Beyond The Broken Glass3: Finally Mended [complete]

19.) Bonus Chapter: Master Of My Fate

There wasn't shit here. And I mean nothing. It was all trashed from the last time I had been here. Nothing has changed. The parlor still contained all the alcohol. The office was still the office except, it wasn't. The papers that were thrown about the last time I came here were gone. Like they was never there in the first place. I checked through the drawer hoping to find a secret compartment. There wasn't one.

"Fuck man." I hissed as I met my end. "How the fuck am I supposed to do shit and I can't find shit!"

My voice echoed through the empty room, I stood up and went to the window, and then I turned to face the room itself. Ralph is smart if he was to hide something he'd never hide it from the view of the door he'd hide it at another angle.

But that was just it. Nothing jumped out at me. Nothing screamed, "look here". I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples.

"You won't find it here." I heard and on instinct, I reached my hand behind my back. The man standing in the doorway froze. "Woah there, tiger! Calm down. I don't mean no harm."

"Who the fuck is you?" I asked as I kept my hand on the handle of my gun. He ain't look related to Ralph, from what I could see of him, nor did he look like anyone Ralph hung around. He had his cap pulled all the way down over his eyebrows, he was short but his limbs were long.

"You don't remember me?"

"Hell no? And if you wanna walk out this bitch like you walked in here you betta start telling me something." I warned him.

"It's me." He said pushing the cap up and then his face came back into my memory. "Ammon."

"Shit, man—you almost got shot," I told him as we both cracked smiles. Ammon was in charge of The Belladonna, he even doubled his work with Ralph for a bit. He helped me mostly when Ray and his team came to take Bri.

"I didn't mean to startle you." He said holding his cap with both hands now.

"What you doing here?"

"I came to get something, but unfortunately I think our counterparts have already found it."

"We looking for the same thing?"

"Depends. What are you looking for?"

"Some documents from my pops about that strip he purchased in 87."

"Then we indeed are looking for the same thing." He nodded once. His eyebrows knitted together as he scanned the room. From floor to ceiling, wall to wall.

"What do you plan on doing with it?" He asked, breaking the silence. I ain't really get to think that far ahead.

"I don't know yet."

"Did he ever tell you what the strip was meant for?"

"Yeah. For importing and exporting."

"Yeah. Sure for his use, but when it was to be passed down to you it was meant to be a place of community. He was going to turn that strip into youth centers, health centers, and then he planned on buying some of the buildings in that area and to rent them out to low-income families."

"How do you know all this?" I asked folding my arms over my chest. He sighed loudly and scratched his eyebrow.

"I used to run with your pops back in the day. He was a good man." He nodded. I'm guessing as he was recalling fond memories. "There was never a time when I was in need that he didn't pull through for me."