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  Scott stood up and nodded to the guard. He was done talking. Either Bugsy killed Maxine or he’d suffer for disobeying the chief’s command.

  37

  Maxine opened her legs and placed her heels in the metal stirrups for the OB/GYN. Dressed in a pink gown, she was nervous. She’d made an appointment to see the doctor the next day. She prayed Scott was wrong, but he rarely was. What made him so dangerous was his ability to know if you were lying to him or not, and how he picked up on body language and signals. He was subtle with it. He watched Maxine’s every move like a hawk and was able to pick up on the slightest change. It’s how he advanced in the underworld and became a multi-millionaire—studying, watching for anything out of the ordinary, and knowing who was and was not nervous around him. Maxine had screwed up.

  When the examination was over, her physician drew blood and had her pee in a cup. It was confirmed by the doctor that she was five weeks pregnant. Maxine was stunned. She was definitely carrying Bugsy’s baby. She was over forty years old, and it was her first pregnancy.

  “It doesn’t happen commonly with women of your age,” said the physician. “Congratulations!”

  Congratulations? Maxine wanted to smack the taste out of her mouth. Her mood was far from celebratory.

  The physician explained the risks of being pregnant in her forties, such as high blood pressure and gestational diabetes and how the odds of genetic problems jumped higher after forty. But Maxine didn’t care for any of that right now. Her biggest risk was Scott and losing her life.

  What a tangled web we weave, she thought.

  What was she going to do? She couldn’t very well tell Scott that the baby was his. It wouldn’t add up, and Scott wasn’t going to fall for any okey-doke. Shit, he’d figured out that she was pregnant before she had. She needed to tell Bugsy, but she didn’t know how to approach him. How was he was going to take the news?

  That evening, Maxine arrived home with butterflies swimming in her stomach. It all felt surreal. She had the option of an abortion, but she’d always wanted kids, and in the beginning, she wanted to have them with Scott. But times had changed. She was in love with Bugsy. But every step she took felt like it was going to be her last. She was nervous and scared. She didn’t feel protected any longer.

  Maxine stepped off the elevator onto the carpeted hallway and slowly walked toward her suite. It felt quiet and still in her building. She knew if Scott wanted her dead, she wouldn’t see it coming. Leave town, she thought. But with what money? Wacka took nearly everything from her.

  She entered her apartment and turned on the lights, only to be startled by Bugsy’s presence in her living room. He sat composedly in a chair with his eyes fixed on her. Maxine could feel her heart in her throat.

  “Ohmygod, Bugsy, you scared the shit out of me. Why are you here?”

  “You’re pregnant?” he asked nonchalantly.

  She didn’t answer him right away, but locked eyes with him and knew that the shit had hit the fan.

  “You went to see your father?” she said.

  “Today, and he gave me the order to have you killed,” he said. “He warned me sternly not to disobey him, or he’s gonna fuck me up.”

  Maxine stood in the center of her living room like a tree, her feet rooted to the floor. “Are you here to kill me?”

  Bugsy stood up from the chair. Suddenly his presence inside her home was frightening. The look in his eyes seemed unpleasant and deadly. Gone were his warm, pleasant mannerisms toward her. She’d heard the horror stories about him and she didn’t want to experience them personally. He stepped closer. Maxine reacted fearfully by stepping away from him.

  He said, “No, I’m not here to kill you.”

  Could she believe him? She didn’t know, but she didn’t feel reassured by his words.

  “Your father knows already, so how we gonna play this out?” she asked him. “He wants me dead.”

  He looked prudent in front of her. He was a smart man, always with a plan, but this was proving to be his most difficult situation.

  He said, “We gotta convince him somehow that you’re not pregnant.”

  “But I am—five weeks.”

  He stared at her and sighed. He was thinking. She could tell by the look in his eyes he didn’t want to kill her. Maxine felt Bugsy loved her. If he didn’t, she knew that she would’ve been dead the moment she stepped into the apartment.

