Page 15

“What you mean?”

“Exactly what I asked.” He studied my face for a while before a smile spread on his.

“Shid, if it got a lock on it, I got the key for it. I can get in anything.” Now I knew why he had that nickname.

“I need you to get into my uncle’s books for me.” His face turned up.

“You trying to do some grimy shit to your fam?”

“Naw, nothing like that. He keeps having problems with his business. I need to see what’s going on, and I can’t help him unless I see the entire picture.”

“What am I looking for? You know that ain’t what I do.”

“Just look for anything that seem out of place or don’t belong. Changes in numbers that aren’t consistent.” He didn’t know what my uncle did for a living, and he didn’t need to know. We dapped up, and I left. A few days later, he hit me up. We met up at his crib, so I took a seat on the couch. Two folders were on the desk, so he pointed to them.

“I went through everything. Most of the shit got the same pattern. Same amount coming in, same going out. Even when the amount changes, it still makes sense.” Okay, maybe I had fixed all of his problems. He picked up a file and handed it to me. “These don’t.”

“So, what did you see?”

“Same thing, only on those dates, a much larger amount. Nothing going back out after receiving them.” He was still talking, but I was now looking over the numbers. It was the same dates that I had corrected problems for him. Not a single date was off. He only got large payments the exact days I had killed a nigga for him. This nigga been getting paid for my work. Whatever problems he was bringing me, they weren’t his. That’s why he didn’t want to let me in the business. He knew I would see that. Why lie? This nigga knew I would do anything for him, so his ass was being grimy when he didn’t have to be. I could still hear Key rambling, but I was looking back over the file. I wanted to be wrong, but I wasn’t.

“Twenty went out on the twelfth, and the same on the fourteenth.” I wasn’t paying attention, but hearing those dates drew me back in.

“What you just say?”

“Nigga, you not even listening. I said I don’t know if this file is relevant to you because it’s old as fuck. However, shit looked off. He wasn’t getting money like that back then. A few thousand here. A few thousand there. It was consistent for years. You could see he wasn’t touching most of it, so it was building up. Then, on August 12th, he paid out twenty and on the 14th twenty. That’s not what stood out though. For a month, it was no activity, then a large payment. He’s been receiving those large amounts since.” I reached across the table and snatched the file from him.

“Show me.” He began pointing it out, and sure as shit, it was exactly what he said. I couldn’t take my eyes off the page.

“I’m not a patterns nigga like you. It looks like this is where he came into his position and probably where his troubles started. You know what they say. More money more problems.” I read it again, but it was still the same. In black and white. I couldn’t even explain it away to fit the narrative I wanted. Men lie, women lie, but numbers don’t lie.

“Nigga, you good?” I couldn’t tear my eyes from the paper, and I damn sure had no words. Finally, I closed the file and looked up at him. He was staring at me concerned, but I had nothing to give him. “What happened on August 13th?” Standing up, I grabbed both files.

“Thanks.” Without saying another word, I walked out.

Hearing a preacher’s voice pulled me back. I had no idea how long I had been standing there zoned out, but it was enough time for a funeral to gather two graves down from me. I had no idea who was going in that hole but hearing him read the scripture took me back to when I stood here all those years ago. Sitting down, I leaned my back against my dad’s plot. Closing my eyes, I could see the preacher that was reading at my parents’ burial. Everybody was hugging me, telling me to be strong, and how sorry they were for my loss. Wiping a tear that threatened to fall, I looked over at the family. I watched them break down, hold each other up, and I continued to do so until they all began to leave. When they were finally gone, I stood back up and downed my drink. I filled my mouth with so much, it spilled from the sides. I continued to drink until the bottle was damn near empty.

“I wish I would’ve found out sooner. I would have saved you,” I said to my parents. I wasn’t sure if they could hear me, but I talked anyway. They probably weren’t answering my ass because I didn’t. I didn’t save them, but I damn sure avenged them.

“What the fuck is this?” I dropped the first file down in front of my uncle. He was sitting in his office as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I didn’t care about him stealing from me. I only gave him that file first to see if he lied.

“You tell me.”

“It looks like you’re digging into some shit you don’t understand.” When my eyes didn’t waver, he continued. “I do some side hustles that boss man don’t know about. You know he wants a cut off everything.” There was the lie. Without hesitation, this nigga lied to my face.

“You sure? It looks like you been getting paid for the hits I’ve been doing.” His ass looked back at the paper as if he was trying to see how I saw that. “The dates.” I helped guide him there. He tossed the file on the desk as if it was nothing.

“I’m telling you, it’s not what you think it is. If you wanted to be paid for the hits though, that’s all you had to say. I’ll go through everything and get you some bread for your services.” I almost laughed. Almost. Dropping the second file and the reason I was there in front of him, I waited to see what he would say.

“Explain that one.” I waited for him to read over, but this time, I could see him slightly shift in his chair. Panic showed on his face before his eyes even met mine. Nigga was doing everything but looking up at me. When he finally did, I could see the fear.

“It’s not what you think.”

“Yeah, cus it looks like my pops wasn’t no fucking driver. It looks like he was the nigga in charge, and you wanted his spot. So, you paid somebody to take him out. Next thing you know, you got his spot and been sitting in that bitch pretty ever since.” His eyes darted over quickly to the edge of his desk. I guess he was trying to see if he could grab his gun quicker than I could grab mine. His ass knew it wasn’t going to happen, so his shoulders dropped in defeat. That was all I needed. I didn’t register his lies when I was thirteen, but I think deep down I always knew something was off. What kind of driver lived the life that we did? Our asses was rich.

“Son, I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.” I scoffed at yet another lie.

“You didn’t make a mistake and shoot a loaded gun. You contracted out because you wanted his spot. That is deliberate as fuck. That was your fucking brother, and my mama ain’t have shit to do with nothing. You did all of that and raised me like you were doing me a fucking favor. Now I know why you never wanted me in your books. A nigga with my brain, love for numbers, and can dissect a pattern with my eyes closed. Why wouldn’t you use that?”