by Ivory B.
“Damn Bruh what’s good?” Los asked giving his brother dap. “Psss, yo what can a nigga say,” Nice said shaking his head. “Ayo Luck she want you back there,” Nice said. Lucky got up from Los’ lap to go see what Ty wanted but was stopped by Nice mid stride. He grabbed her hand that was holding the ice pack to get a better look at the lump on her head. Lucky could literally feel the heat coming from Nice as he shook his head in disapproval. “You alright?” “Yeah I’m straight, I got a little headache but that’s it,” Lucky assured before walking off to see what Ty needed.
Nice sat down in a chair next to Los and ran his hands over his face exhaling stressfully. “So you heard?” Nice asked. “Heard what?” “Nigga you about to be a uncle again.” Los broke out into a huge smile “Say word?” “Word?” Nice responded. Los gave him dap. “Damn I didn’t even know Ty was pregnant,” Los admitted. “Nobody did, not even Ty knew until today. All I know is that bitch lucky Ty didn’t lose my seed. I really wanna lay hands on that Hoe.” “I feel ya pain son, but yo you knew this shit would get ugly. It always do when you playing wit family.” “It wasn’t even like that wit me and Nona though; she was lovin the whole crew. That’s why I can’t understand why she going this hard,” Nice said defensively. “It don’t even matter that she was letting the who crew hit, hoes get delusional and territorial you know that bruh, and it’s always the ones you ain’t lookin to do shit but smash and dash who get attached, you see the bullshit I went through with Shy. So what you gonna do now? You gon let things go with Ty cause it’s causing beef in her family?” Nice jerked his head back as if Los’ words offended him. “Hell nah, I ain’t letting shit go. I’m thinkin about making it official and wifing Ty.” “Word?” Los asked hearing about Nice’s plan for the first time. “Yeah she good, she good for me and Ky; now that she about to have my seed ain’t nothing else left to do but make it official. I really wanted to get this whole Mia thing out of the way before I made that move but you know there’s never a perfect time.” Los shook his head in approval. “Well that’s a good girl right there and a real good look, don’t think about it for too long go ahead and make that move son,” Los said giving his stamp of approval. Both men gave each other dap.
Just then Lucky came back out into the waiting area still holding the ice packet to her head. She stood directly in front of both grinning men and she could’ve been seeing double at that very moment, they had the same facial expression on their faces; identical. “What?” she asked and they both started laughing. “Whateva,” Lucky fussed not appreciating being the butt of whatever inside joke those two had going on. “C’mon Gangsta Boo,” Los said hopping to his feet and dapping Nice out one last time. “Carlos shut up don’t be calling me that ghetto mess.” “Why not? You out here backing bitches down with a hammer and pistol whippin hoes so why I can’t call you Gangsta Boo? Just me and my bitch, I need a Gangsta bitch for my gangsta boogie,” Los sang as he wrapped his arms around Lucky from behind walking out of the ER auto doors. “C.J!” Lucky stated in a warning tone. Nice watched Lucky play hard to get as Los walked holding her from behind with his face buried in her neck. Those two were definitely without a doubt made for one another Nice thought to himself.
A week later Los was driving through the streets of Philly with Real sitting shotgun on their way to a meeting with some of the key players in the street fam. The meeting was long overdue, as of late his team had taken quite a few hard blows. With Rel gone, Buj out of commission and Blacka back home lots of things had changed in a short period of time. Although his team still titanium strong and showing no signs of weakening or letting up the strong hold they had on the drug trade there were some things in order to change within their organization.
Despite his best efforts Los still couldn’t figure out who’d bodied Rel and hit up his stash house for guns and drugs. With Lucky being gone it was as if his attention span could only stretch but so far without him being caught in a fog. He could only deal with the pressing issues at hand anything that required analytical thinking he couldn’t do, he couldn’t focus on anything with his mind drifting right back to her. Now he understood why some niggaz tried to avoid love at all costs, because the whole world could be falling apart all around you but the only thing that really seemed to matter to you is the one you loved. Now that Lucky was back home and everything was on track in their relationship he felt as if he had clarity.
