Chapter 3

“The spot” is a local diner called Frankie’s. It is a family-owned and operated restaurant that Derek and Rico would eat at more than a few times a week. Partly because Rico used to work there when they were in high school. He got a job there because Marcus used to date the daughter of the owners. Rico loved the place. Seeing Marcus in the hospital and getting food from the diner were the first two things he wanted to do when he got back home. After those things were out of the way, everything else was up in the air. Frankie’s was probably the quickest way to get a clear head for Rico.

The drive to Frankie’s was a lot less quiet than the drive to the hospital. Rico had his windows down and his music blasting. Everything inside of his car was vibrating, as well as outside. It was like he was a different person after visiting Marcus. It more of that he was feeling like he was home and he was happy he was there. He knew he was going to be here for a while and that it was not a quick visit. He was about to dig in and get settled. Going to two places that he was quite familiar with for different reasons made Rico feel some type of way. A type of way that he had never felt before. There was a small fire burning inside of him because of what happened to Marcus and where he was. Rico knew that he would handle that in due time. For now, he was just going to enjoy being back with his childhood friend.

The thought of Derek brought a slight smile to Rico’s face. Derek was known as a talker amongst everybody who knew him. That was his thing. He would joke, talk trash and just downright say anything he wanted to, whenever he wanted to and would only fight if he necessarily had to. Rico was the opposite. He did more fighting than talking. Derek had an older brother, about the same age as Marcus. It was actually how Marcus came to know Derek and Rico. Derek’s older brother, Darryl, would beat him up all the time. Nothing harmful, just the usual sibling stuff. So, he was very comfortable talking because he knew Darryl would back him up, whether Derek was right or wrong. Rico grew up an only child. So, he had to defend himself at every turn. He did his talking with his hands. It was an odd match, but it worked for them. Things got better when they started hanging around Darryl and Marcus. Because they were so much older than Derek and Rico, the older guys were able to teach and show them different things, like how to handle themselves in the streets and fight for themselves.

Darryl and Marcus were well known amateur boxers. Each went to rival high schools and trained at rival gyms. One was from the east side of town, the other was from the north. Both of them were undefeated, with a lot of hype and talk around them. The two of them were talked about more than guys who played basketball and football in the community. Their popularity reached its peak when it came out that their gyms, Alpha Boxing and Quest Boxing, were trying to put together a match to see who produced the better fighter. Neither Darryl nor Marcus wanted to do the fight. They had met each other before they became popular and hid their friendship from their gyms. To get back at Alpha and Quest, Darryl and Marcus decided that they were going to fix the fight so that nobody would win. During their match, they each threw one, slow punch and fell like they had knocked each other out. Both were counted out and the match was considered a draw. They got up and left together, never again talking to people from either gym. With help from some of their sponsors, Darryl and Marcus opened their own gym and named it Natural Talent.

However, there was a young girl that had Darryl’s eye and vice versa. They met at his former gym, Alpha Boxing. She was the younger sister of Darryl’s former trainers. The more serious things got, the less Darryl would be at Natural Talent. Darryl and the girl did everything they could to keep it from her brother and their family, as well as everybody at Natural Talent, including Marcus. But Marcus did find out, he just never said anything. All the sneaking around was blown away when it came out that the girl was pregnant. Needless to say, the girl’s family found Darryl one night. Darryl’s and the girl’s body was discovered in the trash bins behind Natural Talent’s gym the next morning by none other than Marcus. The girl’s brothers skipped town but were eventually caught in Phoenix. They were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Their gym, Alpha Boxing, closed soon afterward from all of the negative publicity of the murders. Marcus quit boxing soon after Darryl’s funeral. His attention turned to helping Derek and Tasha cope with the loss of Darryl.

Rico could sense that something was off when they pulled into the parking lot of Frankie’s. There were a couple cars parked like their occupants just pulled up and got out, not in the designated slots. Rico could see that there was something going on inside Frankie’s after his group parked their cars. There were two guys in the face of Miss Gary, the daughter who runs Frankie’s. Two more were walking around the diner, messing with various customers who were inside. A fifth guy was standing by the door. When he saw Rico’s group pull up, he signaled to his buddies. As Rico’s group was walking up to Frankie’s, the group that was inside was coming out. As they passed, one of the guys from the group that was exiting intentionally bumped into Rico.

“Watch where you the fuck you goin’!” Rico shouted.

“Whatchu say to me?” The guy responded.

“You heard me bitch! I didn’t stutter!”

“Whatchu gunna do ‘bout it?” The guy stepped into Rico’s face. “Don’t end up like ya friend pretty boy.”

“You’ll end up there before I do.”

“I’ll see you around.”

The guy backed away with a smirk on his face. The rest of his group did the same. Rico stood in place and watched them until they drove off with Zo and Derek directly behind him. Derek was a little surprised by Rico’s actions. He knew Rico was a fighter, but he was normally defending himself, not picking a fight. It was not until the two cars the five guys got into was out of sight before Rico finally moved. As he was walking into the diner, he caught the look of worry on Miss Gary’s face. The look was not because of the little dust up that just happened. It had been on her face prior. Rico caught the tell end of the men yelling at Miss Gary for whatever reason and he was going to find out why.

