I laughed because it was easy for his ass to switch up the temperature of a situation real quick.
“We’d have done this shit for free. Stop playing. Besides, I’m sure they were gonna have his ass stop all his illegal activities, which is why he had us bring so much to him and not leave it in the safe. He wouldn’t be able to put it in a bank because it would’ve just alerted more people to what was going on. His bread is here. We find it, get it and get the fuck outta here.”
Travis snatched up the bag with a new determination to find the stash. “Then it’s back to business as usual. Only now, we the ones reaping the benefits of our hard work.”
“Facts. Let’s split up, we got forty-six minutes to be outta here.”
“Aye, City.”
My head snapped up from the phone I held in my hand, ignoring the text from this chick I was kinda dealing with. I was about to leave the block and she’d messaged me right on time, wanting to know what I was up to. Stacey had been on me heavy since we’d started kicking it a few years ago. Some women would always overlook a corner boy but as soon as that promotion came in and the money matched the work, suddenly it was a phone full ofhey big headtexts and grainy pussypics. Count was done and money was secure so me lingering around was unnecessary. Part of me just loved being in the trap's environment. The energy was better than a Red Bull, the adrenaline rush second to none.
It was business as usual since folks were still thinking that King’s ass was on vacation. That shit was permanent but few people knew to even question shit because they rarely saw his ass, anyway. He was the type to drop out of sight and then brag about where he’d been. First clue that he was gone fold and he’d gotten too lax with the street shit.
“What’s good?”
A young nigga named Poke was walking through the door like he was on a mission. He got his name because he enjoyed stabbing muthafuckas so I stared his ass down to make sure he wasn’t on no shit. We had good people, but I’m sure King’s ass thought the same shit and now look at him: dead, robbed, and about to enter the circle of life to feed the microbes in the soil.
“Some bitch out here looking for you. Saying she’s got something you want.” His face was frowned up like whoever was outside was on his damn nerves. The money was locked up until I got ready to go and nobody could get in that room unless it was me or Trav. King had other people on his payroll, but this was one house we controlled so they had no say and no access.
Poke was looking at me like he was waiting on my word to toss her ass in the dumpster around the corner, which wasn’t a bad idea. But this shit with King had me spooked so I at least needed to put eyes on who it was in case I needed to have her touched.
My brow quirked at whatever bitch was outside looking for me. Nobody should be around this place asking for me especially not by fucking name.
“We know her?”
He sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes, reminding me he was still young as hell. Poke wasn’t even old enough to drink yet and was already jaded. “Yeah, it’s Reina.”
I frowned up automatically because there was no reason she needed to be around me. Reina was an older woman who thought she was too good for where we lived. Her old man died a while back and had been half in the game with King and half out. They had a kid or two, but Dae had distanced himself from street shit a while before he died. The hood still sent him off like a hero, but like all things life moved on. Reina was always out in somebody’s face and I hadn’t seen or heard shit about her or her kid in a minute.
I hopped up from the couch needing to see what was going on. It was just a reminder that I didn’t need to hang out at the spot and chasing pussy would always get me caught up. Especially if a woman like Reina knew where to find my Black ass. MyOnessqueaked slightly against the old linoleum on the floors. I didn’t care if this was a trap house; it was still a part of a neighborhood and we weren’t going to be any more of a nuisance than we already were. We ain’t let fiends hang out around here and nobody got their shit out of this house. It was the street or you had to beat your feet from around us. I be damned if I sat up in a spot that was filthy. Mostly, them niggas kept their shit together, which we appreciated.
I pushed opened the screen door and ducked beneath the doorway to get outside. My ass was too tall and lanky for these damn houses. At almost six foot eight, I was oversized for just about everything so I was used to it.
The stadium could be seen in the distance along with the muthafuckas trying to come in and gentrify the neighborhood. They were throwing up starter homes for crazy prices trying to lure folks in tochange the safety profile of the neighborhood.If they stopped shutting down services, actually paid attentionto the areas that had high crime with more than just additional police presence maybe muthafuckas like me wouldn’t only have somebody like King’s ass to look up to. Trav and I always wanted to do more to give back, but King was more interested in recruiting a steady supply of workers. To keep it real, we already had the type of money that was going to ensure we were good for a minute. But we stayed where we were to stand in the gap between the young boys and girls out here from getting exploited. Damn shame we’d let ourselves almost get caught up.
The woman who was looking for me had to crane her neck from her spot on the steps. I knew the first thing we would do was shut this house down after we got done today. Somebody shouldn’t have had this type of access to us and I wondered how and why she knew where to find me or this place.
“What’s good, Reina?”
I folded my arms at the woman in front of me. She was a pretty lady probably no older than mid thirties early forties. Her hair was in some long braids and she was wearing a big white tank top, some jean shorts and the sandals like Jesus and His disciples made hot. The heat was already spiking since spring was here so I didn’t blame her. It was a damn shame that she was walking around with her ass cheeks out at her age.
“Listen, I need you to do me a favor.” She ain’t even have the good manners to say hey or nothing. Just got straight to it like I was on a clock she paid me to punch.
“Favor like what?” I was only listening to her because of Dae. I knew he was a good dude, had helped me and Trav out when our mamas weren’t doing right, so it was only right I returned the favor. One thing I wouldn’t do is disrespect his legacy by giving his ole lady some shit that would have her down bad. If she came for something like that, I’d have to keep a closer eye on her.
“I need you to find me somewhere to drop off my daughter.”
I blinked twice because I couldn’t have heard her right. “Your daughter?”
“Lyric. I can’t handle dealing with her right now. She’s gotta go.” Her face had started off soft but had turned hard as soon as she mentioned her kid. Which was wild to me.
I looked around trying to figure out what the hell she wanted me to do. The trap house wasn’t a fucking orphanage or a hospital. “You ain’t got no family—”
“I’m not about to burden them with her!”
My brows shot up and I glared at shawty, wondering if she was already on that shit. Only reason I could think of that she would be speaking about her kid with such disdain.
“But you want to burden somebody else?”
