“Whatever Darius offers, take it, save face and get off the street.”
Hmm.
I was thinking these boys weren’t big fans of The Law.
I decided not to answer.
“You have a good reputation for the work you do. People respect you and have for a long time. Until this,” Hank said, standing in front of me. “It’s understandable. You work hard to keep these kids clean, when one of them goes down you want to do something. But Jules, you’re goin’ about it the wrong way.”
Okay, so even though Hank was being nice, I figured it was time to be rude.
“Thanks for the advice but you don’t know what the f**k you’re talking about,” I said to Hank.
“We’re both Vice,” Eddie told me.
“I know what you are,” I replied.
“That means we do know what we’re talkin’ about,” Hank said.
“I know what Vice is,” I turned back to Hank.
“It’s about the kids,” Eddie murmured to Hank.
“Yeah,” I said to Eddie, my voice was low and serious and not to be mistaken, “it’s about the kids.”
Eddie just looked at me, unaffected by my-word-is-law tone.
“Maybe you should know Lee’s on his own with this one. Darius wants you off the streets and so do I,” Eddie said. “I don’t agree with Lee and if I see you on the streets, f**kin’ around where you shouldn’t be, I’ll take you down.”
The way he said it made me think this wasn’t an idle threat. Now I had the dealers and the cops actively against me. This wasn’t surprising but it was annoying.
I didn’t respond.
“You get caught, taken in, it could mean you lose your job,” Hank told me.
“I’ll take my chances,” I returned.
“We bring you down, we’ll go after Zip, Heavy and Frank next. They should know better than encourage you to put your ass out there,” Hank went on.
Damn, Vance had been talking.
Now I was beginning to get mad. “Zip, Heavy and Frank don’t want me out there. They can’t control me any more than Crowe can. They’re just giving me the knowledge to keep me from getting hurt.”
“They don’t have that much knowledge,” Hank returned, his voice and eyes hard.
Before I could reply, Eddie leaned in. “Something else, Law. You get Jet involved in any of this shit, she, or any of them, gets caught up or put in danger –”
“Back off, Chavez,” my patience was waning, “they came to me. I’m not recruiting. This is a one woman deal.”
“This shit spreads,” Eddie warned.
“I’d sooner gnaw off my own goddamned arm than see Jet or Indy or Roxie or any of them, get hurt,” I told the boys.
And to my surprise, I meant it and the looks on their faces told me they believed me.
Finally.
“They’re planning a birthday party not a vigilante drug war,” I continued.