War 2 All Hell Breaks Loose Read online

  “Why should it?”

  “What about Dad liking him as a kid?”

  “All I know is Unc been ‘aight with me.” He paused. “And if I can stop this—”

  “You can’t!” Howard yelled. “That’s the Lou’s problem. We too busy digging in shit that don’t got nothing to do with us. So fall the fuck back and heal yourself.”

  “How you gonna tell me what I can and can’t do?”

  “For starters look at you, nigga. You laying up in a bed.”

  Derrick sighed deeply. He was trying to calm down even though he felt like he could lay Howard on his ass if he was on his feet, or if his face was closer. “Listen, you don’t want this. I know you think you stronger than me but you don’t want this on your heart.”

  “What?”

  “War,” Derrick clarified. “Let me stop this. Hook up the meet.”

  Howard laughed arrogantly. He was feeling himself for a lot of reasons. For starters Derrick normally struck fear in him when he roared but after having taken a bullet, all of a sudden he looked harmless.

  Like a child even.

  Secondly, Howard had given so much blood that he was a little sloped in the mind and unaware that he was seconds away from getting punched in the forehead.

  “I ain’t worried about nothing,” Howard shrugged. “If it be war let it be war."

  “You saying that now…but we’ll see about that when shit gets heated.”

  Howard stood up and stumbled a little. He was feeling lightheaded. “You know what, you talking that dumb shit.” He pulled the covers up to his brother’s neck. “Take a nap.”

  “Whatever, nigga,” Derrick said.

  When Howard left and the door closed, Derrick immediately went to forming his plan but in his condition it was obvious he would need help. His only question was which one of his brothers could he trust?

  ****

  Banks was moving a box carefully into one of his houses off the grid, when his phone rang. The cargo he was carrying was precious and he had to use extreme caution. He was in his private lab and preparing to ignore the caller when it rang once more.

  Looking down at it, he put the box down and answered.

  “Tell the truth.” Mason said on the other end. “You ever really fuck with me?”

  Banks frowned and flopped into a metal chair. He could hear the pain in his voice and it reminded Banks of the time he told Mason it was over. “You talking about grade school again?”

  Silence.

  Banks sighed. “The person you wanted me to be was never there.”

  “That ain’t how I saw it though.”

  Banks smoothed his beard and frowned. “You been drinking?”

  “Some.”

  Banks shook his head. Grade school Blakeslee was a long way from Banks Wales. And although he cared about Mason back in the day, it was never in the way he wanted.

  “I think she cared…I mean...” Banks took a deep breath. Talking about himself as a woman was as gross as placing his face between a set of sweaty butt cheeks. Why was he even doing this? “Blakeslee didn’t want to hurt you. But your relationship with her never felt right.”

  “But you did hurt me though.” Mason paused. “And I would’ve accepted you as you were if—”

  “Never!” Banks roared, hating the places he was allowing Mason to take him in the moment. It was after 11:00 at night and all he wanted was to get off the phone and on to business. “You would never have seen me as I see myself.”

  He was speaking truth.

  Mason liked his women submissive like Blakeslee was when she was confused, and trying to figure out why she didn’t feel like other girls. There was no way he could see her going butch, let alone full blown male like Banks Wales.

  “Let her go, Mason.” Banks said referring to the old him. “She ain’t in me. Probably never was.”

  “She was when we fucked.”

  Silence.

  “To tell you the truth, I don’t even remember,” Banks lied.

  Mason laughed and hung up.

  CHAPTER THREE

  SATURDAY

  12:07 AM

  Minnie rushed outside of the carryout when she saw her friend’s silver BMW. Hopping into the passenger seat, she placed her seat belt on and braced for the ride.

  Nasty Natty, nicknamed for her whorish ways, was loyal as fuck but as freaky as a baby boy who just discovered his ding-a-ling. You could add to her blemishes the fact that she drove as wild as a teenager on a hover board for the first time.

  There was just no taming the girl.

