Old Friends
Vincent McArthur The Third was really worried about his meeting with the underground rapper. The rapper wanted to meet at a Rave. It would appear that the Rave was to be held in an abandoned shopping mall in the small city he took a short flight to. He didn't have to be at the mall until three thirty that night so he spent time in the book store first. The city had a legendary book store he had heard about on several underground message boards he frequented. Inside the book store he bought several comics and a game for his Playstation Portable. He then ate a quick meal at Zaxby's a wings and things. He then took a taxi because it was more expensive then an Uber and went to a bar downtown. Their was a Rugby Team in the singing about pussy loudly and he couldn't concentrate on his laptop. Dressed in a button up Peter Millar shirt and black slacks with Stacy Adams shoes he sipped his coffee.
He looked up and saw a man that looked oddly like someone he had seen several days earlier. As Vincent looked closer he recognized the man and he knew the man recognized him. But this was no happy recognition. Vincent felt as if he was being followed. He slowly began packing his things into his suitcase. He grabbed his fraternity jacket and began heading towards the exit. The cab was still waiting. The driver seemed surprised Vincent was back because he had made such an departure earlier about being inside for at least three hours and how he should keep the meter running.
" Where to boss," The driver asked.
" Just drive I want to see something," Vincent responded.
As they pulled away from the curb Vincent stared in the rearview on the passenger seat. No car pulled behind them but he did see the man he saw in the bar on his phone outside of the bar.
The cab driver's phone rang.
" Hello," the driver picked up his phone.
Vincent watched closely. His driver might be with the dude who was tailing him.
" Yeah he's right here," the driver said. " You want to talk to him?"
Vincent swallowed and looked at his watch. He wasn't scared. They obviously knew he wasn't one to be frightened or fooled.
The driver passed the phone to Vincent.
" Who is this," Vincent spoke in the receiver.
" You have a good time at the Rave tonight Vincent we'll be watching," a voice responded then the call was over.
Vincent passed the phone back to the driver.
" You kids these days," the driver said.
Vincent gave a soft nervous chuckle at the man's joke and shook his head as he stared out the window.
Innocent was at the Joker strip club. She was putting her outfit together. Today she was dressed up like a white rabbit. She had ordered the bunny ears from a Japanese web site that specialized in Cosplay products. Her regulars liked her style of fashion those that knew about clothes which was very few because they came to the club to see women with their clothes off. If any man truly cared about money he would go to a fashion show to find women not the strip club...but in her profession she met no Kanye West....just boring, boring, men.
Innocent sat in front of her vanity mirror next to her friend Skipper. No that is not a joke that was her actual name. When she met Innocent Innocent asked:
" Why the name, sweet potato?"
" Well everyone liked Barbie growing up so I chose Skipper."
They had been friends ever since.
" So I told him like honey if you get a picture with me all my homegirls have to be in it. God Forbid we look like a couple with my girls in it our combine story could ruin his. He comes in and spends all the time though. I figure he'll think he looks like a player and I can be saved a customer because I do not do pictures but he spends so fucking much," Skipper explained to Innocent.
" I never take pictures in or around the club you know that sugar," Innocent replied applying a bit of blush to her cheekbones.
" You're just in a poor mood all the time saving yourself for some rapper."
Innocent reached out in a blink of an eye snatched a grape off of her table and tossed it at Skipper. " Shut up! Someone might hear you."
Skipper knew a little of Innocent's plan but every girl seemed to have that dream in her business so it was no big deal. It just seemed Innocent was a bit more focused at reaching her goal then the other girls.
" I don't know why Fruitcake brings that baby oil on stage with the chocolate....I mean what if they mix together? Yuck," Skipper said as she ran her hand through her long black hair. Skipper was light skinned. very light. They called her a red bone. She was the closet thing to a white girl in the club besides Innocent so they were good "friends". Innocent really had no friends. But she talked to Skipper and they smoked trees together sometimes. Innocent thought of her as a naiive young fool sometimes. She was too thirsty for the money in Innocent's eyes.
