What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross

by McCray, Sevyn

  Killian’s cell phone started to ring and he answered. “Yo, what’s up sis?”

  “I came to the spot because I had to make some drops and the burglar bars was off of the back window. Somebody has been in the spot. They got the three bricks that I hadn’t broken down yet. Man when is this shit gonna stop? I hate to call Gigi and tell her this shit. This is the first time she gave me this much work. She is gonna think that I can’t handle this shit when she finds out.” Honesty burst out crying.

  “Everything is gonna be okay sis. Stay right there. I’m on the way” He said to his crying sister as he ended the call. He knew that Honesty could handle her business. She was a natural born hustler who could sell ice to an Eskimo, so he didn’t want Gigi to know.

  “Is everything okay?” Gigi asked suspiciously.

  “Yeah, I’m good. That is just Loyalty tripping, she caught a flat. You know how she is about that damn truck. I’m about to jet and go and check on her. If you need me just give me a holla.” He said attempting to throw Gigi off of what had really happened. He was walking out the door as Concrete was coming back in with a Styrofoam container loaded with fried tilapia and French fries.

  As Killa headed down Marietta Blvd toward Bankhead on his motorcycle, he thought about his sister crying in his ear and all he wanted to do was hurry and get to her. His father had instilled in him to always take care of your women, which were his sisters for now. Honesty was the tough one, and to hear her cry hurt him.

  Honesty sat on the porch with her head in her hands as tears poured down her face. She wasn’t mad because of the money she will indeed lose with taking such a big loss; she had the money to pay Gigi for the dope that was stolen. She was just second guessing herself, maybe she wasn’t cut out for selling dope. Then she also had her relationship with Gigi weighing on her mind so much. Honesty knew that her family loved her no matter what, but she just didn’t want them to turn their back on her when they found out that she was a lesbian. She got up and walked over to her truck and got her purse out, then headed back to sit on the porch. Her head was pounding. She had too much going on. She pulled out the cigarillo and then she went in her bra and pulled out a bag of weed. As she burst the cigarillo open and emptied the contents out, her cell phone started to vibrate. She looked down at it and saw that it was Gigi and she just let it ring. Honesty lit the blunt and took a deep pull; as the smoke filled her lungs, she closed her eyes. She exhaled and imagined that she was letting go all of her problems along with the Kush smoke.

  Killa pulled up and saw his sister sitting on the porch. He parked the bike, took his helmet off and joined her. He sat down on the step below her and didn’t say anything as he reached for the blunt. They both sat in silence with a million thoughts going through their heads. As Killian passed the blunt back to her, he broke the silence. “I was with Gigi when you called, but I didn’t tell her anything. I played if off and told her that you were Loyalty and that you had a flat tire. I figured you didn’t want her to know and if you did, you would tell her yourself.”

  “I don’t wanna tell her. I mean I have the money to pay for the three bricks that she gave me on consignment. Then again, I’m scared that she might find out. You know Atlanta is small, so it is bound to come out that somebody bought the bricks or that someone sold the bricks. I just don’t know what to do about it lil’ bruh.” Honesty said as she put the rest of the blunt out by squeezing it in between her fingertips. She stood up, dusted off her butt and headed into the house.

  As Killa followed her inside, he put his arm around her shoulder to reassure her. “Sis, I promise everything is going to be okay. If you need me to give you the money, you know I got a hell of a stash. I’m a saver”

  “No I got it. But you are not a saver, nigga you are stingy.” Honesty laughed as she thought about how her brother was.

  Killa looked around; there wasn’t much of a mess. He was expecting the house to look as if a tornado had been through it. Everything pretty much looked the same. Nothing was out of place. Something wasn’t right.

  “So you see what I see? Whoever did this knew exactly where I put the rest of the dope when we got finished working the other night.” Honesty said as she stood in the living room with her hand on her hip.

  “Exactly! But who? No one is allowed over here. We don’t meet anyone here, and we damn sure don’t let anyone in. Somebody is watching us and I know who it is.” Killian couldn’t believe that Poke had gone in the spot.

  “Poke! We gotta call Daddy. Now I really want to do something to that mother fucker.” Honesty headed toward the door. She was over heated.

  Killian followed behind her and closed the door and locked it. He had just told Gigi that he needed to put surveillance on Poke’s house; he needed to have it installed on this house too.

  “I’m staying at Pop-Pop’s house tonight; I think all of us girls are. He don’t want us in the building, he is having all the repairs done in the morning. Are you coming over?” She asked her brother as they stood on the porch about to part ways. He was staring off into space. She knew that he was worried about her.

  “Truth, get down!” Killa screamed at his sister as he dove on top of her, knocking her down. The rip of the automatic weapon going rat-tat-tat and glass shattering pierced the night air. Killa got up, pulled his nine millimeter out and started running toward the street shooting at the black Dodge Charger as it pulled off with its tires screeching.

  Honesty lay face down on the porch with her heart beating a mile a minute. This was too much, this was too much. She was slipping. Her pistol was in her truck on her front seat. She couldn’t even defend herself properly. All that went through her mind was what if Killa hadn’t been there? She had to admit she was slipping. She needed to take a few days and regroup.

