What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross

by McCray, Sevyn

  “Well don’t get too excited.” Khadafi pulled her to him and kissed her lips softly before parting them with his tongue. Their tongues wrestled in each other’s mouth tasting their juices mixed.

  “We do have a problem. You have to meet my dad. I know that I am grown but there is no way that I can leave the state with someone that he hasn’t met.” Loyalty murmured.

  “That’s no problem baby. All parents like me.”

  “My dad isn’t like other parents. He would not care if you won the Super Bowl for the Atlanta Falcons. He goes by his gut. So I hope he gets the same vibe that I got from you when I first met you.” She got up and got her cell phone to call her dad.

  K.J. headed toward the bathroom to take a shower. He wasn’t prepared to meet her dad, but he also wasn’t prepared to leave her behind in Atlanta. He knew that he had to take her with him even if he had to slip her dad some money.

  “Hi Pop-Pop, what are you doing? Do you mind if I stop by in about 45 minutes. I got something I want to ask you and somebody I want you to meet.” Loyalty shyly murmured into the phone.

  Chapter 18: Blame it on the Alcohol

  Toe-Toe knew that he should be going home, but Nard had called him and said that everyone was headed to Gigi’s Pleasure Chest. He was already in trouble with wifey so he might as well stay out. He rushed and he was able to catch the mall before it closed so that he could grab him something to wear. He changed at the No Pressure loft; he wished that he could sneak home and trade cars. He felt like riding in the Camaro, but he knew once he got home there was no coming back out. So he hopped back into the seven-sixty.

  Thursday night was amateur night and everybody who is anybody in the city was bound to be at Gigi’s tonight. This was definitely the place to be. Future’s latest hit ‘Tony Montana’ pumped through the speakers as the spotlight shined on him sitting in one of the V.I.P. areas. The D.J. gave him a shout out over the microphone as he made it rain on the two dancers that were in front of him. Gigi watched the floor with Concrete sitting in her office on the closed circuit cameras that showed on her computer. The cameras were wired so that every inch of the club was recorded except the bathrooms and her office. She could see that it was already a lot of money makers in the building. That meant a really good night for her girls. Even though she was young, she was taught at an early age to appreciate all of her workers and customers. Sillk instilled that in her. That is one of the reasons why everyone loved him so much. He treated everyone good; he didn’t care if you smoked dope, drank liquor all day or bought pussy all night. You were human just like him and you put your pants on one leg at a time just like him. He always taught her to never look down her nose at no one unless she was reaching a hand down to lift them up.

  Young Jeezy had just walked in the building with all of his CTE family. Gigi hadn’t talked to Honesty all day; she hadn’t been answering the phone. She hoped that she was coming through tonight. She picked up her iPhone off of her desk and texted her “Just thinking about you. Miss you Bae. Where u at?” Concrete reached over and pointed at the monitor as Poke walked in. Gigi knew that she had to go downstairs now. She wanted to look him in his eyes. Just as she was getting up from her desk, all of No Pressure walked in the club. They were about twenty-five deep. That was her cue. She smoothed her tight fitting red House of Harlow t-shirt dress down and slipped her feet back into her leopard printed Louboutin booties that she had taken off under her desk. Gigi reached for her electric blue clutch, the only thing that could fit in it was her mini 40 caliber pistol and a tube of lip gloss. That’s all she needed. Concrete stood up, she walked out the door and he locked the door behind them before they stepped onto the elevator.

  When the elevator opened the smell of weed assaulted her senses. Her eyes started burning and she started choking. It was Kush everywhere. She immediately headed to the bar and grabbed a bottle of Fiji water. She never drank alcohol when she was working because she needed to remain focused at all times. Gigi motioned for Concrete to come a little closer. “I got my pistol on me in my clutch; you do not have to walk so close to me. It intimidates the customers. I do not want them to think that I am unapproachable.” She took a sip of her water and walked away from Concrete as she worked the crowd. He kept his eyes on her, ready to attack if necessary.

  “My nigga I didn’t know this thing was gonna be turned up like this. Shit, I just wanted to get out for a second and kick it before I take it in. The whole city is in this mother fucker.” Nard said to Toe-Toe as he smoked on a blunt of Kush.

  “Yeah it is wall to wall in this bitch, shit I might as well do a little flexing, lord knows when I’m gonna be able to be out with y’all niggas like this again. Ol’ girl has given up calling the phone. Ain’t no telling what a nigga gonna face when he finally do go to the house. She might have burnt up all a nigga clothes or anything.” Toe-Toe reached for the waitress who was walking past him. He looked at her dressed in a hot pink corset and black boy shorts. The waitresses in here were just as pretty and fine as the dancers. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a knot of money. He peeled off thirteen one hundred dollar bills. “Baby girl bring me a thousand ones for now and a bottle of Rosé.”

  “Aye, Baby bring me two thousand ones, a bottle of Patron, some salt and some limes.” Nard yelled to the waitress as he handed her twenty-two one hundred dollar bills from his bankroll.

  “Nigga you always gotta try to outdo a nigga.” Toe-Toe said to his younger brother.

