Married to the Game

by King Benjamin

  “I do remember you tell me something about that.”

  “See there! And you brushed us off for dinner,” she said rolling her eyes.

  Jay felt kind of bad now knowing he missed out on an opportunity.

  “I was messing with Gunner and Ray stupid asses,” he said shaking his head.

  “I keep telling you to broaden your horizons, Jay. I can help you if you let me.”

  Jay made eye contact with her with an all too serious look on his face.

  “Well, if I didn’t hear you before I’m listening now,” he assured her.

  ****

  When Gunner arrived at the hospital he was shocked to learn that his daughter had been shot and that Butter’s mother and her husband were both dead. From what the police had been able to assess, it seemed intruders had broken into the home and shot and killed both her parents while they were sleeping. When Butter heard the gunshots she hid in the closet but somehow a bullet ricocheted through a wall and stuck her in the calf.

  Gunner was completely devastated and at a loss for words as he took in all the information. Even though he and Chenille were nothing more than Butter’s parents now, the history they had was strong enough to make Gunner feel the loss in his heart. Compounding his grief to the maximum capacity was the fact that his daughter had been harmed in the process.

  “Take me to her,” Gunner demanded as he felt himself getting teary eyed.

  “Right this way,” the nurse said as she took off and led the way.

  When he got to the room he saw Chenille’s sister Stacy and her brother Boo sitting by Butter’s bedside. Stacey was crying silently and staring off into space while Boo just sat with his head down gazing at the floor. Butter looked petrified hours after the ordeal had taken place. She was wide awake and when she spotted Gunner the glimpse of hope that came into her eyes was a look he would never forget.

  “How you feeling baby?” Gunner said as he rushed to her side.

  “I’m still scared Daddy,” Butter replied.

  Gunner grabbed her hand.

  “Awww baby, I’m here now. You don’t have to be scared no more. Daddy gon’ make sure you safe from now on, okay?”

  Butter nodded silently.

  “You know she doesn’t know right?” Chenille’s brother said.

  Gunner took a deep breath. He knew exactly what Boo meant.

  “She don’t know?” he said in disbelief.

  “We ain’t told her yet,” Boo explained.

  Stacey started sobbing loudly. Gunner took another deep breath as he tried to decide if he should be the one to tell his daughter she would never see her mom again.

  “I do know. My mama dead. I saw her and him,” Butter admitted for the first time.

  “You did?” Gunner replied.

  “Yeah, I saw them in the bed shot.”

  “Oh my God!” Stacy cried.

  Gunner knew the sight of her mother lying dead in the bedroom would stick would his daughter for the rest of her life. He could only wonder how it would affect her emotional development. To know that her mother was dead, he thought she was handling it very well for a kid her age. He could only hope she stayed that way. Just then Gunner’s phone rang with a call from Kelly, no doubt wondering why he still wasn’t home at almost four in the morning.

  He couldn’t worry about Kelly right now. He had to be there for Butter.

  Chapter 10

  For the past few weeks Oshiwa and Bones and had been giving Doe specific instructions on how to deal with his local supplier Larry B. It was a route straight out of Bones’s original playbook that he always went to when his back was against the wall. As Doe went around town rounding up the remaining soldiers he and Bones had access to, they put people on they knew they could trust not out of loyalty but out of fear.

  Bones never had to even show his face or announce his presence because just the fact that Oshiwa and Doe were back on the scene was threat enough to keep everyone in line. The best thing about the new team they were assembling was that so much time had passed, everyone had ventured out into different areas giving Bones uncontested entry into several neighborhoods, or at least his drugs were welcomed. The men that were smart enough to start their own crews and be their own bosses passed up on the opportunity to work for Oshiwa again but most hadn’t progressed much and needed the financial boost she had to offer.