“Ayo Nice let me find out nigga you be outchea promising these Thots forever, that’s why Nona out here wildin. You promised her a ring nigga don’t lie” Real teased. “Real c’mon youngin I don’t care how big yo ass gettin from lifting in the gym I will still whoop ya mufuckin head boy for talkin that dumb shit,” Nice said his voice laced with a tinge of seriousness and attitude through the hands free speaker phone device in the car. Los laughed everyone knew how sensitive Nice got about the whole Nona situation, and that’s why they fucked with him so much about it. “Well according to these streets you was lovin Nona something serious.” Real continued to tease. “Let me tell you somethin lil nigga. I ain’t never been out here cape’in, can’t no hoe say I done ever threw on no red cape and tried to save they ass, I ain’t that courageous. Keep playin Real and I swear you gon have to duck when you see me.” “Go head nigga, you ain’t whoopin nothin but on some real shit, I can’t believe that bitch jumped on Ty and Luck wit some broads. She doing all that for what? Ole girl was lovin the whole crew. I thought she was a team sign on bonus, nah mean? Like you get down wit the team you get a free ride on Nona.” Both Nice and Los cracked up laughing but Los stopped laughing suddenly as something caught his eye, he had totally blocked Real and Nice out as he drove staring in disbelief. His mother used to tell him that if you speak of a person and they just pop up, whether it be in person or via phone then that meant that person was going to live a long life. He hoped and prayed that old wise tale wasn’t true because if so then it would be a bad thing for the general public that this sewer rat would be around for a while.
Blood began to boil in Los’ veins as he watched Nona walking with her phone pressed to her ear and a smile plastered on her face. Unbeknownst to Lucky Los had put a O.S order out on Nona. Anybody who saw her out in these streets was supposed to tear her ass out the frame On-Sight. Nona wasn’t stupid, she knew the heat was on and that’s exactly why she’d been low-key this past week. No one had been able to catch up with her until now. Watching Nona smile with a carefree expression set Los all the way off. His mind flashed back to the night of the fight, he stayed up that whole night watching over Lucky as she fell into a deep sleep. Throughout the night he would periodically place his hand up to her face to make sure she was still breathing, and shake her out of her sleep just so he could hear her groan in aggravation and beg him to let her sleep. He knew it bothered her that she couldn’t sleep in peace but the possibility of her not waking up at all or slipping into a coma from being hit in the head posed a bigger threat than her being mad at him.
Los could admit he didn’t pray to that man above on a regular basis, but right before the CAT scan machine started to slide Lucky into position to take images of her brain she looked over at him with scared and helpless eyes through the glass that separated them. And in that moment he felt helpless; she always viewed him as her Superman but right now even he knew he would have to rely on someone who had more power than he would ever have. He swallowed hard and sent up a silent prayer that those scans wouldn’t show anything ominous. Thankfully it seemed that man up above was on call as always and the scans didn’t show anything but a minor concussion. The doctor assured both Lucky and Los that the level of concussion she had was very mild. Lucky seemed perfectly fine and was even given the green light to attend classes that started in two weeks, but Los was still keeping a close eye on her making sure she didn’t exhibit any signs of her.
Los threw his car towards the curb and parked wildly. “Oh shit! Ayo Los what da…” was all Carlos heard from a startled Real before he jumped out of the car and
ran up on Nona. Nona heard the loud screech of tires and looked up in time to see Los coming towards her. She wanted to run but she was stuck; somehow her feet didn’t seem to want to cooperate with her brain. Los’ amber brown eyes looked menacing, while his usually handsome face was turned into a scowl. He didn’t say anything, there were no words to be shared they both knew why he was there. Smaaack! Nona stumbled backwards into the chain linked fence that was in back of her coming right up out of her heel. “Ooohh gotdamn he slapped the soul out dat bitch!” Someone yelled. Nona cried out and reached for her face as she shrunk down sinking to her butt. “Oh my god! I’m sorry…Lucky wasn’t supposed to get hit!” Nona’s pleas didn’t move him one bit and as he snatched her up by her shirt he had to fight the burning urge to lay her out. His fists balled and un-balled as he bit down on his bottom lip and burned a hateful glare through her, “You’s a snake bitch for letting somebody sneak ya cousin from behind like that,” Los snarled pointing his finger into her temple to put emphasis on his words. “Los! Los! C’mon man let them Murda Mami bitches get at her. She can’t run and hide forever they gon catch up to her.” Real pleaded while grabbing Los up from behind. He didn’t think Nona was worth the case Los might catch for really fucking her up. By then there were bystanders who had stopped to stare and Real knew at least one of them would misconstrue this as some type of domestic dispute between a chick and an abusive boyfriend and call the boys. Los let her go reluctantly and watched as she slid to the ground. Nona pulled herself from the ground while Real struggled to pull Los back towards his car. Just when Nona thought she was home free and out of danger she brought her arms down from shielding her face and Los hawked and spat a healthy sized loogie in her face. The saliva filled with mucus was thick and seemed to have clung to her face before she instinctively wiped it away with the back of her wrist. She looked up at Los in sheer shock and disgust, her look was met by eyes that showed nothing but coldness. “Grimy bitch! You lucky ain’t shit happen to my wife, or my niece or nephew Ty carryin either. And you can stop sending my brother them naked selfies, ain’t nobody checkin for you and ya soggy ass lookin pussy.” A couple of bystanders laughed and Real although having a hard time handling Los had to chuckle as well.
