Pierre got back from Panama at the end of March- he turned up at PanStar the following day.
I was in the backyard, trying to hurry spring along. There was a heap of jerk chicken on the grill and Studio One on the stereo.
He sat down at the picnic table and looked at all of the food I’d laid out.
“Were you expecting me?” he asked.
I smiled and ignored his question.
“Yuh hungry?” I asked.
“Always,” he replied, grabbing an ear of grilled corn off of a platter.
“So yute, how was Panama, this time out?”
Cabrón looked like he really didn’t want to get into it. He knew I was aware of his relationship to the country- it was more or less his and Mundo’s summer break playground during their university years, and he also knew the real meaning behind my question.
“I dunno, man, it was really different,” he hedged.
I knew he’d eventually tell me exactly what I already knew.
“In what way?” I asked.
“Mundo’s lazy, Bolo’s fading and neither of them is really taking control of what they have going on there,” he told me. “It's like they're chessboxing against each other and no one's gonna come out on top.”
I was waiting for Cabrón to tell me something I didn’t already know.
“It’s true- Bolo is getting old. But it seems like there’s no one there for him to hand the reins over to.”
I turned to throw some more chicken on the drum.
“So, no one’s paying attention to Brooklyn,” I mused.
“Nope.”
“This is what you need to know,” I began. “Panama is close to being done. There are too many eyes on the usual routes. Drugs, guns- it doesn’t matter. Bolo’s too tired and Olmando’s too spoiled. Neither of them can hang.”
“I know,” Cabron replied. “I saw it first-hand.”
He reached over to a platter on the picnic table, grabbed a piece of hard dough bread and used it to wipe jerk sauce off of his plate.
“You were right, Pierre,” I admitted. “This guns shit isn’t fun- not like the old days. And I’m ready to pull out.”
“Thank fucking god,” Cabrón nearly yelled. “I am so ready to be done with this shit. Just tell me we’re wrapping it up by next month.”
“Not quite,” I told him. “End of year. We’re done by December.”
“So, what’s up next?” Cabrón asked. “What’s gonna fill the void?”
Pierre was right- there was always a void. But I wasn’t ready to discuss my bigger move- he didn’t need to know I was planning to move out of product completely.
However, I did want to assure him that Pivot Number Three was in the works.
“I can’t speak on it right now, but I have an idea in mind,” I replied. “Stay tuned.”
