“Fa’sho. He ready to do some business with you. He don’t really fuck with Zeek.” Noonie shook his head as he thought about the turmoil between Ezekiel and KP.
Kross bumped his brows together since this was his first time hearing that shit wasn’t copasetic when it came to his brother filling in for him. His little brother hit the ground running as soon as he passed the baton to him, and there weren’t many complaints about how he handled shit either. Hearing that KP and Ezekiel didn’t get along had him a little concerned because KP was their strongest link out in Cali.
“What you mean he don’t fuck with Zeek? What’s they beef?”
Noonie shrugged his shoulders before shaking his head again. “Zeek just think he know better than everybody. The little nigga ambitious as hell, I give him that, but he doesn’t understand that when it comes to business, it’s all about respect.”
“Man, I thought shit was going good while I was locked up,” Kross sighed.
“Don’t get me wrong. We ain’t never having no money problems ‘round this way, but shit been crazy.”
“How crazy?”
“It’s us versus everybody right now,” Noonie enlightened him.
It was concerning that Kross was hearing this from Noonie instead of his brother, who had more than enough opportunities to put him up on game about what the fuck had been going on.Granted, he was still in the in between about whether he was jumping back into the game, but at the end of the day, this was something he built from the ground up, and it had his name attached to it. Whether he was behind bars or not, everyone knew he was the face and the start of the Paper Chase Empire, so he reserved the right to know the ins and outs.
“We that hot right now? You think that could’ve made somebody spin on my lady and Aniyis?” Kross leaned up in his seat. His high had completely faded off, and he was at full attention now.
“I ain’t gonna lie, fam. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Noonie turned down the music in preparation for a much more serious conversation.
“Be real with me. You know who did it?”
A heavy sigh drifted out of Noonie as he came to a stop at a red light. “We been beefing with some niggas from Chi-raq who expanded down here. They call themselves the Zone 7 Disciples. It started over some petty shit in the club between Ezekiel and this nigga Sway. Then it blew up to niggas dissing each other and making threats. You know my body, Kross. I don’t fuck with threats.”
“Y’all spun on them niggas first?” Kross raised his brow.
Noonie nodded in confirmation before explaining what happened to Kross. Granted, the beef didn’t start with him, but he was always bound to end it. Once he heard the threats these Zone 7 niggas were making, he took it upon himself to draw the line in the sand. He sent Sway out in a body bag for the threats he made against their crew. This caused the streets of Miami to erupt in bloodshed for months. The Paper Chase crew had massive targets on their backs, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if Cassie and Aniyis were just collateral damage within all the beef.
Hearing all this had Kross ready to flip the fuck out. For a month now, he been at a standstill because he had no fucking clue where to start when it came to who the fuck would want to off his lady and harm his son. The only person he trusted enough to turn to was Ezekiel since he was entrusted to keep shit in order for him and keep Cassie and Aniyis protected. Noonie being the one to tell him this had him fucked up.
“So, my lady gone and my son laid up in a hospital bed over some petty-ass beef that happened in a club?” Kross turned his lip up at Noonie.
“All the facts ain’t straight yet, Kross, so let’s not jump the gun.”
“Nigga, fuck that,” he gritted. “You telling me this shit and expecting me to think rationally? I’m ready to spin on these niggas right now. Fuck is you telling me, Noonie?”
“I hear you, K, and that’s why I wanted to let you know, but we can’t just spray at these niggas and not have our shit straight. You feel me? I gotta put my ear out to the streets to see if these Chicago niggas really behind us losing Cassie. If they are, you know you have the green light, and I’m riding with you regardless.”
Although Kross knew what Noonie was saying was nothing but facts, he let it slip in one ear and out the other. He’d been fiending for blood since he found out he lost Cassie, and he wasn’t about to waste time trying to figure out if these Chicago niggas called the hit or not. Everything was pointed to them, so Kross would’ve been a fool if he didn’t avenge his lady’s death.
“I ain’t trying to hear none of that shit, Noonie. I lost my lady behind this. She was innocent and ain’t have shit to do with y’all beef. Them niggas would’ve been better off knocking me off as soon as I stepped foot out the gates. I ain’t sparing nobody behind Cassie and Aniyis. Them niggas is dead,” Kross fumed as he slammed his fist into his palm.
Noonie understood how Kross was feeling, and he knew if the shoe was on the other foot, he would’ve been crashed out behind his lady and son. Kross held it together better than a lot of niggas, and for that, Noonie commended him. Before Noonie could get a response out to him, Kross whipped out his phone and made a call to his brother. The call rang briefly before he answered.
“Yo, where you at?” Kross asked, not bothering to offer a greeting.
In the background, he could hear loud music bumping, along with rowdy conversation. “I’m over here at the trap?”
“Say less,” Kross interjected before ending the call on his brother.
“Kross, you not thinking straight. You need to chill,” Noonie advised him as he let out a heavy breath. He could see the rage that clouded Kross’ eyes, and he knew what would come next wasn’t going to be good. He wished Ezekiel kept it real with Kross from the jump so he wouldn't have had to be the one to open the can of worms.
“You can either take me over to where Zeek at or take me back to my car and I’ll pull up dolo,” he laid out Noonie’s two options. Noonie knew he was going to have to keep a lid on this brewing chaos, so he took the first option and opted to be Kross’ ride. Once he was informed that Ezekiel was at the trap in Liberty City, Noonie did a swift U-turn and slid in that direction.
Kross remained silent for the rest of the drive. He couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that his brother sat on this information for so long while he was desperate for answers. He would have never done no shit like that to him. Upon arriving, he barely gave Noonie a chance to set the car in Park before hopping out. It didn’t even dawn on him that this was going to be his first time showing his face in the hood amongst some of the foot soldiers outside of his immediate crew. He wasn’tplanning on emerging from the shadows anytime soon since he was unclear on whether he wanted to step back into his role, but knowing that Ezekiel withheld information from him was enough to make him grace everyone with his presence.
Scoping the scene around him, Kross turned his lip up at the lack of structure that was before him. If it was anything like he last left it, he knew they ran weight within the upstairs and downstairs units, so he couldn’t understand why Ezekiel was letting niggas sit and chill all around the building, drawing unnecessary eyes. There was absolutely no structure whatsoever. Trash littered the perimeter of the porch and staircase as music blared from a set of speakers that were set up on the porch of the bottom unit. Niggas was kicked back, smoking, drinking and having a grand ole time talking about bullshit.