As quickly as Los came he was gone and Nona was left with the embarrassment of trying to put herself back together. She sniffled as she found her shoe and slipped it back on. Tears fell from her burning face as Los’ words reverberated in her head. You lucky ain’t shit happen to my niece or nephew Ty carryin. It didn’t matter that she got slapped out of her shoe and jacked up, or even spat on, what mattered to her most was that Ty seemed to have been living this happily ever after that she’d stolen from her.
Nona hopped in the rental car she’d been pushing for the last couple of weeks and sped all the way home finding it hard to see through the haze of jealousy, envy and payback she was feeling. When she got home she burst into the house in tears telling Toya and her mother what Carlos had done to her, setting the entire house ablaze with drama. “Oh hell no! I know that muthafucka ain’t put his hands on you! What type of man does that?!” Mae roared after seeing how red and bruised her daughter’s face was. Toya snatched up her cell phone to call Lucky and see what she had to say about this whole situation.
Lucky was cruising down the street coming from her orientation for school. She was past excited about classes starting the following week, it seemed to be some of the best news as of late besides Ty being pregnant. School served as a getaway for her, when she stepped on campus it was as if all the crazy drama that had popped off in recent months didn’t exist. “Lucky pressed the hands free button on her phone and was taken aback by the loud, hyper, angry voice that came through the speakers of the car. “Lucky what the fuck is goin on?!” Was how she was greeted by the caller. Lucky furrowed her eyebrows in confusion for a split second not sure if it really was her cousin but the voice sounded a lot like her. “Toya?” Lucky said for confirmation. “Yeah this Toya, I’m calling to find out why ya man put his fuckin hands on my sista,” Toya snapped with hostility. “He call himself a man, he ain’t no damn man! Just because he probably ova there whoopin on yo ass don’t mean he gone put his damn hands on mine!” Lucky heard her Aunt Mae scream from the background. “Wha…What are you talkin about? Carlos didn’t hit Nona!” Lucky retorted defensively. “Yes he did! He hit her then spit in her face. Right on North 15th and 3rd. That’s some real disrespectful shit Lucky how he gon spit in her face?!” Lucky was rendered speechless; no she hadn’t seen Carlos do it but did this sound like something he would do? Definitely “Well I’ll talk to him about it,” Lucky said lowly. “You’ll talk to him about it, that’s all you gon say after what he did to my sister?!” “Toya foreal you need to turn the fuck down a coupla notches,” Lucky said with attitude not appreciating how Toya was coming at her. “Well that’s my fuckin sister,” Toya shot back with hostility. “And that’s my fuckin husband so what you really sayin?!” There was a short pause in their conversation and Lucky couldn’t hear anything but her Aunt still poppin off in the background. “I’ma call the cops on his ass let’s see how he like putting his hands on somebody then!” Mae screamed. “Well I’m not even tryna take it there with you Lucky cause we all family,” Toya stammered taken aback a bit at how hard Lucky went at her. “I’m just sayin… what Los did to Nona today was dead wrong. He a dude he shouldn’t be puttin his hands on her no matter what.” Lucky huffed and rolled her eyes in frustration “And I already told you Toya I will talk to him about it.” Lucky said with a tinge of attitude, she had to remind herself that there was no need in carrying on with the argument when Toya was clearly trying to recoil. Lucky didn’t agree with what Los did but she would voice that to him in private, in public she was going to put on a united stance and she didn’t give a fuck who ain’t like it. “You need to tell ya mother to chill with all that calling the cops talk too,” Lucky let that unfinished warning hang in the air knowing she didn’t have to spell it out for Toya. “Yeah girl I know, you know my mother just talkin she ain’t calling nobody,” Toya assured. “Is Nona alright?” “Yeah she good, she mad though.” “Alright Toya I’ll hit you back once I find out what’s going on,” Lucky lied she had no intentions of calling Toya back concerning this matter. “Carlos oh my god really though?” Lucky shouted aloud with pure annoyance once she hung up. She dialed Los’ cell phone but he let her call roll into voicemail not once but twice. She knew he was probably avoiding her calls because he knew he was in trouble, that was cool he didn’t have to pick up for her she was going to him. Lucky took a hard left turn onto a side street as she headed towards his office.
