Memphis Streets 3: Revenge

Chapter 18- Lucifer

Dribbles draws a deep breath and rakes her hands through her hair like she doesn't know where to begin. I try to wait her out, but my curiosity is all over the place.

"You gotta tell me something. I'm freaking out over here. Mason had an older brother?"

"It was all so long ago and . . . it doesn't matter now anyway. Sometimes it's best to let sleeping dogs lie." She turns and looks out the limousine's window. She has a point, but that's not satisfying me at the moment.

"Do you have a name? Maybe . . . this brother would like to know what has happened to Mason. I could go and . . . what is it?" I'm freaked out about the number of tears falling over Dribble's lashes.

"Let it go. Trust me, going down that road will only lead to more trouble. He's gone now. Just let it go."

"Gone? You mean Mason or the brother? What about Alice? Is she still alive?" Dribbles flinches. "How did you know her name was Alice?" I hesitate for a moment and decide that the best way to get her confidence is to give her some of mine.

"Smokestack."

"Oh, he did, did he?" She searches for his face by the gravesite. "Funny. I don't remember him being so chatty. Did he also tell you that he was the one who decided to take Mason from Alice that day?"

"Well, he did find him in the oven. Imagine if she had turned the damn thing on." Dribbles looks agitated.

"She was high. I give you that—and she made a mistake, but what happened to her afterwards, she didn't deserve that—prison and then the crazy house. We shouldn't have taken her baby."

"You wanted to give him back?" I ask, shocked.

"Everybody deserves a second chance. I'm living proof of that." She crosses her arms and hugs herself.

"Don't get me wrong. I loved Mason. Lord knows I did, but I wasn't any better than Alice. You remember. I was a hot mess roaming up and down these streets, robbing, stealing, and fucking anything just to get to high. You're lucky. You don't know what it's like. You deal that poison, but you've never fucked up and got a monkey on your back".

"If nothing else, I understood Alice. We may have come from different backgrounds, but we were fucked up together. What Alice did could've easily happened to me. We were friends. She used to confide in me. Let me tell you that girl went through some shit that really messed her up. I'm the last person who should judge her." I'm trying hard to understand where Dribbles is coming from.

"If you felt that way about it, why didn't you take Mason back?"

"The way shit blew up, taking him back would've landed me in jail. There was a nationwide search for him for about a year. I was convinced that no matter what I said, they would've thrown the book at me."

"But Cousin Skeet knew that you had him."

"C'mon. Skeet wasn't going to turn in his own brother. Besides, he thought Smokestack would do a better job with the kid than Alice anyway. After all, she'd already abandoned Mason's older brother with one of her family members. He thought it would be just a matter of time before she did the same with Mason."

I let that hang in the air between us for a few minutes. Before, when Smokestack had told me the story, I was glad that Smokestack and Dribbles came to Mason's rescue. If they hadn't, I would have never met him. I can't imagine where I'd be if Mason had never been a part of my life. Now, Dribbles has made Alice sound more human.

"One year turned into two and then three and then pretty soon, Smokestack and I were the only parents Mason knew. I loved him as if he were my own." She wrings her hands. "Still, it doesn't make it right though."

"No. But if you ask me, you made the right decision." Dribbles' watery gaze shifts back to me.

"Yeah?"

"I've learned that life is filled with a lot that's hard and unfair. We do what we do and hope that it all comes out in the wash at the end. You and Smokestack saved a life that day and then you provided and loved him the best you could.You have to believe that it was enough." She smiles.

"You're very wise."

"I don't know about that," I laugh.

"I do. You're very smart . . . and beautiful. You could do anything that you set your mind to. Why would you want . . ." My smile melts away.

"What? Say it."

"Why would you want to go down this violent and dangerous path as the supreme chief of the Cartel Lords? You're smart enough to know that there's only two ways on how this is going to end."

"Actually, there's only one way all our stories are going to end. Nobody gets out of life alive." Dribbles throws back her head and laughs.

"I guess you got me there." The conversation draws to an end and my curiosity is still getting the best of me. "I still think that we should at least send his other family something . . . even if it's anonymously." She shakes her head again. I'm at the end of my patience.

"All right. What's up? Why all the roadblocks?"

"Why can't you let go?" she pushes back. "Nothing good will come out of it. If anything, it will just cause more problems."

"Fine. I guess I'll just go online and find the information out for myself. It shouldn't be too hard to search the newspapers' archives for the story." Dribbles' shoulders deflate in defeat.

"Why are you doing this? Is it that important?"

"It is now." We engage in a stare-down that I win easily.

"Fine." Dribbles tosses up her hands.

"What do you want to know?"