didn’t argue.
“Some fancy computer will go ping and my name will pop out and they will be looking for me. I need this job now so I can get out of town.”
“What part of I’m done don’t you understand?”
“The part where you think you’re saying no to me, bro. Plain and simple, you ain’t saying no. I can’t do this without you, and like I said, you owe me. I’ve been pulling your sorry ass out of the shit since Sumner Houses.”
“The only thing you’ve been pulling is your own cock, bitch.”
Black laughed. Hard. “Man, Pap, I’m gonna fuckin’ miss you when you’re dead.”
Pappy shrugged. “Why the fuck should I, man?”
“Because it’s me, Pap.” Black held out his hand. “Help me, Obi-Fuckin’-Pappy Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”
“Fuck you,” Pappy laughed. “Obi-Fucking-Pappy Kenobi? Who’s that make you? Princess Black?” He shook his head.
“Whatever it takes to get the job done.”
“No guns,” Pappy said, suddenly serious.
“Man, you don’t even need to be there. I just need you to do the shit you do with your computers to fuck with an alarm system, so I can get in and get out quiet as a fuckin’ church mouse, bro.”
“I could do that from anywhere.”
“You could, but I need you close.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Jeez, dude, that’s not what I’m saying. I need my people close. I like to be able to see what the fuck’s occurring as it’s fuckin’ occurring, simple as that.”
Black obviously wasn’t going to make it easy for him to walk away.
“How soon?”
“Couple of days.”
“Then we cut the cord, man. Separate ways.”
Black nodded. “A week max. I’ve been planning this for ages, I can’t do it without you. If I could, I would, I swear. And like I said, I’d really fuckin’ miss you if you were dead, man. Know what I mean?”
Pappy was already starting to think in terms of what real difference a couple of days would make, and how useful the extra cash would be, and he hated himself for it. Every time it seemed like he was seriously getting his shit together and hauling out, Black just reeled him back in with some desperate fucking promise.
“What’s a few more days?”
Black put a hand on Pappy’s neck and pulled him close. Pappy could smell sour whiskey and what he assumed was Tonya’s pussy juice on Black’s breath. He wanted to pull away. He had never felt quite so uncomfortable with the man, or with knowing just what Tonya’s honey smelled like. Black was like the sun . . . no . . . he was a fucking black hole. He just pulled you in and pulled you in until he consumed you, just like he’d consumed Ton.
“Just don’t try to fucking kiss me, nigga,” Pappy said.
Black barked out a laugh. “I knew I could count on you, Pap. Respect,” he said, his fingers digging in too deep for comfort before releasing him.
Pappy caught himself before he rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t want to show any sign of weakness. And pain was weakness.
FOUR
_________________
The crew sat in the car.
It was about as intimate as a rectal probe.
They watched the back roller doors of the jewelry depot as the armored security van pulled up. The doors were covered in layers of inventive graffiti.
They were away from the busy streetfront where those lovers pressed their faces up against the glass and pointed out the rings they wanted to tie the rest of their lives together with.
One of the guards—in a blue helmet that made him look like a crash-test dummy—climbed down out of the front and walked around to the back. He glanced around, then banged on the doors.
“He’s looking, but the dumb fuck’s not seeing anything,” Black said. He was grinning fiercely.
“We should just do the van when they come for their next delivery,” Pappy said.
Black shook his head. “Nah, man, watch and learn.”
The back of the van opened and a second guard stepped out. He was overweight and had a case chained to his wrist.
It was starting to look a fuck of a lot easier than Black had made it out to be: take down the guard, cut the chain with a pair of bolt cutters, disappear into the city with a case of precious stones. They didn’t need Pap for it. He was starting to feel like he’d been played.
“So how much is in the case?” Gee asked from the other side.
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