Chapter 130: New York, NY Part II
Bobby’s POV
Day one of the review. I’m excited to do this.
Les gave us a reprieve last night and agreed to allow us to sleep in peace, so we kept tradition. We camped out in his living room, played PlayStation, and ate Chinese. We got caught up on each other’s lives.
Les finally told Ric he’s over ‘the incident’. He understands. He accepts it. He wants his friend back and he’s trying to think of something for him and Steph to do while she’s here.
Ric looks relieved, although he’s hiding it. Hec looks thrilled.
I have Steph’s instructions on how she does this and Tank and I talked it over. We’re prepared. I won the coin toss, so I’m taking Steph’s usual role of checking contracts and paperwork. I volunteered for the paperwork. Tank got the client calls (HAHAHAHA!). Ranger, Les, and Hec are meeting with the leadership, one man at a time. Steph?
Oddly enough, Steph decided to step out of day one. She said she had some other things to catch up on. We asked if she was spending the day with the men.
Nope.
We’re curious but hey, this is Steph’s show. This is her thing and we’re following orders, but we do ask to review the building first. If they need more room, Tank wants to get on that ASAP. Steph shrugs and agrees.
Tank looks a little nauseous about the client calls. I’m already feeling tired of looking at paperwork, but we’re still excited about doing this. We’re ready.
—oOo—
“What do you think?”
It’s 0950 and we just finished reviewing the building from top to bottom. Tank and I returned to the gym to look around. Something about it was off to him. I’m looking, trying to catch what he saw, but I don’t see anything.
This gym is great. It smells of sweat and rubber and the almost metallic taste of metal. The men are working out and talking shit to each other, pretending to ignore us. Apparently, there’s a six-pack contest in this branch, to be judged by Sarah. She’s still working with the men to ensure everyone’s making standards and a quick chat with her reveals that every man in this branch should pass a medical without any problems. Everyone wants Javi’s and Mack’s abs and I see the men are definitely working hard to make it.
I make a note to send an email and allow each man who wants and needs a new workout plan to meet with me. I also schedule a pop health assessment for them. I’ll have Zero conduct it in February.
I didn’t miss Teo’s sign. No one could. Tank and I both snapped pictures of it.
Otherwise, everything in this building is well-maintained. Gyms are one of my least and most favorite places in the world and this gym is excellent. I can tell it gets constant use.
“Needs more space.”
Well, duh, Tank. “Common issue in just about all the reviews.” I make a note and smile. “Growth is good.”
“Growth needs to be sustainable.”
“What are you thinking?”
He’s quiet. “Les always wanted a Manhattan office.”
I whistle. “You think we have the bandwidth for it?”
He looks around. The office is definitely at capacity. The lawsuit with CombinedSecurities is still in litigation but we’re making progress. Their CEO has been fired and arrested and the board wants to settle. We’re not budging. We’re taking the company and making sure the CEO serves jail time. Meanwhile, CombinedSecurities’ men are starting to defect to us, at least fifteen so far. NYC might need a RangeMan class in the new year.
Every office might need a RangeMan class in the new year.
I’m watching Tank. He looks troubled. He finally turns to me, stroking his chin.
“How big do we want to be?”
I raise a brow.
“We got into this because we wanted to be unique. A small outfit, not bloated like the ones that headhunted us. We’re at that point, bro.” He looks around, frowning. “We’re at that point where we have to decide how big we really want to be. How big is too big?”
Damn good question, Tank. Now I see what he means. Much bigger and we become ‘executives’. No more getting in the field. This company is already a challenge to run as it is.
I look around. Honestly, I think that’s a question we should have asked three branches ago. We’re big and our plans call for us to grow some more. We’re still unique though and we’re still operating lean, too lean according to Ric.
“Bobby?” Lucia is waiting on me at the top of the stairwell. “I’d like to speak to you for a moment.”
“Sure.” I walk to the stairwell and turn back to Tank. “Should I put that question on the agenda for the full management meeting?”
“Yes.”
—oOo—
Hector’s POV—All conversations in Spanish
This time, I’m learning. I watch Ranger and Les sit with Javi and today’s lesson?
I’m not sure yet.
