Stabilizing PanStar had taken up so much of my attention that I hadn’t had much time to spend on the Lincoln Road house, and that was starting to bother me. The contractor had finished the upstairs bedrooms and was about to start on the kitchen and bathrooms. Once he started to ask me questions about light fixtures and appliances, I knew I needed to give Lali a call and see if she’d stop by the house to give me some decorating advice. But free time was at a minimum.
On the positive side, Mundo was doing well as a money mover- he showed up on time and hadn’t fumbled the count once. It really seemed that all he needed was to be free. And in a way, I could respect that. My only advice had been for him to keep his music down and find someone to roll with him- it wasn’t a good idea for Mundo to do those runs solo.
Pierre, on the other hand, was starting to get uncomfortable with his public-facing role up front. And, to a degree, I couldn’t blame the kid. Pierre was much better at staying still than his brother, Mundo, but there wasn’t much to do for him while he minded the counter all day, waiting for someone to come in with a stack of diapers destined for Kingston.
I decided to do a little quiet investigation.
One afternoon, Pierre and I were sitting in the back room, eating roti and watching a futból match on television.
As soon as we hit a commercial break, I made my move.
“What do you do when you’re not here at PanStar?” I asked.
Pierre took a break from his food, and shot me a look of surprise.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Do you have a second job? Do you have a girlfriend? Are you in a band?”
Pierre laughed.
“A band?”
“Okay, maybe not a band,” I smiled. “A rap group?”
“Alright, Hopeton,” Pierre replied, “what are you getting at here?”
“Nothing at all,” I said. “I’m just making conversation.”
“Give me a break,” Pierre shot back. “You never make conversation. What are you trying to get at here?”
I decided to change tack, quickly.
“Alright,” I started over. “Your buddy's got a Volvo that his parents bought him for graduation. What about you? Do you have a car?
“Of course, I do,” Pierre said. “Why do you think Mundo started showing up at nine o’clock every morning?”
Now it was my time to laugh. Those two were unbelievable.
“What kind of car did you get for graduation?” I asked.
“No kind,” Cabrón replied. “My parents opened up a savings fund for my Masters degree. My cousin’s husband sold me his Acura. It’s a ’92 Acura, so it’s in decent shape.”
“Alright, sounds good,” I said. “Does it have crazy tinted windows and a big spoiler on the back?”
“This guy is an accountant. It’s, like, dark grey with minimal styling. A basic, entry-level Acura. He upscaled to a BMW.”
“Good, don’t do anything to it. Keep it low-key,” I instructed. “I have something I need you to start doing with me.”
