It Is What it Is

by Ivory B.

  Los sentiment was no one needed the extra heat from the FEDS for pocket change, being money hungry and chasing every dollar out here could get you hemmed up. The time, resources, and manpower he would have to put into getting in the arena of selling pills wasn’t worth the return. Los fell back into his seat and went silent again as his eyes roamed the room to see some heads shaking back and forth flashing Chilly a look of pity. Chilly licked his lips and dropped his head playing as if he were checking a message on his phone not wanting anyone in the room to pick up on how tight he was with his cousins right now. It was as if they went out of their way to try and make him look stupid all the time. Fuck these niggaz! I’m stupid? But they don’t even know what’s coming for them. Los ain’t gon stop a nigga from eaten fuck him, I’ma do me.

  Nice took a long, hard sigh before he continued on with the meeting. “Anybody else got anything of substance that needs to be brought to the table?” Real held a finger up from the far end of the table. “Ayo Boss that lil nigga Mook is gettin outta pocket. He talkin real greasy right now sayin he gon put ya face on rest in peace tee’s for the summer.” Los didn’t jump from his seat with immediate anger or go off like some expected him to as a matter of fact he seemed unbothered only raising an eyebrow slightly. “I know you said to let that dude be but you know a nigga running around talkin reckless is something I can’t tolerate. From ya lips to my clip Mah G, all you gotta do is say the word and I’ll run up on that nigga block and make a whole mess out that mufucka.” Los stared into Real’s eyes and smirked; he knew he had bred a little beast. All he had to do is feed Real, treat him fairly and his little nigga was down for whatever. “What’s this dude problem anyways?” Nice asked. Nice wasn’t alarmed, it wasn’t like this was the first time either Los or himself had been on someone’s radar to be killed. Not too long ago someone even came close when they hit him while riding home on his motorcycle. It came with the territory of being on top, there was always someone out here lurking, waiting to take you out and make a name for themselves. “That dude convinced Los got his whole family hit up while he was locked up.” Nothing rang a bell for Los and he didn’t make it a habit of dragging someone’s family into beef, so getting a nigga’s family hit up didn’t sound at all familiar. “His brother was that dude Soup,” Meat interjected. “A mental bell rang off in Los’ head; he knew exactly who this kid was now. Soup was a part of some half baked assassination attempt a while back. Some cats from VA was supposed to cop work from Los but had intentions of setting him up to get bodied at the drop. Things went left when Jah showed up instead of Los and they accidently mistook Jah for Los in a darkened club. A shootout in club Karisma ensued leaving a few dead and many injured, the craziest thing about it all was one of them niggaz who came to get at Los managed to get away and till this day no one knew who or where he was.

  “Ooohh, he related to that dude?” Nice said through a light chuckle, “On some real shit the only person he should be mad at is his brother. When you out here movin like a snake you can’t get mad when niggaz cut the grass back on that ass; his brother brought that beef shit to his own Mama’s doorstep, Soup knew where he laid his head before he even tried to pull grimy and its obvious he ain’t give a fuck that he would be puttin everyone in that house in danger. His momz ended up catching a hot one over some dirt her son was into, you know shit happens.” “Facts,” Jah added to what Nice said shaking his head up and down along with Meat who nodded his head in agreement too. Although, Los agreed with Nice wholeheartedly he had always felt for that woman who was gunned in front of her own grandchild. It was a shame but Soup’s mother ended up being a casualty in a war her son started. Los’ eyes traveled over to Chilly who was sitting looking quite unbothered about this whole situation which was ironic since he was the one who actually caught them bodies.

  Los decided to put this Mook discussion to rest; he really didn’t see the point in talking about it any longer. He was and had always been a man of actions not words. While Mook was out here poppin his gums the only thing Los wanted to do was pop guns. But he knew there was a time and place for everything. It was hard to have self control when you had someone running around threatening to stop the blood that ran through your veins but the stakes were too high for him to make the wrong move. He had way too much to lose, his life being first and foremost his freedom being second. It was literally taking everything in him not to run down on that lil mouthy nigga and empty his clip in him but he had to think things through logically and not react off of blind rage.

  “Listen, if he really gotta problem with me he know where to find me. I’m movin in and out of these streets all the time and I ain’t ducking or hiding from nobody. The fact that I know this dude is tryna get at me tells me everything I need to know about this nigga. Real niggaz move in silence with violence, so I’m dealin with a pussy nigga wit bitch tendencies. The typa nigga that like to sit around and gossip like a bitch about the shit he did or wanna do. My wife puts more fear in my heart than he do and that’s some of the realest shit I ever spoke. Movin along we done with this subject,” Los said in a tone that was evident of both anger and annoyance. Real wasn’t trying to undermine Los’ orders but his loyalty and love for his mentor wouldn’t let him let the situation go that easily. “Yeah but Los ain’t you the one who told me not to ever underestimate anyone? I think…” “Real let that nigga breathe,” Los said firmly making his stance on this subject clear. Real wasn’t too happy about Los’ decision and that much was obvious by the way his jaw tightened and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. Although, Real didn’t like the orders he would follow them out of respect and loyalty.

