The Bronx

by C.N. Phillips

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

C. N. Phillips returns with the next tale in the saga of five crime families that run the streets of New York’s five boroughs. The uneasy alliance they once shared has been compromised, and now no one is truly safe from retribution.
Caesar knew the peace he started had an expiration date, but he never thought the end would be so explosive. With the Pact completely dissolved and the Chinese angered beyond measure at the loss of their leader, they want Boogie’s
head bloody and served on a stick. Caesar is willing to protect him at all costs, even if it puts him at odds with the allies still on his side.

Release date: May 31, 2022

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 240

Sample

Boogie Tolliver didn’t know if it was the Chinese men shooting their guns at the house he was in, or the fact that he didn’t have any of his own shooters at his disposal, that had his heart racing. He looked to his godfather and New York kingpin, Caesar King, knowing he wouldn’t be much help in a fight. He was still too weak. Same with Diana, Caesar’s colleague and Harlem’s queen. As she stood near him looking out the window too, he saw her clenching the bandages over the bullet wound she’d sustained in a recent battle. He wouldn’t let her get hurt anymore, especially when he was the one they wanted.

Boogie was the one who’d killed the leader of the Chinese syndicate. Li had been seated as the head of his Family and had controlled the Bronx for years before Boogie put an end to it. Boogie had been blinded by rage and revenge, and now everyone was paying for his mistakes. Caesar, Diana, and Marco might have forgiven him, but he knew the Chinese never would.

“Did y’all hear that? What’s going on?” Morgan, Diana’s daughter and Boogie’s sister, said, rushing into the room.

“It looks like the Chinese have come back to repay a debt,” Diana said. “They’re here to avenge their fallen.”

“And I’m about to give them what they want,” Boogie said and started toward the bedroom door.

“No, the hell you aren’t,” Caesar stepped in and grabbed his arm, preventing him from taking another step. “Are you out of your mind, boy?”

“It’s my fault Li’s dead! If they get me, you’ll all live.”

“Boy, shut your damn mouth before I rethink letting a dumbass run Harlem while I rest,” Diana chimed in. “You aren’t going out there with those savages!”

“But they’re angry because I killed Li!”

“Ask yourself something, Boogie.” Diana stared into his face. “This is supposed to be a secret location. You only found out about it today. So tell me how all of those Chinese men out there knew where to find us if Li is dead?”

Boogie sat on the question for a moment before the answer came to him. “Because they already knew.”

“Right. They already knew where it was. And I’m thinking that Li told them about the Big House when I was first brought here after your mother shot me,” Caesar said to Boogie. “And the only reason he would have done that is because—”

“He was targetin’ you,” Boogie said and shook his head. “But why?”

“Why does anyone target the strongest of the pack?” Caesar asked.

“Am I missing something?” Diana asked.

“Let’s just say sometimes our enemies are closer than we think.”

“Great story time, but we need to be focusing on what we’re going to do right now,” Morgan butted in. “We can discuss all of that later. In the meantime, how the hell are we going to get out of here?”

“Through the front door,” Caesar said calmly and let Boogie’s arm go.

He left the room with Marco assisting Diana right behind him. Boogie and Morgan looked at each other before rushing after them to the main level of the house. There they were met by Boogie’s right-hand man, Bentley, and Bentley’s cousin, Gino, who joined them in following Caesar. Their guns were drawn, and they had concerned looks on their faces.

“Ay, you see that shit outside?” Bentley asked.

“Yeah.”

“They’re after you?”

“Yup.”

“Because you had their mans toasted.” Gino blurted out the obvious, and Morgan glared at him. “What? You know it’s true just like I know it’s true. My nigga had that man ripped to shreds. But fuck it, Boog. You know I’m riding until the wheels fall off.”

“No wheels will be falling off today,” Caesar called over his shoulder when he finally reached his destination in the Big House.

They were standing outside of a big red door with a lock on it. Caesar unlocked it with a chain of keys he pulled from his pocket and pushed the door open, revealing the house’s control room. On the walls were many TV monitors that had surveillance of the whole house, inside and outside. Caesar took a seat behind a computer, which seemed to be the main control center, and picked up a mic. They all filed inside behind him, and Marco helped Diana take a seat on a couch against the wall. Boogie stood near Caesar, curious to see what he was about to do.

“This is Caesar King,” Caesar said, speaking into the mic. Upon the sound of his voice, on one of the monitors the Chinese men were seen looking around. “By the look of surprise on your faces, you can hear me, and if you come to the door and talk into the mic, I’ll be able to hear you too. What can I do for you on this fine day?”