Innocent pulled out her smart phone from her Chanel purse and checked her Facebook. No news from Vincent as of yet. She didn't know if he had checked his page or not and she was wondering if he had just ignored her. She couldn't see why he would think she wasn't worthy of a response. She maybe ugly to him but she was beautiful to everyone else. That could pay off depending the situation.
Vincent walked into the mall. He wasn't expecting it to be this easy. But he was comfortable which was good. It was dark. Very dark but his accomplice, a man named Ice, was holding a flashlight. From what Vincent could see the mall was fucking clean. How they cleaned in the dark he didn't know. They must have put the power generators up so he wouldn't remember anything other then the place they were meeting. The mall was called the Regency Mall in Augusta Georgia about a two hour drive from Atlanta but Vincent wouldn't know he flew private most of the time. He walked next to "Ice the Menace" (as he had introduced himself) hoping the rapper didn't send his lowest lackey. Only time would tell. Vincent would remember how powerful Ice is later. He would be insulted if it was a foot soldier. Although Ice may be a vicious foot soldier indeed.
As they walked Vincent avoided small talk. The young man Ice wore gloves with the fingers cut off and a huge grey sweatshirt with baggy JNCO pants.
" You like my skinny jeans," Ice asked.
Vincent spit on the mall floor. Complete disrespect. He motioned with his hand for the young teenager to continue walking. The boy walked ahead of Vincent shining the flashlight so Vincent could only see his silhouette. They finally stopped at a record store. Keys jingled.
So Ice wasn't a foot soldier.
There was a rustle and doors popped open. Lights followed once they were inside. It looked like a Rave alright. Typical round table. Bongs. Soft music. This was a Rave where only bosses were allowed. There were still records in the room. Rare records. From the 96 era of hip...1990s to 2000s. Vincent had an eye for good hip hop. He was walked to a seat at the table. Their were four chairs around the room. So he was expecting two more men.
The door opened behind the cash register and out walked three people. The first was an Asian woman with a hoodie on and a black bandana sewn on stretched leggings. She wore a pair of Pastry shoes which were designed by Reverand Run's daughters. Chic. The second was a dark skinned woman that was overweight and wore sweat pants and a Play Cloths sweater that had to be a triple extra large. The third was a light skinned black man covered in tattoos. He wore a Playstation T Shirt, bathing ape hoodie over it, and had several gold chains on.
" What are you doing here," Vincent asked the tattooed man.
Ice the Menace looked confused. " You know each other?"
" Vincent here is an old friend. We went to college with each other. Isn't that right Vincent," The tattooed man asked.
Vincent said nothing. The tattooed man motioned toward Ice The Menace.
" So you are here to talk about this man. Ice the Menace and him needing an Entertainment lawyer right," the light skinned male continued.
" I knew he'd have handlers. But this....this is odd. What are you doing here? Why couldn't you just tell me about this on a phone call or something? I mean this is uncalled for. I could have prepared. Why this location? We could have went to a five star or something Prince," Vincent said shaking his head in disgust.
( The man called Prince is exactly who you think he is. Yes he is the villain from Homerun Part Two and the tale Kamikaze about the skateboarder Kato Chang)
" This makes no sense, this dirty looking nigger works for you," Vincent pointed a finger towards Ice.
" Not exactly," The Prince said. " I met him in prison. He is a basic rapper. You know how many niggaz rap in prison. Less then you think. But I liked his hunger. He would sell his soul to be the next Drake. Which is why his music, the shit you heard on the web, sounds like some commercial Drake shit. The only difference is Drake fucks strippers on a mink rug Ice's experience in life has him thinking Apple Bottoms are high fashion. Miss Van would you mind getting Vincent something to drink please?"