We’re in Les’s apartment and I’m clearing away the blankets and pillows so Javi has a place to sit. It’s a pretty day in NYC, in Brooklyn, and we can see the park from Les’s apartment. Les always has an east facing view in his apartments, to get the morning sun, so it’s bright in here.
I see what Angelita means about Les’s apartments. I didn’t see Boston but this apartment is definitely cold, not in temperature, but … something. Lots of blue and gray and bright white.
Ranger’s making breakfast and Les and Javi are talking smack about Les’s trip out of the window. Ranger plates up breakfast and we sit at the table and make fun of Les. NYC management is mad they missed it but Les is laughing. I’m astonished.
“Sir, it’s all the men are talking about. They’re laughing their asses off at that.”
Les snorts into his OJ. “They can laugh all they want. I don’t care as long as they stay on point.”
Javi shakes his head. “I don’t know if I could do that, sir. I don’t know if I could show my face again after all my men saw me hanging butt naked out of my window.”
I agree. No way.
Ranger smirks. “Tell me this, Javi. You think any of those men fear Les any less?”
My brow rises. Good point.
Les swipes a bit of egg with his toast and chews. “I told you before, I’ve been called everything from psycho to brilliant and I don’t give a damn. I define me and I dare any man downstairs to think he can take me just because he saw me hanging out of that window.”
Javi shudders. “No man is that stupid.”
“Exactly. Look at who was hanging me! It took three black-ops commanders just to catch me!”
We crack up at that. Les smirks and toasts himself. We stack the dishwasher and kick back on the couches. Les disappears to his bedroom and returns with socks for Ranger. Javi kicks off his shoes and we grab the blankets and get comfortable. Javi pulls his soft-sided briefcase around, to retrieve papers, ready to discuss the branch. I grab my laptop and boot my computer, ready to follow along.
“No.” He looks up. Ranger’s shaking his head. “Not interested in that right now.”
Javi puts the briefcase away and gets comfortable. I put my laptop down, wondering what Ranger is up to.
“So? Let’s see the ring.”
Les and I look at Ranger in confusion. Javi leaves the room, returning with a stunning diamond solitaire on a rose gold band, which he hands to me.
I whistle. “Beautiful, Javier. Congratulations.” I pass it to Ranger.
“Thank you.” He smiles. “Of course, I was given plenty of hints about the kind of ring she might like”—we laugh—”but I consider myself trainable. I think I got it right. How did you know, sir?”
“Tank.” Javi’s mouth drops in a silent ‘Ooh’. “Well, if you didn’t get it right, maybe she’ll love this one more. Beautiful stone,” Ranger says. He passes the ring to Les, who laughs.
“We’re overpaying you! Pay cut! Pay cut!”
We crack up at that. Javi shakes his head. “Please don’t. I work hard for the money.”
“We know, Javi,” Les says, still smiling. “So, the proposal. You ready? You know how you’re going to do it?”
He nods. “23:59 New Year’s Eve, whispered in her ear while sliding it on her finger.”
“Great,” Ranger says mockingly. “Up the bar for the rest of us.”
“Tank did it in a restaurant,” Les says. “Put the ring on top of a cheesecake.”
“He did it right,” I reply.
Ranger asks if he’s done any more planning and Javi says he really hasn’t. He has a budget in mind for the wedding and he knows that Jorge will be his best man and Mack his groomsman, along with his brother and Monica’s brother. He’s just excited to finally propose and he’s ready to make Monica his wife. Monica finishes law school in the spring, so he wants to get married in the fall, after the bar but hopefully before she has a job.
“Congratulations. I wish you joy and happiness, Javi,” Ranger says, raising his glass.
“Thank you.” The longer this conversation has gone, the more nervous Javi looks.
“So,” Ranger takes Javi’s glass and heads to the kitchen, “you’re wondering when I’m going to get around to talking business, right?”
“Well …” his face clearly says Yeah.
Ranger smiles, refilling the glasses. “Tank and Bobby are tearing into your building and I’m sure they’re having fun. Me, Les, and Hec? Today is about you.” He hands Javi his glass and sits.
“I wanted to meet with each member of the Core Team while I was here. You’re the sole survivor and that’s an understatement.” Les and I raise our glasses in silent salute and Javi gives us a half smile. “You have new leadership around you, new product lines, new men, new everything. You’ve taken that and moved into the number one position in less than one year.”
