Caught Up (Indigo Vibe) Read Online Free PDF Page A

that will propel me by leaps and bounds. I don’t know. I just have a feeling about this. I’m going for it.”
    David nodded. “That’s cool.” He forked through his food. “I always knew your white ass was corporate.”
    “I’m not white, I’m Colombian,” Ernesto retorted to rile David.
    “Humph, Colombian, my ass.” David tossed his fork onto his plate. “Your ass ain’t neva been to no Colombia. We, Chicago boys, born and raised. You need to change your name to some shit like Ernest Bowman!” Their laughs ricocheted off the kitchen walls. “A wholesome white-sounding name that’ll keep a few doors open for your corporate ass. Jews do it all the time. You wanna be corporate. I say go all out. Hell, you even sound like a white boy.”
    “When I’m at the top of the Fortune 500 list, I want my mother to see what she gave away.” His joke had an undercurrent of truth. His earliest memory was when he was three and his mother’s lover said he wasn’t raisin’ no white man’s kid. A few days later Ernesto’s mother dropped him at David’s house to spend the night. She never returned. David’s mother, Maria, kept Ernesto so David would have someone to play with while she worked. A year later, she was murdered by one of her johns, and the boys were placed in foster care.
    “Oh yeah, I’m sure she follows the list religiously, Ernest.”
    Relieved David was climbing out of his stupor, Ernesto smiled.
    “Seriously though, I’m glad you bought this company. I’m sure you’ll take it far. If there’s anything I can do, you know I got your back.”
    Ernesto knew. He couldn’t count the number of times David had saved his butt over the years. Throughout their whole lives, the only people they could rely on were each other. David would get into a bind—Ernesto’s charm and cunning would get David out of it. When Ernesto needed unabashed, brute force—David was willing and able to oblige. But, Ernesto wanted to do this entirely on his own. This was his company, and he would be the reason it succeeded or failed.
    He watched David toy with his food. Prying conversation out of him was awkward. It was time to stop fooling around and go in for the kill. “What’s going on with your girl? You might as well say it before your black ass explodes,” he said with a smile, eliciting the same from David.
    David became somber, stared at Ernesto a while, then pushed away from the table. “ Esa puta got pregnant! No, make that, she got pregnant, then had the audacity to tell me I’m gonna pay for her abortion. Now ain’t that some fucked up mierda ? I ended up kickin’ Jorge’s ass.”
    Now this sounded more like his David! The more upset he was, the thicker the accent, until he’d finally switch to Spanish completely.
    “You’re out of your damned mind,” Ernesto said as he lifted his mug and inhaled the rich aroma of the Colombian coffee. This turn of events didn’t bode well for Ernesto. A baby in the mix would complicate their already difficult life exponentially; there had to be a way to turn this around. “You’d better chill out with these married women before a jealous husband comes after you.” He set his coffee down and continued eating.
    “Aw, hell naw! I know you ain’t tellin’ me to watch who I’m screwin’. I’m not the one who almost got his brains blown out. How the hell you gonna sleep with Mac’s girl? Damn, man. You’re lucky I was followin’ his ass.”
    “I was only seventeen, and Vanessa was too fine to pass up. You’re thirty-two. What’s your excuse?” Hunger gone, he dropped his fork onto his plate.
    “That was one of my best kills.” David positioned his arms and hands as if he were shooting a rifle. He closed one eye and looked through the sight, following along the diamond print wallpaper, past the refrigerator, to the patio door. “Taking over his territory was a good idea. Sleeping with his woman was stupid.” He readjusted his imaginary rifle.