man?”
Reverend Stanford turned his head to lock eyes with Cobra. “Because I have to do as the Lord bids me to. I’m not afraid of anyone or anything when I’m on a mission for God.”
“When you get two copper shots in your skull, you’ll see if you’re not afraid,” Suave remarked, recapturing the reverend and Cobra’s attention. “Keep messing with me and see something.” With that, he turned and walked away toward the stairs.
“Proverbs 29:25 says, ‘The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe,’” Reverend Stanford shouted at Suave’s back.
Suave paused at the bottom of the stairs, turned around, and waved goodbye to the reverend with his middle finger before he jogged up the stairs.
Cobra chuckled and said to Reverend Stanford, “Now, see what you let the man do, huh?”
Reverend Stanford looked at Cobra and smiled. “I’m sorry I upset Brother Suave. Well, now that I have you here, I just—”
“Bye, Rev. I don’t have time for your rubbish myself. Sorry.” Cobra ran up the stairs, leaving Reverend Stanford staring at his back.
With a deep sigh, Reverend Stanford walked out of the bar. As soon as he got outside, the group of men scattered in every direction like ants. It was as if the Word of the Lord were a contagious disease, and no one wanted to catch it. But the reverend crossed the street to his church, humming a song of praise. It was all in God’s hands.
Chapter Nine
“Things have been quiet so far.” King Kong’s cold eyes glanced over at Danny, who was sitting beside him on the couch. They were in the back room of their headquarters located in the Jungle. “It’s been a month since that fool found out I was robbing him and kidnapped you. Yet he has done nothing.”
Danny turned his disfigured face toward his partner. The deep cut didn’t heal well, as Miss Gala had predicted. A thick, angry, ugly scar that seemed to be pulling the right side of his mouth toward his ear left Danny with a permanent lopsided grin on his once handsome face. “I told you I didn’t say anything,” Danny replied, rejoicing to himself that Suave hadn’t used the information he’d given them. “Don’t you think he would have tried something by now?”
King Kong had ramped up security at his houses, his businesses, and made sure all his workers were armed. But the days ran into weeks, and he heard nothing from his nemesis. “Appreciate the lookout, my friend.” His smile didn’t reach his eyes.
King Kong raised his fist, and Danny bumped it with his own. “We’re in this together, partner,” King Kong said. “Don’t worry yourself. We’re going to get them for what they did to you.” He glanced at Danny’s marred face and quickly looked away.
“Oh, they will pay.” Danny rubbed the hideous scar. His eyebrows almost met in the middle of his forehead in fury. “I know in my heart that it was Suave, Cobra, and Daddy Lizard who did this to me. If it’s the last thing I do, they’ll live to regret it.” Now that he was back with his sidekick, Danny’s bravado had returned. He was now carrying two guns—one in his waistband and another strapped to his right leg. Danny vowed not to go down again without a fight.
“You know I’m with you. We are—”
“Soon and very soon, we are going to see the King!” Loud singing, clapping, and chanting made its way into the back room where the men sat.
Danny closed his eyes in frustration, muttering a few curse words. “I wonder why that bootleg pastor can’t leave us alone.”
“Only a bullet is going to shut him up.” King Kong was furious as he stood to his feet. He marched through the restaurant and stepped outside, with Danny on his heels. Right in front of the restaurant stood Reverend Stanford and ten of his church members, singing and clapping.
When Reverend Stanford saw King Kong, he held up his hand, and the singing stopped. “God gave me a message for you, my brother.” He walked closer to the sidewalk where King Kong stood fuming, his fists folded. “God wants you to turn away from this life of sin and come to Him. If you don’t, you are going to find yourself six feet under or in prison for a very long time.”
“Are you threatening me, pastor boy?” King Kong spat, moving closer to invade Reverend Stanford’s personal space, his big ugly face flushed with rage. “You want to bet you leave Jungle today in a body bag?”
A few of the church members gasped loudly; others started to pray aloud.
“You think you can disrespect the king and get away with it?” King Kong pulled two guns from either side of his waist and held both to the reverend’s head. Most of it now was for show for the small crowd that was gathering.
“Give him a copper shot, King,” Danny egged him on. “He just said you are a dead man.”
Reverend Stanford was a well-known and respected pastor in Jamaica with strong ties to Kingston, where he was born and raised. He was well acquainted with the prime minister, many politicians, high officials, and wealthy businessmen. Since the age of nineteen, Reverend Stanford had been working hard to better the inner-city communities in Kingston. As such, he was loved by many but despised by the criminals he was trying to reform.
“I meant no disrespect, my friend.” Reverend Stanford stared into King Kong’s red eyes, his face void of fear. “I have known you for years, and you know I am a man of God. I go where He leads and do as He instructs. You need to turn away from your sinful ways and seek God before it’s too late.”
King Kong replied, “I am going to count to three, and you and these religious fools with you better be gone by then. One... Two—”
“We are not going anywhere until I have preached God’s message to the people and visit a few sick folks we came to see. This is God’s work, not mine.” Reverend Stanford turned and walked a few steps away.
Some onlookers shifted uncomfortably, others trembled with fear, while a few exchanged nervous glances as they began to pray. The reverend just defied King Kong’s order, and he wasn’t going to take it just like that. His huge ego and pride ruled King Kong.
“Oh, so you are a bad man now, huh?” King Kong fired a shot in the air, and the crowd quickly dispersed. Some people screamed and fell to the dirty ground with their hands over their heads, a few jumped over short zinc fences, and others ran away to avoid catching a stray bullet. Fear for Reverend Stanford held the area captive. Was King Kong going to kill the reverend?
“Take another step, and you’re a dead man,” King Kong roared at Reverend Stanford’s back, halting his steps. “You better recognize when the king speaks.” As King Kong rushed to catch up to Reverend Stanford, he tucked one of the guns in his waist.
Reverend Stanford slowly turned around to face King Kong. They were standing so close that he felt King Kong’s warm, sour, marijuana breath on his face. “I don’t want any problems with you. I’m walking—”
King Kong grabbed the reverend by his shirt collar, choking him as if he were a little boy.
Reverend Stanford’s church members prayed louder and harder.
“Please take your hands off me, my brother,” Reverend Stanford said