Ranger sits in Les’s chair and throws his legs over one of the arms. I doubt he sits like that for long. Les’s furniture needs … form.
“You’re the sole survivor, Javier, and you survived a lot. Our neglect. Betrayal and undermining from your subordinates. Frustration among your men. You rose above it all, showed the leader that you are, and guided your men to the number one spot. Provided me with a new strategist.”
Javi groans, closing his eyes in pain. Les and I snicker. No one is NYC is happy about Mack’s move to Miami. They’re happy but they all hate to lose him just as Miami (as much as they groan) hates losing Diego.
“So I don’t want to talk about capacity reports and schedules. I’m not interested in the contracts. Today? I’m here to learn how to lead from you.”
I don’t think Ranger could have said anything that would have shocked Javier more.
—oOo—
The discussion starts off slow. Javi is still looking at Ranger in disbelief, so I start asking some questions. By lunch, Javi and Les are detailing how Javi got through some of his toughest problems and I’m learning a lot. Ranger nods occasionally and offers a remark or two, but he mostly listens.
Tank shows up halfway through the morning. Javi’s talking about plans he has for the new year, stuff he wants to do and stuff Jorge and Mack are pushing him on. “Right now, our biggest challenge is the cross-functional group. Junior is the natural choice for that but …” he shrugs. “Hal will scream if he thinks I’m trying to poach his partner.”
“Yeah, he will,” Tank says.
“Mack’s suggested going a different route.”
“What’s that?” Ranger asks.
“Well, he pointed out that what we need is someone who can shot-call, a boss. Someone who can look at skills and abilities and match them up with a job.” He smiles. “Sounded like the job for a con to him, someone with experience as a shot-caller. So we started looking at our men with ‘interesting’ backgrounds.”
Les nods. “Doobie. Levi. The job is doing coordination, right?”
“Right. What Junior has is time in the company, name recognition, and he knows the military background, but—”
“Mack’s right,” Ranger says. “What matters is the ability to match the job and the team.”
“Levi ran a burglary ring. Different skill sets, different levels of ability in his crew and he never got caught. Arrested multiple times but he never did time. Mack and Jorge think he’s the right man but it would help if there were someone he could train under.”
I frown. “I don’t think that’s as important as him getting to know the men.” Everyone looks at me. “Let him meet the men he could pull. If that used to be his job, job coordination, if the men demonstrate their skills and he meets them, he should be able to get a good idea of which man to assign to the job.”
“Agreed.” Ranger stands and stretches. “That’s how men made my team in the Rangers. I took recommendations, but I met each man and got a sense of his skills. Then I knew who to assign to what job each time we were deployed.” He heads to Les’s kitchen as Les and Javi start talking again.
I meet Tank’s eyes. Tank looks sleepy. I raise a brow and Tank whispers, “What?”
“I …I’m not sure if I understand what Ranger’s up to.” Why isn’t he asking more questions about the branch? He’s here to do a review. Shouldn’t he ask more questions about their plans?
“He apologized once before. Now he’s showing Javi he’ll never not listen again.”
Oh. I sit back and watch some more. I finally get it. I see what Ranger is doing.
Lesson for today? Humility.
—oOo—
“Hey, Beautiful.”
Angelita stops dead. Les is grinning at her. “You arrived just in time. We were thinking about lunch. You in?” She stares at Les so long his smile starts to drop. “Or not.”
“No.” She sits next to Ranger, still staring at Les. “I’m in. Where are we going?”
“Having it delivered.”
“Why?” A quick look at Ranger and “Oh. Right.”
“So what have you done all morning, Bomber?” Bobby says, walking through the door.
Javi stands. “I’ll leave now, in case you want to discuss the review.”
Ranger stands and walks him to the door. Steph slides into Ranger’s seat. “Mostly hung out with the men and talked to Mack about the plans for this week. I went riding with Doobie to catch skips and we hung out in the Bronx and talked.” She’s staring at Les and Bobby as if she doesn’t recognize them. “Bonds Enforcement here is trying to catch Atlanta.”
“Changed your mind?”
“Yes. You guys did the building review and Ranger had the leadership. It was either the men or the contracts.”
“Ah,” Bobby says, peeling an orange. He hands Les half.
