this old guy from City Hall feening over her harrrd . . . â He covered his mouth and giggled. âMink wouldnât even let him smell it until he agreed to tap into her computer file and delete all of her old warrants and . . .â
I zoned Peaches right on out as him and Selah cracked up at some of the crazy messes I had gotten myself into. At one point in time I woulda felt some kinda way about Peaches busting me out and telling Selah all my bizz, especially with Pilarâs floppy ears listening in, but there wasnât no more shame in my game because Iâd already peeped Mama Selahâs hoe card and she had some bony-ass skeletons in her closet too! Besides, now that I was all up in the family and they couldnât kick me out, who cared what they thought about me? Hell, my moolah was sitting in the bank now, and it didnât even matter if the Dominions got their hands on them old videos of me humping on a snake and giving lap dances to them four cockeyed midgets. I was paid out the ass and I was my own damn boss, and there wasnât a damn thing from my grimy past that I had to worry about coming back to haunt me ever again! Nope, thanks to good luck and even better scheming, I was set for life. All I had to do was stay slick, rich, and black, and everythang was gonna be everythang!
Viceroy swigged the last drop out of his miniature bottle of gin as his plush whip rolled up the long, manicured driveway. He had polished off at least six of the little shots since leaving his office, and he was good and tight as his driver stopped right outside the door to his multi-million-dollar mansion.
Rage bubbled just under his skin as he rolled down his window and flung a handful of the empties out. They landed in Selahâs precious patch of rose bushes and disappeared as they fell down toward the thorny stems.
âTake that, you olâ tramp!â he slurred, flinging open the door of his limo before the doorman could rush over. He had given his old crony Bob his word that he would run for office, but he hadnât promised a goddamn thing when it came down to putting his foot in Selahâs ass.
He fell out of the ride, then pushed past the doorman and busted through the front entrance of the mansion like he was about to pull a kick-door and lay everybody in the joint down.
Stumbling into the foyer, Viceroy heard sounds of female laughter coming from the dining room. He was gonna fix these cutthroat mothafuckas! All of them. They were sitting around his house spending up his damn money and stabbing him in his back at the same damn time. He was gonna show their ungrateful asses who was running shit up in his house, he thought as he jetted toward the voices with his liquor talking to him real loud. He was about to kick some ass and take some fuckinâ names!
When he busted up in the dining room Selah, Mink, Pilar, Bunni, and that over-grown monstrosity who called himself Peaches were sitting around the table yakking their jaws. Every eye bucked and every lip paused as the big black demon that was Him filled the doorway and trembled with rage.
âWhatâs the matter, Papa-Doo?â Bunni shouted when she saw the crazy-ass look on his face, but Selah was much quicker and wiser than the young hood rat and she didnât say a goddamn thing.
Instead, her chair scraped backward as she jumped to her feet, just one glance at the sparks shooting from her husbandâs eyes enough to send her Brooklyn survival instincts kicking into over-drive.
âYou dirty bitch !â Viceroy cocked back his bandaged fist and roared as everybody at the table got to scrambling out of their seats.
âHowâd that muthafucka get your ring?â he bellowed at his wife. âHow in the hell did Rodney Ruddman get your muthafuckinâ ring ???â
Selahâs mouth fell to the floor as her eyes bucked open wide.
He knew! Dear God up in Heaven, Viceroy knew!
âWhat in the world are