  “Psss, well yo I wouldn’t be so unconcerned if I was you. Everybody know these young boys be wildin, they quicker to bust they guns than old heads nowadays and that nigga Mook bout that life. He just got outta jail from beating his case on a technicality for that body he caught a few years back. He came right back on these streets on some bully shit taking his spots and blocks back. He be having dudes shook out here er’body know Mook, yo that nigga get it in,” Chilly boasted. From the looks on many of the faces in the room Chilly should’ve stopped a couple of sentences ago but he’d never won first place in common sense. Without warning Los picked up the first thing in his reach which was a cranberry apple juice bottle he’d been drinking from and hurled it at Chilly’s head. Chilly saw it coming; he saw the grimace on Los’ face as he reached for the bottle with anger spewing from his eyes. Chilly pulled back from the table and the half empty bottle hit him on the shoulder sending dark juice to splatter his upper body and face. “Fuck outta my face yo,” Los growled hopping to his feet. Nice who was sitting at the edge of Los’ desk reached out and stopped him from pursuing Chilly who clearly ain’t want none of Los because he was cowering like a bitch with his hands up trying to cop a plea. “Yo Los what I do? What I do fam? I don’t even know why you mad at me.” Nice knew this wouldn’t be a fair fight Chilly was no match for Los. Especially, when Los was like he was now in rare form just in a bad mood. Chilly looked around the room and it was obvious he had rubbed everyone in there the wrong way from the glares he was getting. It was almost as if he were a brightly stripped zebra sitting in a room full of wild hyenas ready to pounce and feast at the words sic em. He picked himself and what was left of his manhood up and made his way to the door.

  “Man that nigga a fuckin weirdo for real,” Jah snarled ashamed that he even shared a bloodline with someone like Chilly. “I thought I done seen it all until today. Was this nigga really low-key dick riding the same dude that’s threatening to body his own fam? Chilly a certified hoe cake for that. He miles well get on the gram and start making twerk videos like the rest of these hoes,” Nice said shaking his head back and forth. This incident almost made Nice regret smoothing things out between Chilly and Los after that reckless stunt he pulled awhile back at Los’ cookout. Nice had his own reasons for wanting Los and Chilly to make peace and the main reason was to keep a close eye on Chilly. You
see he understood that having a person like Chilly out in these streets with no eyes on him was like leaving a toddler with a loaded gun. Unlike everyone else Nice didn’t put much past Chilly and he didn’t think he was as clueless as people perceived him to be.

  “Back to the business at hand, Real and Jah y’all stepped up in a major way and been holding me and Los down tremendously lately. I think it’s safe to say that y’all showed and proved, so we decided to give y’all the keys to New York. Me and Los will fall back and split the territory between the two of you. Jah you’ll get 60 percent and Real you’ll get 40.” The room was shocked into silence; everyone on the team knew eventually the day would come when power was shifted to Real and Jah. It was no secret that they were being prepped for the position but no one knew it would come this early. It even took a few long seconds for Jah and Real to comprehend what they just heard out of Nice’s mouth. Los took the time to let his eyes roam the room and study the reactions of his team as Real and Jah smiled from ear to ear dapping each other out. Some were outwardly happy for the Youngins come up while others facial expressions remained blank. Los knew a shift in power and money of this magnitude could easily breed envy. Envy was a dangerous emotion one that could corrupt and bring down the strongest of teams from the inside out and that’s what Los was trying to avoid. Meat was visibly upset although he didn’t voice his opinion Los could see it in his eyes and the eyes of a man never lied. Los had anticipated this much from Meat. For some reason Meat was under the pretext that seniority alone would get him promoted to higher positions but that wasn’t the case. Los wasn’t elevating niggaz based off how long they’d been with the team. He was instead placing people in positions that he felt could best fill them. Meat was the type of dude that didn’t think about things further than the day he was living, he lived in the here and now and that’s not the type of person you would want at the helm of any team; especially a team as strong and lucrative as Los’. Meat was also hood as fuck; there was no simpler way to describe him. He didn’t see a future beyond hustlin and he had made that clear in many conversations. Meat couldn’t assimilate to suits and business deals to talk legal business ventures that would ultimately wash dirty money clean but on the other hand Real could. Despite his short comings Meat was loyal and Los wasn’t going to overlook Meat’s loyalty to his team. Los had something lined up for him but he wanted to see how Meat would react off this situation first.