“Joining us for the Newark office tomorrow, Steph?” Tank asks.
She sits quietly for a few minutes. “We’ll see.”
“Fine. Lunch is going to be a working lunch for us. We’re writing up what we saw this morning and turning it over to you.” Bobby stands and stretches before heading off to the bathroom.
“You joining us for dinner tonight?” Les asks.
Steph nods. “I’m driving to Trenton tomorrow to pick up MA and Angie.”
“Can I go?” I ask. “I need to get my car.”
“OK. What’s the plan for tomorrow night?”
“None, so far. You have the kiddies and we’ll be here, doing nothing, acting stupid,” Les says.
“None of you want to join us?”
I shake my head and check to ensure Javi’s gone before I switch to English. “I’ll come next year. I wanna take Mijo to something like that.” It sounds like a lot of fun but I want to experience that with my son. I want to see his face light up looking at the Christmas tree and skating in Rockefeller Center.
“Oh.” She smiles. “Les? Tank?”
“Ric can’t go,” Tank says.
“All for one and one for all,” Les says, turning on his TV.
—oOo—
Mack’s POV—Conversations in Spanish
Yo, day one of our review is going good. The Boss Lady and Bobby are meeting with the men and I’m going over the contracts with Les, Ranger, and Hector.
I don’t know if I’ve ever spent any real time in Ranger’s presence before, but the man has presence. Like, you know you’re in his space when you’re near him. He turns the full force of his attention on me and, for a second, I consider backing up. But shit, I’m Brooklyn. King‘s County. We don’t back down and we don’t bow down, so I hold his gaze.
His lips quirk. “Yeah, I can tell you and Thomas are related.”
“How?”
“First time I met your cousin, he looked at me as if he was thinking arrogant shit. Rare I meet a man who has balls like that. I liked him for it.”
Sounds like Thomas. Man, to be part-Cuban, he ain’t a fan. “And me?”
He stares me fully in the face. “You remembered who you are and refused to back down. Good.”
OK, Ranger can read minds. Les and Hector snicker. “Well, let’s review contracts.”
I pull everything we have and start going through ’em. Jorge prepped me to understand the Wall Street contracts, but Ranger asks little ticky questions. Takes me three minutes to realize he’s testing me. He knows ’em, back and forth. So I step the game up, start pointing out shit Jorge pointed out to me, trying to show I got it, I understand what we do. Les and Hector just watch us and we step through every contract NYC has on Wall Street. By 1400, I’m thinking I owe Jorge props for prepping me cuz Ranger’s pushing it and we’re not even halfway done.
“OK, let’s stop,” Hector says. “My brain is fried.”
“Agreed,” Les says, standing up. “Break.”
Ranger’s sitting back in the chair, staring at me cool. I’m wondering what’s up. I’m ready, boss. Come with it.
“Les, go without us. Hec?” He glances at Hec, who raises an eyebrow. Ranger sighs. “You need ESP.”
“I ESP my partner. That’s about as many minds as I want to understand, hermano.”
“You understand it?” he asks, sounding intrigued.
Hec snorts. “Who understands any woman? I just try to keep up.” Hec walks off but stops at the door. “Fine. Use your access for now.” He leaves. Ranger turns to me.
“Let’s talk about Miami’s contracts.”
—oOo—
Ranger’s POV
I start with the monitoring contracts and we review what’s going on there. Mack’s reading carefully and making notes.
“Yo, why they renew for so little there?” he asks, making a note on one contract. “Jorge woulda killed ’em. Man, I can hear him screamin’ ‘Reprice! Reprice!’ in my head!”
I smirk and watch him. He’s digging through, reading everything. I don’t think he’s noticed that he’s taken my laptop from me.
I’ve wondered about Mack since I first started hearing his name. Steph and Les are damn near in love with him. Hec likes him. Tank likes him. Bobby likes him.
I watched him carefully last night and I’m watching him now. I like what I see.
He’s Les, the hood version.
He’s Les with more restraint but he does everything full throttle. He’s also curious and he listens to his instincts, but there’s a … I don’t know, a sense of vulnerability to him. Like Les, it’s right below the surface. If he lets someone get close to him, and they betray him, it’ll take him a long time to get over it because he’s honest about who he is. No faking, no (overt) trickery, no pretension. The man is who he is and if you don’t like it, kiss his ass.
