Private Deceptions Read Online Free PDF Page B

from The Late Night."
    "Damn, The Late Night. I haven’t thought about that place in years. We had some good times —" Freeze paused and looked at me. I guess he remembered the last time I was there that Bobby tried to kill me. "And some bad times." Freeze laughed a little. "Anyway, this ain’t that type of place. The Late Night was just that. A late-night hang out. We are marketing to a different clientele."
    "Listen to you."
    "Wanda taught me to say shit like that. She’s a trip, but she was right. She’s right about most things. She made us all a ton of money over the years. Anyway, I know you didn’t come here just to talk about old times. What’s poppin’?"
    "You know somebody named Alvin Childers?"
    "Chilly?"
    "Yeah, Chilly."
    "I know him and so do you, Nick. You remember he used to deal for André back in the day. He’s the one who made peace with Black, and they set up the dead zone where nobody deals. Bitch nigga had to make peace; ’cause Black was gonna blast that ass next. Now he runs most of the drugs uptown. What’s your interest?"
    "Business. His wife is my client."
    "Gee. What Gee hire you for?"
    "Find her brother."
    "Didn’t know Gee had a brother."
    "Didn’t think you would, he’s not part of the family business. His name is Jake Rollins, he’s a chemist."
    "Never met him, just her sister, Chésará."
    "I just left her."
    "She’s a bad mutha fucka."
    "So I noticed."
    "Wild as hell. Into everything."
    "I could see that, yeah."
    "Pussy was good though."
    "You fucked —" Freeze looked at me like I was stupid. "Nevermind. She got anything to do with the family business?"
    "No, Gee’s breakin’ her off. You think Chilly had something to do with it?"
    "Mrs. Childers does."
    "If Chilly did have somethin’ to do with it, your job is easy. All you gotta do is find the body. Chilly likes to make his shit real public. Make a statement, like André used to, you know what I’m sayin’." Freeze laughed. "I know you do, that used to be our thang. Remember?"
    I laughed. "Yeah. I remember."
    "So let me get this straight. Gee hired you to find her brother. Gee don’t think Chilly’s involved, Gee knows he’s involved. So what does Gee want with you?"
    "So I can prove it to the cops."
    "Nick. This ain’t nothin’ you want any parts of."
    "I see this. I’ll leave it alone."
    "You a lyin’ mutha fucka, Nick."
    I got up from table. "Thanks for dinner, Freeze."
    "Nick."
    "Yeah."
    "If shit gets wild," Freeze stood up. "I’m with you."
    "Thanks, Freeze."
    I left there thinking about Black.
    Whether he respected me or not, the truth of the matter was that I ran out on him when he needed me most. But I wasn’t about to let Bobby kill me over Camille just to save face with Black. But in spite of all that, Freeze was still for me. It would make my burden just that much heavier.
    It started me thinking about the old days, the old crew. Black and Bobby. Jamaica and Freeze. I thought about the first time Black told us he was going to kill André. We knew he was planning something big when he called a meeting at The Late Night. Black never had meetings. In spite of that, we were late. Waitin’ on Freeze, of course.
    "Now that we’re all here," Black said, as soon as we came through the door. "I bet you all are wondering why I got you all over here."
    "The thought had occurred to me," Bobby said, staring at me. The way he was looking, I knew then that he knew I was fuckin’ Camille.
    "I’m gonna kill André," Black declared.
    There was complete silence in the room.
    We all sat there looking at Black and one another, until Bobby started laughing. Everybody did at first, until we noticed Black wasn’t laughing.
    "You serious, Black?" Freeze asked.
    "Deadly." Black flashed a rare smile.
    "How you gonna do it?" I asked.
    "What you gonna do? Just walk into his office and blast him?" Bobby inquired, but his eyes were still on me. Then he slowly turned to Black.
    "No. I have a plan," Black said.
    "You plannin’