  Chapter 15: Somebody’s watching me…….

  Poke pulled up in front of the house and got out with the duffle bag. His phone rang and he looked down at it and put it back in his pocket. He would have to call her back after he made it in the house and got situated. The house was quiet so he walked over to the small surround system that he had hooked up to the flat screen and turned it on. The sounds of Young Jeezy flooded the small house as he sat the duffle bag on the table and went to use the bathroom. He couldn’t believe he had got away with stealing the dope from Honesty. Damn, that was just like taking candy from a baby. She didn’t have a security system on the house or surveillance cameras, only those shabby burglar bars that he had off in less than five minutes.

  Everything was coming together nicely, or so he thought. When the idea was first brought to him, he had his doubts, but shit was going better than ever. He was about to run his money up and get his family back. He missed Jaz. Whenever he called, she was always short with her words. He knew he had messed up bad. She wasn’t like all of the young girls that he had been with. She was much more than a pretty face and banging body. This one had her head on straight, and she was focused on her goals.

  Poke sat down at the table and pulled the bricks of wrapped up dope out of the duffle bag. He pulled out his keychain and used the small knife on there to slice into it. Poke dipped the knife in it and put it up to his nose and inhaled. He felt the immediate rush to his brain as he smiled to himself. This was some good dope he had got his hands on. He might sell two of the bricks and keep one for himself.

  Young Jeezy switched over to Rick Ross on the system as Poke sat at the table and got high. The adrenaline rush of the cocaine had him feeling like he could take on the world. He had something in mind for the King Khalil. His phone rang again, but this time he answered it.

  “Yeah, I handled that, it was like taking candy from a baby. Nawl, I’m sure nobody seen me, I parked down the street and went through the woods.” He ended the call and headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. He felt like going out and he knew just the place to go. Gigi’s Pleasure Chest, that way it would be business and pleasure.

  __________

  Killa had called Toe
-Toe and told him what went down. They had been in contact with one another ever since Gigi had put him on. Now they were like fam. The two of them parked in the apartments on the Hill and eased their way toward Poke’s spot. People walked in the neighborhood all day long so they knew that they could go unnoticed. Poke’s house was surrounded by woods so there were plenty of places to hide. Both of them crouched down when they saw Poke’s car pull up. They looked at each other and smiled when they saw the duffle bag that he had. The plan was to go in, get the dope and if he got in the way, well they would have to handle him. But Toe-Toe had an even better idea, replace the real dope with dummy bricks.

  Toe-Toe came out the woods and stood close to the window. He heard the shower start and waited for a few minutes before signaling for Killa to join him. Killa ran lightly on his tip toes carrying a duffle bag himself. They went to the front of the house. Killa got out his wallet, pulled out a credit card and slipped it in between the door as he pushed it. The door eased open as Toe-Toe looked at Killa in amazement. He had never seen that done in real life, he thought it was just a trick they used on television. They went in quietly one behind the other, Killa with the bag and Toe-Toe with his pistol in his hand; just in case Poke came from the back. The dope was right there in the open sitting on the table. Killa put his duffle bag down and got out three bricks that looked just like the ones that Poke had stolen. Toe-Toe motioned to him to look at the one that had been cut open. Killa pulled out a Swiss Army knife and stabbed one of the fake bricks and dug in it enough so that it looked like the one that Poke had been messing with. He put the real dope in his duffle bag, closed it and threw it over his shoulder. They were headed to the door when the shower stopped. With Toe-Toe bringing up the rear, they made it out before Poke came back to the front of the house without him knowing anything was different.

  They made it back to their cars and Killa turned around and said, “Bruh, I have never really hung around nothing but my sisters and my dad all my life. That’s how we were raised, but you are good people, my dude. I appreciate what you just did for me. The fact that you did it without wanting me to give you anything shows your character. We need more young stand up niggas out here in the trenches cause these pussy niggas like Poke making it hard for all of us.”

  “We were just talking the other day with your dad and Nard told him that we need to come together since we are all eating off of the same plate. I’m just happy that I was there to help and don’t hesitate to call me my nig’, we fam, it’s no pressure.” Toe-Toe said as he got into his seven series BMW.

  “Aight, my nigga I’ma holla at you later, my old lady has been blowing me up all day long” Killa said as he got into his Pontiac Bonneville GXP.

  “Don’t even mention old ladies. I haven’t been home in two days, I know I’m gonna have hell to pay.” Toe-Toe hollered out the window as he drove off.

  __________

  Sam sat her desk in her condo and laughed to herself. This was hilarious. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing as she looked at the computer monitor. Wait until she tells Ponchees about this. She had a camera installed on a tree in Poke’s yard so she could monitor who was coming and going in his spot because she felt as if someone was working with him. She sipped on her glass of Moscato d’Asti as she watched Killian and Toe-Toe break into Poke’s house. That was some slick shit right there, Coach K definitely had taught Killa well. Now how in the fuck are you gonna rob the robber?

