14

All of Brooklyn and Queens mourned the loss of Gavin Lockey, but no one was more conflicted about his death than Nina. He was a legend, a real hood celebrity who’d been around since she was little. He had always been on some Nino Brown shit, handing out turkeys to parents and ice cream money to the kids. He was lethal and ruthless back then, but few knew that his weakness was children.

He felt they were the future and the most precious creation on Earth. She always wondered to herself about his not having any kids if he loved them so much. Maybe he felt the children in the hood were enough for him and that there was no need to birth a namesake or heir to his assets. Or maybe he was impotent. Hey, it would explain a few things if that was the case.

Nina’s number one pet peeve was a dealer, her dislike for the dirty profession dating back to her elementary days. She saw through the façade they portrayed with their shimmery shirts and pockets full of dirty money. It always angered her that bad people got everything they wanted and more but the honest individuals had to struggle. It was unfair and Nina couldn’t get with it. While all the kids ran over to the old school Cutlass to oogle the dope man’s fortune, she would keep her gaze straight ahead and go on about her business.

Now that Cronus was dead, part of her wanted to say “good riddance” as another dealer was off the streets, but her friendship with Vernon quickly questioned that sentiment. Despite his career choice, Cronus was like a father to Vern and her friend was a lot sorer over this than anyone expected. The worst part was he was openly hurt over his death and that left him vulnerable to others, especially those who did this to Cronus.

It had been three days since the lavish funeral Vernon held that included a wake in both Brooklyn, where Gavin was born, and Queens. She’d never seen so many people in her life in one place, and it seemed surreal. Nina knew that the majority of those people who were there had at one time despised Cronus for pumping their neighborhood with poison, and now they were screaming and crying like they were his close relatives or something. It was madness but it’s what Vern wanted for his boss.

The papers were all over the story from the minute Cronus’ body was found. Everyone speculated on who had killed him and, while no names were specified, it was safe to assume that those Outfitters were responsible for this. Nina didn’t understand any of what was going on so rather than rack her brain over the death of a man she barely knew, she kept it moving and continued on with her life.

Still, she couldn’t help but think back to one of the handful of times she’d spoken to him. She’d just graduated high school and was at the local Pathmark, shopping for she and her foster mother. To this day, Nina never knew why a drug dealer was grocery shopping like he was normal.

“Why is this shit so expensive,” Nina mumbled as she examined the tattered price label located just under the slab of steak she glanced at, not knowing what to get for the house. There were so many choices; this was the part she hated about food shopping. At that point, she wished for the days when niggas delivered groceries so she wouldn’t have to put herself through this torture.

She reached over to pick up a package of hamburger meat and bumped hands with a male who was going for the same thing. Immediately jerking her hand back, Nina apologized. “Sorry, you can have it.” She said meekly, negligent to who the man was since she failed to look him in the eye. His shoes were nice and white, she noticed.

“It’s cool, lil’ mama. You can have it; I don’t need that stuff, anyway.” The man shot back with a chuckle, which made Nina look over at him to see who he was.

Her eyes bulged at the sight but she quickly recovered as she didn’t want to startle him. Why the hell is Cronus, one of the most notorious niggas in New York, browsing the freezer section like he’s a normal businessman? Could drug dealers just roam about freely? This was strange, stranger than strange. This was odd, and him staring at her just intensified the awkwardness of the situation.

Ew, he must have been one of those old heads who preyed on young girls. Yuck, Nina thought. She’d never in her life consider entertaining his foul thoughts. He had to be, what, forty-five or some shit like that. Regardless, he was way out of her age bracket so he really shouldn’t have been staring at her like that.

She usually wasn’t one to be rude or blunt but he was making her uncomfortable. “Is there a reason why you’re staring at me?” She sounded more frightened than angry and that startled the gentleman, who threw her an apologetic glance.

“I’m sorry. You just look really familiar. Aren’t you one of Vernon’s friends from school?” He saw her raise an eyebrow at the inquiry and continued. “You came to his graduation party, right? I was there, he used my spot.”

That party went down at least two months ago but now that she was thinking about it, he had been there. Her guess was to ensure that the hands of the wild teenagers that had inhabited his home for those few hours didn’t damage his property.

Nina nodded and offered him a tight smile. “Right, yeah, I was there. You have a nice house.” Wow, she thought, you’re so lame.

Cronus smiled and nodded his thanks. “I’m Gavin, you must be Nina.” He stuck his hand out for her to shake.

“How’d you know my name?” She blurted, making no move to place her hand into his.

He dropped the appendage smoothly, not seeming offended at all, and answered her question. “Vernon told me at the party when I asked him who he was talking to. Don’t worry, I’m not a stalker or anything.” He verbalized her thoughts expertly, but her frightened expression had been a hint of her wariness.

