“Oh, shit! I know that ain’t Kross!” one of the homies, Juvie, exclaimed as he stood on the porch with his arms stretched open. He had a blunt in one hand and a Corona in the other. It was clear that these niggas wasn’t worried about making no paper.
With glint webbing his brown orbs, Kross looked Juvie up and down. It had been seven years, and under any other circumstances, he would have given him a proper handshake and maybe even a hug, but right now, he was pissed, and seeing a whole bunch of niggas slack off wasn’t making shit any better.
“What’s good, Ju? Where Zeek at?”
Juvie peeped that Kross wasn’t in the mood to chop it up, so his arms dropped, and he shook his head. “He inside,” he informed him, pointing to the upstairs unit.
He shot Juvie a curt nod before bypassing him and a few other niggas to make his way up the stairs. He dapped up a few niggas along the way, but the look on his face made it clear that he wasn’t about to catch up with any of them.
He stepped inside the doorway and was instantly engulfed in a cloud of smoke. The smell of good weed struck his nose as his eyes peered around. All around the apartment were guns, weed, and stacks of money. Kross was always down to have a good time when it was warranted, but these niggas ain’t have shit to celebrate, so he was confused as fuck.
He caught Ezekiel leaned back in his seat on the leather couch as he blew a stream of smoke into in the air. Kross stepped toward his little brother with his jaws clenched. “Let me holla at you real quick.”
Ezekiel extended the lit blunt over to his brother with a smile on his face. “Aye, bruh. You tryna hit this?”
Kross declined with a shake of his head as he attempted to contain his anger. “I’m good. Bring your ass on. You’re wasting my time,” he rushed Ezekiel before navigating toward the back door that led to the back porch.
Ezekiel followed his older brother, confused by the hostile energy he was giving off. Once they got to the back and Ezekiel shut the door behind them, Kross let out a heavy breath. “I’m ‘bout to ask you something, and it’s in your best interest to keep it real with me.”
Ezekiel eyed his brother up and down before turning his lip up at him. “Nigga, what you on right now ‘cause you blowing my fucking high?”
“You knew it was them niggas from Chicago that shot up Cassie and Aniyis?” Kross’ brown orbs seared into his brother.
It was clear that Ezekiel wasn’t expecting him to be privy to those details. He tried his best to keep them under wraps and off Kross’ radar. His brother had a lot of shit going on. More stress just wasn’t a good idea.
“Who the fuck told you that? Noonie?” he snarled in response to Kross.
The back door was pushed open, and Noonie stepped out to join the men. “I put him up on game, something you should’ve done soon as he got home,” he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, not caring that he had just thrown Ezekiel under the bus.
“It don’t even fucking matter who told me. The problem is when I asked you who could’ve had motives to shoot up my lady’s car while my son was with her, you told me you ain’t have a fucking clue, and I fucking trusted that. When I left, I gave you two orders: don’t fuck up my money and keep my girl out your bullshit.” Kross shoved his brother in his chest, causing him to stumble back into the wall. “I been out for a fucking month, Zeek! A month! And you just been sitting on this info, making me look pussy when I could’ve been got these niggas!”
Ezekiel shoved Kross back in the chest as a glare masked his face. “I’m fucking handling it. Cassie and ‘Niyis is family. You don’t think I’m rocking behind you to knock these niggas off too? We can’t just pull up spraying at motherfuckas because we think it was them. That’s sloppy as fuck, and I’m not with all that.”
Kross loudly smacked his lips as he balled his hands up in an attempt to restrain himself. “Y’all niggas copping pleas, and I don’t fuck with that! My lady gone, and my son been in a fucking coma for a month! Y’all acting like some hoes!”
“Man, who you calling a hoe?! I been solid since the day you got locked up! I understand you grieving and all, but don’t get shit fucked up!” Ezekiel snarled at his brother, unable to take the way Kross was coming at him.
Kross was known to have a short fuse. He wasn’t much of a talker and felt like he got his point across better if he was physical. Before Noonie got the chance to step in, Kross’ fist collided right into Ezekiel’s jaw. The blow drew blood that seeped through Ezekiel’s perfectly aligned teeth, sending him into a rage. Ezekiel swung back on Kross, and a brawl ensuedbetween the two brothers. They grew up together, and no matter how much Ezekiel tried, he would never be able to go toe to toe with his older brother. The ruckus was loud enough to draw their crew outside to witness Noonie fail terribly at separating the two brothers and stopping them from throwing blows.
Juvie stepped in and aided Noonie with pulling the brothers off each other. Kross was full of anger and frustration while Ezekiel was shocked that his brother resorted to throwing blows after all he’d done for him.
“This what you gone do to me?! Your brother, Kross?!” Ezekiel snarled as he was pushed toward the wall by Juvie.
“Nigga, fuck you! You let them niggas spin on my baby mama and son and wasn’t ‘bout to do shit about it! You ain’t no fucking brother!” Kross seethed in response from behind Noonie.
Ezekiel attempted to push Juvie off him so he could charge at Kross but failed. “I held this shit down and made it to what it is today! You wouldn’t have had shit to come home to if it wasn’t for me!”
“Nigga, I handed you a fucking empire. All you had to do was maintain! I got this shit out the mud! I don’t give a fuck ‘bout no money! Them niggas took my lady away from me and got my son dangling between life and death! The first thing you should’ve did was let me know ‘bout them niggas and let me put shit in motion! You fucked up, Ezekiel!”
Kross and Ezekiel allowed their brotherhood to deteriorate before all their homies’ eyes. Ezekiel knew he fucked up, but in his mind, he thought he was doing the right thing. If Kross made the wrong move, it could’ve ended up with him being locked up for good, and he ain’t want that. Instead of going back and forth with him, Ezekiel shook his head and pushed Juvie off him.
“Do what you want, K. I’m good off you.” He shot his brother another lethal glare before heading back inside the trap to grab his keys to leave.
Kross could feel the eyes that were searing into him, anticipating his next move. He and his brother had just fallen out in front of everyone and given them all the impression that the foundation of the Paper Chase crew was weaker than ever.
Assessing his bloody knuckles, Kross clenched his jaws. “Clean this place the fuck up. We’re making money, not partying. If you niggas can’t get with that, then get the fuck on. I’m back now.”
Chapter Seven
