Page 17 of Heart of a Savage
She smiled politely and walked away. Duncan and I watched her round ass before we looked at each other and laughed.
“Well, to what do I owe this meeting?” he asked.
“The lofts on 23rd Street and the apartments on Mansfield, a few miles away from the lofts... I’m looking into buying them and rebuilding them.”
“And you need a permit to start the rebuilding process?”
“Precisely.”
“Well, you do know that I don’t sign permits. The Building, Safety, Engineering, and Environmental Department, also known as BSEED, handles that.”
“But you oversee them. A good word would make this much simpler to handle.”
“Don’t you have to buy them first?”
“I do, and I will. Just wanted to secure the back end of things first before I can move on to the next phase.”
“I honestly don’t think it’s worth the sacrifice. That neighborhood is full of crime, and it’s littered with the unfortunate. Building luxurious lofts and apartments over that way will be detrimental to you. I was already setting things in place to have those torn down.”
“Which is why I’m here. That is Mekai and Jaxson Santana’s territory. They want to build better homes in their neighborhood?—”
“But you’re a realtor, not a builder.”
And you’re a loser, not a mayor.
That left us at an impasse. I didn’t know if he was trying to shut me down, but I was determined to walk out of here with his agreement to get me the permits.
“I buy homes and businesses, fix them up, and sell them. So, I think I’m more than qualified to help the city out with their problem.”
“Like I said… that neighborhood isn’t a good place to put quality homes. Those drug dealers and addicts won’t hesitate to destroy what you reconstruct.”
“Why do you think that is, Mayor Duncan? It’s because those folks don’t have a place to call home. You do your job by pushing out the drug dealers and cleaning up the area, and I’ll do my job by building better homes for the elderly citizens who’re paying their tax dollars to have a better living.”
He stared at me as if he wanted to say something slick. He knew I was telling the truth.
While the people in that community were working and getting money taken out of their paychecks to pour into a city, his ass wasn’t doing a very good job of using the money to do what needed to be done. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how some of these politicians even got into office. They lie to the people and take their money, but they never see any results of where their money is being spent.
We already witnessed how Mayor Tory St. James crooked-ass ran this city, and Duncan wasn’t too far behind him.
The waitress brought out our drinks and food as the table remained quiet. I honestly wasn’t even hungry anymore because I thought this would be an easier conversation. However, I could see the fake in this man and would be sure to alert Jaxson of this error.
“Those people voted for you because you told them that you could make a change. You’ve been in office for four years, and nothing has been done aside from continuing to pour into the Downtown area. We have enough casinos and attractions down there. It’s time to stop thinking about the rich and give back to the, as you put it,less fortunate.”
“That takes time. There’s a lot of contracts to be signed, and a great deal of things the last mayor neglected to do that I have to fix,” he replied, digging into his food.
Nigga didn’t even pray over his shit.
“I understand, and while you’re doing something to change that, allow me to take those properties off your hands. It’ll be oneless problem you have to fix, and it’ll help these people believe in everything you told them.” I bowed my head and said grace because I refused not to eat my favorite meal, even though his ass was making me lose my appetite.
Moments passed by before he nodded. “Alright, fine. I’ll talk with the BSEED, but if thislittle projectyou’re doing turns to shit, I won’t hesitate to shut it down and do as I planned to do.”
I smirked and extended my hand across the table. “Agreed.”
He hesitantly took my hand and gave a firm shake. Jaxson’s ass owed me, and I was going to make sure his ass paid up too.
I stoodin my office overlooking my club with heavy thoughts. I wasn’t in the best of moods after visiting my father, and I honestly didn’t want to be here. However, whenever there was a big party being thrown, I needed to be present to make sure all the money that was going to be made was accounted for. I didn’t play when it came to my money since I had a fewmishapshappen since I opened it five years ago.
Lorenzo always schooled me on how to be business-minded and not to let anyone keep watch over my shit—not even the funky-ass bank. My money always stayed close to me because I didn’t trust anyone. However, tonight, I just wanted to go home and wallow.
