black made me work with Freeze. I had mad respect for the kid for catching them muthafuckas by himself. But he was just a kid; I didn’t wanna work with him. The way shit worked was, since Black doesn’t like to drive, whenever he had a little job to do, he would call me and say “come scoop me up.”
Only this time when I get there, Black is nowhere to be found and Freeze gets in the car. “Let’s go.”
“Go where? Where’s Black?”
“Black wants me to go with you.”
“Why?”
“He didn’t say why. He just said when Nick gets here that I should go with you.”
I put the car in drive and pulled off. “Where to?”
“Spot off Boston Road.”
“Who we goin’ to see?”
“You know Harry Walker, right?” Freeze asked as I drove.
“Greasy?”
Yeah, I know his fat ass. He was a gambler who liked to bet on football, but Greasy had a string of bad luck. Lost a lot of money one Sunday then tried to bet his way out of it; as some gamblers are known to do. Now he owed one of our bookies a hundred grand.
We waited outside Greasy’s apartment building, waiting for him to come home for the night. Neither of us had much to say while we were waiting, just listened to the radio, and watched the door. I was thinkin’ about whether it was good idea for Black to send Freeze along with me. I didn’t think he was up to it.
It was after three in the morning when Greasy got to his apartment. He was in the company of a very pretty full-figured woman.
As soon as Freeze saw Greasy heading for the building, he was out the car. I gave him points for enthusiasm. I was anxious to see if he got any points for style and more importantly, effectiveness.
By the time Greasy wobbled to the door and got his keys out, Freeze was on him. He put his gun to the back of Greasy’s head. “What the fuck!” I heard Greasy say when I finally got to the door.
“Unlock the door and go inside,” Freeze ordered the big man.
“What the fuck is goin’ on?”
“Black sent me.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m the nigga that’s gonna shoot you and the titty bitch here if you don’t unlock the fuckin’ door.”
Greasy unlocked the door and we went inside. Freeze told the woman to sit down and be quiet, while he backed Greasy up to the wall at gunpoint. It was only then that Greasy recognized me. “Nick? That you, Nick?”
“What’s up, Greasy?” I said and took a seat next to his big tittie companion.
And they were pretty titties too.
I put my gun on my lap and she smiled at me. She looked like the sight of my gun and all that was going on was exciting her. Maybe she was just hoping that those big-ass titties would allow her to walk out with her life. Truth was she had nothing to worry about. At least I didn’t think so. Freeze never said if Black wanted them dead or not, but I knew Black didn’t like killing women.
“Who the fuck is this kid, Nick?” Greasy asked and Freeze punched him in his stomach for asking. He doubled over in pain.
“I already told you who I am,” Freeze said calmly. “I’m the nigga who’s gonna put a bullet in your head if you don’t do what I tell you, which means you don’t talk unless I tell you to.” Freeze hit him in the stomach again. “Understand?” And then he hit him in the stomach again. This time Greasy went down to one knee. Those shots to the gut had taken all the wind out of him.
“Okay, okay,” Greasy said, sucking air, trying to catch his breath.
At that point I knew Greasy wasn’t gonna be any trouble, at least not that night. I was impressed with the way Freeze had taken control of the situation, just like Black would have.