Out of Control

“No. I’ll call when I’m ready to go,” Wanda said and went inside.

Since she didn’t like walking through the crowd of horny men and naked women, Wanda used her card key to gain access to the steps leading directly to Cynt’s office. When Wanda walked in the office, Cynt, Doc and Grant were all waiting for her.

“Sorry to keep you all waiting for so long,” Wanda said as Cynt got up from behind her desk and let Wanda sit down.

“That’s okay, Wanda. It just gave us a chance to talk among ourselves,” Grant said as he got up and refreshed his drink.

“Not talking about me I hope,” Wanda mused.

“Of course not,” Cynt said and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk. “You know damn well what we been talkin’ ‘bout.”

And she did. Over the last few months, each of them had come to her individually to express their displeasure at the way Nick ran the show. More to the point, the way Rain treated them.

Rain was queen now, and she conducted herself that way. Nick let Rain make the rounds to collect the money from all of their spots. When Rain showed up, she always traveled with four men. They had become known as The Purple Gang. At first Rain, didn’t like it, then she thought it was funny. But when she saw the type of reputation they had developed, she ran with it. They were feared and they did whatever she told them to do.

“I’m sick of that bitch Rain,” Cynt said.

“You got to do something to get that bitch off my neck, Wanda, before I have to kill her young ass,” Grant added.

“She was in here last night with that gang of hers. Disrupted the whole house,” Cynt said.

“Them niggas ain’t got no respect for shit,” Grant said. “What they did to Pegram was unnecessary.”

Wanda’s eyes narrowed and she looked at Grant. “Pegram was a thief and a liar who deserved to die.”

There was silence in the room. No matter what Rain did, or how she did it, Wanda had no use for thieves.

“You need to talk to Nick and get him to do something about her,” Cynt said.

“There’s no talking to Nick. He doesn’t see anything wrong with what she’s doing,” Wanda said.

“That young bitch got that nigga so pussy whipped that he can’t see things for what they really are,” Grant said, then he realized he was talking to Wanda. “I’m sorry, Wanda.”

“That’s all right. Sad to say that you’re right. He can’t or doesn’t want to control her.”

“So what we gonna do about her?” Grant asked.

Wanda looked at Cynt. “We all know what needs to be done. Wanda you need to take over,” Cynt said just as Wanda told her to. She didn’t want to be the one to suggest it. “Things went a lot smoother when you ran things.”

Wanda knew that Grant would go along. The one she was worried about was Doc. “You’ve been very quiet, Doc. What do you think?”

“I agree that something needs to be done about Rain. But I’m just not sure this is what we need to be doing. Have you talked to Black about this?”

“Yes, I have,” Wanda lied. “And he is busy in Nassau. With Jamaica expanding his operation on the island and CeCe expecting a baby, he doesn’t have time to be bothered with this.”

“I know all that, but what did he say?” Doc asked.

“He said to do what I think is best,” Wanda lied again and looked at Cynt to back her up.

“I’m sure that Black will support what we’re doing here,” she said quickly. “And I know each one of you know enough people who are tired of Nick’s shit that we won’t have any problems making this move.”

“That’s right,” Grant said quickly. “My people are behind me and ready to make a move.”

“What do you say, Doc?” Wanda asked and wondered could she have Doc assassinated if he wouldn’t go along.

“As long as Black don’t have a problem with it, I’m in,” he said somewhat reluctantly. “Me and my people will support whatever we decide here.”

“Then it’s settled,” Wanda said.