Killing Wanda, because Wanda is, after all, Wanda, would have brought the whole family down on her. She probably would have gotten away with killing Mercedes, but since she was in the moneymaking end of the business, it would have cost her. Not just in terms of money, but it would have cost her respect as well.
At the time, Mercedes was a dancer for Cynt, so Rain would have been required to compensate her for her future earning potential. And killing a dancer over a man would have cost her the respect that she was working so hard to earn and it just wasn’t worth it. Therefore, killing Danielle was definitely not happening because again, it just wasn’t worth it.
Nick may have made her a disciplined soldier, but it was Wanda that taught her about power and how to wield that power to achieve the objectives that she had undertaken. Despite what some might consider the disastrous effects of Wanda’s time in power, she was a master at effectively wielding that power and with Rain’s help, accomplished everything that she set out to accomplish for The Family. Even Black had to grudgingly agree that had she not taken the steps that she had when she did, that they would have been in a worse position than they already were at the time.
It was after her time with Wanda that she began working with Black. Rain remembered him from her childhood too and remembered being in awe of him. The respect and admiration that her father had for him seemed to be instilled in her. Rain also remembered being scared to death of him and with good reason.
Give me one reason why Bobby shouldn’t shoot you right now?
It was a night that she’d never forget. In the office alone with Black and Bobby, his gun was pointed at Rain’s head and nobody was getting past Monika guarding the door. Rain remembered thinking, The cavalry ain’t comin’ to save my ass this time.
Rain would never forget that night, not just because she could have died, because that night was her first step on the path she was currently on. Black took the discipline that she had learned from Nick and the understanding of power and purpose that she learned from Wanda and turned her into the woman that she was today. Rain sometimes stopped to wonder if Black knew then that he was going to make her underboss of The Family?
After all, the nigga is psychic.
When they arrived at Bones, Baby Chris led them in, followed by Jackie and Carter. Rain waited outside while Baby Chris spoke with the hostess and just as they were about to be seated, Rain walked in and followed them to the table. Although the hostess made no notice of her, Rain’s entrance did not go unnoticed.
As soon as Rain passed him, Dennis Smith, who was AD’s eyes and ears at the restaurant, recognized Rain from the old days when she used to come there with Ronnie. He immediately called AD. “What’s up?”
“Rain Robinson just walked in here with her crew.”
“What?”
“You heard me, Rain Robinson and her crew just walked in here.”
“What are they doing?”
“Paula just seated them,” Dennis said and paused to watch them. “Now they’re looking at the menus.”
And the menu was loaded with favorites to make your taste buds jump for joy. There was chicken, smothered, baked or fried turkey wings and hot or fried chicken wings, smothered or fried pork as well as turkey chops. You could get southern style chicken, smothered steak and meatloaf and of course, there were those fall off the bone ribs.
“What do you want me to do?” Dennis asked, and AD had to think for a second or two.
“I’ll call you back,” AD said and ended the call.
“I’ll call you back? Fuck you mean, you’ll call me back? I don’t have anybody here to deal with them. You need to do something.”
“I am gonna do something,” AD said.
“What?”
“I’ll let you know when I call you back,” AD said and ended the call. “Niggas.”
While Rain was looking at the menu, she didn’t notice the woman coming at her.
“Lorraine?” the woman questioned, and Rain turned to her. “I thought that was you. Come here girl and give me a hug.”
As Rain stood up and gave the woman a hug, a shocked Carter, Jackie and Baby Chris looked on. Baby Chris leaned close to Jackie.
“Who’s Lorraine?” he asked.
“Duh, that’s Rain’s real name,” Jackie said in a way that made Baby Chris feel a little stupid. Lorraine … Rain. Yeah, I should have figured that one out for myself.
“How are you, Miss Betty,” Rain said.
Bones was her place and during the years, she had resisted pressure from Robert and now AD to, shall we say, add a little spice to the menu, but she steadfastly refused to have any parts of drugs or drug money. She would delight in reminding Robert that, “you ain’t slinging that stuff out of your restaurant. Ain’t no way in hell you’re gonna make me sling it out of mine,” and she didn’t. Bones was strictly legit.
“I am doing just fine, Lorraine.” Miss Betty stepped back. “Let me have a look at you.” She paused. “How long has it been?”