“Miss Gary, what was that about?” Rico asked.

“Just some guys causing trouble.” She responded, attempting to brush it off.

“Didn’t look like nothin’.”

“Nothing I can’t handle. There’s always something going on around here. Some kind of fake intimidation crap.”

“That’s not fake intimidation, Miss Gary. Those dudes meant business.” Derek chimed in.

“Don’t worry ‘bout none of that. I won’t let anything happen to this place.” Rico reassured.

Miss Gary cracked a wiry smile, but there was still some worry behind it. She held up her arm as to signal for the young men to head over to their usual booth that is in the back of the diner. Then she disappeared into the kitchen of the diner herself. Any and every time they came in, they would sit in the same booth that was situated by the bathrooms. If Marcus joined them, he would pull a chair over from the nearest table and sit at the edge.

“Yo, do you know who they were?” Derek whispered.

“Did it look like I gave a fuck who they were?” Rico said without even looking at Derek.

“Those were X’s boys. We can’t play with them.”

“Again, did it look like I gave a fuck?” This time Rico turned to look at Derek.

“You forgot who runs shit out here? Nobody fucks with X. That nigga crazy!”

The last people Rico wanted to see were anybody that ran with Xavier Byrd. Everybody in the hood knows who he is and that he was not to be fucked with. Xavier grew up around the same time as Darryl and Marcus. He was a troublemaker and totally opposite of them. Everything you can think of getting in trouble for, he did it, short of murder. Not long after Darryl was killed, rumors started circulating that Xavier might have had something to do with it. Those rumors have never been confirmed but Marcus never let go of them. A beef started between the two of them and it has been going on ever since.

There is a third name that everybody knows. That name is Rashad Taylor. Outside of Marcus and Xavier, nobody has ever seen Rashad. The two of them have seen him because of their ongoing feud. Even though it is one-sided, Rashad knew it was bad for everybody. For the most part, Rashad has been able to keep Xavier in check when it comes to Marcus. At least it seemed like that before Marcus ended up in the hospital. Most are afraid to talk for fear of retaliation. It is no secret that Marcus and Xavier did not like each other. That feud has been going on for two decades. But people are afraid to point their finger at Xavier because everybody knows what he is capable of. He got his position at the head of his table because he killed his boss. The whole neighborhood knows about it, they just will not talk about it.

“Do you trust me?” Rico asked Derek.

“What kinda question is that?”

“Do…you…trust…me?”

“No, nigga I don’t! What the fuck!”

“Then don’t worry ‘bout anything.”

“Zo, please tell me I’m not the only nigga that’s hearin’ this bullshit!”

“Whatchu want me to say?” Zo answered.

Nobody was able to respond because Miss Gray came over to their booth.

“Rico, you not going to introduce the new guy?” Miss Gray asked.

“My apologies, Miss Gray. This is my friend, Alonzo.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Alonzo. Would you like a menu?”

“No ma’am. Rico has told me all about this place. I’ll have what he gets. Only sunny side up eggs instead of scrambled please.”

“Steak the same way?”

“Yes ma’am”

“To drink?”

“Lemonade please.”

“You got it honey.”

After Miss Gray walked away, nobody restarted the conversation that was interrupted. Rico knew that Derek trusted him. Even Zo knew that to be true. He picked up on the sarcasm in Derek’s voice when he said that he did not trust Rico. The ‘what the fuck’ was a dead giveaway. Another phrase for ‘are you serious’. Instead, the three of them had random conversations. The first one was Derek asking about their cars and where they got them from. Rico would not give up that information, much to Derek frustration. However, Derek had a feeling that they got them from Richard. Derek knew Richard had all types of connections. He and Rico grew up together and Richard would come around quite often when they were kids. A lot of things Richard would buy for Rico, he would also buy for Derek. They really were like brothers. More so after Darryl was killed.

When their food came, it did not stand a chance. It did not take any of them long to finish their food, despite them talking and making jokes while eating. Even though Frankie’s had been around for a few decades, it was never a spot where it would get really crowded. Even during the holidays there was still enough room for Derek and Rico, sometimes Marcus, to sit there for as long as they wanted to. This moment was no different. The staff had changed over, the cooks had switched out and Rico was still sitting with Derek and Zo. He was happy that his childhood friend was getting along with his friend from a different state. He knew they were going to have to get along and trust each other if they were going to be able to get anything done for Richard.

“Aight, let’s get outta here.” Rico stated.

“Yea I think we’ve overstayed our welcome.” Derek said rather loudly so that Miss Gray could hear him.

“Nonsense! You boys can stay for as long as you want. Y’all know that.”

“Miss Gray, the food was great. Just like Rico said it would be.”

“Come back any time, honey.”

“Miss Gray, until next time.”

“Great to see you again, Rico.”

The three of them waved to Miss Gray before they stepped out. When they got to their cars, the three of them dapped each other.

“See you on the other side!” Rico yelled.

“See you on the other side!” Derek responded. “Country boy, you ain’t gunna say it back?”

“I mean, he got me sayin’ that in Dallas. I figured this one was for you.”

Derek shook his head and got into his car. Zo looked at Rico, who smiled and shook his head. Zo shrugged and jumped into his SUV.