What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross

by McCray, Sevyn

  D.J. got up and went into his bedroom to get the stuff that he had gotten her earlier. Butterflies were in his stomach like he was a kid on Christmas. He thought he was in love the last time, but now he knew that he wasn’t because he could honestly say that he was worried about someone else before he was concerned with himself. He was willing to put her first. When he walked into the living room Reality was laying on the sofa waiting for him butt naked. He stopped in his tracks as his mouth fell open. “I have something for you.”

  “Really? Cause I have something for you too. So pick your lip up and get over here right now” She ordered him.

  Chapter 21: Hit em’ with da flex

  Poke had a good time the other night at Gigi’s Pleasure Chest. He hung out with the No Pressure fam and Gigi had kicked it real big with him sending him a bottle and two girls that danced for him the whole night. He knew Gigi had no clue that he was plotting on her. She would find out soon enough. He was taking down her and Khalil slowly but surely and they are not going to know what hit them. Poke got out the duffle bag with the coke in it and pulled out the brick that he had busted open. He had planned on keeping it himself but he decided it that he will keep nine ounces out of it since it was so pure. When he busted it the other day it had him draining all day because it was so pure, so he would put some cut on it and stretch it out. Toe-Toe was cool the other night so he thought maybe they would want to get the bricks from him. His phone rang and he ran to the back and got it. “Hello”

  “Poke can you please stop calling me. I can’t get my number changed because all of my clients have it. I do not want to have to go to the authorities. Just follow my instructions and leave us alone please.” Jazmeir spoke in an eerily calm voice.

  “Baby, don’t be like that. I promise you that everything is going to be different this time. I’m about to go and take care of some business. Can I stop by later on? I will have something for you. I miss you and the kids.”

  “No, you can’t stop by here. I do not want anything that you have. It is over. This is my home. Why can’t you understand this?” Jazmeir questioned him loudly.

  “Okay, I will just call you later after I have taken care of everything. Maybe I can take you out for –” Poke wasn’t able to finish the conversation because Jazmeir hung up the phone in his face.

  Poke had to go and sell the dope that he had got from Honesty’s spot the other day. He had taken Jaz through so much he just wanted to give her something to show that he cared. He planned on dropping her off at least five stacks just to put a smile on her face. Poke got out the scale and started to scoop the dope that he planned on keeping for himself out. He then weighed what was left so that he could sell it. He rewrapped the half of a brick and put it the duffle bag with the other two whole ones. The dope was calling him. He had changed his mind quickly on just taking nine ounces out for himself; instead he took out eighteen ounces. This would last him for a while. He scooped up some and took a quick snort and threw his head back. The mere fact that he had been snorting cocaine for twenty-five years caused his body to need something to wake him all the way up.

  His phone went off again, he looked down and saw that it was Khalil. He mumbled “pussy nigga” as he pressed ignore and walked out the door with the duffle bag. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. Today was gonna be a good day and Poke knew it. The dope was gonna get sold and he was going to get his family back. He didn’t have the young niggas phone numbers but he knew where they hung out at so he decided to pull up on them. Poke had planned on giving them some good prices so they were not going to be able to refuse the dope. When he pulled out and headed to the trap, he never noticed the car following him.

  Toe-Toe and about seven other guys stood outside the building shooting dice. The guards alerted them that an unfamiliar car was pulling up. They all turned in the direction of the approaching car. The statement trained to go is what they lived by so they were always prepared. Each one of them automatically started to reach for the weapons that they had on them. Nard noticed him first. “Man that’s Poke sorry ass.”

  Toe-Toe grinned to himself, he already knew what was about to transpire. Poke was about to try to sell them the dope. He hadn’t told Nard what he and Killa had done the other day. He had been too preoccupied trying to get his girl to let him in the house that it had totally slipped his mind. This shit was gonna be hilarious. Toe-Toe wished that Killa was over there with them so he could see this shit as it went down. He would just have to give him a blow by blow of everything. Killa really didn’t like being around too many niggas, especially ones he didn’t know but him and Toe-Toe had just hit it off from the jump.

  “What’s up my niggas? I see yall got a good game going on with the craps. What’s da point?” Poke said to the crowd of men trying to get them to ease off the icy stares that they had directed to him when he got out of the car.

  “You need something O.G.?” Nard said as he came off of the step that he was sitting on smoking a blunt.

  “I wanted, um, I wanted to know if I can holler at you and your brother for a minute bout some b-b-b-business.” Poke stuttered from nervousness.

  “Yeah, come on in.” Nard told Poke as Toe-Toe walked away from the crap game. He grabbed another guy and told him to come in the house too.

  Poke was anxious, he turned and walked back to the car and got the duffle bag and headed into the building. He was stopped at the door. One of the guards, patted him down, they found a small 380 in a holster in his pants leg. He took it off of him. He then went through the bag and all he saw was the dope. The guard set the bag on the coffee table and then he held the gun up at Nard. Nard turned around and looked at Poke. “You will get that on your way out, my nigga.”