The Chinese men looked at each other before one of them stepped forward and went to the door. He walked cautiously and didn’t look to be much older than Boogie.

“That’s Tao’s son, Ming,” Marco whispered to Caesar.

“I recognize him,” Caesar said, speaking away from the mic. “The last time I saw him, he was a boy.”

“He ain’t no boy anymore. Tao turned him into a cold-blooded killer. He’s one of their most skilled hands,” Marco said right before Ming started speaking.

“I am Ming Zhang, great-nephew of Li Zhang. You want to know what I want?” His voice filled the room through the speakers on the ceiling. He was soft-spoken, but his tone carried a certain chill with it. It was the kind that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. “I want you to count the seconds before I kill you. And then I’m going to kill everyone you love since I am told that you have sided with the Tolliver boy, who is responsible for my great-uncle’s death.”

“Yes. I have sided with my godson,” Caesar confirmed. “I’ve decided to back him up in whatever is to come.”

“Then you’ll die beside him as well,” Ming sneered. “Your sacred Pact is broken! You have no honor.”

“That could be debated,” Caesar told him. “But in the meantime, I’m going to kindly ask for you to leave this property.”

“Not until there is blood on my hands!” Ming shouted and hit the door with his fist.

“Then it might come as a disappointment to know that this entire house is reinforced. It would take many tanks to penetrate the walls. But if you insist on having blood, I can give you your own.”

Caesar’s voice was calm as he pressed a command button on the computer. Boogie watched as big guns expelled from high on the brick exterior of the house. There were four of them, and they were aimed directly at Ming and his men.

“What is this?” Ming demanded.

“A warning. All I have to do is press one more button and those guns will make your bodies rock harder than they ever have before. Take your men home, and live to fight another day,” Caesar told him.

Ming looked at the guns and stepped away from the door. The one pointed at him followed his every move, keeping a red dot on his chest. He let out a frustrated shout before turning his back and violently gesturing to his men to get back into their cars. One by one they left until finally the coast was clear.

“What a shame. I was finally looking forward to using that security measure. Maybe next time,” Caesar said, getting up. “In the meantime, Marco, call us an escort. We need to leave here immediately. Bentley, please round up the nurses and persuade them into not speaking about what happened today.”

“Okay,” Marco said, pulling out his phone.

“Got it.” Bentley left the room.

“The rest of you, go home,” Caesar instructed. “The safest place for you right now is with your own house. My plan had been to stay dead to the world, but I think it’s time to resume my position.”

Boogie and all the rest nodded their heads. Well, all but Diana. She stared at Caesar with the eyes of a hawk, and when they began to file out of the control room, she stayed. And because she stayed, Boogie did too.

“Go help get Tazz ready for transport,” he told Morgan. “I’ll be there in a second.”

When it was just the three of them, Boogie watched Caesar and Diana curiously. There was something going on between them at the moment that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Caesar sighed even before Diana opened her mouth.

“Ask what you need to ask.”

“Is there anything you need to tell me?” She eyed him curiously.

“When the time is right, I’ll tell you. But right now we need to focus on putting up a good defense.”

“This is all my fault,” Boogie groaned and clenched his fists. “If I hadn’t been so quick to fight instead of figure the shit out, we wouldn’t be here. When I think back on all that happened with my pops, it was all there. Right in front of my face.”

“Don’t blame yourself for being blinded by people you trusted and loved. This is Julius and Dina’s fault. They started a war and used you as the face of it. They broke the Pact, not you,” Diana said, speaking of Boogie’s mother and his father’s right-hand man, who was also dead. She turned to Caesar. “You made some pretty heavy accusations not too long ago. You think Li wanted you dead?”

“Why else would people in his camp know about this location? And as you just heard, he thought I was here alone.”

“But why would Li want to kill you?

“For the same thing you wanted—to be in control of all five territories.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Diana shook her head in disbelief. “Li never showed interest in anything of the sort.”

“Sometimes the eyes have to pay attention to what’s not shown outwardly but what’s being done in the background.”

“If you felt like this, why didn’t you say anything before?” Diana asked, clutching her side.

“I never got the opportunity to prove it. I was so busy trying to find out who killed Barry that I forgot about the potential other dog at my stoop. And then there’s the matter of me, you know, almost dying.”

“You’re saying a lot without saying anything, Caesar.” Diana eyed him suspiciously. “There’s something you aren’t telling me.”

“All I want for you to do is get better. We’re old, Diana. Focus on regaining your strength.”