Yeah, I like him. He and Les are a lot alike.
He’s kept up with me all morning. I’ve been pushing him, deliberately, to see what he’s made of. If he wants to go to home office, I want to see what I’m getting. What I’ve learned is that he’s sharp. Extremely smart. Quick on the take because he realized I was testing him within five minutes. He didn’t back down from my challenge either.
He’s approved for home office. I heard he nearly took over Miami while he was there. Hustled to get contracts, so he’s a team player, listened to the men, protected Edna, and had Steph’s back. Thomas will rein him in and Mando’s backbone is back. They’ll let him run strategy for the office but Mando won’t let the ‘wonder cousins’ run him over.
Finally! Another strong team for Miami.
Les once told me that Thomas was me, the unforgiving, uncompromising version. I found that hilarious but once I got the background on Raptor, I started watching Thomas more. I like Thomas, always have, so having his cousin at home base will be interesting.
I wonder what Les’s opinion of Mack is.
—oOo—
Les and Hec return and Mack finally realizes he has my laptop. He blushes and pushes back at me.
“My bad.”
I wave. “No, knock yourself out.” I raise a brow at Hec, who sighs exaggeratedly and logs into RangeWorld.
“Mack?” He looks up. “You have access.” Mack leaves the room immediately.
I nod at Les and we step into his bedroom and close the door.
“Opinion?” Les looks slightly worried.
“Yours first.”
Les glances back at the door. “He reminds me of you, primo.”
“Me?
“Yeah.” He turns back to me, a small smile on his face. “He’s you, the hood version. I think that’s why I like him so much.”
I close my eyes, trying to hold back a smile. “Explain.”
“He’s … honorable. No nonsense, no bullshit, all about family and his woman, even though she’s sent his ass around the block. Loves his boys and loyal to family. Smart and funny with damn good instincts, but a quick study.” Les shrugs. “He’s you without the restraint. He’s the you you would have been if you’d stayed in the gang.”
“I was thinking he’s you with restraint. All your strategists are like you in a way, but Mack has your manic energy.”
We stare at each other and smile. “Thanks, primo.” I pull him into a tight hug and feel him squeeze back.
“Always.”
We break apart and slap each other’s backs. “I still think Thomas is more like you, though.” Les snorts. “Who came up with Stan trips?”
Hmm. He may have a point.
We return and retake our places at the table. Mack’s back with his laptop and has dived in. He finally looks up when I sit. “Nah, this is a mess. If Tony wasn’t already gone, I’d kill him all over again. His growth rate is shit.” He pushes the laptop back and sighs. “Man, you’re gonna have problems when you go to renew because those people are gonna see ten and twelve percent and choke. If he’d been renewing at six and eight percent like he shoulda, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
“And how do you plan to handle that?” I ask. He freezes. Les and I raise a brow. “Job’s yours, remember?”
“Shit.” We laugh. Mack looks at me. “Yo, boss, I think it’s time for you to pull the suits and the cologne, son. I can’t charm ’em all on my own.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard.”
“Yo, I’m not the one. Not yet. Working on it, though.”
“Good.”
There’s a knock at the door and Jorge walks in. He’s trying to hide the fact that he’s terrified. I motion for him to take a seat and stare at him. He swallows hard and tries to even his breathing. He’s mentally telling himself to calm down, relax. A quick glance at Les and Mack and he puts his blank face in place. By the time he turns back to me, he’s calm but he’s picking at his fingers slyly.
Good. Now to rattle him.
—oOo—
I’m not sure I’d put him in the field, but in a boardroom?
Once we start talking business, I’m able to see who Jorge Ortega is and he’s a brilliant young businessman. I see what Les means. Time for him to start running classes. Mack is proof of his ability to teach what he knows and he did a damn good job. Jorge is the first person in this company that I’ve been able to talk strategy and long-range planning with besides the LC for years!
He has charts, graphs, projections, everything annotated, cross referenced, and memorized. According to this, based on current renewals and new business, RangeMan will hit billion dollar status by the end of next year with a 20% increase in staff. That’s what I’ve been estimating, so to see another projection that confirms my thinking? Best of all, Jorge also wants a restructure of the branch finances. I tell him I’m contemplating a quarterly bonus and he looks disappointed before suggesting, gingerly, that perhaps a separate salary table might be a better option.