  “Meat you got a problem with this call?” Los asked calling Meat out. The entire room fell silent enough to hear a pin drop with everyone wondering how this was going to play out. “Nah not a problem, you know me Los I’m loyal to this team through and through. It’s ya call so I’ma respect it, even if I feel I been looked over.” Some bosses might take Meat’s response as a form of disrespect but Los respected his honesty, as a matter of fact he would’ve actually lost some respect for Meat had he not stated how he truly felt when it was obvious. Los’ father used to always say Son stay away from a man who won’t speak his mind, it’s better to roll with ten loyal and ruthless lions than a thousand spineless and heartless sheep. “Meat you been loyal to this team from day one, one of my day ones as a matter of fact; in sayin that you should know me enough to know I always play fair no matter the circumstances. In light of what happened to Buj he’s decided to gracefully bow out of the game and honestly I wouldn’t want anything less for mah manz. But that leaves us with a vacant spot on the team that needs to be filled and we,” Los said nodding his head towards Nice, “feel that you’d be the best fit for that.” Meat’s left eyebrow arched as he did a mental calculation of how much paper he stood to gain. “Damn for real y’all want me to head that whole thing? Hell yeah! I’m wit it.” No one could help it they started laughing at Meat’s reaction. Meat chuckled ecstatic about his new come up but then the smile was suddenly wiped from his face “Buj good wit this though?” Meat asked. “He more than good wit it,” Los responded making direct eye contact with Meat assuring him he wasn’t stepping on any toes. “A’ight then damn that’s what’s up,” Meat responded with a smile that fell into a serious expression, “Yo but hold up, how this gon work out? Cause I’ma keep that shit ahunnit I don’t be understanding shit them Yardie’s be talkin about; them dudes need to come equipped with subtitles.” Los chuckled while everyone else cracked the hell up. “Buj cousin from the city Spliff, you know the tall dude wit dreads that was with Buju’s mom at the funeral? He gon play as the liaison between you and them cats in JA. He know the ropes he used to work with Buju so he good for it. Try to make it a point to schedule something soon for you and him to link up since you’ll be working so closely together.” Los suggested through a light laugh.

  “Twin! What up lil Homie? You sitting over there real quiet. What you think we called you in here for nothin?” Nice asked with a smirk on his face. The young man looked at Nice and shook his head no. This was his time, he knew it, he could feel it but still he was trying to sit there and not act awestruck like he was on some groupie shit. He knew he was lucky to be sitting in the same room with street legends that obviously saw something in him. Every now and then he couldn’t help but look over in the far end of the room and steal peeks at Blacka who seemed to be just sitting and watching over the meeting. He grew up hearing about these dudes, he could remember arguing amongst his friends on the block about whose street cred was better out of all the legendary OG’s. When Los’ Pop’s died and Los and Nice started taking over the streets it was as if they gave young niggaz like him inspiration. Especially, when they used to come through the hood driving something foreign, wrists on bling and pockets fat, he figured if they could do it he could too. Twin hustled and put some muscle behind it to keep the lights on and food on the table since he realized from the tender age of 14 he was the man of the house. Once he linked up with Real and Real got plugged in with Los things took off leading him to where he was at this very moment. “Twin them Wolves respect you, a lot of em look up to you don’t think we don’t notice. We gon get this old grouchy nigga off y’all asses since he will be too busy heading his own operation anyways.” Nice said referring to Meat. Twin chuckled a little bit acknowledging the fact that Meat could be a brute but he was actually one of the best people in the game to learn from and Twin had learned a lot from him. “Twin you new Lieutenant of the Wolf Pack congratulations, Youngin don’t let us down.” Twin smiled and shook his head “Nah I won’t, you’ll see.” “A'ight don’t let us hear you letting that new power and money get to ya head. I better not find out you coppin J’s and weed before hammers.” Nice joked but he knew that wasn’t the case with Twin at all. Despite his young age Twin was disciplined to the point of being almost militant exactly what the team needed and that’s why he was chosen for this position.

  Meanwhile Lucky pulled into the company’s parking lot in haste. She spotted Los’ Benz in its usual space confirming two things 1, that he was there and 2, he was ignoring her. She shot the girls in the front office a quick wave as she rushed towards the elevators with attitude. Lucky stabbed her finger on the up button on the elevator shifting from side to side trying hard to contain her anger. Now this man showin his ass today, he pulls that mess he did with Nona and now he blatantly ignoring me. Lucky’s thoughts were interrupted by the familiar ding of the elevator but as she rushed to board the elevator cab she nearly smacked dead into someone. “Ewe!” Lucky shrieked before looking up and staring at Chilly with bewilderment etched on her face. Here this grown man was standing with juice all over his shirt as if he was two years old and needed a bib. “Hey Chilly, my bad I almost ran you down,” Lucky said with a nervous smile when she noticed Chilly was giving her that creepy stare he often gave her. Chilly was harmless in her eyes; she’d long gotten used to him but the one thing she never gotten used to was that weird stare he would give her from time to time. I should pull out and blow this bitch brains out right now! I bet that pussy nigga run down here screamin and crying like a real bitch in front of everyone. I could avenge
my father’s death and pay Los back for all those times he tried to play me and make me look pussy in front of niggaz. I should kill this bitch I swear. Nah that’s too easy doe, I wanna make his ass suffer in the long run. “No problem ma, it wouldn’t be the worst thing that happened to me today,” Chilly said pointing at his shirt. “I see,” Lucky said with an uncomfortable smile. She was curious as to what happened but she didn’t want to be rude and straight out ask how the hell he managed to get juice spilled all over his shirt. Lucky proceeded onto the elevator pressing the button to go to Los’ office. That man is crazy as hell but with a mother like V who wouldn’t be?” Lucky thought to herself.