The Asian woman pulled out something from under the register. It was two bottles of Hypnotiq. Miss Van handed one bottle to Vincent and opened the other for herself.
Vincent quickly took the cap off and took a long swallow of the liquor. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He raised an eyebrow. " Prince what is all of this? This makes no sense. Can we sit down and talk?"
" Not yet. As you see there are only four seats and their are five people here. Of course you can't expect Van to serve us or some shit. And this black woman is in disguise but you know my cousin the supermodel right," The Prince asked.
" Yes, but obviously Ice doesn't know who she is or why would she be in disguise?"
" Smart man as usual Vincent. So you know Ice is about to die right," The Prince pulled a .380 cobra pistol out of his hoodie pocket.
Ice eyes widened. " I thought I was the face of the label? What the fuck is this Prince? What is this?"
Vincent looked back and forth between the Prince and Ice The Menace. " What the hell is going on here Prince? I should have been told about this! My mother set this meeting up why wouldn't she just tell me about this shit?"
" Ice don't move a muscle. Ice needs to be frozen right? Stand still," The Prince said as he aimed the gun at Ice's face. " Well Vincent before we begin this conversation I want to ask you do you remember your sixteenth birthday?"
Vincent growled lowly. " Of course Prince...worst day of my fucking life. Why are you bringing that up?"
Vincent's sixteenth birthday was horrible. He had been asking for a Benz since he was ten. And he knew on his sixteenth birthday he would get it. What kid didn't get a car on their sixteenth birthday? The party was huge. They had rented out a skate park and he had invited everyone he trusted. Prince was there, two cheerleaders, his big brother Thadeus, and his girlfriend at the time a college student named Erica. He didn't get the Benz though. His Father later told him the reason he didn't get the Benz was because the stash boxes put in it were running late. He swore he would never speak to his Father and Mother again. The argument ruined the entire night. He punched his big brother in the face for making fun of him and his brother, the star football player at UCLA, broke his arm in a rage. The cheerleaders ended up leaving with Prince and Erica broke up with Vincent the next day. It was a horrible day.
" Well the truth is that the reason you didn't get the Benz was because of today. Your parents paid a million dollars to set this meeting up. That's why you didn't get the car. This has been planned for years," The Prince held his hand out and Van handed him the bottle. He took a swig but kept the gun on Ice who looked like he was about to faint. " Our friend Ice here...well I met him in prison. He was a Blood first. They kept beating his ass so he went to PC. Not before I told him to leave me alone. I went to another camp. They sent Ice their afterwards. I thought that was odd. He became a Gangster Disciple at the new camp."
Vincent still recovering from the news of why he didn't get the Benz couldn't help but laugh. " No loyalty."
" But he kept following me. I went to the hole so did he. Then the GD's tried to get me killed. Ice didn't know but I knew he was setting me up. Ice thinks he's smart. He knew I had resources to get him a deal but whoever hired him also promised him a record deal. He is a bum though. He raps about cocaine, bitches, balling, etc. But I found out he was locked up for trying to rob a woman of her car. She beat him and his brother's ass then called the cops on them," The Prince continued. " He also said he had an Asian girlfriend. He knew I was half Japanese and asked me to write a letter to his Asian girlfriend's sister. I found his "girlfriend' on facebook though and she wasn't Asian she was Mexican and white. He was dating her when she was underage. So all of his music is lies."
Vincent chuckled again. " Statutory rape....sick mother fucker. No offense Prince on the mother fucker."
The Prince sighed. " Fuck you Vincent."
" Continue with the story please."
" Well, " The Prince began pacing. " I spoke to his girlfriend. She's not too bright. But I let her know about him and his new prison fame. When Ice came home since he had failed to get me killed he didn't get his deal. I decided to hire him. Hoping to find out who hired him."
The room was silent for an awkward moment.
" Well, who hired him," Vincent asked.
" That's what we are about to find out," The Prince cocked the pistol. " Right fucking now."