Jorge Ortega was a good call. Good job, Babe. I glance over at Mack, who looks proud of Jorge.
Two good calls. Steph was on a roll!
Damn! Les has two of the best strategists in the company. Actually, he has Pat, Manny, Mack, and Jorge. No wonder his branches lead! He has all of the best strategists. I catch his eye.
You know you‘re definitely losing Mack, right? I’m thinking about taking Jorge too.
Les is nearly bouncing in the seat. NOOOO! Cheat! I found him! I‘m keeping him! Both of them!
Mi primo just cannot sit still!
Not a chance. You can‘t have all the best strategists!
Bobby is indignant. Hey, Chase is a great strategist! He‘s running two branches right now and they’re both growing!
Yes, he is but I mean, look at the embarrassment of riches Les has. Your RB is holding out on us!
I call for Ric, Tank joins in. Les loses Mack and we put more strategists in the pipeline. Ric, don‘t get greedy.
We hear a throat being cleared. Hec is smirking. “My ESP chip has gone missing,” he says in French. “Can I join in?”
“Jorge knows French,” Les replies.
We look at Jorge, whose eyes widen. “Restaurant French! I know how to order!”
“Combien d’années de français avez-vous étudié?” Bobby asks. (How many years of French did you study?)
“Trois. Peut-être quatre,” he replies. (Three. Maybe four.) We stare and he realizes what he did. “Basic phrases, sir! I don’t know much more than how to ask for food and a hospital.”
Hec groans. “I’ll ask Amazon to hurry with that chip.”
—oOo—
Jorge’s POV
I survived.
I survived!
Ranger Mañoso is scary as hell! He turned that stare on me and I was tempted, tempted, to turn around and leave, running at 100 mph! Having that man’s complete focus is unnerving. I started thinking of confessing, even though I have nothing to confess. I wonder how Mack handled that.
Mack looks calm, completely at ease in this room. Four legendary black-ops vets, one notorious gang banger, and he doesn’t look fazed at all. What’s the secret?
Lucia brought a snack and we’re stretching now, talking about what we see for NYC’s future growth. Mack excuses himself to check on his sons and I note that it’s time for me to call Annie, so we leave the room and head to our offices. Annie asks me if she can see her cousin Nia this weekend (‘of course, muñequita!’ I’m slipping the Spanish in slowly.) and walk back over to Mack’s office to wait for him.
Midi’s clearly started a long story about his day in first grade and Mack’s listening but impatient to get off the phone. “Yo, Midi, tell me when I pick you up, OK?” He listens. “No, we’ll see Mommy another day.” I roll my eyes. Mack’s loyalty to his ex is unreal. “OK. Look, obey Ms. Kass and Uncle Doobie, aigh? No back talk. Tell Med Daddy said no back talk.”
I laugh silently. Mack says the boys are starting to challenge him. Lucia told him they were testing boundaries, trying to see what Daddy will put up with that Mommy wouldn’t. Clearly, Mommy did not put up with back talk.
“Aigh. Love you too, son. I’ll see you soon.” Click. Mack sighs and turns to me. “Man, Midi wants to tell Daddy everything.”
I laugh. “That’s good, right?” I’m waiting on the day that Annie wants to tell me everything that happens to her at school.
“Not when I’m trying to get off the phone.” He stands and stretches. I’m tempted to mess with his numbers. “Yo, good to see you hold your ground with Ranger.”
I shudder. “Hold my ground? I was trying to survive.”
“That is holding your ground.”
“He do that to you?”
“Yeah.” He smiles. “You know how you always tell me that fuckers on Wall Street shit on the pot like me?”
Yeah. The only time I see Mack get nervous is when we have the executive types I used to work with. He gets nervous about his language, his voice, and his ‘swagger’ goes out of the window. I keep telling him: they shit sitting on the pot just like you do. Fuck ’em. If they aren’t listening to the message, keep it moving.
Mack’s different. He doesn’t want the message to get ignored just because he doesn’t sound ‘right’. Studying for the GED helped because Mack’s a sponge; the grammar and language lessons we gave him to help him prep have already changed his vocab slightly. He doesn’t sound so intensely ‘hood’ anymore.