  Still, her many flaws didn’t mean she wasn’t a cutie or worth the trouble. Her dark skin was smooth and her natural curly hair was teased to perfection. No doubt…Nasty Natty was easy on the eyes.

  “Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, bitchhhhhhhhh!” Nasty said lengthening her long pink tongue for an extended amount of time. “Where we going?”

  “To your house.”

  Getting the word, Nasty slammed on the gas pedal, almost hitting a man in front of her as she moved for the highway. Minnie gripped the hand rest and door.

  “Let me find out Poppa Banks letting you out the house.”

  Minnie frowned. “Why you say that?”

  Nasty looked at her and slapped her own thigh. “Bitch, you playing right?” She zigzagged in and out of traffic. “You know Banks fine ass don’t like me or my mama.”

  “Well I don’t give a fuck what he likes for real.” She tugged on her seat belt again, hoping it would lock in the event of a crash.

  “Why you say that?”

  “Because he don’t mess with me and I don’t mess with him.”

  “You sound crazy.” She waved her off.

  Minnie frowned. “You don’t know my life, Natty.”

  “I ain’t gotta know your life.” She shrugged, hitting 80 in a 40. “I wish I had a father who showed up.”

  “Well what if he ain’t my…I mean…”

  Minnie was about to open the bag of secrets she was holding but couldn’t bring herself to say the words. For starters uttering out loud that her father was actually her mother was too embarrassing for syllables.

  “What if he ain’t my what?” Natty continued. “What is it, Minnie?” She paused. “You holding back on something. Talk to me.”

  “Nah.” Minnie said.

  “Is it Arlyndo?”

  “Kinda.”

  “Ya’ll broke up again?”

  “No…but…I mean…” She took a deep breath. “I’m thinking about running away with him.”

  “Girl, you do that shit and you stupid.”

  Minnie frowned. “How you figure?”

  “I fucks with ‘Lyndo.” She shrugged and hit the gas pedal harder, just because there was room on the road. “But he ain’t fit to be no full time.”

  “You must want me to cut you off.”

  “Because I speak facts?”

  “Arlyndo would do anything for me.”

  “He’d do anything to you too.” She paused. “Please don’t leave your house fucking with no Arlyndo Lou. It’ll be a mistake. All them niggas dirty anyway.”

  She frowned. “Who told you that?”

  “Everybody knows they dusty.” She paused. “I mean they all fine as fuck and got a coin or whatever but they still trifling.”

  “Nasty, stay in your lane and I’ll stay in mines.”

  “Mine,” Nasty said just to be annoying since her point wasn’t received. “Ain’t no ‘s’ on mine. I keep telling you that.”

  Minnie rolled her eyes while looking out the window. Her friend could talk until her tongue dried up and fell into her lap. There was nothing nobody could do to keep her away from that man.

  And that was just facts.

  ****

  Linden tried his best to keep up with the girl in the BMW who had precious Wales cargo in her vehicle, but it was difficult. Whoever was in the driver’s seat had a death wish and he wasn’t trying to have one with her.

  Still, he did
his best to maintain pace, knowing that doing so would put him in an extreme position of power, which was always his plan.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  After Banks left one of his houses, he and Bet sat in the back of a Yukon XL Denali with windows so black you couldn’t tell where the paint ended and the window merged. Although it was late, with things moving quickly, he wanted to make sure the plane was gassed up and ready to go to their new home on Monday. He was determined that nothing would stand in the way of getting the Wales clan in the air.

  When Bet smelled a familiar scent she looked over at him. “What is that weird aroma?”

  He shook his head.

  “I always smell it when you go to that house that you won’t let us inside,” She continued. “What are you making in there? It resembles fireworks.”

  “It’s just a hobby of mine. Leave it at that.”

  She sighed deeply. “How you think things went?” Bet asked grabbing his hand. “With the kids?”

  He looked at her and back out the window. “You mean besides Minnie storming out?”

