Read Online Street Pharm by Allison van Diepen - Free Book Online Page A

so I could look at her face. “You’re right. Maybe it’s time . . . ” for us to go to bed. But I could see in her eyes that she didn’t want me to say it. For her, me leaving now would be a perfect ending to the night. And even though my body was fired up, I didn’t want to disappoint her. “Maybe it’s time for me to go.”
    “I think so too.”
    I stepped into the hallway. She took my hand. “Thank you, Ty. This was the greatest night I’ve had in a long time. It was wonderful.”
    “You made it wonderful.” I bent down and kissed her.
    “See you Monday.” Giving me a little wave, she closed the door.
    *  *  *
    On the cab ride home, I leaned my head against the leather seat, closed my eyes, and wished that Alyse was in my arms again. I could still smell her perfume, still taste those soft lips. . . .
    My cell phone rang. I was so sure it was Alyse calling to whisper in my ear, I didn’t even check the caller ID. “Hello.”
    “Ty? That you?” Sonny’s voice.
    “It’s me.”
    “Damn, boy, haven’t you been checking your messages?” His shouting couldn’t cover up the shakiness in his voice. “Carlos got jumped. He’s hurt real bad. We got people tryna bring us down. I don’t know what the fuck they’ll do next!”
    “Sonny, calm down.” I told the cabbie, “Take a right at the next light. We going to East Flatbush—13 Mulgrew Place.” Into the phone I said, “Hang on, Sonny. I’m coming over.”

THE COMPETITOR
    G iving the driver his cash, I ran inside the building and hit the button. Sonny buzzed me up. He was standing in the doorway of his apartment in sweat pants and a wife-beater. “Get in here.”
    The apartment was huge, with sleek tiled floors, leather couches, and a hot entertainment system. I barely sat down when Sonny said, “Carlos got jumped tonight when he was making deliveries. They fucked him up, took the stuff, and made him cough up the names of the customers he was delivering to.”
    “You talked to Carlos?”
    “No, his girl called me. Them bitches who messed him up toldhim to give us a message: ‘Darkman’s in town and he’s shutting us down.’ ”
    “Darkman? He some sorta comic character?”
    “Whoever the fuck he is, he knows who we are. Carlos can’t hold in a fucking fart.”
    “ Shit, I got warned about this.”
    “Huh? Who warned you?”
    “Monfrey. Said there was some shady niggas around. I didn’t take him serious.”
    I was all about Alyse then, I remembered. Damn, I was right that women were a distraction.
    I said, “Anybody new in the hood can tell that Carlos is probably running for someone. That skinny cat ain’t sly. So we don’t know how much Darkman knows about us. He could’ve been lying low for weeks, getting ready to strike.”
    I heard Sonny swallow.
    “We gonna hold it down,” I said. “First thing we have to worry about is that he knows the names of some customers. He might try to sweet-talk them into buying from him. We gotta get to them first and let ’em know we still the best deal in town.”
    “I been all over that. Carlos’s girl told me the names of the three customers he gave up, and I spoke to them. They’ll get their next hit half price. We cool with them.”
    “Good, you stay on it. We have to remind our peeps that we still their number one. Keep ’em happy. I’ll deal with the other side of this. I’m gonna find out who this Darkman is.”
    “And then what?”
    “We wait for him on the battlefield.”
    *  *  *
    I didn’t have to open up Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to figure out what to do about Darkman. I’d lived and breathed that book for years.
    Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
    It is always necessary to begin by finding the names of the attendants, aides, the door-keepers, and sentries of the general in command. We must commission spies to discover these.
    I found Rob Monfrey the next morning on a park bench, smoking up.
    “Ty, what it