Tell Me Sumthin'

         Zeke froze, his eyes trained on the man standing across from him, not daring to glance down at what he held in the right hand hanging at his side.
         "Whatchu gon do, Zeke?" Lil Charles shrugged with his left shoulder, waiting. " Whatchu gon' do, I raise up this here gun and pull? Hmm? Who you gon' tell?" He shook his head. "You been runnin' roun' here so long, startin' up shit and it ain't ever occurred to you that one day, all that mess was gon' find its way back to you."
         "I know where the money at!" Zeke blurted it so quickly he'd hardly understood his own words.
         Lil Charles patted the bag draped over his shoulder. "I already got the money."
         Zeke shook his head. "That ain't all of it."
         Lil Charles made a face. "You don't even know what I got in here."
         "Ten thousand?," Zeke ventured. From the look of surprise in Lil Charles eyes, he knew he'd answered correctly. "Ten thousand was all the man had stashed at his place," he continued, "but that ain't all of it. Shit, that ain't even half of it."
         Lil Charles sat back on the table behind him, eyes not leaving Zeke. After a moment, he hunched his shoulders. "Don't get shy now. Keep talkin'."
         Zeke swallowed hard, licking his lips. He wasn't dead yet and he still had a few tricks up his sleeve and a few more cards to play.