Howard was startled by Nick’s sudden appearance in his living room. Then he thought quickly if he owed Nick something and had forgotten to repay it. He looked around for Rain. Not seeing her or anybody else, Howard relaxed a little. Still, he wished that his gun wasn’t in the bedroom.
Nick saw the look on Howard’s face. “Relax Howard. I ain’t here to kill you,” he said and sat down.
Evelyn brought out a bottle of scotch and two glasses, and Nick told Howard the reason for his unexpected visit. “And you think Wanda is behind them?”
“Who else could it be?”
“You’re right. Grant ain’t got the brains or the heart to pull this together. No, Wanda is the only one that could pull that group together. But the one I’m surprised about is Doc. I wanna know what they said to make him go along with this.”
“Doc’s a business man, Howard.”
“Who you got with you?”
“First I need to know if you’re with me?”
“I don’t forget my friends, Nick.” Howard stood up. “I ain’t the one for all the gun play no more, but whatever you need I got you,” he said and shook Nick’s hand. “And I’ll talk to Doc. See if I can’t talk some sense into him.”
“Find out what they said to make him throw in with them.”
“You know you got it, Nick. Whatever you need,” Howard said.
His next spot was a convenience store that was run by Sherman Williams. He had been running numbers out of that store for years. Sherman also had a reputation for keeping his mouth shut and his ears opened. On the way there, he got a call from Mercedes, letting him know that Rain and her crew had just walked up in Cynt’s. “Let me know if anything happens that I need to know about,” he said. “How you doin’ with your boy Dwayne?”
“I got him following me around like a puppy. If something big is gonna go down, he’ll tell me so he can feel like a big man,” Mercedes said.
“I knew I had the right woman. Stay on top of this for me, but don’t put yourself in any danger by doin’ stupid shit. You understand?”
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Mercedes said and Nick ended the call. He went inside the store and walked up to the young woman at the counter. “Hey, Debra.”
“Hey, Nick.”
“He here?” Nick asked.
“He’s in the back,” she said and pointed.
“Thanks.” Nick went back to the office and knocked on the door. “It’s Nick!”
“Come on!” Sherman yelled and Nick opened the door. “What’s up, Nick,” he said and stood up to shake hands. “You know, I knew with the shit I been hearin’ that sooner or later you’d come walkin’ through that door.”
“And I knew with all the shit I been hearin’ that you’d be the man that was on top of it.”
“There are a lot of people who don’t like you and blame you for Freeze gettin’ killed and more that don’t think you earned that spot. I wasn’t surprised when Bo tried to grab power, but not Grant, Cynt and Doc. But the one I’m trippin’ off is Wanda. I knew she was power hungry but damn. I didn’t think she’d go this far.”
“I’m havin’ a hard time believin’ this shit myself,” Nick said and shook his head.
“Come on, Nick, let’s be real about this. You know as well as I do what this is really about,” Sherman said and laughed a little.
Nick laughed. “What’s it about, Sherman?”
“Rain Robinson. She done fucked around and took her man and then she slapped the shit outta her. And you know ain’t nothin’ more dangerous than a woman scorned.”
“If it come down to it, I need to know if I can count on your support?”
“Nick, let me tell you one thing about me. I’ll always be on the right side. What them niggas is doin’ is wrong. Dead wrong. I noticed that she waited until Black and Bobby are out of the city before she tried this shit.”
Nick didn’t say anything, but he wondered if Black had sanctioned the move against him. He realized that if Black were dissatisfied with his leadership, he would step to him and tell him. No, Black wouldn’t be involved in anything like this. This was all Wanda’s doing. But what about Bobby? Even though that Camille shit was dead and buried between them, he still wondered.
“Who you got with you?” Sherman asked.