Page 6 of Bear
The phone rang three times before he picked up. His voice was low and quiet because he wasn’t supposed to have a goddamn phone in prison. He managed to smuggle in a burner phone anyway. He had a few correctional officers in his pocket and they made sure he got whatever he wanted. I made sure to keep them supplied with money and drugs on the outside so he’d be comfortable on the inside.
“What’s up, Bear?” He said.
“Dad, I called to tell you I made sure Montez took a vacation. He was working way too hard.” He grunted his understanding on the other end.
My eyes drifted over to Montez’s body slumped over in the chair. Blood oozed from the bullet hole, dripping thick and sticky onto his lap.
“Good, good. If he was working that hard he deserved a fucking vacation. I hope you sent him off with a bang.”
“Oh, I did. Some of the guys are coming by in a little while to clean up the aftermath of the party.”
“I hope shit didn’t get too crazy,” he grumbled.
“Nah, it didn’t,” I assured him.
“Good. You know that’s still my house even though I’ve been gone for seven years.”
“I know. I didn’t mess up your house, Dad.” I lit my cigar again and pulled in a nice long drag. I knew calling him was the right thing to do but I’d be lying my fucking ass off if I said I liked talking to him. He could get long-winded since he was locked up.
“Once the guys clean up the heavy stuff, Luanne will come in and take care of everything else. I still think she does too much. She should retire.”
“You’re not there to think, Bear. Luanne stays where she’s at until she drops fucking dead. She knew what she signed up for. So did her family. Don’t start that soft shit.”
“It’s not soft. It’s smart. Having someone who’s clearly aging handling party cleanup is ridiculous. She’s going to miss something one day.”
“Then she’ll be gone. Until then, she stays and you follow protocol for event cleanup. It’s worked all this time. Right?” His voice was gruff and unforgiving.
“Right,” I said, clenching my jaw. I had more to say but it would have been pointless. So I bit my tongue and ran down the rest of the details of Montez’s murder to him.
Even though Dad was using a burner phone, everything he did and said was being recorded most of the time. We had to speak in code. Sending someone on a vacation meant killing them. Sending them off with a bang meant shooting them. We had our own language and we used it frequently.
“Okay, Bear, I gotta go. Don’t forget the shit from Amazon comes in the evening.” The shit from Amazon meant we had a shipment of drugs being delivered. I never forgot my schedule and I always told Dad what days deliveries came in since they got switched when he went inside. I knew it made him feel good to be constantly included in the workings of his organization since he couldn’t be there firsthand.
“I know. I always remember,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll call you later, Dad.”
Shortly after we ended the conversation, my soldiers arrived. They took in the scene and shook their heads. I didn’t say a word. I let them handle everything while I sat behind the mahogany desk sipping a glass of cognac. They wrapped the body in plastic and mummy-taped it down to the ankles.
With a flick of my fingers, I gestured to one of my soldiers. The one who reported Montez first. I said, “Put him in your trunk and take him to the lumber yard. The rest of y’all help chop him into ten chunks. Let me know when it’s done.” With another flick of my fingers, I dismissed them. I watched the soldier responsible for transporting Montez enlist help carrying him to the trunk. All the other soldiers obliged and they headed out.
I stood at the front door watching as they stuffed his body into the wide trunk before closing it and pulling off. Once the driveway was empty, I called Luanne into the study. “Not much mess after your boys took care of the heavy lifting,” she remarked as she sat her cleaning bucket down.
“Not much at all. Luanne, I’m going to leave you here to do this shit while I follow the soldiers to the lumberyard. Please take your time with this. If you need to take breaks…take them. Hell, if you want to leave it for me to clean when I get back, I’ll do it. Just spray everything down.” I gestured to the wall but Luanne shook her head. Her silver curls brushed back and forth across her shoulders.
“You know I love this work. I love your family and I love you.” She touched my face and smiled.
“I’m the only one left of my family,” I reminded her. Dad killed Hawk in cold blood and Wolf got killed during Mardi Gras weekend chasing behind a stupid kid selling fake drugs. He got shot as a result. I told him not to go. I told him to let me weed out the person selling fake shit but he insisted and he paid the fucking price.
Wolf never did listen.
Neither did Hawk.
With Dad in jail doing ten years for drug trafficking, I was the only one of the Stone boys still standing.
“Your father isn’t dead though, Bear. Remember that. He’s in jail. He’s up for parole soon, right?” Luanne asked as she cleaned the small amounts of blood splatter and fragments of tissue.
“Soon.” I nodded. “Well, let me know if you need anything, Luanne. I’ll be back in a few hours.” I headed upstairs and changed out of the tailored suit I was wearing when I killed Montez and into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a hoodie. I was about to spy on my workers to see if they were doing what they were supposed to do.
I didn’t trust anyone. Once people were outside the eyesight of authority they did whatever the fuck they wanted to do. I needed soldiers who would do what I told them even when I wasn’t around. So just like when I was a kid, I snuck around and watched everything when I had time.
