AGAINST THE WIND (Book Two of The Miami Crime Trilogy) Read Online Free Page B

this
advantage.
    As they approached each other, Desi got a better look at him. He saw
right away the guy was about six feet tall, black, bald, and built wide, with a
neatly-trimmed goatee around his wide mouth. He wore a red Busta Rhymes
T-shirt, a bulge clearly visible under the shirt on the right side of his
waist. He also appeared to be in excellent shape, with thick biceps stretching
the short sleeves of his T-shirt. Desi also made him to be older, like maybe
middle twenties. No kid.
    "Where Desi at?" he said in a deep voice that made Desi
uncomfortable. Desi made it as a Caribbean accent, probably Jamaican.
    "I'm Desi. Er — Desi Junior. My Dad couldn't make it. I'm here
instead."
    The big man chuckled. "You late, Junior."
    "Big accident on I-95 near 36th Street. Sorry, couldn't be helped.
You Bebop?"
    "Yeah. Who de girl? You Cubans runnin' wid girls now?"
    Desi was already standing ramrod-straight, but he somehow managed to
stand a shade more erect. "Don't worry about her," he said. "She
knows what time it is."
    "Ha! I bet she do. You got de goods?"
    Desi kept his cool and said, "You got the money?"
    Without taking his eyes off Desi and Alicia, he hand-signaled one of his
boys behind him, who moved up with a briefcase of his own. He opened it,
showing banded packets of hundreds. Desi nodded to Alicia, who opened their
briefcase containing two kilo-sized packets of white powder. Bebop looked it
over, then reached a hand into his pocket. Desi flinched, only a little, but he
saw it register in the big man's eyes.
    "Easy, Junior," Bebop said with a smile. "Just gonna look
at de merchandise."
    Bebop's hand came out with a knife handle. One loud flick and the long
blade appeared, shiny and corrugated, designed for maximum damage, glistening
in the Durango's headlamps. Desi hoped Alicia stood ready to draw her monster
revolver at a moment's notice. He noticed she held the briefcase with her left
hand, the open lid resting against her body. Her right hand was free.
    Bebop lifted one of the packets partway out of the briefcase and sliced
it open, about an inch-long cut. Ladling out a tiny amount of the powder on the
tip of his knife, he turned to one of his associates who was waiting with a
small vial filled with clear liquid. The powder went into the vial, and after a
little shaking, he held it up to Desi's headlights. It had turned a deep
reddish-brown.
    "Yeahhh. Dat what I'm talkin' 'bout, mahn," he said to his
partner. Then to Desi, "Dis be good shit."
    "Damn right it is," Desi said, not sure what his answer should
have been, or if he should have answered at all. He decided in the future, when
in doubt, shut the fuck up.
    Bebop threw his partner a head signal and they passed the money to Desi,
who handed the coke over. He dutifully removed one of the money packets,
flipped through it to make sure they were all hundreds, and put it back,
snapping the briefcase shut. Everyone nodded at each other and backed away
toward their respective SUVs. Desi was surprised at how Alicia expertly backed
the Durango around and exited the property.
    They hustled back to 62nd Street, a chancy-looking thoroughfare running
through Liberty City, and made their way back to I-95 in a hurry. Once they
were safely on the Interstate, they both exhaled and started whooping and
high-fiving. Amid all the excitement of having completed their first major drug
deal, they made sure to tell each other how confident they were the whole time,
how they weren't afraid of those niggers. Bebop's intimidating presence, the
headlights, the fact they were outnumbered three to two, the flick of the
switchblade — the whole thing. None of it bothered them, they said. You just got to stay cool . And baby, we were cool!
    Twenty minutes later, they drove down Panama Way by the warehouse near
the port. Desi Sr's red Escalade waited under a bright security light hung from
the side of the building. Desi Jr and Alicia drove up next to it and got out.
Dad stayed in his