I’m determined to get him there before he leaves because once he gets to Miami, it’s just him. His shop. He’s gotta run it like a boss and he can’t be intimidated by anyone.
I groan. Answered my own question.
Mack laughs. “Exactly, son. You’re in leadership. I used to do that to my boys on the block. You got backbone or not? You recognize power and authority or you think you can take me? He did me worse than he did you because I’m supposed to go to Miami. He definitely checked me. You? He wanted to see what kinda backbone the money man had.” Mack hits the lights and we walk out of his office. “Once you started talking business, he listened to see what you know. You impressed.” We hit the stairwell back to Les’s apartment and stop outside. Mack turns to me.
“Be careful. You nearly talked yourself into a new job.”
“Doing what?” I have enough on my plate.
“Hell if I know, but from the looks the LC was passing, Ranger was trying to snatch you for Miami too! That’s why Les looked pissed!”
—oOo—
Steph’s POV
The NYC men are buzzing about the review. They’re excited and the rumor goes that Ranger is in the building. The night staff swears they saw him hanging Les out of that window with Tank, but the day guys are dismissing it.
Rumors about Ranger are common, they claim. They’ll believe it when they see it. Javi smiles. That’s what he likes to hear.
I’m standing with Drake, trying to get to know him, when Mack and Jorge hit the floor. I know, without turning around, that Ranger is with them. Conversations stop, men freeze mid-step, and everyone stares in my direction.
“Javier.” Ranger stops beside me and squeezes my hand before letting go. “Mind showing me the floor?”
“Sure.” Javi starts a tour of the floor. Everyone is still watching us. Ranger stops and turns back to me, the corners of his mouth twitching, so I wave goodbye to Drake and walk to Ranger’s side. He takes my hand and squeezes it again before dropping it. Javi starts walking and I take out a notepad in case Ranger wants to note something.
“Yo, the hustle don’t stop cuz management is here!” Mack yells. “We gotta hold the crown to the end of the year! Get on it!”
Doobie snorts. “Yo, Mack’s right. Huddle up! Trenton can kiss my ass. Joe, who’s skipping this week?”
We pass and he winks at me. I wiggle my fingers at him and let Tank take my spot next to Ranger. Bobby’s looked … pensive most of the afternoon.
“You OK?”
“Yeah,” he mumbles. “Why?”
“You don’t look your normal, happy self.”
“It happens.”
“OK. Well, I was hoping for your help.”
“Mine?” He looks intrigued.
“Yeah. Hec told me you were the best person to help me.” Actually, he didn’t, but I need to talk to Bobby. “I need help putting Ranger’s Christmas present together.”
“Ah!” He smiles. “Yeah, makes sense. OK, what’s up?”
“Let’s go and I’ll tell you.”
—oOo—
Bobby steals the keys to Les’s Corvette and we head out. “So, what’s up, Bomber?” he says, turning on the heat and adjusting Les’s mirrors. Les doesn’t keep many cars at RM-NYC. One Corvette and a BMW. That’s it.
“How angry is Les with me?”
“Why?”
“Because … we haven’t talked since I left San Antonio.” His invitation for me to join everyone for lunch was the first time he’s spoken to me in weeks. I was shocked. It was … normal Les.
“He ducking your calls?”
“No.”
“You called him?”
I squirm. Bobby’s quiet. “So you’re not calling him, he’s not calling you, and you want to know if he’s angry?” Bobby lifts a brow.
OK, put like that … “Les always called me! At least once a week.”
“Try calling him if you want to talk to him.”
“You guys are busy. Every time I tried calling him before, he couldn’t talk.”
“But he always called you back the moment he was free. So how many more excuses do you have?”
My face flames and I shut up. We drive in silence for a few blocks.
“Look, you wanna talk to Les? Just talk to him and leave me out of this. It’s your friendship with him. Ask him these questions.” He snorts. “Treat Les like a skip.” His lips twitch as if he’s laughing at that thought.
“In that case, I won’t catch him until April next year,” I mumble.
“Use a rake.” Bobby really looks as if he’s holding back a laugh. I see him look at me out of the side of his eye and we both laugh. “C’mon Steph. You aren’t incapable.”
