Private Deceptions by Roy Glenn Page A

admit that you betrayed everybody in this room. Does that sound fair to you?" Black asked sarcastically.
    Banks didn’t answer.
    "Nick."
    I stepped up to Banks and tore the shelves off his shirt. I held the eyedropper over his arm. I squeezed the dropper once and one drop hit his arm.
    Banks screamed in pain.
    "Does that sound fair to you?" Black asked again.
    "Yes, shit, yes!" Banks yelled.
    "Nick." I hit the other arm this time. Banks screamed again. There was no sound in the room. No one said a word, nobody moved. They all stood and watched as me and Freeze took turns beatin’ Banks and then burnin’ him with acid.
    "Admit what you did, Banks, so we can all go home," Bobby said.
    "I didn’t do nothing, Bobby, I swear."
    "Freeze," Black said, and Freeze happily resumed his brutal beating.
    After what seemed to be a long time, Black stepped up to Banks, "Are you ready to man up, Banks?"
    "I keep telling you, Black! I didn’t do shit!" Banks protested.
    "Doc," Black said.
    "Yes, Black," Doc said, with a very scared look on his face. Doc ran the gambling in the house and was probably thinking that he would suffer the same fate as Banks.
    "I want you to go behind the bar and reach your hand behind the bottle setup next to the cash box. Let me know what you find."
    Doc walked very slowly to the bar and did what he was told. He reached behind the setup. "There’s another cash box back here."
    "Pull it out and open it," Black demanded. "Tell us all what you find."
    Doc opened the box, "Drugs and money, Black."
    "That shit ain’t mine, Black," Banks screamed. "I swear on my mamas grave, I don’t know nothing about that! You planted it there."
    "Doc, has anybody other than the bartender been behind the bar tonight or any night for that matter?"
    "No," Doc said.
    "How do you know that?" Black asked, knowing the answer.
    "It’s a house rule," Cynt said. "Nobody goes behind the bar but the bartender. How stupid can you be, Banks? Bad enough you’re dealin’, but why you gotta do it in the house. It ain’t gonna do nothin’ but bring the cops down on all of us. Fuckin’ fool. You deserve to die."
    "Thank you, Cynt," Black said. "I’m glad I didn’t have to be the one to say it."
    "Fuck you, Cynt!" Banks yelled.
    "Fuck you, Banks. Stupid mutha fucka," Cynt responded as she stepped up and slapped Banks in the face.
    "Black, you gotta believe me. I don’t know nothin’ ’bout that shit. It must be Earl’s dope."
    "Jamaica," Black said.
    We all looked around and there stood Jamaica with Earl. He too had been beaten badly. "You know I was selling that shit for you, Banks! You said we could make that paper and Black would never know it, " Earl said.
    "Any questions?" Black asked as he looked around the room.
    Again, no one said a word.
    "Tie him up next to his friend," Black said to Jamaica. When he finished, Jamaica moved away and Bobby handed me and Freeze each a .9. "Gary Banks, a jury of your peers has found you guilty of treason. The sentence is death."
    Bobby walked behind the chairs and placed a black hood over their heads and moved out of the way.
    Black looked at me and Freeze, "Fire."
    We both emptied a clip in them.
    When it over, I drove Black home. I asked him, "How’d you know Banks started dealin’ again?"
    Black just looked at me like I was stupid or something. "I know everything that goes on in my organization. Remember that. Never get to far removed from anything you’re in charge of, Nick."
    Mrs. Childers was right I knew exactly how Chilly handled his business. But by now, she was talkin’ all over herself, "The story goes that you and Bobby Ray fell out over some woman and you cut out."
    "True story." It made me a little uncomfortable that she knew.
    "Tell me about it, Nick."
    "You seem to know the story, so there’s nothing to tell."
    "There’s more to your dark side. That the family you don’t like talking about, Nick?"
    "If you really gotta know, yes, Mrs. Childers, that’s the family I