CHAPTER NINE
looked down and saw Beck and his date grinding on the dance floor. He had a drink in one hand and the brunette's ass in the other. I shook my head and looked back at the computer on my desk as I heard the sound of a new message hitting my inbox.
I glanced at it, quickly hit delete, and then turned back to the club. Running this club had been a headache at first, but once I found Kesha Jackson to be the manager, the pressure had eased up and I'd been able to focus on the business that supported the club and all the other businesses I ran in the city.
Kesha had been a corner girl in the dealing business, but there was something about her that elevated her above the crowds that ran my corners. Maybe it was because while she ran her corner, she also finished high school. Maybe it was because I never had to worry about violence breaking out on her corner. Maybe it was simply because she was smarter and more resourceful than ninety percent of the people who worked for me. And, maybe it was because she reminded me of Riza.
Kesha hustled harder than any other corner kid, but the thing that made her really stand out was her ability to calm even the most strung out crack head. We called her the Dope Whisperer because no one ever fought her; in fact, they usually ended up doing whatever she told them to do. And, she always told the truth. I promoted her to Apex's manager knowing that she understood how to deal people, and she'd be able to sell the product without drawing attention.
The only problem I had was that Kesha had a crush on me. It was a delicate balance being honest about the fact that I didn't have any romantic inclinations toward her and not completely crushing her. She was a lithe woman who often wore her hair in a multi-colored Mohawk. She had the unique ability to both stand out from the crowd and completely disappear into it. I'd never seen a true chameleon in action before, and I appreciated the fact that this helped her fit in everywhere and nowhere.
I watched her hustle across the dance floor and intervene as Beck began to lift his date's skirt just a little high. I knew that this might lead to trouble, so I watched closely as Kesha smiled and tried to explain the rules to Beck, who knew them all too well. He flashed a lazy smile at her and then turned back to his date for a moment before he wound up and took a swing at the manager.
"Oh fuck," I muttered as I shot out of my chair and took the stairs down to the dance floor two at a time.
"You fucking cunt!" Beck yelled as Kesha held his hands behind his back and twisted one arm up toward his shoulder. "You stupid bitch! You can't tell me what to do! My brother owns this club and you answer to him!"
"That might be true, but I'm the manager of this club and it's my job to keep things on the up and up," she yelled over the loud electronic music that pulsed throughout the club. The dance floor crowd had pulled back and formed a circle around the scene, but true to form had also kept dancing as they waited to see what would happen.
"What the fuck are you doing, Beck?" I yelled over the music. "Have you lost your damn mind?"
"The fuck?" he shouted. "Get your fucking pit bull off of me, Dax!"
I looked at Kesha and nodded slightly and she let go of Beck's arms. He swung around, fists balled and ready to strike, but I grabbed his arm and pushed him toward the stairs to my office. "C'mon, you need to chill, man," I said before turning and looking his date. "You, too, come with me."
She followed dutifully as I practically dragged Beck up the stairs to my office. I shoved him inside before following and ushering the woman in behind my brother.
"I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing, but you are not going to do that shit in my club, little brother," I began.
"That stupid dyke running the bar is trouble," Beck muttered under his breath. Before he could say anything more, I grabbed him by the arm and slammed him face down on my desk.
"Her name is Kesha and she is a loyal and trusted employee," I growled in his ear. "You'll treat her as such or I will nail your ass to the wall, got it?"
"Fuck you, Dax," he yelled as I pressed his face against my desk. "You think you're such hot shit, but you're just a small time dealer who can't play in the big leagues."
"What the hell is wrong with you, Beck?" I asked then stopped and looked at him carefully. "Where did you get the stuff?"
"What stuff?" he said.
"Don't play stupid with me, Beck," I warned. "Where did you get the dope?"
Beck was an addict and as hard as I tried to keep the stuff away from him and keep him clean, he was like all addicts and found a way to feed the beast. I thought he'd been clean since the last trip to rehab, but was realizing now that he'd found a source and had blown his sobriety. I turned and looked at the girl.
"You have any idea where he got the stuff?" I asked.
"Huh, man? What stuff?" she said with a glassy-eyed stare that let me know she was high, too.
"Goddamn it, Beck!" I swore. "You were sober for three months! Why did you blow it?"
"Fuck sober, it's highly overrated," he grumbled. "Let me up, man, you're fucking hurting me!"
I let go of his arm and smacked the top of his head with my hand. I was furious at him and worried that he was going to wind up dead in an alley somewhere. I couldn't save him if he wouldn't let me.
"You do realize that it's kind of hypocritical to be dealing the kind of junk you are and then busting me for using, don't you?" Beck asked as he rubbed the spot on his head where I'd smacked him. "My head hurts. Dammit, Dax!"
"Gram would be heartbroken," I said as I looked at him.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've used that one before," he replied waving me off. "Don't you have a better emotional blackmail tool in your belt?"
"Dammit, Beck," I said as I threw up my hands and walked around the desk where I sunk into my chair. "I'm trying to help you. You can't behave that way in my club or I'm going to ban you from it. "
"Well, then you're gonna have to try harder, I guess," he grinned as he pulled the girl up off the couch in the corner and slipped a hand down the front of her dress. "'Cause I'm not buying what you're selling here unless it's gonna give me the high of my life. And, if you ban me, I'll just find another place to dance. I mean it's not like this place is special or anything. It's LA, after all. Dime a dozen."
I watched as Beck pulled open the door and guided the girl out into the hallway. He repeated his dime a dozen remark again and was rewarded with the girl's empty laugh.
Once they were gone, I rested my elbows on the desk, held my head in my hands, and tried to bring my heart rate back down to normal.