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“Mike tell you that?”
“How you know?”
“He told me that same shit when I took over Drew’s crew,” Carter remembered.
“I learned a lotta shit from that man,” Rain said with a sense of reverence. “Shit that’s saved my life more than once.”
“I did too,” Carter cosigned, and they drove in silence for a while before something amused Carter and he laughed.
“What’s funny?” Rain asked.
“You … wondering if niggas will respect her.”
“What’s funny about that?”
“It sounds funny coming from the woman who is the boss of this family.”
“True, but I’m a bad bitch.” Rain laughed. “At least that’s what they tell me.”
“I heard that shit too.” Carter laughed. “But despite what they tell me, your ass ain’t invincible.”
“I know that. But that’s why I got you. That’s why I need you, Carter.” Rain paused. “I know there are times when I can get out of control. I got a temper, a pretty bad temper, and sometimes it gets away from me.” Rain laughed and thought about how many times Black told her, think first, not shoot first. Thinking should always be your first response in every situation.
“I got a temper too. But you’re the boss of this family.”
“And that’s exactly what I’m sayin’. It’s because of that that I need you to be my consigliere. There is no one else I can trust to do this.”
Carter looked over at Rain as he drove. “If that’s what the boss of this family needs me to do, it is my honor and privilege to do whatever you need.”
“That’s what I need. It’s up to you and me to rebuild this family, make it strong again. Mutha fuckas have been going hard at us for years and we’ve lost a lot of good people. Good earners. But this last shit taught me something.”
“What’s that?”
“There will never be peace. There will always be somebody that wants to take what we have. They caught me sleeping, thinking that we had crushed our enemies and I could lay back and rebuild, but I can’t. I have to do both.” Rain looked at Carter. “We have to do both. So, the first thing we need to do is beef up. Recruit some new soldiers. We ain’t ever gettin’ caught like that ever again. We get strong and settle all our business at the same time,” Rain said as they arrived at Pago’s, a night club that was run by Darius Wilkerson. But since the attack on Paradise Fish and Chicken, Ed Weather had set up there.
“I’ve never been here before,” Carter said as he and Rain went inside.
“It’s a pretty nice place. I’ll show you around,” Rain said, and after they stopped at the bar to get a drink, she showed Carter around.
When Darius saw them wandering around the club, he went to the office and knocked on the door. “Rain and Carter are here!” he yelled.
There was no response, so all Darius could do was hope that Ed heard what he said, and then he went off to greet the boss of The Family. Once Darius got to them, he took his time showing Carter the club before they got to the office.
When they got there, Darius looked at the man who was posted at the door. He nodded his head and Darius knocked on the door, tried the doorknob and since it was unlocked, he walked in. Ed Weather was seated behind the desk and he stood up to greet them.
“What’s up, Rain, Carter?”
“How’s it going?” Rain asked.
“I’m okay,” Ed said. “Y’all have a seat.”
“I wanna tell you again how sorry I am about Delicia,” Rain said.
“We both are, Ed,” Carter said adding his condolences to Ed Weather over the death of Delicia. When DP’s men hit Paradise Fish and Chicken, she was one of the unintended casualties.
“Thank you.”
“I know this may not be the best time, but I wanna talk to you about you beefin’ up your soldiers.”