“We can talk about that if you think it’s necessary, but the simple version is that if you see that it needs doing and I’m not doing it, you need to see that it gets done.”
Wanda glanced at me as she drove and then she pulled over. She put the car in park and turned off Prince. “What?”
“Say that again.”
“Say what again?”
“What you just said; say it again. I want to make sure I’m hearing you correctly and that I understand what you mean.”
“I said that if you see that it needs doing and I’m not doing it, you need to see that it gets done,” I said and turned Prince back on. Wanda turned it off.
“Okay, I get that. And you’re the boss of this Family, right?”
“Right.” I reached for the radio and Wanda raised her hand like she was going to hit me if I touched it. “What?”
“I just wanna make sure I understand what you’re sayin’. Is that all right?”
“Yeah, Wanda, it’s all right. Now get to your point, please.”
“So, if you’re the boss, and my job is to do the things that you’re not doing, does that make me underboss of this Family?” Wanda asked.
I laughed, but she didn’t. “Yes, it does and no, it doesn’t.”
“What does that mean, Mike?”
“It means that I see you more as my consigliere, but the same logic applies; if you see that it needs doing and neither me or Bobby are doing it, then you need to see that it gets done. Is that clear enough for you?”
“Yes,” Wanda said and started the car.
“Good. Now, tell me what’s up with Jay?” I asked, and Wanda gave me that look.
“You know I wasn’t finished, right? But it’s okay,” she said, and I knew we’d be talking about it until we got to Angee’s and probably on the way back. “He’s taking Vickie’s death pretty badly, so he hasn’t been coming around all that much. I mean he still does what he needs to do and if I call him, he comes, but like I said, he’s taking it pretty bad,” Wanda said, and I understood because there were times when I am still pretty fucked up about it.
“Him and Vickie were close, so I’m not surprised.” Then I thought about me and Wanda not paying enough attention to our friends when they need us to be paying close attention to them. “But we need to keep an eye on him, make sure that he doesn’t go off the rails.”
“You’re right. Do you think that we should get him to talk to somebody?” Wanda asked.
“Yes, Wanda, I do. You saw a grief counselor and they helped you deal with it,” I began and thought about my grief counselors, Felicia and Cortisha. “We need to do the same for him.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Wanda said. “But, getting back to what we were talking about before …” Wanda laughed. “You know me, Mike, I just need to be sure I understand what we’re talking about.”
“Okay.”
“Now, you said that if I see something that needs doing, and you’re not on top of it, that I need to do it.”
“Yes.”
“Do I need to talk to you about it first, or should I just do it because I think it needs to be done?”
“It depends on the situation; I mean there are some things that we need to talk about, but for the most part, no.”
“No, I do need to talk to you, or no, I don’t need to talk to you?”
“No, you don’t need to talk to me. Do what needs to be done and tell me about it after. I trust you and your judgment.”
“Are you going to make an announcement or something to let everybody know my position?”
“No.”