“So now what?” Boogie asked. “We prepare for another war?”

“Yes.” Caesar nodded. “Tao will be named the new head of his family, and he will be out for retribution. There are things about the Chinese family that nobody knows. We need to prepare for the worst.”

Knock! Knock!

“Come in,” Tao Chen said with very little effort.

He was busy soaking in the spa area of his lavish home. Joined with him in the hot tub were two beautiful naked Asian women. They were pleasuring each other in front of him, and that in turn pleasured him. He wasn’t annoyed at the disturbance. After all, he was expecting his son to return with news that would make him smile from ear to ear. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist before getting out of the hot tub.

“Hello, Father,” Ming said when he entered.

He sat down at one of the tables on the side of the spa and avoided his father’s eyes. The look on his face wasn’t one of a man who successfully completed a mission. It was a look of defeat. Tao took a seat across from his son at the small circular table. He watched him with his dark brown eyes while the women moaned and giggled in the background. Ming was the spitting image of his mother, which Tao had always hated. His mother was a beautiful woman, but her features made Ming look too soft. He had always been too handsome for his own good, which was why Tao made the decision early to turn him into a hardened killer. His looks had been made into a weapon. Anyone would trust his face, especially his eyes. That is, until those same eyes were watching as his victim took their last breath.

“I demand that my son look at me,” he said briskly, and Ming slowly turned his gaze to his father. Tao studied the perfectly pressed white collared shirt under Ming’s blazer. “I expected you to enter this spa with blood on your shirt. But instead you sit across from me looking like you are late for a photo shoot.”

“I let you down today, Father.”

“What happened?” Tao asked.

“We weren’t able to kill Caesar King. And he has made it known that he sides with the Tolliver family.”

“He said this to your face?”

“Not exactly. He spoke from a speaker. We did not get inside of the house,” Ming said, and Tao gave a small smile.

In a perfect world, Tao would have been a loving and supportive father. He would have been there with arms wide open whenever his son got a cut or a bruise. He would have offered him advice when he got his heart broken by a girl for the first time, and encouraged him to go off to college to get his doctorate. But that kind of father was something he could never be. He was raising a soldier, a hardened man fit to take over an entire empire when it was his time. Quickly Tao wound his hand back and slapped Ming across the face so hard that he left a red handprint.

“You are worthless to me,” Tao said. “You could not even handle a simple task.”

“It was not simple, Father! You told us where the house was, not that it was enforced or had those kinds of upgrades. Our bullets did no damage to the house at all! We would have all died just trying to get inside!”

“I would rather have your corpse in front of me than a failure!”

“You . . . you don’t mean that,” Ming said, but it almost sounded like a question.

Tao sighed. The truth was that he didn’t know anything about the Big House, just where it was. And his uncle had only just told him the location of it as well as of Caesar’s survival right before he died. He had sent his son in blind, and if he had died, Ming’s blood would have been on his hands. He wasn’t a sentimental father, but he was a thorough general. And even he had to admit that would have been a senseless death.

“Maybe I don’t, but next time I want results.”

“Yes, Father.” Ming nodded quickly.

“We are at war, Ming. And that means every small battle counts. It’s funny, Uncle always feared Caesar becoming the controlling head of two of New York’s major territories. He never gave it a thought that the Tolliver family would be the one to actually do it. Not before he himself did anyway. Uncle was a selfish man, but he was also cunning. He grew tired of living someone else’s idea of harmony long ago. Do you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because someone else’s harmony will always have a cap. And freedom should not have a limit. It should be limitless. Boogie’s war gave us the key and unlocked the door to our freedom. Uncle paid for it with his life, and Boogie will pay for that by bowing down to the new king of New York. Me. Out with the old ways, and in with the new—my new. Now please go do something right and have our staff get the guest living quarters ready. Our guest will be here soon.”

“Ooh, Nicky. I forgot how big you were,” a butter-pecan goddess said while grinding on Nicky King’s manhood.

Cheshire had always been one of Nicky’s favorite pastimes, but he hadn’t had time to see her in a while. She had a voluptuous body and a wide, perfect smile, just like the Cheshire Cat’s, which was where she’d gotten her stage name at the Sugar Trap. He’d called her up to help take the edge of failure off.

Nicky was still writhing from the fact that Boogie had gotten the best of him in the way he had the last time the two men were face-to-face. He’d made Nicky look weak and like a fool. Not only that, but many of Nicky’s shooters were killed in the process. Having to tell their mothers, wives, and babies’ mothers that they weren’t coming home was the. . .