King Maker: The Knights of Breton Court, Volume 1 by Maurice Broaddus Page B

question whether he could still run things. The shit stopped with him and it was only a matter of time before someone took him for weak and made their move. Or Dred would. So Baylon damn sure couldn't leave his fate in the less-than-capable hands of the Junies and Parkers of the world. Experience beat youth every time, and right now, their crew was way too youthful.
      "I think what Junie's getting at is that we want a chance to handle this ourselves," Parker spoke up. "Without bothering Dred. Show him, and you, that we can handle our own end. Like men do."
      "Like men do, huh? Is that it now?" Baylon itched for a drink, nothing alcoholic or anything like that. Just something to steady him. He imagined something civilizing, like a hot cup of tea. Something a gentleman would drink. He stood, his prize bitch cocking her head in trailing attention, anticipating his command. "Everyone had their say? Now let me tell you men something. Business is good. We have a quality product and a quality pipeline. We will always have competitors, but we don't need to escalate things to knucklehead level without cause. The right statement, the proper show of force should be… elegant. You two aren't suited for elegant, but that's all right though. You don't send a bull into a grocery store for eggs. But I tell you what, I'm gonna let you prove me wrong. Within reason, step up and move up. If not, I'll bring in someone, or someones, who can."
      Though quite likeable and charming most days, Baylon had grown quite disgusted at Junie. At the quality of soldiers in general, these days. If he passed for their muscle, that meant their shit truly was weak and Baylon hoped Dred hadn't concluded the same thing.
     
    "Where is she?" Dred asked. This world could not contain him, yet it managed to hide her. The room was thick with smoke as he needed to get his head up, to reach the next plateau for his thoughts. Stoking the dragon, like a distant furnace, he needed to sow terror, to bury teeth of hate to raise an army. For now, he was at war and his immediate enemy had revealed himself, but Dred knew she also remained a loose end.
      The room had grown hot with closed-in heat. Thick tufts of smoke issued from his mouth. His mahogany skin glistened with perspiration – the cloying scent of chronic barely covering his mild BO – from the exertion of summoning. His vacant eyes viewed a dream, bending and reshaping it to suit his needs. That was the true magic, sculpting dreams and calling them forth. Which was why he loathed interruptions, preferring the clarity of his own thoughts.
      "You got a minute?" Baylon hated dealing with him when he was like this and hated entering the room even more.
      "I know she's out there."
      "Who?"
      "My moms. I know she's out there and she has one lesson left to teach me."
      "What's that?"
      "That's between a boy and his moms," Dred croaked, his voice cracked as it grew distant. "I'm conjuring."
      "I can see that."
      Dred rolled into view. The sight of the once so vital man strapped to a wheelchair never failed to alarm Baylon. He bent over for the forearm-to-chest hug. Dred's wheelchair notwithstanding, the ring must be respected and kissed. The chamber, bereft of any furniture, seemed more cavern than room; steep shadows gave the illusion of it being deeper than it was. Bay windows faced the moon, yet the light didn't seem to much penetrate beyond being a dim glow. An ethereal swirl of the smoke coalesced above the mounds of uncut heroin mixing with their product.
      "Word has it Junie and Parker have made a royal mess of things," Dred said.
      "Not to hear them tell it, but yeah. Worse, Dollar and 'em will have to come back on them. On us."
      "Worse still, we're going to be seen as incompetent. Weak." Despite being confined to the chair, Dred had a better read of the streets than those who traipsed in them. His arithmetic of the situation arrived at the same unfortunate conclusion