“Where are you going?” R.J. asked.
“I gotta get back,” she said sadly.
“I don’t want you to go.”
“I don’t wanna go.”
“Then don’t.”
Venus thought for a minute and then she pulled out her phone to call Sterling. She made up some excuse about having a very sick aunt in Baltimore that was in the hospital and they were calling for family members to come because the doctors said that it wouldn’t be long before she passed.
When a broad smile flashed across her lips, R.J. knew that they were on and he could take his time and have her again.
“That was Venus you’ve been with?” Pills asked.
“That’s who I been with,” R.J. said as they arrived at a sports bar called The Players’ Lounge, which was Coleman’s sports betting spot.
Knowing that they’d have to deal with the repercussions of R.J. fucking Sterling’s woman later, Marvin shook his head.
“You ready for this?”
“Yeah, let’s do this,” R.J. said as he and the other Kings pulled down their ski masks, Pills grabbed the gas can from the trunk and they got out of the car.
Marvin and Judah went around back, while R.J. and Pills headed for the front entrance. When R.J. gave the signal, they went inside. He put his gun to front door security’s head and took his gun as Pills raised the pump. He fired one shot at the ceiling, and as expected, it got everybody’s attention.
“Nobody moves, nobody gets hurt!”
When Marvin came through the back door with his man, he and Judah made their way to the office. While Pills covered the room, R.J. moved his man to the office, and they went in. The men were startled at their sudden appearance and when one reached for his gun, Marv shot him immediately.
R.J. nodded at Pills and he fired the shotgun at the ceiling again. “Everybody out!”
Once they cleared all the civilians out, Pills began spreading gasoline everywhere. In the office, Marvin, and Judah took all the money while R.J. covered. Once all the money was secure and Pills finished his work, R.J. called him in the office where the remaining three men were on their knees. R.J., Judah and Pills stood in front of Coleman’s men, raised their weapons and fired.
Once they were out, Judah set the place on fire and The Four Kings left.
Chapter Thirty-five
When Ed Weather came out of J.R.’s he got in the car with Reynard and they drove off. As Reynard drove, Ed thought about the task that he’d been assigned and more importantly, how he was going to get it done. He had lost all his best and most trusted men in the shooting at Paradise Fish and Chicken. Ed looked at Reynard, he was just a kid and had no experience in dealing with situations like this.
“But I gotta have somebody,” Ed said aloud.
“What you say?”
“Nothing kid. Just drive.”
As Reynard drove, Ed knew that he’d need at least two men, two good men that he could trust to ride on the gambling spot. But he was already in the process of rebuilding his crew, and taking the loss at Paradise didn’t help matters.
It wasn’t like Rain didn’t know all that when she assigned him to hit the spot. So it was getting done regardless. He thought for a while and came to the conclusion that he knew a good man, someone that he once trusted. All he had to do now was decide if he wanted to do it.
Ed Weather took a deep breath. “Take me to Pago’s,” Ed said, and Reynard headed in that direction.
Pago’s was the night club that was run by Darius Wilkerson, who was sitting in his office, thinking. Like so many others, he believed that he should have been made Captain when Sherman retired. But unlike Jab and Kenard Turner, Darius wasn’t disloyal. So he accepted it, and was content to wait for his opportunity. His plan was to gather support for the day when he would make his move, but to this point, he hadn’t found anybody willing to get behind him.
“Ed Weather’s a good man. With all that’s going on, we need to give him a chance,” was the type of response that he had gotten.
So for Darius, it was time to check himself and decide what type of man he wanted to be. Was he willing to let his thinking that he should be Captain destroy all the years of unswerving allegiance, devotion and faithful service to The Family? The answer was no. Like Ed Weather, Darius Wilkerson was a loyal soldier.
Just then, there was a knock at the door.