  Having Rell as a new face from out of town made people immediately view him as their enforcer and a threat. Things started out slow but with every dollar the streets brought back to Bones he used it to implement the most important part of his plan. By the end of the third week, Doe had convinced Larry B, his connect, to front him two bricks if he paid cash for two. The way he was producing cash his connect had to assume that Doe had a good clientele or he was working with the feds. Having a long history with Doe he decided to take a chance on him.

  Larry B didn’t do business after dark so they had to plan the whole lick taking into consideration it was broad daylight outside. Oshiwa sat on the block down the street watching and waiting for the block to clear out. There were people sitting on the porch enjoying the weather and constant traffic pulling up at houses. It was risky business either way but they wanted to limit the amount of people that would be able to identify them to police after they left the scene. Doe had been stalling Larry B for a couple of hours and if he didn’t make a move soon it was possible Larry would get suspicious. Seeing the block had become as thin as it was going to get, Oshiwa made the call and told the crew to move in.

  Twenty minutes later Doe pulled up in the driveway and parked behind Larry B’s brand new Suburban. He walked to the porch appearing to be all alone, but he wasn’t. As soon as Larry let Doe in Bones and Rell popped up from the backseat, crouched down on the floor. Knowing Larry’s routine was to walk away from the door and tell Doe to lock it instead of lock it himself, Doe just didn’t lock the door. Larry would never suspect such a bold move from the mild-mannered youngsters he’d known for the better half of his hustling years.

  “Here go the bread,” Doe said as he sat a stack of money that wasn’t near enough to cover the order on the kitchen divider.

  “I ain’t even ‘bout to count that shit, nigga,” Larry said as his tall, chubby frame strolled to the kitchen without a care in the world.

  Right in the kitchen cabinet was where he kept a lot of work when he had people coming through and orders to fill. Larry didn’t even hear the door coming open and his back was turned as Bones and Rell crept in. Doe pulled his gun out at the same time as Bones. Rell followed shortly after as Larry B placed the four bricks on the counter, still with his back turned.

  “This shit good too boy, they loving this shit,” he told Doe.

  Bones just stood there smiling at Larry B’s stupidity.

  “In that case, we’ll take it all,” Bones said.

  Larry B’s head spun around in shock, realizing the voice he just heard wasn’t Doe. Standing in his kitchen was a man he’d never seen before and a man he’d never met face to face but seen on the local news over a dozen times.

  “What the fuck Doe?” he shouted as the pistols in his face gave him no chances and no moves.

  Bones and Rell moved into the kitchen where all the drugs were while Doe picked up the money he’d sat down on the divider.

  “Don’t bother nigga, Doe don’t owe you no explanation, just come off that shit.”

  Rell walked up and smacked Larry B with the pistol, still trying to prove himself worthy to Bones.

  “Come off that shit nigga,” Rell barked.

  Larry B didn’t resist. He stuck his hands up and moved to the side as Bones gathered up the four bricks plus another two that he had in the cabinet. Once they had all the drugs Larry B thought they would leave and he’d get a chance to retaliate, but that wouldn’t be the case. He was led down to the basement where he was shot twice in the head and left for dead. The three gangsters left out of the house calm and collected under Bones’s instructi
ons from the same door they entered. The block was still quiet except for an old man at the end of the block on the porch. Once Oshiwa saw they were out of the house she cruised off slowly.

  ****

  Once Jay made up his mind that he was going to be a movie producer it was no stopping him. He dove in head first and never looked back. Initially, he had the idea to try and take on the whole movie business alone because after all, he’d always been a boss and never needed a partner in business, but since E was the inspiration behind his vision he offered his friend a chance to invest and be a minority stake partner. This would give Jay the extra capital he needed to finance the dream. He put the studio up for sale and started working towards finding a writer who could take on the task of writing the actual script. Jay had some very specific ideas and everything had to be perfect or he wouldn’t go through with it. He was still going back and forth about the name of the production company and as he drove home from a meeting with a potential buyer for the studio property, he gave E a rundown on the latest ideas he came up with.