  He looked at her as if he had an idea. Maxine read his mind, saw the look in his eyes, and she immediately was against it.

  “I’m not having an abortion, Bugsy. I can’t. I know this is dangerous for the both of us, but this is my first pregnancy and I’m in love with you. I want to have your baby,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears.

  He didn’t argue with her. It was his first baby too.

  Maxine didn’t have any family left and half her life was gone. She wanted this baby. In fact, she was willing to risk her life for her baby. Out of the blue, she started to feel these motherly instincts. She had been robbed of everything and a baby would change it all. If Bugsy loved her like he said he did, and then he would ride or die with her.

  “I love you, Bugsy. I do. I want to have your son,” she said.

  He looked at her and said, “You think it’s a boy?”

  She nodded. “I think so. I can sense him growing.”

  Bugsy managed to smile. Maxine lifted her shirt to reveal her belly. It was still flat and unchanged, but that was going to change soon. She motioned for Bugsy to come place his hand on her stomach. It was still too early to feel any movement, but Bugsy placed the palm of his hand against her belly and what he felt was life inside of her.

  Maxine looked at him. Bugsy was everything she wanted in a man, though he was much younger than her. She saw something in him that Scott used to be a very long time ago.

  She said, “Let’s tell him together then. I’m ready.”

  She all of a sudden found the courage in herself to confront Scott and everything else. Maxine had come this far in life and she planned on going further, but she needed Bugsy’s help. She was a survivor by any means necessary. Bugsy and this pregnancy was her opportunity to not just survive, but to last in lavishness and have a secure future.

  “That’s a death sentence, Maxine. My father will kill us both.”

  “It doesn’t have to be, baby. Think about it. Do you realize the power you have, Bugsy? These men out here, they respect you and they will follow you into hell. You’re smart and you’re loyal. Your parents are locked away and the chances of them seeing freedom again are slim. You’re the one holding down this organization. You did the grunt work. You got your hands dirty for your family, and you have the connections, the power, the money, and the manpower to do whatever you want. Your father’s withering away inside a jail cell using only his intimidation tactics to keep control over you. Do you want to be under his thumb forever?”

  Maxine was planting the seed into his head. Now it was up to him to make it grow and bear fruit.

  “We can become a family, baby. We can become everything that your parents weren’t. We can run this city,” she added on.

  She was intimately close to him. She looked at him with ability showing in her eyes and skillfulness and encouragement in her words. This was a man who could run a Fortune 500 company with his intelligence and wit, and he emulated Michael Corleone of The Godfather with his mild mannerisms but lethal way of thinking.

  “It’s your time, baby. Take advantage of it,” she said.

  The look he had revealed to Maxine that he was pondering the idea. Go against his father, the man that taught him everything, who he loved and respected, and who raised him? However, times were changing, and Scott wasn’t making wise choices, and Bugsy felt that he was doing all the grunt work. He was taking a lot more risks.

  “It is my time, right?” he said.
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  She nodded and smiled. She kissed him passionately, and the night ended with them making love. With each deep penetration, Bugsy felt her twitch around his dick, the sensation beyond arousing. He felt the suction of her tight, wet tunnel and it was quickly milking an intense nut from him. When he came, he moaned and held Maxine closely in his arms. She was soft and assuring. She was carrying his child, and he wasn’t about to let anything happen to her.

  A brand new day was coming, and there was a changing of the guards on the horizon.

  38

  The guard announced that he had visitors—plural—but Scott was in no mood to see anyone. Since he found out about the pregnancy, Scott had been in such a foul and angry mood that he was ready to ignite and explode like TNT. His woman pregnant by some other nigga, it was a troublesome and disturbing thought and he couldn’t shake it. He felt anger, but he felt hurt and pain. He sat inside a jail facing the federal government, and Maxine was out there spreading her legs and taking advantage of his situation.

  She got pregnant by someone else, and there was no forgiving that.