  “Nigga we fam, we do this shit together, it ain’t no pressure on neither of our bankrolls.” Nard said giving his brother a pound.

  Poke really didn’t have much money to play with. He was all good as long as he looked like he had some money to blow. He looked around and tried to scope out some niggas that he knew would put on in the club tonight. Bingo, he spotted them as his eyes landed on the brothers that were the leaders of No Pressure. He was cool with them; he had watched them grow up. They wouldn’t have a problem with him posting up with them. Poke walked up on the brothers and they both looked at him and then they looked at each other as he stretched his hand to give them some dap. They gave him some dap and he stayed right there with them.

  Toe-Toe looked at Nard and he shook his head and hunched his shoulders. This nigga had some real big balls standing right under us in the club like we fam’ or something. Nard saw the look in his brother eyes and he knew he was thinking about doing something to him tonight. He leaned over and whispered to his brother.

  “Let that nigga stay right here. We will work him over and he won’t even know the difference. We know one thing for sure, that nigga like to talk. We are about to get this nigga so drunk you will have to stick a cork in him to shut him up.”

  The waitress walked up with the money, the cups and the liquor and she put it on the table that was right beside where they were standing. She noticed Poke and she asked “Is there anything that I can get you sir?” He replied. “Nawl, lil’ momma I’m good for now but come back and check on me in a few.”

  Toe-Toe wanted to go and talk to Gigi, but that would be too noticeable. So he looked around for Concrete, as soon as he spotted him, he walked over to him. “You see that nigga Poke trying to chill with us. We bout to get that nigga fucked up and see if he start talking; tell Gigi to give us about forty-five minutes before she come our way. And by the way, send two of your baddest dancers over to him directly and tell them to say that they were compliments of the owner.” He gave Concrete a pound and nodded his head.

  Gigi made her rounds, stopping briefly to thank some of her patrons, answer questions, and show love. She was very well liked, partially because she was Black Sillk’s granddaughter and partially because she was just a cool down to earth person. She had the presence of a movie star and the grace of a model. She was dying to get over there where No Pressure was standing, but Concrete had told her what Toe-Toe had said. She sent two dancers over there and a bottle of Rosé. She glanced over to where they were standing and she co
uld see Poke talking and kicking it with the crew as the dancers did their thing.

  He watched Gigi like a hawk as she smiled her perfect smile. The lights reflecting off of her diamonds made her seem as if she was an angel. She had dyed her hair since the last time he had seen her but she was still just as beautiful. He figured that she had been doing well because her spirits seemed to appear calmer and happy. He didn’t want to approach her so he waited patiently nursing his Ciroc and cranberry juice.

  Concrete and Gigi were so connected, it was like they shared the same being. He looked at Gigi and then he noticed an unfamiliar face staring at her. The man had a bald head, a full beard and he wore glasses. He appeared to be of a medium build and average height. Nothing stood out about him, but his jewelry. He had on a pair of slacks, a button down shirt and a pair of Gucci loafers with a matching belt. Gigi walked past him and he reached out and grabbed her hand. She turned around and looked at him. His face looked familiar but she could not remember where she recognized him from. “It has been a while. I guess you are still mad at me. It is good to see you are doing well. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed Gigi a business card.

  She looked down at it and it said Tristan Ball, Executive Vice President of Distribution for Universal Records. Gigi knew that she had never met the man, but his face was either familiar from him coming in the club or she had seen him at some industry function in the city. He must have mistaken her for her sister Beautiful who was identical to her; the only difference was that Beautiful had platinum blonde hair. That happened a lot with strangers. She looked up and Concrete was walking over to check on her. He was so big that his presence spoke volumes. That is one reason why she asked him to fall back a little when she made her rounds in the club; he scared people. She held her head up and looked him directly in his eyes. Her silver eyes piercing through him.

  “Mr. Ball, How are you? I hope that you are enjoying yourself. You have mistaken me for my sister. You see the difference is she has blonde hair and she works in the club. I have black hair and I own this club. Enjoy yourself and the next round is on me.” Gorgeous dropped the business card on the floor by his feet and walked away.

  Tristan stood there in shock, it was two of them. Beautiful never told him she had any siblings let alone one that looked exactly like her. But as he stared at her when she walked away, he noticed something that he didn’t when she was walking toward him. She had no tattoos. Beautiful had a full sleeve of colorful art tattoos on her right arm. They had more in common than just sharing the same face eyes and bodies; they both had the same attitude of superiority that made him want them more.

  Gigi finally came to stand in the section with No Pressure. You would think that they were the rappers; since she had made her walk through over thirty minutes ago, their section was filled to the brim with get money niggas from zone one through six. She shook hands, and saluted the entire section. Toe-Toe and Nard was standing front and center. She looked at Toe-Toe and followed his eyes as they landed on Poke sitting in the chair getting a lap dance with a cup of Patron in his hand. She nodded her head at Toe-Toe and walked over to Poke. His eyes were glassy. He saw her but he didn’t notice her, it was like he was zoned out.