“You thought I was.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No, I never thought you incapable. I got sick of watching you get hurt. That pissed me off. I knew you could do better.”
I’m annoyed. “No one ever thought to ask me what I wanted.”
“Bomber, you want us to rewrite history all over?” Bobby asks, annoyed. “Because I’ll tell you now, I didn’t want to bother.”
I freeze. “What?”
“I didn’t want to bother,” he says slowly, as if talking to a particularly slow child. “You’ve never shown the slightest bit of interest in changing your life in any way and, honestly, if you were happy, I saw no reason to interfere.”
There’s something about Bobby’s statement that both makes me feel better and hurts me deeply. “So why?”
Bobby slows up to avoid the idiot driver trying to speed through a yellow light. “Because I do care about your life. I do care that you keep getting hurt and I was sick of that.”
The atmosphere in the car is tense. Bobby’s barely breathing and is shifting gears a little more aggressively. I’m trying not to fidget, to do the RangeMan pose the guys have perfected.
“Again, there are people in the world who care about your life, Bomber.” Bobby’s voice is quiet and even. He’s calmed down. “I’m one of them. I’m sorry you were hurt by our interference but you had a broken leg. I didn’t want the next accident to be the one to completely change your life.”
Same apology as before. Time to change the subject. “I want to get Ranger a shave kit.”
We’re almost at the bridge to Manhattan, but Bobby pulls over abruptly. “Shave kit?”
“Hairy Carlos needs a bit more than a normal razor, I think.”
He snorts. “Yeah. He had to use my shave kit to remove that.”
“You have one?” That’s a relief.
“And I know the perfect place to go.”
He pulls back onto the road after considering it for a moment and we pull up outside a gritty looking building in lower Manhattan. We walk in and it’s like being transported back at least 100 years. The entire store is covered in wood paneling and has the smell of peppermint and something I can’t identify, like baby powder. It’s the sort of place men congregate in to smoke cigars and read the newspaper.
Which mobster was the one shot in a barber’s chair? This is the kind of place that makes you think about that.
The barber closest to the door nods at me and beams at Bobby. “Robert! Back to stock up?”
“Yes. I’m out of powder and Steph here needs to make a shave kit for Ranger.” Bobby grabs two wire baskets and hands me one. I take it, unsure of what to buy.
He nods. “Angelo! Help the lady. No, Robert knows what he needs. You want some help, miss?”
I love him. “Yes, please.” Angelo walks over and walks me through putting a shave case together for Ranger, with Bobby giving me a yay or nay on certain items as he grabs what he needs. On a whim, I put one together for Dad.
“You think he’ll like this?”
Bobby smiles, the kind of smile I used to get from Bobby. “He’ll love it, Steph.” He taps his chin. “Do you think Hec will like one? Yeah, he’ll like one. He’s fastidious.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hec shave.”
“He does.” Bobby’s eyes scan the shelves, picking items off. “Hec shaves every morning and again if he goes out at night. He’s a hairy little bastard.”
Hmm … the things about men you just don’t know. I never realized Ranger shaved every morning until I watched him during the ‘Cold War’. Every morning, no matter how little stubble he had, he shaved. “Army” was his response when I asked.
I didn’t want to, but I thought of Joe as I was picking stuff out. Joe had a five o’clock shadow an hour after he shaved and this is the sort of place Joe needs to spend time in. They’re serious about the ‘art’ of the shave. I doubt Joe could afford anything in here, though.
We pay and walk out. “Where now?” he asks, turning the car on.
I shrug. “That’s all I wanted.”
Bobby nods and pulls out into traffic. “So, what are your plans for Christmas?” He looks over when I don’t answer. “Steph?”
“I don’t know. Miami, I guess. Julie’s coming over.”
“Really?”
“Day after and she’s staying for a week.”
“Great.” He beams. “Ric’ll love that.”
“Yeah. He’s excited. What about you?”
“Endless society parties in Atlanta.” He grimaces. “The family Christmas is always great but the parties are a trial.”
“And after?”
“Some much needed vacation.”
“How long are you going to be away?”
“At least a month,” Bobby says. “Maybe two.”
A month or two? “I thought Les was coming to Miami.”
“He will. Eventually.”
I pull my cell phone and text a quick message.
Effective 12/18. Be in NYC by 0800.