  It had been a week since the visit with Bugsy, and still no word about Maxine. So he figured that she was still alive. He worried that his son may have gone rogue and defied his orders. If so, Scott feared things were going to get really ugly.

  “Who came to see me?” he asked the guard.

  The guard shrugged. “Don’t know, just peoples. Just doing my job.”

  “What ever happened to CO Mahan? I haven’t seen him lately.”

  “He quit a few weeks ago,” the guard said.

  Scott had his doubts about the guard. He’d turned down money for the cell phone, a clear indication that something was off. He figured Mahan was a plant by the feds, but he hadn’t taken the bait.

  Scott stood up and the corrections officer marched him toward the visitation room. The moment he stepped foot inside, he developed a sour taste in his mouth when he saw Maxine and Bugsy seated together. Obviously the bitch was still alive, and his son had violated a direct order. Why did Bugsy bring her with him? Why are they together? he thought. The tension and anger he felt seeing Maxine in the same room with his son, breathing and living, was consuming. Scott knew that this would have never happened if he was on the streets.

  While walking to the table, Scott wondered if Bugsy told her that he wanted her dead. Was he that stupid to tell her?

  He sat across from them, and the atmosphere around them grew thickly tense. Scott glared at Maxine and felt the urge to rip her apart with his bare hands. But he kept his emotions in check because he was the boss—the head of a crime family. He couldn’t keep having violent outbursts, and there were questions he wanted answers to.

  The three sat at the table, and there was an awkward silence for a moment. Scott locked eyes with his son and noticed the uneasiness in them. It wasn’t like his son to show uneasiness. But looking at Maxine, he saw an empowered woman. Did she think Bugsy could protect her?

  “What the fuck is this?” Scott uttered with contempt. His eyes were transformed into a hard scowl, able to break concrete in half with his stare.

  “We came to talk,” said Bugsy.

  “What is there to talk about? I gave you an order,” he replied.

  “I know, but we got something to tell you,” Bugsy said.

  Scott was under the impression that they were going to try and convince him that she wasn’t pregnant. Or worse, try and convince him that the baby was his and she brought Bugsy with her to back up her claim. Did they believe that he was a fool?

  “I am pregnant,” Maxine finally spoke.

  Scott clenched his teeth and felt the need to slam his fists against the table. He wanted to break the bitch’s neck, but he sat rigid in his seat and restrained himself.

  She continued with, “And your son, Bugsy, is the father.”

  For a moment, he thought that he had misheard her. “Come again? What the fuck did you just say?”

  Bugsy chimed in with, “It’s my baby she’s carrying, Pop. We’re in love and I just wanted to come and tell you face-to-face . . . man-to-man.”

  Father and son stared each other down, and surprisingly, Scott didn’t react violently. But that was the scary part.

  “You wanted to come tell me man-to-man, huh? You’re a man now, nigga!” Scott said, finally exploding. “This bitch got you pussy whipped, Bugsy? You of all people!”

  “I’m not trying to beef with you,” Bugsy said.

  “It’s too late for that, nigga!” Scott retorted.

  “I love you, Pop.”

  “Shut the fuck up!” Scott exclaimed. “You show your love by fuckin’ my fiancée? And this deceitful bitch betrays me with my own son!”

  Scott’s blood felt like acid. His son fucked his bitch and got her pregnant. She was twice his age. And she was turning Bugsy against him. Maxine had the nerve to remain quiet and not look his way. This was a woman he had a long standing history with. Is this her revenge? Did she plan this all along? he pondered. And she implemented her plan when he was most vulnerable—when he was jammed up in fighting the federal government for his freedom.

  “I don’t wanna fight with you, Pop. We can work something out.”

  Scott didn’t respond. The disappointment and anger on his face was manifested for Bugsy to see. Bugsy was his protégé—the one Scott loved above all the others. The betrayal was crushing. The more he saw them together, the harder it was for him to keep his composure, but he had promised the warden there’d be no more violent outbursts. He needed to speak to Bugsy alone.

