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agreed. “Shai, over the years I’ve seen you put legitimate dollars in quite a few pockets, and I’m proud of your progress, and you know without me saying that Poppa would’ve damn sure been proud of you.”
    “Thanks, Sol, that’s big coming from you.”
    “Yo, I can’t even front; this shit is fly!” Holiday cut in. “Man, I seen some bad bitches roll up in here that I need to get at.”
    “You will mind your manners and do your job. We’re here to work and not chase bitches, as you love to call them,” Angelo told him sternly.
    Holiday twisted his lips. “Angelo, you need to loosen up and stop being so stiff.”
    “Better to be stiff in the streets than stiff in the dirt, and you’d do well to remember that, li’l nigga,” Angelo shot back. He had served during the reign of three different bosses in the Clark family and was one of the few left from the original regime. He had seen some twisted things in his days, so Angelo was always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
    “Whatever.”
    A brown Buick pulled up alongside Shai’s limo, boxing it in. Before they even got out of the tinted bucket, Shai and his whole crew knew who they would see. Alvarez and Brown hopped out of the whip, walking with a swagger that said they owned the night, but everyone knew who it really belonged to, which was part of the reason the detectives hated Shai so much. The limo driver rolled his window down to let the detectives know hecouldn’t move out of the parking spot, but they ignored him and headed straight for Shai.
    “Well, well, if it ain’t Cagney and Lacey.” Holiday stepped between Shai and the detectives. He gave them a look that said exactly how he felt about them.
    Detective Alvarez smirked and shook his head.
    “What the fuck is so funny?” Holiday asked.
    “The fact that you’re too stupid to be afraid of us,” Alvarez told him seriously. “You know, one of these days they might find you slumped in an alley behind that big-ass mouth of yours.”
    “Yeah, but I’ll bet when they find me they’ll find at least three niggaz that I took with me too.”
    “You really wanna do this here?” Alvarez asked. His eyes said he was ready to go there, but so did Holiday’s.
    “We can do it anywhere you want,” Holiday matched his tone.
    Angelo stepped over and pulled Holiday away. “Know how to pick your battles,” he whispered in Holiday’s ear as he positioned himself between him and the detective. “How can we help you, gentlemen?”
    “What’s up, Angie? Been awhile since I last saw you,” Brown said addressing Angelo by his nickname.
    Angelo shrugged. “My lady thinks that police contact is bad for my health.”
    “Your lady is very wise,” Brown told him. The detective didn’t like Angelo, but he respected him. He was an old-school hustler and understood the unspoken rules of conduct between the law and the lawless. “We just need to have a few words with your boss.” He looked over at Shai.
    Angelo looked over his shoulder at Shai, who was making his way toward them with Sol and Swann in tow. Shai placed a hand on Angelo’s shoulder letting him know that it was okay.
    “What up?” Shai asked, not bothering to hide his irritation with the detectives.
    “Not much. Just came to have a short chat with you,” Detective Brown told him.
    “I don’t think that’s a good idea without his legal representation present,” Sol spoke up. He looked down at his watch. “Mr. Scott should be here shortly if you gentlemen care to wait.” Sol was referring to Scotty, Poppa Clark’s one-time protégé and current legal counsel and coconsigliore to the family.
    “That won’t be necessary. This is a social call, not business,” Detective Brown said, tapping the manila envelope he was carrying against his leg. It made him smile to see how Shai’s eyes kept cutting to the envelope, wondering what was in it.
    “Speak and be gone. I got people waiting on me,” Shai said shortly.
    “So I see.”