  Chapter 16: One plus One

  Khalil didn’t want the girls staying at their lofts because all of the work hadn’t been done yet. He wanted to make sure that it was completely safe. He was having new steel doors, a new system and camera’s installed everywhere. He sat in his study with a cigar and a glass of Remy VSOP just thinking about everything that had been going on this past week. It was constantly one thing after another. He would much rather the kids be under the same roof with him, than at their own places tonight, at least with them there, he would be able to get some rest. He had a full schedule tomorrow, starting off with him going to take Poke to breakfast. This was his way of checking up on him; seeing if he was gonna let something out.

  Honesty pulled up at her father’s house. All she wanted to do was smoke a blunt, take a hot shower and get in the bed. She had not been sleeping well at all. She didn’t know if Killian had told Pop-Pop about the shooting and the robbery. It was just so much going on at once. It was like somebody didn’t want her in the game. She didn’t plan on giving up, she just needed to take a few days and regroup. She was actually thinking of going away, just to get her thoughts together, so that she can come back harder.

  This house has meant so much to her over the years. It always gave her comfort. She used her key to open the door and rushed over to the keypad and disabled the alarm. It was quiet so she assumed that Pop-Pop was still out in the field working. With all of this mess, Pop-Pop had to get back in the streets just to find out what was going on. She didn’t want that, he needed to be focused on his legitimate businesses and leave all that fast lane stuff to her and her siblings. She walked into the kitchen and put her purse on the counter, she didn’t have an appetite but she thought a nice hot cup of tea might calm her down. Looking in the pantry, she found some pomegranate chamomile tea. She ran some water into a mug and popped it into the microwave as she leaned against the island and put her head down in her hands.

  Khalil walked into the kitchen and saw his oldest daughter. He didn’t even hear her come in. He walked over to give her a hug and as he reached down to wrap his arms around her; he felt a gun in his ribs. “Girl what the hell wrong is with you?” He hollered.

  “I’m so sorry Pop-Pop. I didn’t think you were home. You scared me.” Honesty said as she put the gun on the counter and collapsed in his arms crying.

  “What’s wrong with my big girl?” he asked her as he hugged her tightly. Khalil was not used to her showing so much emotion. Honesty was the strong one, so for her to be like this, pissed him off because that meant that she really was in pain. He held her tightly and let her cry until she couldn’t cry anymore. The anger welled up inside of him. He was gonna have to take care of this problem real fast, because he couldn’t have this.

  Honesty calmed down and grabbed a paper towel and dried the tears from her face and went to the microwave and got out the coffee mug to prepare the hot tea.

  “So, do you want to talk to me? You know that is what I’m here for.” Khalil said as pulled one of the stools out at the island and sat down.

  “Pop-Pop, you should be somewhere with you a nice lady instead of doing all of the stuff you are doing. You got one foot in and one foot out. It is all because of us kids. We are grown now; you have done a good job raising us. Don’t waste anymore of your life trying to make ours better. That is up to us. I chose this dope game. I graduated at the top of my class in high school and college, but instead I chose to sell dope. So I can’t get mad when somebody kicks in my door, robs me and shoots at me within a few days apart. It’s a part of the game. Maybe I’m just not cut out to play it.”

  Reality walked in with a Best Buy bag. She gave her dad a hug and pulled out a stool at the island and sat down beside him. She opened the bag and pulled out an iPad2 and other accessories that were needed for it.

  Honesty walked over and picked it up, then she mushed her little sister in the head and said “I want one, damn you only think about yourself.”

  “You know I got the hook up, I will order all of y’all one in a minute. I don’t know what I was thinking walking in here with just one.” Reality said to her sister.

  “Don’t try to get off the subject! What do you mean robbed and shot at? What the hell is going on and why am I just now hearing about this? I need to know who, I need to know where, and I need to know when. I will figure out all the other shit. Do we need to continue this conversation upstairs in my study or do you want to finish it here” Khalil asked angrily through a clenched jaw to Honesty.

  “Pop calm d
own, me and Killian made it out in one piece.” Honesty said to her father.

  “Killian, oh so he was with you and he hasn’t called me to tell me any of this. I am going to have a word with him. Heads are going to roll in this mutha fucking city this week. They think I have gotten soft. You do not fuck with me and my family and get away with it. Real get your laptop, I need you to do some recon work.” He shouted.

  Reality just stood there frozen, she had not seen her father mad like this in a long time. The last time she did, when the smoke cleared it was bodies everywhere and her dad was the only one left standing.

  “Do you hear me Reality Skye? I need you to do what I sent your butt to school for. All I got is an address and a first name. I need you to get me everything on this person right down to the last person that they talked to on the phone and I need it now!” Khalil shouted at his youngest daughter who was one of the best computer hackers in the country.

  “Pop-Pop, I don’t have my computers. They were in my truck when it got fucked up, I mean messed up. I thought that they were stolen, but Jaimes said that they were in there. He has them. I can go and get them.” Reality uttered nervously to her father.