Page 96 of The Killer Cupcake
"No." The word punched out of her. "No, no, no." She whirled on José. "WHERE IS MY DADDY?"
Tears gathered in José's eyes. "Brother came for me. Debs, I'm so sorry?—"
"NO!"
She fled to her parents' room. Her mother lay still on the bed, Junior curled against her side. Debbie closed the door and pressed her back to it, sliding to the floor. Both hands clamped over her mouth, trapping the scream that wanted to tear free.
The poundingknock at the door caused Ely to shoot upright. Kathy woke and rubbed her eyes. She pulled the sheet to her chest to cover her nudity as Ely left the bed nude. He pulled on his pants and walked out of the room.
Six in the morning. Kathy stared at the clock, dread pooling in her stomach. Nothing good came this early. She fumbled for her robe, her father's voice already booming through the thin walls.
She eased the bedroom door open just as Henry's rage exploded: "My brother! Those motherfuckers are going to pay!"
The words hit like a physical blow. Uncle Pete. Gone.
"Everyone ready by ten! We catch the eleven o'clock to Harlem!"
Kathy emerged from the bedroom, legs barely holding her. Every step felt like walking toward disaster.
Henry turned. The sight of him with his eyes raw and red, face destroyed by grief, confirmed everything.
"Daddy—" Her voice cracked. Her body started to tremble. "Please, no. NO!"
He lunged forward, catching her as her knees buckled. The dam broke. All her life, Uncle Pete had been invincible, untouchable. This couldn't be real. She clawed at her father's shirt, wailing into his chest while his own tears soaked her hair. They clung to each other like survivors of a shipwreck, drowning in shared grief.
Brooklyn,NY
The glass rattled under Matteo's fists. He pounded until light flooded the diner, until Mama Stewart appeared with her shotgun and her face set in a scowl.
"Boy, what in God's name?—"
"Please." His voice cracked. "It's about Debbie."
Something in his face made her lower the gun. She'd seen him like this before—when Debbie stayed out too long, when she didn't answer her door or the phone. Mama Stewart was the only one who didn't mock his anxiety. José rolled his eyes. Debbie raged. But Mama Stewart? She understood that love could make you crazy with worry.
"Get in here." She locked the door behind him, setting the shotgun aside. "Sit down before you fall down. I'll make coffee."
"Pete Freeman is dead."
The words hung in the air like a gunshot.
Mama Stewart's hand stilled on the coffee pot. Big Pete—who stopped by for plates to take home to Claire, who moved through Harlem like a force of nature, Bumpy Johnson's top enforcer. Gone.
"Lord, have mercy," she whispered. "That child. My poor Debbie."
"They found him this morning." Matteo's voice broke. "Floating in the Hudson. Beaten to death and dumped like garbage." His head dropped into his hands. "They're telling Debbie right now. Right this minute."
Mama Stewart moved to him, gathering him into her arms like the broken boy he was. His whole body shook—reliving every body pulled from those waters, every life the river claimed. She stroked his hair as he sobbed.
"I tried to stop it." The words tore out of him. "The cops had him, and I got the money together to pay the bribe. Sneak him out. I tried—God, I tried to get to him, before… before. But I couldn't. I failed Debbie. I failed her, and I promised her I wouldn’t."
Mama Stewart held him tighter, her eyes closing against her own tears. "This is war, baby. This is war."
The kitchen felt toosmall for grief this size. Kathy watched her mother cradle the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she packed lunches of fried chicken and biscuits for the journey. She murmured comfort to a shattered Debbie and relayed details on their return. Kathy had already packed her things and Ely's for the trip. The Reverend and the Jensens were all there, fretting and worrying over Big Mama, who had collapsed into inconsolable grief as her father raged and was restrained several times by the men of Butts outside.
"Let me talk to her," Kathy said.
Brenda handed over the phone like it weighed a thousand pounds, kissing Kathy's forehead before retreating to get totes to bring the food for the family with them.