“Oh.” She said and mumbled, “nice to meet you too.”

Cronus smirked at her shy nature and continued to eye her. “Yeah, you too.” He murmured softly.

“You do know I’m only eighteen, right?” God, did I really just say that out loud?

He didn’t seem offended, though; he even laughed. Why was that funny? “Don’t worry, lil’ mama. I ain’t tryna mess with you. Just saw a familiar face and wanted to speak. You have a nice day.” He bid her farewell and continued down the aisle, pushing his cart in front of him.

Nina watched him venture on until she couldn’t see him anymore and furrowed her brow. That whole encounter was weird, she summed the past five minutes up. Why would Vernon’s boss feel the need to introduce himself to her? Wasn’t like she was his girlfriend or anything. Did he do that with all his friends? And why was he staring at her so hard?

She shook it off and shrugged. “I’m never coming to the grocery store again.” She grumbled and tossed the meat Cronus had reached for into her cart.

That was weird, Nina recounted as she sat with her legs folded under her bottom while reading a novel required for the women studies class she was enrolled in. Her eyes noted the time and she saw that Ron would be knocking on her door soon so she stood to put her things away. They were heading to the Queens Center Mall to window shop, one of their quirky outings, which they loved to embark on.

She smiled at the thought of her man. That night may have been a gloomy one but that day had been the best in her life. Ron was…well, there were no words to accurately describe his talents. She could now see how women stated in horrible relationships with bummy niggas who weren’t about shit; dick is a powerful drug. They hadn’t done anything since that day, what with everything that had been going on, and Nina almost felt ashamed to admit that she was feigning for him bad. Almost.

From her bedroom, Nina heard a rhythmic knock on her front door and knew it could have only been one person. “Hold on!” She commanded with a yell, slipping her hoop earring through its designated hole then checking herself out in her full-length mirror. The tiny bubble known as her backside looked firm and lifted in the skinny dark denim Old Navy jeans she donned and her 34B sized breasts were nestled comfortably in a baby doll blouse, furnished by her favorite girly store, Wet Seal. Her stark white BC Footwear flats fit comfortably on her petite feet. She fluffed her hair twice and grinned.

“I look cute.” She told herself and grabbed her denim jacket on her way out of the bedroom, just as Ron knocked a second time. “Damn, patience is a virtue, son.” She mumbled and unlocked the door, turning the knob to allow him entry.

Ron grinned goofily and stood in the doorway, hands in his pockets. “Well, don’t you look all spiffy? Who you gettin’ cute for?” He asked dumbly.

Nina swiped at her bangs and tucked the ends behind her ear. “There’s this sexy country nigga who lives just upstairs and I’ve been trying to get his attention for the longest.” She kidded, taking tiny steps toward him and giggled when he looped his arms around her waist.

“Oh, so you like them country niggas, huh?” He asked huskily, his eyes taking in her features.

“They aight. This one, though, he put it down the other night. Don’t tell him I told you that, though. He might start braggin’ and shit and then I’d have to cut him.” She warned playfully.

Ron chuckled and flicked his tongue out slowly to moisturize his lips. “Damn, you let him get it before me? Grimy as hell, yo.”

She shrugged passively. “Maybe if you had some game, you would have had it long time ago.”

“Oh shit, now I ain’t got game? Woman, I got more game than PlayStation, ask about me.” He exclaimed and buried his face in her neck, smacking on it loudly.

“Aah! Stop, babe. We supposed to be leavin’.” Nina whimpered, feeling herself slip under that southern spell he seemed to place on her with each interaction.

He abandoned his place in her neck to peck her lips repeatedly. “We can stay right here, shit. I ain’t got no problem with that.” He groaned and proceeded to slip his tongue between her lips, which she received with no complaints.

Their tongues and lips crashed into each other feverishly as Ron shifted to pin Nina’s body against the wall, never missing a beat. Her hands steadied themselves on his shoulder and she moaned happily when he wrapped her legs around his body. His hands reached between them and fumbled with her zipper. “Damn, you couldn’t wear a skirt or somethin’?” He growled as the tight material prevented him from gettin’ it in with her.

Nina smirked and patted his shoulder so she could get down. “I could put one on.” She suggested in a smoldering sexy tone, causing Ron to raise his eyebrow.

“You is a damn freak, yo.” He told her, and laughed when she shrugged. “I like it, though. Come here.” He grabbed at her waist and pulled at her lips with his only to be interrupted by a knock at the door.

Both their glazed over set of eyes fell upon the intruder standing in the doorway and wondered who the hell he was and why did he pick now to drop by.

“Nina Davis?” He called out, quickly regretting that he’d been sent out on this errand.

