Jamaica knew from years of experience that this would go easier if he made an example of somebody. That somebody was Donald Kitchner, a thief, gambler, and pimp that nobody liked. Kitch was well known around the island, and had a reputation for the ruthless way he treated the women who worked for him. When he would lose money shooting craps or playing poker at his spot, Kitch would cheat and was quick to pull his gun if anybody objected. Jamaica took over his spot first. When Kitch objected, Jamaica shot him twice in the head and set his body on the side of the road like a scarecrow.
It didn’t take long before word got around and most of the other operators rolled over quietly when Jamaica came calling. He was fair with them and let them keep their game going, as long as they paid him twenty-five percent off the top.
At first it was a good thing for Deidra and Harry. With Kitch dead, all of his women came to work for Deidra. When they started bringing in less money, a direct result of Jada West taking away the better paying customers, Deidra demanded a bigger cut from her women. But soon that wasn’t enough.
“If you don’t take their offer, Harry, they’ll kill us both,” Deidra said.
“They’ll try,” Harry said defiantly.
“No, Harry, they will kill us, just like they did Kitch.”
“Kitch been cheatin’ and pointin’ him gun at people for years. How everyone know it’s them kill Kitch?”
“Harry, one night they show up at his spot, just like they did us. They make everybody leave. Next morning—Kitch’s body is on the side of the road with two bullets in his head. Who you think killed him? Lulu?” Deidra asked, referring to Kitch’s wife.
“Why not? It could be her get tired of Kitch slap her ‘round.”
“Don’t be so damn ignorant, Harry. You know as well as I do that Lulu is afraid of her own shadow.”
Harry laughed. “You know she is, at that.”
“Take the offer, Harry.”
“No!” Harry shouted.
“That is the only way we can stay alive and we’ll still make money.”
“No!”
Deidra took a deep breath and stepped closer to her man. Over the years she had grown to love Harry, but she wasn’t willing to die for his stubbornness. She put her arms around him. “Please, Harry, I know you’re a strong man, but this is different. What if they come after me?”
Harry kissed Deidra on the forehead. “I’ll protect you, Deidra, I always have. I won’t let any harm come to you.”
“I hope you’re right,” Deidra said, but in her heart she knew that she would do whatever she had to do to protect herself.
Later that night, Mike Black sat at his table at The Grill and enjoyed the band. Even though Soca was popular on the island, Black imported a Reggae band from Kingston. Since then, The Grill was packed with tourists. His decision to lower drink prices was helpful too. “Lower the price per drink,” he told his new manager Vonetta on her first night. “Drinks are cheap, people buy more and we make our money on volume.” He even brought Lexi, who managed Cuisine, to the island for a month to teach Vonetta exactly how a Mike Black club was to be run.
Vonetta approached the table and stood there until Black noticed her and asked her to sit down. “Some Japanese men want to run a tab and said they were your guests.”
Black looked around and saw a group of Japanese men and a group of women. He recognized the women as belonging to Jada West. Black nodded his head and Vonetta pushed their check and a pen in front of him. Black initialed their check and handed it back to Vonetta. “Tell our guests to enjoy themselves and ask Jenna to keep them under control.”
Vonetta smiled. “Consider it done.” She looked and noticed that his glass was almost empty. “And I’ll have a waitress bring you another drink.”
“Thank you, Vonetta,” Black said and she got up.
Vonetta walked away from the table thinking about how much she loved her job. “Hey, Jamaica,” she said as he walked up to her.
He kissed her on the cheek. “How’s it goin’, Vonetta.”
“Wonderful as always.”
Jamaica pointed toward Black. “He in a good mood?”
“Far as I can tell.”
Jamaica knew that Black’s mood these days was dictated by the mood CeCe was in. If CeCe had a bad day, he would be in a bad mood. He walked to the table and stood there until Black noticed him standing there.
“How you doin’ tonight, Mike?”