  “That’s both our faults.” She admitted. “Spoiled her too much.”

  He nodded. “It’s hard to tell how things went but I’m not gonna focus on it.”

  “Well one thing is certain, the boys love you,” she responded.

  He nodded.

  She sighed deeply. “Banks, with everything…I mean…”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes what?” She paused. “You didn’t even let me finish.”

  “You wanna know if I’m still confident that going to Wales Island is a good move.” He looked at her. “My answer is yes.”

  She smiled.

  He stared back out the window.

  “If only Spacey could understand that you never meant to hurt him.” She paused. “That we never meant to hurt them while keeping your secret…”

  “Spacey is spoiled too.” He sat back and looked straight ahead at Rev, his soldier who steered the car. Rev didn’t know Banks was female so they were still speaking in code. “The others are too.”

  She frowned. “Why you say that?”

  “Me and my pops had problems but I never, I mean, I never got what he meant by wanting me to be tough until this very moment.”

  “Wish I could’ve met him.”

  “He had his shit with him,” Banks admitted. “Did stuff without my approval but he understood that when you never had a struggle, you can’t recognize a blessing.” He shook his head. “I love my kids, I do, but if they think they got a choice in getting on that plane they don’t know me. At all.”

  Bet never met his father but from what she learned over the course of their relationship, they sounded similar. “What are you saying?” She trembled a little. “You would hurt our kids?”

  “I’m not fuckin’ around with them, Bet. That’s all I’m saying.”

  She released his hand. “I don’t like how you sound.”

  He smiled.

  He could care less.

  “What’s funny?” She asked.

  “What kind of nigga you thought you married? For real. You shared my bed for over twenty years and you think I would put so much energy into an escape plan, only for it to fail? I thought of every detail…every one.”

  “Everybody misses something.”

  “Not me.”

  She shook her head. “So you threaten our kids?”

  “They not thinking smart enough to make their own decisions. And we have zero time to coddle them.”

  “Well you’re going to be mad at me too.”

  He frowned and then positioned his body to look into her eyes.

  But she looked away and then scooted a few inches toward the door. He yanked her closer. “What is it, Bet?”

  “I’m telling my parents.”

  He frowned. “Telling your parents what?”

  “Goodbye.” She paused. “That’s why I went over there but couldn’t reach ‘em.”

  He gritted his teeth and his temples throbbed. “You really wanna try me? Do I seem like a man who can be poked?”

  “Not saying that.”

  “You saying something.” He said, nostrils flaring. “I’m not—”

  “Boss, something’s up,” Rev said as he drove past about twenty cars parked on the left and right side of the road. All of the men were standing outside of the vehicles, leaning against them, hands clutched in front of their bodies.

  Banks leaned toward the front windshield to get a better view in the darkness. Each man was looking at them. He recognized a few faces. The goons belonged to Garret.

  “What’s happening?” Bet asked grabbing his arm.

  He looked at her and then Rev. “Keep driving.”

  Two minutes later the truck was parked at the private airport he had been using for years. His plane was kept there. “You stay here,” Banks said to Bet.

  “Boss, you want me to come with you?”

  “Nah. Watch my wife.”

  “Banks, no!” She said before grabbing his hand. “I’m scared.”

  He snatched away and walked coolly to the entrance. The moment he pulled the glass door open, he saw the red head who had been there for over twenty years sitting behind the counter. But something was off. Outside of the fact that she was still there late, she looked as if she saw a ghost. Mascara had run down her face and she was trembling.

  “What’s wrong?” He asked, freezing in place. He didn’t take one more step. Instead he hung by the doorway.

  “N…nothing,” she said, her teeth chattering with each syllable. When her eyes slowly moved down toward the floor, he knew immediately someone was sitting behind the counter, out of his view.

  Carefully he walked backwards and exited. Rushing to the truck he slammed the door. “Pull off!”

  From a distance, he could see a group of men around his plane. They were dismantling the luxury aircraft in front of his very eyes.

