Jezebel Koko Brown (best books to read non fiction txt) 📖

mile wide, Shane turned north toward homeand the Navy Yards. At the corner, he waited for the light tochange.

As thenorth south bound signal turned yellow, ablack on black Lincoln Zephyr convertible coupe whizzed intothe intersection, turned left, executed a quick U-turn and slippedinto the parking space in front of Newsome’s Sugar Sweets.

Recognizing the car, Shanefroze. Whatthe hell was he doing here? Hequicklybacktrackedand met up with thecar as Gouldhelpeda woman out of the passenger side.

“What are you doinghere?”

In a purely defensive move,Gould placed his companion behind him as he spun around. Recognizinghim, the other man seemed to relax. Still, he didn’t removehis hand from his jacket pocket.

Smart move, Shane concededbecause right now he wanted nothing more than to ram his fist downthe smaller man’s throat.

“Even though it’snunnayabusiness, Ibrought Myrna down so she could at the place. I heard it was up forsale.”

Shane blanched. The newsfelt like a bucket of ice thrown in his face. “You don’twant this place.”

A crooked smile curvedGould’s thin lips. “You’re right, Shaney. Idon’t want this place.” Hesteppedaside, arm held out for his companion.Auburn-haired and petite, she wore a full-length white fur coat. “I’mgettin’ it for my gal as a birthday gift.”

Gould flung his arms open. “Surprise, baby!”

Hearing the news, the womansquealed and wrapped her arms around Gould’s neck. As sheplanted kisses all over his chin and lips, Shane looked away indisgust.

“Only the best for mydoll,” Gould said between what sounded like wet, sloppy kisses.“I always keep my end of the bargain.”

The woman pushed away fromGould, “Big daddy, you treat me so good,” she purred,saunteringup to the storefront window and peeringinside. While she was preoccupied, Gould turned to Shane.

“Whatta you doinghere? Keeping guard?” Gould glanced down at his fingernails. When he finally looked back up, he wore a shit-eating smirk. “Sortabehind the ball don’t cha think?”

Akin to suicide, Shane tooka step forward, his hands tightly fisted.

“Hey, what’swith all the broken glass…is that blood?”

Gould whirled around andslipped his arm around the woman’s waist, turning her away fromthe window. “There was a little accident in there that’sall.”

Gould glared at Shane as ifdaring him to say otherwise.

Myrna’s dark browneyes widened as she stepped back, peering at the sign overhead.“Hey…I know this place. I read about it in theAmsterdam. This is Celeste Newsome’s old man’s place.”

The bloodseemed to drain out of Gould’s cheeks. Not a good look since he was already white as milk. “You knowthese people?”

“Not her old man, butI know Celeste. I know allthe big names on thecircuit.”

“And what circuit isthat?” Shane asked incredulously. Most entertainment, even inNew York City, was still segregated.

“Come on doll, it’stime for us to go.”

Gould grabbed her arm andpulled her toward the car. He didn’t get very far because Myrnahad a mind of her own as she dug in her high heels.

“I used to dance withBrown Sugar,” she said, proving it with a showy waist-high kickfollowed by a fit of giggles.“But I left the circuit a few months back. The road is thepits.”

Shane looked at Myrna hard. Real hard. She was lighter than him with a spattering of frecklesacross her nose and big brown eyes. “WellI’ll be a monkey’s fucking uncle,” he whispered. Her featureswere more Latin than Negro, but if she performed on the road withCeleste she wouldbe the latter. Shane’shands fisted.

The self-righteoushypocrite!

“Celeste enjoyed it. She thrivedin it actually. Most natural–born stars do.”Myrna looked thoughtful. “Beautiful broad and a fabulousdancer.A taste for the sauceif you know what I mean.” Myrna turned to Gould and patted hischeek. “Baby I’m hungry. Can we go to Maxie’s? Iwant some salmon cakes smotheredin−”

“In maple syrup,”Gould finishedfor her.

Myrna laughed, a wideparting of her ruby lips. “You know me so well, daddy.”

The mobster grabbed her chinand kissed her. “And I’m going to know you even betterbefore the week’s out ain’t I?”

Myrnapatted Gould’s cheek. “Hisgifts keep getting bigger and bigger, and he still doesn’t getany,” she said to Shane as if the other man had disappeared.

Gould’s cheeks bloomedwith heat as he hustled Myrna over to the car, and then helped herin. Atthe last moment, she stuckher handout.

“Niceto meet you.” She gave him a flirtatious finger wave. “Maybeour circles will cross again one d—”

Gouldstole therest of her words with a quick kiss, which caused her to wailindignantly and punch the mobster in the shoulder.

With hisprecious cargo safely ensconced, Gould kept his gaze averted as hewalked to the other side of the car.

Thankfully for Gould, heflung himself in his car and sped off. If he had been slow on thejump, Shane would’ve faced manslaughter charges in the morning.Even worse, Gould had given him no choice but to straighten thingsout with Celeste at least superficially.

Shane sucked in a deep,cleansing breath. He needed to hit something hard…real hard.

But Shanewasn’t going to let him get off that easy. He didn’t doit for him. “Youbetter watch what company you keep, Gould?”

Gould stopped. Key in hand,he rested his arm on the car’s soft top. Despite his earliercharm with Myrna, his mood darkened, becoming all business.

“Unlikeyou, Shaney, I got the upper hand. And I aim to keep it that way.”

Thankfully for Gould, heflung himself in his car and sped off. If he had been slow on thejump, Shane would’ve faced manslaughter charges in the morning.Shane sucked in a deep, cleansing breath. He needed to hit somethinghard…real hard.

***

Ding, dong

“Hold your horses, I’mcoming!” Trudy bellowed. What an inopportune time for company. It was only a quarter past eight o’clock, the sun was justsetting, and she’d been in the kitchen preparing her eveningmeal before she headed to work.

Withoutlooking through the peephole, Trudy snatched open the front door. “Isaid hold your goddam horswhatin blue blazes,” she whispered, taking in the Negro cab driverand her cousin standing on her doorstep. Well, Celeste wasn’texactly standing. She was propped against the poor cabbie.

“Thisbelong to you?” The cabbie nodded his head at Celeste, whoseemed oddly preoccupied with the wooden buttons on the man’spea coat.

“She’s mycousin.”

Sighing, Trudy leaned intothe door frame. She was well acquainted with her cousin’s