She frowned but confirmed that that was her name. “Yeah, that’s me. Who are you?”

“My name is Will and I’m an intern at Holloman & Wright.”

Isn’t that a law firm?

“Okay…” Nina motioned with her hands for him to get to the point of him standing at her door.

His lanky build continued to slouch as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose using his index finger. “Yes. One of our attorneys has some documents for you to look over and would like to see you at his office as soon as possible.”

Ron’s eyebrows seemed to be stuck in the confused contortion they’d been in from the moment this dude started talking. “You got a lawyer?”

She looked up at him and shook her head. “No. I mean, I had the one my foster parents used but after all that was taken care of and he got paid, I never heard from him again. That’s not the firm he worked for, either. Do you know what this is about?” She asked of the young man.

“It’s in regards to the estate of a Gavin Lockey.”

The fuck?

Nina cleared the lump that had developed in her throat and regained her composure. What was this about? “Um, okay. Is now a good time?”

“Now would be perfect. Would you like to follow me back to the office?” Will offered.

“Uh, yeah.” Ron spoke up, digging in his pocket for his car keys. “Come on, Nina. Get your jacket.” He’d seen how she froze up and knew he had to take control for a second.

The ride to the law office was silent, with Ron looking over at Nina every two seconds and Nina chewing on her nail in anticipation. She really had no clue why she would be needed at a will reading for a man she barely knew. Maybe his Nino Brown-esque ways were affecting her from beyond the grave.

Yeah, maybe that was it. Maybe since she was a friend of Vernon’s, Cronus felt the urge to give her something. It was a long-shot but the only logical explanation she could come up with. Her stomach dropped when Ron pulled into the paved parking lot where a brick building sat, making her more nervous than ever. What was going to happen?

After receiving a nudge from Ron, Nina got out of the vehicle and returned her finger to her mouth, smiling at her boyfriend when he grabbed her other hand to hold in his. She was glad he was there with her otherwise she’d be freaking the fuck out.

Will met the couple at the entrance and opened the door foe them, entering immediately after. “Mr. Bower’s office is right this way.” He turned down a hallway and approached a room whose door was opened. He knocked on it twice then waved them to enter.

Nina entered first, spotting a bald black man sitting behind his desk looking her square in the eye. Something about that creeped her out but she managed a shaky smile as he rose to shake her hand.

“You must be Nina. Hi, I’m James Bower.” He noted Ron’s presence when the taller gentleman sat next to her. “And you are?”

“He’s my boyfriend, Ron.” Nina spoke up and Rondell couldn’t help but grin at the proclamation. He’d never heard her call him her boyfriend before.

James nodded and shook his hand gingerly. “Very good. Well, I’m sure you’re wondering why you’re here.”

Nina laughed nervously. “Very much so.”

He smiled sympathetically, feeling her apprehension radiating in her aura. “That’s quite all right. Nothing to be worried about. Now,” he started as the papers on his desk lay strewn about, “this is in regards to the last will and testament of Mr. Gavin Lockey. It says:

‘I, Gavin Othello Lockey, being of sound mind hereby bestow upon my loved ones my last will and testament. Since my parents and sister are all deceased, I gift my fortune to my daughter; one Nina Davis. In addition to monetary reward, I give her personal property I’m sure she’d want to have in her possession. Enclosed with this will is a videotape I’ve made to fully inform her of what’s going on so she’s not in the dark. Bower, play the tape for her once you’ve gotten a hold of her, as I’m sure this is very confusing for her.’

“Okay, let’s get that tape going. Will?” James called out and the intern reappeared, pushing a cart with a TV/VCR sitting atop.

Nina’s jaw seemed to be permanently planted to the floor and even Ron couldn’t mask his shock. Cronus was her pops? This was way too crazy, even for him.

Will pushed the videotape inside the mouth of the VCR and stood off as it began to play.

There he was, sitting with a peaceful air about him. Nina fumed at the tears that pricked at the corners of her eyes at the sight. He had to know he was going to die soon and that hurt because she had no clue. Why?

“Hey Nina. I’ve made this tape probably twenty different times over my lifetime but this one, I think, is going to be the last.” The statement was grave and she blinked away the tiny droplets that threatened her vision.

He shifted in his seat and continued. “I always knew this game would be the death of me and I accepted that, a long time ago. I’ve lived with no regrets up until this point, then I think about you and it kills me. All through these streets, people fear me and call me this heartless monster. And they’re right. I am heartless. The day I was forced to give you up was the day I died, and that is the only thing I regret about my life.” He looked broken up about it and Nina let the tears fall at his words.

All this time, she felt her birth parents never wanted her when really, her father wanted her. What about her mother?