  His skin reddened.

  His heart broke.

  His escape plan destroyed.

  “What’s wrong?” Bet asked, staring at him.

  “Mason trashed my plane.”

  “What?” She said.

  “A fucking AMBUSH!” Banks said through clenched teeth. “FUCK!” He slammed his fist into his palm.

  “Does this mean we not leaving Monday?”

  “We leaving. I just gotta find another way.”

  RING. RING.

  Dipping into his jean pocket, Banks removed his cell and answered. “What, Stretch?”

  “Is everything okay at home?” Bet asked covering her mouth before Banks could find out what was happening.

  “What is it, Stretch?” Banks said louder, sensing that his silence meant he had fucked up again.

  “It’s…Minnie…she’s…sorry, Boss…but you gotta come home.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  1:24 AM

  Inside one of the six black Porsche trucks on the way to the Louisville Estate, Mason was on edge knowing that at any moment, the Wales organization could make a hit, especially after realizing he had trashed the plane, thereby throwing a horse dick into Banks’ plans to bounce, leaving the streets of Baltimore cocaine dry.

  Inside of the truck were also Derrick, Arlyndo and Jersey.

  Howard and Patterson were in another.

  Once they entered the gates of their property, all the trucks parked in the driveway and Derrick was helped out and placed into a wheelchair. Although his legs worked, his wound made it painful to walk. Besides, he didn’t have enough energy to hold himself up and needed the device for support.

  Taking a deep breath, Arlyndo pushed him softly toward their home and through the large double doors.

  The moment the Louisville clan entered the property, Howard and Patterson kicked trash out of their path on the way to their rooms.

  The house was in a state of chaos.

  Unlike the Wales mansion, the Lou’s weren’t much on cleanliness and it showed, which irritated Jersey to no end.
Still, for the moment everyone was happy to be home.

  Without altercation from Banks.

  Exhausted, Mason and Jersey looked down at Derrick. “I’m gonna have your brothers put you in—”

  “I been in bed for days, Pops,” Derrick said looking up at him. “Let me be for a few minutes.”

  “Only for a little while,” Jersey interrupted.

  “I know, ma.”

  “I’m serious. Things are different now. We have to be smart and it starts with you getting well.”

  “She’s right.” Mason nodded. “I’m going to my office.” He placed a hand on Derrick’s shoulder. “Let me know if you need anything.” He walked away.

  Jersey touched the side of Derrick’s face and left them alone too.

  “Where you want me to roll you, nigga?” Arlyndo asked.

  “I need to talk to you.”

  Arlyndo walked around and stood in front of him. “Talk then.”

  “In private.” Derrick whispered. “Take me to the cave.”

  Arlyndo led him to the elevator and downstairs into their elaborate basement, which could be described as nothing short of a miniature Dave and Busters. They had every arcade game and gadget a man-child could desire. Ironically, outside of Mason’s room, it was the neatest place in the house.

  After rolling him in the center of the floor, Arlyndo walked in front of him and asked, “What you wanna rap about?”

  “I ain’t feeling the way Pops tryin’ to keep you from your girl.”

  Arlyndo’s jaw dropped as he flopped on the sofa. “For real?”

  “Let’s be clear, I think it was wrong that you fucked with the boss’s daughter, and I took a hit for that shit too.” He pointed to his lap for effect. “But this shit terrible. “You and your bitch shouldn’t be kept apart because of this.”

  Excited that finally somebody in the family had his side, he breathed deeply. “That’s what I been saying, Derrick. Everybody keep calling me dumb for speaking up at dinner but she was gonna be my wife.”

  “Exactly!”

  “And now she never gonna know.”

  “So what you wanna do?” Derrick said, egging him on even more.

  Arlyndo scratched his head. For all his wanting to be with Minnie, he never gave serious thought on how he was going to get her back after the war was declared. “I can’t do nothing.” He shrugged. “Dad gonna kill Unc. And if he do she never gonna talk to me.”