Chapter 2: The Man Who Killed Our Father
The person Trey was looking at wasn't Darius.
It was Renee.
My brother's widow stood beside the grave with one hand pressed against her mouth. Her face had lost every trace of color.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then Renee whispered something that made my stomach turn.
"Malik promised he would never tell.""
I released Curtis's collar.
"Tell what?""
Renee looked at me, then at Trey.
"Not here.""
Darius stepped forward.
"You're going to explain yourself right now.""
Renee glared at him.
"You don't get to demand anything from me.""
Darius laughed without humor.
"Your husband is dead. His organization is falling apart, and his son is standing here holding a key to something nobody understands. I think I deserve an explanation.""
I moved between them.
"Stay away from her.""
Darius raised both hands.
"See? This is exactly the problem. Everybody wants to fight instead of thinking.""
"Then start thinking about why my brother warned me about you.""
Curtis suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
"Andre, you need to listen. Your father didn't die in that robbery twenty years ago.""
I turned toward him.
"What?""
Curtis looked around to make sure nobody else was close enough to hear.
"Your father was murdered.""
I stared at him.
"Everybody knows he was shot.""
"That's not what I'm saying. The robbery was staged. He was killed because he was about to turn himself in and expose the men who were using him.""
My throat tightened.
Our father, Raymond Carter, had died when I was seventeen and Malik was fifteen.
We were told two men had broken into his neighborhood auto shop and shot him during a robbery.
The police never found the stolen money.
They never found the men.
My mother had spent the rest of her life believing our father had been killed for refusing to give up his business.
Malik had never talked about it.
Not once.
"Who killed him?"" I asked.
Curtis looked toward the funeral gathering.
"I can't say it here.""
I grabbed him again.
"You're going to say it now.""
"Andre!""
Renee's voice stopped me.
She walked toward us, wiping her cheeks.
"Your father was going to testify against a man named Victor Shaw.""
I recognized the name immediately.
Victor had been one of the oldest members of Black Crown. He had helped my father establish the organization before Malik and I were old enough to understand what it was.
But Victor had supposedly retired five years earlier.
He owned several legitimate businesses around Atlanta and rarely attended Black Crown gatherings.
I looked at Curtis.
"Victor?""
Curtis nodded.
"He arranged the robbery. Your father discovered that Victor had been stealing from the organization and working with people outside it. Raymond threatened to expose him.""
"Why didn't you tell the police?""
Curtis lowered his eyes.
"Because I was there.""
My chest tightened.
"What?""
"I was supposed to drive your father that night. Victor told me it was a meeting. I didn't know there would be a shooting until I heard the first gunshot.""
"You watched him die?""
Curtis's eyes filled with tears.
"I ran.""
I wanted to hit him.
I wanted to drag him across that cemetery and make him answer for twenty years of silence.
But before I could move, Trey stepped closer.
"Dad knew all of this.""
I turned toward my nephew.
"What did you say?""
Trey held up the brass key.
"He showed me pictures. He told me Grandpa didn't die because of a robbery. He said someone had lied to our family for years.""
Renee shook her head.
"Malik shouldn't have involved you.""
"He said I was old enough to know the truth.""
"You're thirteen!""
"And Grandpa was my family too!""
His voice cracked.
For the first time that morning, I saw him cry.
I knelt and placed my hands on his shoulders.
"Listen to me. Whatever your father found, you don't have to carry it alone.""
Trey wiped his face.
"He said the key would protect us.""
Darius stepped closer.
"Where did Malik get it?""
Trey immediately pulled it against his chest.
"I can't tell you.""
Darius's face hardened.
"Kid, this isn't a game.""
I stood up.
"Don't talk to him like that.""
"I'm trying to keep him alive.""
"By threatening him?""
Darius looked at me for a long moment.
Then he said something I wasn't expecting.
"Malik called me three nights before he died. He told me somebody was following his family.""
I frowned.
"Why didn't you tell us?""
"Because he asked me not to.""
"Who was following them?""
Darius looked at Renee.
She turned away.
"I don't know," he answered.
Curtis suddenly shook his head.
"That's a lie.""
Every face turned toward him.
Darius took one step forward.
"Be careful, old man.""
Curtis ignored him.
"I saw the car. A black Cadillac. It was parked outside Malik's house twice that week.""
"Who was driving?"" I demanded.
Curtis's lips trembled.
"Victor.""
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Then Darius reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"There's something else.""
He handed it to me.
It was a photograph of Malik standing outside an old storage facility. The picture had been taken at night. A second person stood beside him, but their face was hidden by the darkness.
On the back, Malik had written four words.
*THE FIRST KEY ISN'T HIS.*
I looked at Trey.
"Is this what your father showed you?""
Trey nodded slowly.
"Yes. But he told me there were two keys.""
Renee closed her eyes.
I unfolded the paper again.
At the bottom, beneath Malik's handwriting, was a locker number.
Locker 317.
Then I noticed the date printed on the photograph.
It was taken two days after Malik had supposedly discovered the truth about our father.
And the person standing beside him wasn't Darius.
It was me.
I stared at my own face in the photograph.
May you like
But I had never visited that storage facility.
So how could I have been standing beside my brother that night?
