It was a good thing I met Ruby through Maria and Remy, because a woman like her was dangerous. If it wasn’t for that car service driver banging on the door and waking us up, I might have lain up with her the rest of the day—and I couldn’t have that. Sure, she was good at what she did, but I had to remember that when it all came down to it, she was a whore, a woman paid for her services, and nothing more. Whores came, they did what they got paid to do, and then they left. That was the deal. Laying up? Hanging around? That was for wives and girlfriends—and I don’t need to reiterate my feelings about girlfriends. No, there was no reason to even go there. Just the thought was starting to give me a headache.
I got out of my car, briefly stopping to look at Rio’s Ninja ZX motorcycle, which was parked in his spot. It confused me a little, because Rio was like a vampire; he never came out during the day, especially not in the morning. Then again, the old man did hand out bonus checks last night. I wouldn’t put it past him and Paris to sign out some dealer plates and take one of the nicer sports cars to the Tanger outlet on Long Island for a very expensive shopping spree. Jeez, what a waste of time and money. I guess I couldn’t judge them but so much, though, because it wasn’t like Junior, Vegas, and I didn’t blow a few bonus checks of our own back in the day. Only difference was that we’d spend our money at Foxwoods or Atlantic City for a night of whoring and gambling.
I’d barely gotten my butt in the building when I was met at the door by Junior, who looked irate. “Where the hell have you been? We’ve been calling you all night.”
I raised my palm to stop him from taking his rant further. “Will you relax? Can’t a brother go out and get laid? Junior, you should have seen this smoking-ass Jamaic—”
“Shhhh!” He nodded his head in the direction of the catwalk that overlooked the showroom floor. I looked up at my father, who was leaning against the railing in front of his office. He did not look like a happy camper.
“Don’t let Pop hear you saying that. Not if you want your head on your shoulders. He’s pissed.”
“Pissed about what?”
“Orlando!”
I looked up and saw the old man point at me and then at his office. Without saying another word, he disappeared through the glass doors into his office.
I turned to Junior. “What happened? What’s going on around here?”
“Man, what hasn’t happened?” he said as we climbed the stairs to the second floor. “Let’s just say you should have answered your phone last night.”
Junior was being purposely evasive, but there was no doubt in my mind that I would soon find out for myself.
When I walked into my father’s office, I saw Harris, Paris, and Rio. They were all staring at my father, who was seated behind his desk. I could tell by everyone’s expressions, especially Rio’s, that it wasn’t a happy occasion that had them all at the office at this time of morning.
“What’s everyone doing sitting around here at”—I looked down at my watch—“eight o’clock in the morning?”
“Well, at least we know his watch works,” Paris shot off. “Too bad we can’t say the same thing about his phone.”
I ignored Paris, which wasn’t hard to do. I’d been ignoring her for years. But there was more to this; I could sense it. Suddenly, I felt like I had a rock in my stomach. Jesus Christ, where the hell was my mother? She’d been a lot sicker than anyone wanted to acknowledge lately.
I turned my attention to the only person I knew who would give me a straight answer. “What’s going on, Pop? Why’s everyone look so somber—”
“Well, for starters ... ,” Harris interrupted.
I wanted to say, “For starters, nobody was talking to your ass,” but I let him finish.
“Your little sister here had a mishap with the police and had to spend the better part of the night being interrogated.” He nodded toward Paris.
“Yeah, and where were you when I called, Mr. I’m-the-New-Head-of-the-Family?” Paris snapped off again.
“That’s none of your business.” If my father wanted to know where I was, that would be different, but I was not going to entertain Paris. “But this little gathering looks like it’s for more than you getting arrested.”