“Baby, I’m already there.”
Foreman figured an hour and a half was plenty. He could knock Ashley’s boots into the next time zone and have the gun like new by the time Nutjob and his shadow came by.
Foreman pulled down on the tree, swung his Caddy around, and headed for the Maryland line.
chapter 15
BRIGHT and sunny days did nothing to change the atmosphere of the house on Atlantic Street. The plywood in the window frames kept out most of the light. The air was stale with the smoke of cigarettes and blunts, and there was a sour smell coming from the necks of the overturned beer and malt liquor bottles scattered about the rooms.
Dewayne Durham and Bernard Walker sat at a card table with Jerome Long and Allante Jones. The four of them had been discussing the shooting by the school and what needed to be done next.
“Those cousins just came up on us, Dewayne,” said Long. “James Coates was poppin’ off rounds and smilin’ while he was doing it. Wasn’t like we provoked ’em or nothin’ like that.”
“That’s how it was,” said Jones.
“The cousins,” said Long, his lip curling, “they sittin’ on the back steps of the house on Yuma, across the alleyway, right now.”
Long and Jones had been watching them from the kitchen window moments ago. They were over there, getting high with others from the Yuma, on the porch steps. James would look over toward the house on Atlantic now and again, and do that smile of his. Long hated that the Coates cousins were so bold, knew that in part he was hating on himself for his cowardice the night before. It was eating at him hard inside.
“Why you ain’t fire back last night?” said Walker. “I gave you my gun. You just want to look like a gunslinger or you want to be one?”
“I ain’t had no time, Zu,” said Long. “They came up on us so quick. I was about to reach for it when Lil’ J tackled me to the ground.”
“That’s how it was,” repeated Jones.
“We could make it happen right now,” said Long, “you want us to.”
“I ain’t lookin’ for no full-scale war in broad daylight,” said Durham. “This here is between you two and the cousins. You representin’ Six Hundred, don’t get me wrong. But it’s up to y’all to make it right.”
Dewayne Durham stared across the table at the two young men. He knew them better, maybe, than they knew themselves. Allante Jones was loyal to his bosses and his friend, fearless, and on the dumb side. Jerome Long was handsome, a player, and, considering his lack of education, smart. What he was missing was courage. He had always avoided going with his hands and he had never killed. This here was a test and an opportunity, to see if these boys were ready to go to the next level, and to reduce the numbers of the Yuma Mob by two, thereby weakening them and Horace McKinley. So it would also be good for business.
“You tell us what to do, D,” said Long, “and it’s done.”
“You need to roll up on those cousins out on the street,” said Durham.
“We gonna need a gun,” said Long. “I gave the Glock back up to Zulu.”
“Are you gonna use it?” said Durham.
“I’m ready to put work in,” said Long. He was assuring Durham that he was willing to make his first kill.
Durham phoned Ulysses Foreman from his cell. He got Foreman’s woman, the big white girl, on the line. He told her what he needed and what he wanted to pay for it, and they all sat around and talked some more about the business and cars and girls. A short while later, Ashley Swann phoned him back with instructions. He thanked her and cut the call.
“Give him about an hour and a half,” said Durham, “then tip on over to his house.”
“I won’t let you down,” said Long.
“It’s all over to y’all,” said Durham. “I’m gonna be out today, so I’m countin’ on you two to get it done.”
“Where you gonna be at?”
“I’m taking my son to King’s Dominion.”
“Thought we was goin’ to Six Flags,” said Walker.
“Whateva,” said Durham, who saw his son, Laron, a beef baby he had fathered four years ago, once or twice a year. “Point is, I might not be back in town till late.”
“We’re gonna take care of it,” said Long, Jones nodding his head in agreement.
“Go on about your business,” said Durham, officially ordering the hit. He flipped some cash off his bankroll for the gun purchase and handed it to Long. He and Walker watched them walk from the room and listened for the door to shut at the front of the house.