“I know that, Bobby.”
“Carmen is beautiful.”
“I know that, too.”
“That’s why I never understood what she saw in you.”
We both laughed.
“Carmen is something special. She has a classic model look, carriage and poise,” Bobby said repeating what I told him Calvin said to me.
“I know, Bobby.”
“And with a lot of hard work, Carmen has the potential to be big in the fashion industry.”
“Bobby!” I shouted.
“What?”
“Stop trying to make me feel better.”
Bobby stopped talking and drove quietly for a change, but it didn’t last. We had stopped at a red light and just before the light was about to change, Bobby turned to me.
“You love that girl, Mike. That’s why you had to break her heart,” he said, then the light turned green and he drove off.
“Shut up, Bobby!”
He drove to Henderson’s gambling house in silence, which was and wasn’t good for me. It forced me to think and I didn’t want to think, not about Carmen Taylor. But I did think about her. And since we left Nick and Jamaica, we had to sit and wait. It didn’t take long for me to have enough of that.
“Come on,” I said and got out of the car. Bobby got out and hustled to catch up as I walked toward Henderson’s spot.
“You don’t wanna wait for Nick and Jamaica?”
“We’ll be inside when they get here,” I said, and I kept walking toward the building.
Then I stopped and faced Bobby.
“And you’re wrong. I am not in love with Carmen,” I told him in no uncertain terms, because I wasn’t and we went inside.
We talked shit with the doorman for a while and then we went in. When it got suddenly quiet in there, I knew that everybody in there had heard about Emmet. And then, just as suddenly, the buzz was back.
“What’s up, Black,” I heard some woman say.
“Yo, baby, what’s up,” I said, and kept moving toward the bar.
When I g
ot to the bar and the bartender served us our drinks, I looked around and saw Drew standing by the stairs that led down to the gambling room. I nodded at him and he returned the gesture.
When I turned back, I saw Henderson and his long time bodyguard, Pistol Pete coming toward us. When I looked back, I noticed that Drew was gone.
“Here he comes,” Bobby said.
“I see him.”
“He doesn’t look happy.” We shot our drinks.
“He’ll feel much better about it soon. I promise.”