“How’d you leave it with him?” Wanda asked.
“I told him that I’d think about starting a record company.”
Wanda looked at me without speaking while she considered the possibilities. “That could work for us.”
“See what it’s gonna take to make that happen and get back to me,” I told Wanda. Then I looked up and saw something that I never thought I’d see.
There in the foyer stood Angelo Collette and two of his men. Angelo was giving my manager Lexi a hard time, and pointing at me. She’s probably tellin’ him that she don’t care who he says he knows, he’s not getting in without a reservation.
I looked at Kevon, he was looking at me. I nodded my head; Kevon went to take care of it. That’s another reason why I chose him to be my bodyguard, Kevon never misses anything. He’s always aware of his environment and he’s always looking around so he sees everything.
“Isn’t that Angelo at the door?” Wanda said when she noticed the commotion.
“Yeah.” I watched as Kevon settled Lexi down and then let Angelo pass. He escorted Angelo’s men to the bar.
“What’s he doing here?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been trying to get Angee to come here for years. He wants something. Something major or he wouldn’t be here.” Probably some Crazy Joe shit. Out of respect, I stood up to greet him. Wanda did too.
“Mikey, Wanda,” Angelo said and shook my hand. “How’s everybody doing tonight?” Angelo hugged Wanda and kissed her on the cheek.
“I’m fine, Angelo.”
“How long has it been since I saw you, Wanda?” Angelo asked and took a seat.
“
Been at least eight years.”
“Well, you’re as beautiful as I remember.”
I sat down without speaking and listened while Wanda and Angee made small talk like two old friends that hadn’t seen each other in years. While they talked, I couldn’t help but wonder what would make Angee come up here. It’s rare when he leaves his little area in Yonkers.
“Wanda, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to talk to this guy.”
Wanda stood up, so did Angelo. “I didn’t think you came here just to tell me how pretty I was. It was good seeing you.”
“Great seeing you, too.”
“We should talk more when you have some time,” Wanda said and looked at me. She wanted to explore, as she called it, legitimate business opportunities with Angee, but she knows I’m against it. Angee has his own problems with the law. This is not the time to be in business with him. But Wanda can be hard-headed sometimes. She turned to me. “I’ll be in the office, Mike.”
Wanda said goodnight to Angee and headed for the office. As soon as she walked off, Angelo leaned toward me and whispered. “Can we talk in here?”
“I have the place swept for bugs every day. But we can talk outside if it makes you more comfortable.”
I stood up and led Angee out the back door. Kevon and Angee’s men followed behind us.
Once we had gotten a little ways down the street, Angee got to the purpose of his visit. “I wanted to ask you about Stark.”
I wasn’t expecting that. “What about him?”
“I hear he’s a serious man, who’s deserving of respect.”
Now I knew what Angee wanted. He hasn’t been a player in this game since Cassandra got out. She had a dual degree in management and marketing, saw drug dealing as a business, and ran her program that way.
I learned a lot about business from her. One more reason to miss her. With the direction we’re taking now, Cassandra’s advice and involvement would have been invaluable to me.
When she left the country with me, Chilly sucked up what was left of her operation. With the rest of his Commission dead or in the wind, Stark controlled a big chunk of the drug market and Angee wanted back in. “You want to meet him?”