  She tapped him on his shoulder and he looked up at her like he had seen a ghost. “Hey Slow Poke. Are you enjoying yourself? I just came over here to speak to you. I see you are enjoying the girls that I sent and the liquor. That’s the least I can do. You know you are like family. You were my momma’s boyfriend so you know it’s all love.”

  Gigi didn’t just look him in his eyes, she looked into his soul and she saw the fear he had. She knew then that someone else was behind this, but he was gonna get his just because he was the puppet on the stick.

  Poke felt hot under the collar, he unbuttoned the top buttons on the Polo shirt when Gigi walked away. He stood up and tapped Nard on his shoulder. “Man, I swear I can’t stand that lil’ bitch, she think she is God’s gift to this Earth. Just because she is Black Sillk’s granddaughter a nigga supposed to respect her? Fuck all that shit. Black Sillk was a legend; he earned his stripes in these streets. That bitch ain’t nobody, she just lucky. She’s nobody but the daughter of a junky. She walk around like can’t nobody touch her. She thinks her shit doesn’t stink. She stood there over me looking at me with them evil ass eyes. That’s why the same people that she shitted on, gonna sit around and laugh when she fall. The same people. You got to be careful how you treat people especially your family. You be good to your brother, Nard cause, y’all came out the same pussy. Don’t you forget that, these lil’ niggas who you run with may act like they are your family but just remember who came out of the same pussy as you did.” Poke slobbered and stuttered. He wiped the slob with the back of his hand and sat back down.

  Nard replayed the conversation in his head and then he walked toward the bathroom. Concrete saw him walking that way; they locked eyes and he followed him. “Tell Gigi to meet me in her office in five minutes and get Toe-Toe too.”

  Gigi, Toe-Toe and Nard sat in the office. Gigi had kicked her shoes off and had her feet on the desk as Nard replayed the conversation word for word. Toe-Toe and Gigi listened carefully. When Nard got finished, Toe-Toe looked at Gigi and asked “Do you know what this means?”

  “Yes it means war! That bitch has finally caved in. Sillk warned me. I thought she would have come for me sooner.” Gigi said fuming thinking about how low down Beautiful was.

  “Wait a minute, what did I miss” Nard asked laughing.

  “Poke is working for Beautiful. That is why he kept saying stuff about family and be careful how you treat the person that you came out of the same pussy with” Toe-Toe explained to Nard.

  “Well damn! Blame it on the alcohol. That nigga has spilled the beans!” Nard laughed.

  Chapter 19: This is for my homie…

  Reality had been stuck at Pop-Pops house for days. He was being so over protective of the girls with everything happening around them. She was still playing hard with Jaimes but she had to admit that she missed him like crazy. She and Honesty had just been hanging out and she was busy getting all the info on the person that Pop-Pop had requested. She was worried because she knew that her sister had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Honesty had been walking round the house like a sick puppy. She wasn’t talking much. All she did was lie around in the den and watch Sex and the City and Law and Order Special Victims Unit.

  Loyalty had been a whole other story. She came home the other night and she brought the football player with her. At first Pop-Pop hesitated when she asked could she bring someone home. He gave in quickly after he thought about the fact that she did take him into consideration to meet the guy that she had been spending so much time with. She never did that so she had to really like him. The doorbell rang and Pop-Pop got up from his stool at the kitchen island and went to answer the door. Standing at the door was his daughter with K.J. Aziz. He didn’t know if he was in shock because one of the best football players in the world was standing there at his front door or because this boy was the spitting image of his daddy. Khalil stood there with the door open after they had walked in. The chances of this happening were nearly zero to none. They stood in the foyer waiting for Khalil to close the front door.

  "You have a beautiful home sir." K.J. said to Honesty's father.

  Khalil snapped out of his reverie when he heard him speak. His voice even sounded like his father's. Chills went up and down his spine as tears felt as if they were about to fall from his eyes. He felt like he was getting visited by a ghost. He never forgot his old friend. He thought of him often, but he just never spoke of him because it bought up a time in his life when he was living bad and doing even worse. He didn’t care what he did and whom he did it to. All he was focusing on was trying to survive day by day with four small kids that had no mother.

  He remembered coming in and seeing Khadafi sitting at the table slumped over with a bullet wound to the heart. He wa
lked over to him and he didn’t see him breathing. He was in shock. When Khalil left earlier, he had been counting the money that they had taken when they robbed Black Sillk's gambling house. Khalil had to go and pick up his kids from school and he told him that he would be back as soon as he got them settled at the babysitter's house. He trusted Khadafi so he wasn’t worried about him having first count of the money.

  Khalil knew that robbing Black Sillk would be easy to do; all they had to do was make sure that he never found out about it because he didn’t spare lives when it came to thieves and double crossers. The worst had happened and now Black Sillk's people had found out and killed Khadafi. Khalil knew that he was next but he had no money and nowhere to go with four small kids. He left his friend’s body right where it was and he lived with that for the rest of his life. His first mind had told him not to listen to Solitaire when she told him about how easy it was and where the money was hidden, but he knew that rent was due next week and all the children needed new shoes because they were growing like wild flowers, especially Honesty, she was on her way to being taller than him.