CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
2000- Changing Of The Guard
Of course, Biz and Luciano were there when Cabrón and I got upstairs. Biz was at my breakfast bar simultaneously typing on two Dell laptops, a ton of papers, food stamp books and EBT cards piled up in front of him. Lucci’s gangly ass was sprawled out on my couch, playing NBA Live on the PS1 they’d dragged in with them the day they took over my space. A mess of empty pizza boxes and Arizona Iced Tea bottles littered the floor from one end of the apartment to the other.
‘Brón pushed past me, walked over to the television and shut that shit the fuck off. Lucci stood up. Biz looked up from his work. I snickered and popped my head into the fridge, scanning for a beer. I was looking forward to what was coming next. ‘Brón did not disappoint. I watched him roll his shoulders in preparation for the smackdown.
"Hey you two," he went right in. "Things have to change around here. Eula's in now. She's gonna be handling the delivery route, and you all motherfuckers need to start tightening shit up. You cannot be spending all day here, posted up in her crib, taking up space.”
At this point, Biz tried to protest, but Cabrón steamrolled over him.
“Biz, I know you're working, which is fine- but you said that you were only gonna be here a set amount of days at set times, and look,” here he glanced around him, taking in the disorder and mess, “you've taken this entire place over.”
Then he turned on Luciano, who looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“Lucci, what the fuck are you doing just sitting around on the couch playing NBA Live all day? Is that how you're spending your time? Posted up under Biz while he's actually doing some type of valuable work? Didn't we give you HQ to run? When was the last time you checked in on shit? What's going on over there, huh? I don’t even give a fuck about HQ like that right now, but if we give you a job to do, you need to do that fucking job! Tamo claro?”
He shot Lucci an evil look, then pivoted towards the kitchen, to ensure Biz would also catch the wrath. Then he went back in on them.
“Hopeton is not happy with this. If Hopeton is not happy, you know that means he heard some shit directly from Tío Bolo. And when Tío Bolo gets involved, then that's a problem. I checked with Hopeton today and he says they're on the verge of shutting down the HQ because you all be fucking up over there. And now you're fucking up over here. But it's a wrap on that. No más!”
Oop. ‘Brón busting out the Spanish was never a good sign.
“Lucci, you clear out for good and go back to pretending to run shit at HQ. Now.”
Luciano nodded sheepishly and started gathering his many possessions.
‘Brón turned back to Biz. “Biz, me, you and Eula are gonna sit down tonight to come up with a plan for drops. So, wrap up what you're doing and meet us back here at 10. Eula, go get cleaned up. I'm taking you out."
Biz gathered up the laptops and paperwork and put them all in the closet, neat and hidden away like they were supposed to be. He said he’d see us later on and headed to the door.
As Lucci went to leave, Cabrón beckoned to him and held his hand out. Lucci dropped the key to my crib in Cabrón’s palm and left without a word.
“Make sure your ass stops over to HQ on your way home,” ‘Brón called after him.
And then it was just me and Cabrón, alone in my crib.
I fell out, laughing.
“That shit was epic,” I said. “Damn, ‘Brón, you are good.”
“Go get ready,” ‘Brón replied. “And do not ask me where we’re going.”
