I leaned over and took the money from Sasha, waving it in his face. “Then I guess I’m just gonna have to go on a shopping spree with this grand.” I looked into Lojack’s eyes as Sasha raised her gun to his head. “I was hoping to give it to you, though,” I said with a shrug as I went to tuck it away. “I guess we’ll have to give you a bullet instead.”
“Wait,” Lojack said, swallowing hard. His eyes stayed focused on the money. I could see the wheels churning in his head: fear or money? As a girl who loves to shop, I see where he could be conflicted.
“Look,” he started, tearing his eyes away from the cash to look at me. “All I know is that X escaped and is back on the streets. Word is it’s the warden who let him out. Made him a very rich man and shit.”
“You hear where he landed since his escape?” I asked.
He fell silent again, so the same way a dog’s owner gets it to do tricks by waving a treat in its face, I held the cash under his nose. Money is like an aphrodisiac to a snitch. I thought Lojack was gonna bust a nut right through his pants.
“You didn’t hear this shit from me, ’cause I ain’t trying to piss him off, but the word is he’s coming after your brother Junior hard. Now, why anyone would want to go after that big motherfucker is a mystery to me.”
“Good,” Sasha said, “’cause that ain’t none of your business. Now, where can we find X?”
Once again he clamped his mouth shut, so Sasha pointed her gun at his temple. “You better tell this fool who I am, Paris, ’cause I’m about to blow his brains out his fucking head.”
I shook my head slowly. “Lojack, Lojack, Lojack, I think I would tell her what she wants to know, ’cause she’s the crazy one in the family, not me.”
He looked at Sasha’s determined face as she kept her gun aimed at his head, and he started talking. “Brother Samuel is one of X’s key guys. He trusts him with his life. If you can find him, then you locate Xavier.”
“So where the fuck do we find him?” I shouted. I didn’t have time for the games. This was my brother’s life, and every second counted. I’d already been here long enough.
“Well, publicly Brother Samuel is a good Muslim man. Married, with a couple of kids. Not so publicly, he has a taste for the girly-boys, even set one up in his own place when he got out of prison.” He looked disgusted by the thought.
“You think women have big mouths?” he continued. “Talk to the swishy ones. They love to brag about their conquests: who has to have them, and all that shit. Well, this one lives in a fly-ass, high-end spot in Brooklyn, which is the perfect place to hide your secret. You know those Muslims don’t go anywhere near that place. Too many white people.”
“And you know the address?” I asked.
Perhaps I was asking too much of Lojack. He froze up again. “Lojack, I understand you’re a little fearful, but sometimes you’ve gotta deal with the devil who’s right in your face versus the one who’s around the block.”
Lojack looked down the barrel of Sasha’s gun. Sweat beads had begun to form on his forehead. Still, he remained silent.
Deciding he needed a little more encouragement, I pulled out my gun and pressed it against his groin area. “I hear you like to spend your money on *, Lojack. Well, if you don’t keep talking, you won’t have this money to buy any * with, or a dick to fuck it with, even if it was free. You feel me?” I pressed the gun harder into his nuts.
He exhaled hard then began talking like the snitch I counted on him to be. “All I know is that he works at a salon on Montague Street. Loud-mouth little PR with blonde hair, goes by the name of Darlene. Rumor has it that he might be skinny, but he’s packing. I don’t think a day goes by that Samuel ain’t try’na connect with his sidepiece. Darlene is not the most faithful type, so there is a mighty short leash.”
I palmed the cash into Lojack’s hand, and we lowered our guns and turned to leave. We were almost out of there when he stopped me. “Wait, you want me to keep an eye out for Xavier? I can ask around. That’s worth something, ain’t it?” he begged, desperate to get his hands on some more cash.
“What the hell.” I handed him a couple more hundreds and we were in the wind.
Rio
15