  “Yeah, and I was thinking about in the very beginning, right? We take that shit back to the eighties nigga when we used to be sitting on the porch watching young niggas flying up the streets in the foreign cars and shit, bumping that Run DMC. If we could get the permission to use some of they music in the movie that shit would be dope!”

  “Yeah, that ‘Together Forever’ and that ‘Run’s House’ and shit like that,” E agreed.

  “Hell yeah! Start it off with us as kids just watching how the hood was and soaking shit up, you feel me?”

  “Nigga that shit sound like a classic as I’m sitting up here thinking about it,” E said excitedly.

  “I’m telling you, nigga. It’s gon’ be classic. I got some more ideas too, I’ma run by you when all of it is mapped out.”

  “I been coming up with some shit too. Like you said though, we just gotta find the right nigga to bring the ideas to life.”

  “Yeah, Michelle got a lot of connects I think we gonna be able to use so I told her to make some calls and see what she can come up with, you dig?”

  “Let me know what you come up with and I’ll see what I can do on my end.”

  “Bet. I’ll give you a call in a couple days,” Jay replied.

  “Alright, one.”

  ****

  Michelle was home preparing dinner, thinking about Jay’s new career path. He wasn’t just thinking of making one movie and being done with it. He had all these ideas and plots in his head that he wanted to bring to the big screen if the first movie went well. She pictured herself walking a red carpet at the movie premiere in the most fly dress and Jay rocking a dapper suit and tie. It was starting to sound really exciting to Michelle.

  The way he spoke so passionately when talking about making a movie, she knew he would give it his all. Thinking back on it, she’d never seen him this excited about the music business. Maybe this was his calling. Since he’d left the house earlier she’d been in contact with a few people in the business but the most important person she’d talked to today by far was a writer from Detroit, David Sears. She knew that David came highly recommended and she knew that Jay would be super excited to hear that she’d possibly solved the first piece of the puzzle.

  When she was done with dinner Michelle received a call from her mom that made a smile ease across her face. The two of them hadn’t talked in couple weeks and she was glad her mom thought to pick up the phone.

  “Hey Mom,” she answered.

  “Hey, daughter. Haven’t heard from you in a minute so I’m just checking in.”

  “I know, I was just thinking that as the phone rang. I’ve been busy the last few days trying to put these contacts together for Jay. He’s trying to make a movie.”

  “A movie?” her mom said in shock.

  Beverly Mitchell had come to love and adore Jay almost as much as Michelle did, but the one thing she was waiting on was to see if he would truly turn his life around for the better and leave the past behind. It seemed Jay was serious about walking away from the game but only time would tell.

  “Yeah, if you’ve listened to anything I’ve told you about Mr. Jason Burks then you know he’s a visionary. He wants to make a movie kinda loosely based on his experience growing up in the hood.”

  “Oh wow. That sounds like a challenge,”

  “Yeah, but he's definitely up for it. You should see how excited he’s been over the past few weeks.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope he stays that way when the going gets tough. This is not his area of expertise Michelle, so you gotta know there’s gonna be some setbacks and pitfalls.”

  Michelle knew her mom was right. Once the excitement of starting something this big wore off there was a big hill to climb, but that wasn’t her job to remind Jay of the downside. She felt her job as his woman was to be supportive and help him overcome those setbacks as they arrived.

  “We know there’s risks in everything Mom but you still gotta go for it, you know?”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll be praying it works out for him because I know he doesn’t wanna go back to the life he lived before.”

  At some point, after the Miami scandal, Michelle just had to be honest with her family about Jay’s past. Knowing he was trying his best to leave the game and turn his life around, they were willing to accept the relationship. Now they just wanted to make sure he did right by their daughter.

  “Thanks, and I know you mean that.”

  “I do. Oh and just as a reminder, you know our vow renewal is less than two months away.”

  “I know and we wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Michelle replied.

  “Tell Jay I said if he doesn’t show I’m knocking him out,” Beverly teased.

