Out of Control

Nick didn’t say anything at first, and then he got up and went back to the safe. He counted out another five hundred and handed the grand to Mercedes. “I need you to get close to Dwayne. He’s Cynt’s right hand. If anything is gonna go down, he’ll know about it. I need you to find out how they plannin’ on coming at me. And I need to know who’s all involved in this and do it fast.”

Mercedes smiled. “I can do that. Dwayne been tryin’ to get this pussy since the day I walked in the door. But he is so fuckin’ goofy looking that I never gave him any play.”

“I’m countin’ on you, baby. You do this and I’ll take care of you.”

Mercedes left JR’s and went right back to Cynt’s to get close to Dwayne. She was smart enough to know that this was her ticket out of Cynt’s for good.

CHAPTER SIX

Russell Stokes had always considered himself an ambitious man. Whatever he set his mind on, he usually got. He controlled a small organization with his hands in drugs, gambling and prostitution. Russell did all right for himself, but he wanted more.

So much more, and he was determined to get it.

For years he had envied the size and scope of Black’s organization. He tried once to make a move to seize control of some of Black’s operation when Black left the country with Cassandra Sims. Shy, as she was called ran a smooth drug operation. With both of them gone, Russell saw that as his opportunity to take control of both.

What he hadn’t counted on was Freeze.

Since niggas talk, it wasn’t long before Freeze got word about what Russell was planning. He wasn’t the least bit interested in him expanding his drug operation. “That’s some shit for Chilly to deal with,” Freeze told Kenny Lucas that night. “But if that mutha fucka thinks he gonna catch us slippin’ and ease up on my shit, he oughta think again. We ready for whatever.”

“What you thinkin’ about doin’?” Kenny asked, but he had known Freeze for a long time. He knew exactly what he was gonna do.

Freeze picked up the phone and made a call. When he was done, Freeze checked his weapon and got another one out of the drawer. “Let’s go. We got some shit to do before tomorrow night.”

Word was that Russell had opened a new gambling spot that wasn’t too far from one of Black’s joints. That following evening, Freeze and Kenny paid him a visit. As soon as they walked in the door, Russell’s men were on edge.

Russell saw them come in, but he wasn’t too worried. He had four good men in the house and it was just Freeze and Kenny. His thought was that if they planned to do anything other than look around and talk, Freeze would have brought more men. He was a little surprised that Freeze found out about the spot so quickly, but he knew how niggas talk.

As time passed and Freeze didn’t do anything other than drink gamble and talk shit, Russell and his men began to relax a bit. That all changed when Freeze’s cell rang. “What’s up?” Freeze answered.

“We’re outside.”

“Then it’s on,” Freeze said. He ended the call and looked at Kenny.

Both men stood up, took out their guns and opened fire. Russell’s men were caught completely off guard. When the shooting stopped, all four of Russell’s men were dead. None of them had gotten off a single shot. All of the gamblers in the house ran for the door and Freeze’s gun was pointed at Russell. He had his gun out, but thought better of using it. Russell put his gun down, knowing that if Freeze wanted to kill him that he’d be dead already.

There was complete silence in the room until the door opened and in walked Mike Black and Bobby Ray. As they walked past Russell’s dead soldiers, Bobby shook his head. “What a waste,” he said and he and Black sat down at the table with Russell.

“Russell,” Black said and moved Russell’s gun out of the way.

Russell smiled and laughed a little. “What’s up, Black?”

“What we got goin’ on here, Russell?”

“I, ahh, you know, had opened up a little spot.”

Bobby punched Russell in the face. “No,” Black said and Bobby punched him again. “What we got goin’ on here is you failin’ to understand something. When you walk outside and look around all you see is mine.”

Bobby punched Russell in the face again. “Understand now?” Bobby said and punched him again.

“In case you don’t understand, let me explain it to you. That means that you don’t open any little spot around here. You don’t move your number runners in and you definitely don’t even think about sellin’ no dope on my streets.”

“Understand,” Bobby said and punched him again.

“We’ve talked about this kinda shit before; haven’t we, Russell?” Black asked.

By this time Russell was bleeding from the mouth as a result of Bobby’s work. He didn’t answer.

Bobby punched him again. “Answer the man!”