“What's wrong with the car?” Carmen inquired, just to be polite.
“It needs a new fuel injector. And that bitch costs and I ain't got no job.”
“I can understand that, Ms. Morgan,” Marcus sympathized. “Maybe there's some things that we can do to help you out.” Marcus reached in his wallet and handed Patty a card. “That's the number of my mechanic, his name is Bradley. Why don't you give him a call and make an appointment to bring your car in. Tell him to fix everything that's wrong with it. Tell him I said to put it on my account. And you can call my secretary tomorrow, she might be able to put you onto a job.”
“Can I call Bradley right now?”
“Sure.”
Patty went and got the cordless phone to call Bradley. He and Patty sorted out all the details, then Patty put Marcus on the phone, and he verified that he would pay for the repairs. Once all that was settled Patty agreed to talk to them. “So what do you want to know about James and Rasheed?”
“Like I said, tell me about the drugs,” Marcus said firmly.
“Whenever James got female clients, Rasheed did them. James knew Rasheed was on the rock, so when he paid him, it was always with money and drugs. Most times Rasheed wanted the whole thing in caine.” Patty looked at Carmen. “You sure you wanna hear this, honey? Because ain't no way to sugar coat this stuff.”
Carmen nodded her head.
“He said once he met your sister he didn't need money.”
Carmen frowned and dropped her head. “Seemed like a good arrangement, what went wrong?”
“After a while, clients didn't want Rasheed. Said he wasn't worth the price. Said he was fine through dinner or whatever, but in the bedroom, he was spending too much time in the bathroom getting high. And when he would come out, half the time he couldn't get it up. James couldn't have that. He would go along with anything as long as it didn't cost him money. So James flipped the script. He'd let him have some on credit. Told Rasheed it was only because he liked him, but all he was doing was obligating him. Ya see, James had male clients who wanted to fuck men. He figured Rasheed would do it, as long as he could get high. Because shit, you ain't gotta keep it up to get fucked in the ass. Getting high first would probably make it easier to take and after a while he wouldn't care. But Rasheed couldn't do it. He was alright the first time,” Patty laughed. “Guy was mad that Rasheed wouldn't blow him, but hey, as long as he paid the bill James didn't give a fuck. But on the next one, Rasheed made up some excuse about the guy hurting him, on account of he was so big and all, and Rasheed left. So naturally the guy didn't pay, and naturally that pissed James off. He went to his apartment and roughed Rasheed up a little. Not bad, just enough to let him know that shit wasn't cool. So James sets him up again, this was a couple of weeks before he was killed, and this time, Rasheed is a no show. James lost his mind, because by now Rasheed is losing him business. And he's into him for about ten grand. He went looking for him but he couldn't find him anywhere. He went looking for your sister a few times, but I don't think he found her either.”
“Do you know if he ever found him?” Marcus asked.
“If you’re asking me if I think James killed him, I don't know.”
“Could he have done it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Was Martin capable of killing somebody over money?”
“Sure, James was capable. He didn't like getting fucked over like that. Shit like that is bad for business. Word gets around that your boys can't put out and you're out of business. James wasn't having that.”
“Do you remember where James was the night of the murder?”
“I don't know where he was. I hadn't seen him for a couple of days and I remember thinking that James did it when I first heard it on the news. But then they arrested Rollie for it.”
“Rollie?” Carmen questioned.
“Your brother-in-law,” Patty said looking at Carmen like she was stupid.
“You know Ferguson?” Marcus asked.
“Rollie used to be a good client for years before he married her sister.”
“Male or female?” Marcus asked.
“Females only. Rollie was harmless though, most times he just wanted them to go places with him. Parties, banquets; that type a shit. Half the time he wouldn't even fuck them. Just wanted to see 'hem naked, watch them dance. But like I said, all that stopped when he got married.”
“So Roland was a client,” Carmen said to Marcus, confirming Desireé's suspicions.
“You'd be surprised at some of who James had as clients. Some of the richest and most powerful people in this town were clients of his.”
“What about Bill Hudson, was he a client?” Marcus asked.
“Yeah, that shit eating bastard was a client for years,” Patty laughed. “One of our best. That boy is a world class freak.” Patty lit a cigarette. “Used to like them two and three at a time. Take them out of town with him on his business trips. That's what cost him his wife.” Patty leaned forward in her chair. Now seemingly anxious to tell all she knew. “He's out in LA with a couple a girls and his wife shows up at the door with the police and a photographer.”