Back to Business
Carlos looked at his vibrating phone and watched Wifey flash across the screen for the second time. He sighed deeply shaking his head before pushing his phone aside, he already knew the reason Lucky was blowing him up but he decided to deal with that issue when he got home as of right now he had more pressing issues to take care of. Their meeting had been going on for a good 15 minutes with Nice conducting it. Los was still too aggravated to deal with anything and Nice already knew the deal from the way Los looked when he walked in, so he took over without Los even having to say a word. Los was listening to Nice talk but every now and then his eyes would shift to his cousin Chilly who was being a real distraction. It was as if he couldn’t sit still, he kept fidgeting in his seat and moving. The biggest distraction of them all was the way he kept grinding his back teeth which was a clear indication that he had popped a Molly or some sort of prescription pill. Another dead giveaway was the bottles of Tropicana orange juice and bottled water that he kept sipping from. Usually when people popped pills they had to stay hydrated or the pills would dry them out. Los turned his nose up as he watched his cousin take a large gulp of orange juice then chew on the gum he had in his mouth trying desperately to disguise that uncontrollable movement of his mouth as nothing more than a casual chewing of gum. If Chilly could really look at himself and see
how ridiculous he looked right now he would probably want to quit with drugs altogether.
“A’ight fam we got a few announcements to make but before we do does anyone have anything they want to bring to the table right now?” Nice asked as his eyes roamed around the office. Everyone knew when it came down to business Nice was as serious as cancer. Chilly’s eyes opened wide with slight excitement and for once he thought he was going to impress everyone in the room and show them he should be taken more seriously in regards to business. “Yeah,” Chilly spoke up his voice wavering slightly before he cleared his throat and found his usual tone. “A while back I came to Los and put him on to a plug I had for them blue pills but ain’t nothing really pop off after that. I think we should be movin in that arena. I mean everybody know Percs and Xanax is the new crack, nah mean? It’s money to be made out here and we losing out.” Los squinted his eyes at his cousin, was it his imagination or was his cousin trying to undermine him in front of the team? “Hell nah that shit ain’t poppin like that,” Jah interjected. “That soft and hard still move faster than them pills any day, you can’t convince me niggaz out here who addicted to crack and heroin going to suddenly become pill poppers that shit makes no sense and if it don’t make sense it don’t make dollars,” Jah stated. “Jah you don’t know what you talkin bout, I know them shits be movin everybody be on it. I got this whole shit set up, my plug even got his own lil pharmacy where he make and label his pills.” “Oh my gawd this dude can’t be serious, now he want us to be out here pushin bootleg prescription pills, fuck wrong wit him?” Jah cackled. “Jah you need to be easy you don’t know everything mah nigga, you spent a hot minute on the block before you got shot and you think you an expert.” Chilly shot back. Jah jumped up like somebody set fire to his ass and hiked the back of his jeans up before he started to make his way around the table to serve Chilly that first class fade. “Hey!” Los boomed catching everyone off guard. It was actually the first time he had spoken since the meeting started. He had sat silently watching and listening until now. “Both of y’all niggaz cool out, secondly, Chilly I’m tellin you now what I told you before when you first approached me with this business proposal I’m not interested. Now for an average nigga in the game this could be a lil come up but for me peddling pills would be like hustlin backwards. This family wants no parts of peddling pills, leave that shit to them nickel and diming hustla’s out here” Los said that while staring his cousin dead in his eyes, Los meant what he said he didn’t want to hear anymore about selling pills.
