Free Cry Revenge by Donald Goines Page A

Emilio said as Dan walked back toward the parked car where Tony and William waited. He walked around to the driver's side and motioned for William to roll down the window.

    "Hey, Will," he began, "that's the Mex back there standin' beside his ride. He's thinkin' about ridin' off. He said fuck the deal. He didn't know there was going to be another stud in on it. He thought it was going to be just me and you, you dig?"
    William glanced at his partner. "Fuck that shit," Tony began, "I don't want to see my money go out of my sight!"
    Dan straightened up and shrugged his shoulders. "Okay then, Will, I'll tell the guy it's off. I doubt if we'll ever be able to get him to bring this much dope across town again. You know what I mean? It was almost too much for him to handle anyway, but he managed to get it up, now we go to Nut City on him 'cause we won't go along with his order that he don't want to meet a bunch of people at once. One person at a time is enough for him, and I don't blame him." Dan acted as if he was about to turn and leave. "I don't need no ride back; I'm going to ride with my man back there. That new hog of his is mellow, and besides, he might just break one of his packages open on the ride."
    "Wait a minute," Will said, this time not bothering to look at his partner. "Maybe we can still work something out. You said he will meet me, didn't you?"
    "Sure," Dan said quickly.
    "Okay, okay then, let's go," William said and opened his car door.

    Tony glared at his back. He didn't want to force himself on them because he might blow the buy. He felt the pistol in his shoulder holster. At least they wouldn't be out of sight. He reached up and adjusted the mirror on his sun visor so that he could see the three men without turning his head.
    As the two men approached Emilio, Emilio removed himself from the fender of the car and met them on the sidewalk.
    "Hey, Rico," Dan said, speaking to Emilio. "This is Will. I been coppin' for him for the past month. The guy is cool. We done shot up together five or six times. Ain't no funnies about him; he's a real dopefiend."
    Emilio nodded his head as a greeting. "Hey, man, ain't nothin' went the way it was supposed to have gone, Dan. What the fuck is that other stud doing in the car, huh? Wasn't nothing said about bringin' another guy around, man. I don't like strange shit like that, you know what I mean? I'd rather freeze on the sale."
    "Hey, amigo," Dan began, "now don't you nut out on me. I'm tryin' to make everybody happy." He glanced seriously at Will.
    "Who's got the bread?" Emilio said sharply, taking Will by surprise.
    "Why, oh, I have," Will answered shortly.
    Emilio grunted, then removed the package from his inside pocket. He held it in his hand until Will pulled his wallet out. Both men were silent while Will extracted the bills from the wallet. Before he could count them out, Emilio turned on his heel and walked toward the front door of the apartment building. He stopped and turned around. "Hey, man, I don't want to take nothing out of your hand. I don't know if your friend is takin' pictures of us or what. I just know he can't seem to stay still in the car seat from twisting around trying to see what we're doing!"

    "Hey, man," William said, helping his partner, "he's just worried about his end, that's all. You know, you can't put bread in everybody's hands, man, without gettin' burned."
    "Shit!" Emilio cursed, "I'm used to selling kilos, not bullshit like this!" Emilio hesitated, then added, "You walk over to the side of the house and put the money down in the grass, then I'm going to lay your package down here beside the stairway. That way, ain't nobody did nothing, you dig?"
    Will didn't like it, but he had to go along with it. If Tony moved fast enough, once Rico picked up the money, they could still make the arrest. Will walked over and placed the money on the grass. He watched Rico place the white envelope beside the stairway, then walk toward him.
    As Rico