  “He will definitely be there, you can count on that.”

  Shortly after hanging up from her mom, Michelle heard Jay coming through the door. Dressed in only a long shirt and panties, Jay’s eyes roamed from her thighs to her feet as she sat Indian style in the living room chair. She couldn’t wait to give him the good news as he came over and dropped down to his knees and kissed her bare thigh.

  “Guess what?” Michelle said as he caressed her legs.

  “What’s up?”

  “I found a writer,” she announced.

  “You bullshitting!” Jay said as he shot to his feet.

  She shook her head.

  “I found a writer. A really good one too. He said he’s interested in hearing the idea and he wants you to give him a call.”

  Jay’s smile was as bright as the sun.

  “You my world I swear,” he said as he leaned in for a kiss.

  “And…and…” she said after a quick peck. “I found and talked to a director.”

  “Stop lying.”

  “I swear. He’s a friend of Brian’s. I told you he had all the connections it just took him a minute to track the right people down. You should talk to him first because he can give you a step by step explanation of this whole process a lot better than Brian can.”

  By the time Michelle was finished with her last sentence, Jay was back down on his knees rubbing and kissing on Michelle’s honey-colored thighs.

  “What would I do without you?” he said not even looking up to see her response.

  “Good thing you never have to find out,” Michelle replied as she rubbed the back of his head.

  Without saying another word, Jay grabbed her legs from under her and pulled her legs apart so he could run kisses up the inside of her thigh. Michelle inhaled deeply and closed her eyes knowing what was about to happen next. Jay went from kissing to sucking on her inner thigh. When she felt her panties sliding to the side she couldn’t contain the smile that followed right before Jay’s lips blessed her lower lips.

  “Mmmmm,” she released as he gave her spontaneous appreciation like only he could.

  “What you cook?” he asked as he came up for air.

  “Um, um,” she replied she guided his head back down
to finish the meal right in front of him.

  Jay obliged her as Michelle began to pant heavily, arching her back and clinging both hands to the arms of the chair. As Jay devoured her clit, Michelle’s body slid down further into the chair and her legs rose higher in the air. Before they knew it Michelle's legs were wrapped around Jay’s neck as he lapped up the flowing juices.

  “Oh fuck. Fuck!” Michelle cried.

  “I got your fuck right here,” Jay said as he rose to his feet and quickly began to undress. As he dropped each article of clothing to the floor he admired every curve on his woman’s body as she unbuttoned her shirt and revealed her breast for the first time. Jay scooped Michelle up by her bottom and switched positions, sitting in the chair and sitting her in his lap. He lunged at her breast like a hungry dog as she took his manhood into her palm and guided it inside her slowly. Jay slapped both hands around her ass cheeks and took a nice, firm grip on them. As he drove his staff inside her nest the sexual chemistry was as explosive as ever. The way he fucked her with so much passion, still dying to taste her lips, breast, and collarbone gave her chills up her spine and orgasms she’d never known.

  Michelle sucked his tongue as she tried to find air to breathe with each and every stroke filling her inside with magic. Feeling a simultaneous climax building, Michelle clung to Jay’s body gripping his neck tightly as his body grew stiffer and began convulsing uncontrollably. Michelle screamed for God in heaven as she felt her eyes rolling in the back of her head right before he exploded inside of her with a trickle of slob running down his mouth.

  Jay wiped the slob from his face as Michelle tried to gain some composure. She was still taking in the natural high that sex with him always gave her during and after. When she finally caught her breath, she said…

  “I think I would literally kill you if you ever gave someone else my dick.”

  Chapter 11

  After the lick, Bones and Oshiwa were sitting pretty. All they had to do from there was put the work out in the streets, invest wisely, and stay low. It was easy for Bones to stay out of sight not being involved in the day to day operations, but it was nearly impossible for Oshiwa. She had people that only wanted to do business with her and not Doe, plus she also had to stay close to Doe making sure he was playing fair and not getting sticky fingers.