"I guess Ivy had other things on her mind," Bobby said and smiled.
Lex was not amused. He banged on the table. "Ivillisa is my woman—and you’re gonna forget you knew her!"
Bobby held up one hand and put his gun on his lap. "Calm down, Lex. If you wanna claim her, she’s all yours, kid."
"I ain’t no fuckin’ kid," Lex shouted and pulled out his gun.
"Everything all right?" Black asked and put the barrel of his gun to the base of Lex’s skull.
Bobby brought his gun up from under the table and stood up. "Yeah, Mike, everything’s fine. Lex here was just explaining that Ivillisa is his woman, and I was about to tell him that I was done with her ass anyway, so he can have her," Bobby said and came around the table. Black took Lex’s gun from him and followed Bobby out.
"You know, there was a time when I would’ve just shot that mutha fucka and wouldn’t have gave a fuck," Black said as him and Bobby got in the car.
"You’re gettin’ old. Shit, we both are. Back in those days, I woulda shot him as soon as he sat down and opened his mouth with that bitch shit," Bobby said and drove away. "You get anything from Eddie?"
"He says the same thing. Cruz wants to make the move uptown, but he won’t ’cause he thinks we back Stark."
"I knew that shit was gonna happen. Soon as Angelo came to you with that shit, I knew this was gonna happen; whether we did shit or not."
"That’s the word. We’re back in the drug business."
"I wouldn’t be surprised if Stark was puttin’ that shit out himself," Bobby speculated. "Makes his po
sition stronger."
"Don’t you think Angelo knew that when he suggested it?"
"You probably right."
"I know I am. This is what fuckin’ Angee wanted all along. ‘You can be a stabilizing influence, Mikey.’ I knew it was a mistake, but what could I do?"
"You couldn’t tell him no; not after all the shit Angelo’s done for you."
"I know."
"So what now?" Bobby asked.
"Eddie said he’d have something on where we can find Cruz tomorrow. So until then, we wait."
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Kirk and Richards returned to the scene of the crime and began re-canvassing the building. They had been knocking on doors and then they got a break.
"I’m Detective Richards and this is Detective Kirkland."
"What y’all want?" the woman asked. She was very slender, her eyes were prominent and her hands shook a bit.
"Can we come in?" Kirk asked.
The woman rolled her big eyes and stepped back from the door and led them into the living room. There wasn’t much in the way of furniture in the small apartment. A couch, a small TV that sat on a dining room table and one chair was all there was.
"We’re investigating the murders that happened in the building tonight," Richard said.
"I don’t know nothin’ about it," the woman said and turned up the volume on The Daily Show. "And if I did know something why would I tell you?"
Kirk pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and dropped it on the floor in front of her. "Anything you can tell us would be helpful," Richards said and laughed a little.
When the woman started to reach for the bill, Kirk put his foot on it. "I don’t know who killed them boys," she said.