Esteban, Ready to Risk It All

Chapter 4 ~ Welcome Home

It's been almost two weeks since I've seen Remi-Blu. We had plans to have dinner together for my birthday but that afternoon she called to let me know she had to go out of town to handle some unexpected business.

I don't know what type of business because of all the things we discussed we didn't share what we do for a living. Since that phone call I have not spoken or seen her, other than her responding to a couple of texts, I haven't been able to catch up with her.

"Say man, you need to go out and loosen up, find a cute lil thing and work that tension out." Carlos ,my second in command, the one who helps me make decisions about our organization gave me that young ass advice and meant it.

"Lo, pussy is not going to ease my tension because I am not tense." My tone would indicate otherwise but I'll be damned if I admit I am tight over any woman.

"Okay man, whatever are you attending the meeting?"

"Yes"

"Good let's ride" We drove in complete silence until we reached our destination "The Office", Gentlemen's Club. The Office opened a year after I went away and it was strictly a members only club ,you had to be thoroughly vetted to even enter the building.

"This isn't our usual spot, why is the meeting being held here? " I asked Lo

"The Zador uses this space for meetings when all crews will be present, the security is tighter than Fort Knox." Lo explained.

In our business we had complete trust in The Zador, to hold that title you had to be highly respected, trustworthy and remain neutral at all times. We hadn't had a Zador in Miami since the late 1980's, the Zador at that time had been in place for over twenty years and at the height of the Cocaine wars disappeared.

I was not surprised no one had stepped up to fill the spot. Based on the urban legend of all things that could have happened the position remained open.

From what I heard the current Zador reached out to all the crews on the East Coast to see if they would be interested in returning to a version of the traditional system.

The current Zador was a classy and intelligent guy and well respected. I hadn't met him personally but I attended the first East Coast Parlay which happened because of his influence.

"Will The Zador be here tonight?" I asked Lo.

"Possibly"

Lo and I went through the security check, and relinquished our weapons. Being in a confined space with some of the most ruthless men on the East Coast, unarmed, made me uneasy. Then we were escorted to a secure elevator and escorted into the meeting.

"Nice to see you could join us" Dante greets us as we step into the room. I see that Lo and I are the last ones to arrive. Per regulation the meeting cannot begin until all crews are represented.

I look at my watch " And we joined you early". I responded it was 11:00 pm and the official start time was 12:00 midnight. But Dante wouldn't be him if he didn't try and shine.

At midnight the meeting began. To my surprise tonight's Facilitator was a gorgeous woman, I turned to look at Lo and he raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Things sure have changed. The woman stood at least six feet tall , her body was covered in a short fitted white dress. She had a sun kissed complexion of golden brown, and her black hair was very short.

"Good evening Associates, My name is Merci and I am tonight's Facilitator" her Jamaican accent added to the allure and she had the room's full attention. The meeting progressed without any problems, there had been a few changes and some of the crews had new leadership.