Cronus sniffed before continuing his story. “I was eighteen when your mother got pregnant, and her parents were not happy. My parents were a little more understanding but Jacinda, her parents wouldn’t hear of her forgoing college to raise my child.”

Jacinda. My mom’s name is Jacinda, Nina pointed out in her thoughts and wiped at her face to free it of the salty solution.

“I wanted to raise you but since I was fresh out of school and under surveillance by the FBI, some thought that wasn’t such a good idea.” He chuckled and Nina smiled as well. She could see she got her sense of humor from him. “We put you up for adoption and the rules back then were that the birth parents couldn’t have any contact with the child so that’s why I never could catch up with you. Jacinda, your mom, and her parents moved to Vermont right after you were born. Literally, like two weeks later. Guess they didn’t want to run the risk of her getting pregnant by me again.

“When you were eight, I’d gotten word that she died of some illness. I think she died of a broken heart but that’s just me. I tried to keep her abreast of what was going on as much as I could but business started picking up and her parents were hatin’ hard. She was the love of my life, Jacinda was. We were young, sure, but I just knew I was gonna marry her, find you, and we’d be a family. Guess things don’t always work out the way you want them to.

“I know you’re probably wondering why I stayed away even after you became an adult. I was going to say something that day in Pathmark but you seemed so scared of me. I didn’t want to scare you even more by saying, ‘oh, you can have that meat. By the way, I’m your father; would you mind passing me those pork chops?’ That wouldn’t have been cool at all so I fell back.”

She laughed and stopped a tear before it descended down her cheek.

“You turned out to be a beautiful, intelligent young woman and I just wish that I could say I had more to do with it. I’m kinda glad I kept my distance because I would have hated to get you mixed up in my madness. You’re right to not deal with dealers. I wouldn’t want you around that but it’s everywhere so all I can hope is that you watch yourself out there and be safe. Especially now. These niggas are showing no mercy and if the news gets out that you’re my daughter, they’ll come after you. Please be careful, lil’ mama; I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.

“You’re my legacy and I need you to stick around. You know, I remember the day you were born. I looked at you and I told Jacinda, ‘she’s gonna be special, I know it. She’s gonna do us proud.’ That’s what gave me peace of mind whenever I thought about you: knowing that you’re my and your mother’s child. You got that survival trait so I know you’re gonna be alright.

“Now, on to business. Yes, we – me and you – have business to tend to. Enough of this mushy shit.” Cronus laughed and Nina joined him, forcing the never-ending well to dry up at her father’s request. “When I started slingin’, my objective was to provide my family with the means to live comfortably. I never got greedy and contrary to popular belief, I haven’t touched drugs in a good three years. Zeus was always so ambitious so I handed it down to him so I could focus on my legit businesses. No one knows that but I like it that way. I’ve been ‘advising’ him and that’s how he’s been so successful. Me, on the other hand, I have a BMW dealership in Long Island that you’re going to take over, as well as a restaurant in Boston. Good eats, if I do say so myself.

“The biggest venture is one I just inked not too long ago: a hotel resort in the Bahamas. I like to vacation there and tourism is a lucrative industry so I figured I’d try my hand at it. I think you’ll enjoy that one the most. It’s called ‘La Niña Bonita’. I don’t speak a lick of Spanish but your mom used to teach me a little somethin’. You know, she’s Puerto Rican and Italian. Beautiful. You look just like her, actually. Bower’s gonna hit you with some things I kept of her so you’ll have something. Okay, my loft in SoHo is yours as well as the timeshare in the Bahamas. I consolidated my accounts a little while ago and Bower’s got the details on that.

“I know material things won’t make up for me not being there but I don’t want you to have to worry about money when it comes to school or anything like that. I want you to get your degree and be somebody. Somebody better than me. Well, that’s pretty much it. Nina, I love you with all my heart and I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I would have loved to have known you personally but between watching you throughout the hood and what Vernon would mention in passing, I feel like I do know you. Love you, lil’ mama, and I’m okay as long as you’re okay.”

Will moved cautiously to stop the tape then eject it as Nina sobbed uncontrollably. Ron moved to kneel in front of her and wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumbs. It hurt him to see her so distraught and hated that there was nothing he could do for her. He couldn’t imagine how she was feeling and honestly, it almost made him want to call his own father. Almost.

James handed her the box of Kleenex that sat on the corner of his desk and watched as the young woman in front of him attempted to take it all in. He’d told Gavin that he should have spoken up sooner but that Gavin was stubborn beyond belief. He felt he was doing the right thing by keeping Nina in the dark but seeing her mourn the loss of a man she hardly knew made James realize just how correct he had been.

Nina used the soft tissue to clean her face and sniffled before bringing her teary gaze up to Ron’s. His heart broke for her, and all he could do was hold her.