  “Maxine, excuse us. I need to talk to my son alone,” he calmly said.

  She didn’t budge right away. Instead, she turned to Bugsy for his approval. It ignited more rage in Scott.

  Bugsy nodded.

  “I’ll go use the bathroom then,” she said.

  Bugsy and Scott both watched Maxine disappear into the women’s bathroom. When she was inside, Bugsy turned to look at his father. Now they could talk man-to-man.

  He said to Scott, “Look, it just happened. This wasn’t planned. I never meant to hurt anyone, especially you.”

  “How long has this been going on? When did it start?” Scott asked. He wanted to know if they were fucking around when he was home.

  “It started with you, when you continuously sent me to check up on her to see if she was having an affair,” Bugsy said. “She wasn’t. We developed something. I can’t explain it. She’s alone and she missed you.”

  “Funny way of showing that to me,” Scott blurted out.

  “So where do we go from here, huh? Maxine’s under my protection right now,” he said boldly to his father.

  “Oh really? I tell you where we stand. You’re no longer my second-in-command—you fucked that up. And I want you to send Mason to come visit me. Until Meyer gets well enough to come visit me on his own and sit down for a meeting, Mason will become my number-two, not you.”

  Bugsy chuckled.

  “You find this fuckin’ funny, Bugsy?” Scott rumbled.

  “That would be foolish of you, Pop,” Bugsy replied.

  “You think this a game, son? You dare test me?”

  Bugsy locked eyes with his father. Now it was about who had the bigger dick. Bugsy was ready to show his father his war chest. There was no more uneasiness showing in his eyes.

  He leaned closer against the table. “I’m not sending Mason to visit you and I’m not relinquishing my position as second-in-command. In fact, while you’re locked up, I am the de-facto boss of this organization. You forget, I know everything and I did everything for you, Pop. I control the attorneys, and I was the one who handled all of your business dealings and managed the books and helped you legitimize. I brought this organization from the ground up, and the men, they all respect me! Look, the chances of your acquittal are slim, but if you so happ
en to get out, then we’ll deal with each other then. But until that day, I’m the head nigga in charge.”

  Scott couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His son had completely turned against him. He felt nuclear, burning rage crackling through his body like a short circuit. His eyes narrowed with anger at Bugsy, and a cruel sneer formed on his face. His eyes seared into his son as his hands trembled to react. He could feel a vein pulsing in his forehead.

  “You want to take it there, Bugsy? You dare go against me and bite the hand that feeds you?”

  “I already did,” Bugsy remarked.

  At that moment, Maxine reemerged from the bathroom and Bugsy stood up from his chair. Maxine stood by her man’s side. The look on Scott’s face could shrivel any man down to size and make them piss themselves, but Bugsy wasn’t any man. He knew the power he possessed. Maxine fortified his courage to separate himself from the family and build his own empire. Scott wanted to murder the woman he loved, along with his first child. Bugsy had to protect them by any means necessary.

  “We’re done here, Pop. I came to visit you out of respect, but that’s as far as it goes. Maxine lives, and we move on.” He hated to come at his father so harshly, but he felt he didn’t have a choice.

  Scott could only glare at the couple. “I wish y’all the best of health,” he mocked.

  They left the visitation room knowing Scott was going to be a problem.

  ***

  Scott walked into his cell ready to slam his fists through a brick wall. He would show Bugsy who had the bigger war chest, but he needed to make calls and connect with certain people. Fortunately, he had the right tool to work with. There was a cell phone hidden under his mattress. This one was given to him by a man he did trust. He knew the line was secure.

  Having a photographic memory, Scott knew the cell phone numbers for all of his top lieutenants. One by one, he called his men only to realize that Bugsy was one step ahead of him. Bugsy had replaced everyone’s cell phone before he came to visit. Scott would have done the same thing. It’s what made Bugsy dangerous—they thought alike, but Bugsy proved that he could be a lot more crafty and cunning.