  “Uh, oh-oh, okay, well I got a good deal and I thought of you guys first. Y’all stay looking out for me and always keep it real with me so I thought I might be able to extend the hospitality y’all always show me. Now a nigga I fuck with from out of town bought me these last night. He said that his whole team got banged up and he needed some quick money to get them out. He didn’t want nothing but ten a piece for them. I took my last and snatched them right on up. I gotta make a lil’ profit but I can give them to you for fourteen a piece and that’s still a steal. This is some Grade A coke. This shit can easily go for twenty-four.” Poke stuttered but as the lie continued, it rolled off of his tongue smoothly as he reached in the bag and put the dope on the table.

  “Yeah, that’s a real good deal. But how about I give you thirteen for the whole ones and then how much is this one?” Toe –Toe had picked up the smaller one that Poke had started on wondering had he snorted anymore of it since he switched it out the other day.

  “Well that’s a half right there. I weighed all of that shit at the house when he bought it to me. I tested it too. That’s some good shit. I wouldn’t lie to you.” He looked at both of the brothers.

  “So what, you gonna take the thirteen or what?” Nard barked at Poke causing him to jump. He knew that nigga was slimy and he wanted him to hurry up and leave. He was wondering where he got the dope from.

  “Man, y’all got me between a rock and a hard place. But I fucks with y’all so I can run with it.” The nervous stutter that Poke had suddenly developed had Toe-Toe eying him suspiciously.

  “Toe-Toe, get out the scale and the tester.” Nard told his older brother.

  Toe-Toe did it knowing that once Nard saw that the dope was fake, he was going to go mayhem on Poke for trying him like that. Nard unwrapped all three of the packs and scooped out some of it onto a plate. He got the solution that he uses to test the cocaine and placed a drop onto each pile of cocaine. If it was real it would retain its color, but if it wasn’t it would turn brown. The three of them waited looking at the plate. Poke was smiling ear to ear because he was excited about having a bit of money his pocket. Toe-Toe was smiling because he knew this nigga was about to get his just desserts.

  The mound of powder turned brown. Nard turned aroun
d, his face was distorted. "Pussy nigga what the fuck are you trying to prove. You thought that we were not going to test this shit. We true to this; not new to this. We aint no ol' sucker duck ass niggas." He punched Poke in the face. Poke fell to the floor. Nard walked over to where he fell and started to kick him.

  Poke scrambled and tried to get up, but every time he did, Nard would kick him again. He was in pain. He knew that dope was real. He had just tested it when he got it. “Wait, Wait!” He screamed through his bloody lips.

  Nard eased up and stepped back and looked down at Poke on the floor. His lips had swollen up three times their normal size within seconds. “My nigga, you got a lot of nerve”

  “I swear on my only son, I ain’t trying to flex y’all. We kicked it real hard the other night, y’all niggas always respect me and shit that is why I came to y’all first. Y’all know that I fuck around, so I know the dope is real.” Poke put his hand up to his lip, his two front teeth had pierced his lip and he was in pain.

  “Nigga, you a muthafucking lie! This shit right here is fake.” Nard started kicking Poke again.

  Toe-Toe knew his brother's temper was one that could not be reckoned with. He watched his brother cuss and kick Poke until he was not moving. He pulled him back. “That’s enough! That’s enough! I think that he learned his lesson.”

  Nard spit on him and walked away, leaving him balled up in the corner unconscious. He walked out the door with Toe-Toe and his homeboy bringing up the rear. The guard stayed on the inside to watch Poke as the three of them went back and joined the dice game.

  Poke rolled over. He felt the pain shoot through his body. He let out a moan as he struggled to try to get up. He didn’t know what had gone wrong. He knew the dope was real, but he had also seen with his own two eyes when it tested fake.

  The guard came over and helped him up. He got out his cell phone and called Nard to let him know that Poke had awakened. Nard told him to give Poke the phone. “Nigga, don’t make me regret letting you live. Get the fuck up and get the fuck out. I better not see or hear of you around any of No Pressure point blank period.”

  Poke handed the guard back the phone and headed toward the door. The guard let him out and he walked down the steps very slowly wincing in pain along the way. Once he got to the bottom of the steps, the crowd had thinned out from when he first got there. He didn’t see Nard or Toe-Toe. He got in his car and pulled down the mirror that was over the visor and looked at his face. His right jaw was swollen and so were his lips. His teeth were loose. If in the same situation, he would have reacted in the same manner. He was happy to have escaped with his life. He thinks the only thing that saved him was the fact that they had known him since they were little boys.

  His cell phone rang and he reached over and got it out of the console. He didn’t talk he just listened; more instructions. He was tired of this ho’ bossing him around. Poke interrupted her. “I just got my ass beat by them No Pressure niggas because that dope was fake. How you gonna send me on a lick for some Fugazi. Wait a minute you want me to do what? I can’t do that! I just can’t, that is his only son. Oh okay I will do it.”

  Poke hung up the phone. This bitch was crazy. The shit that she was asking him to do was getting out of hand. How could one person be so vindictive? He wished he hadn’t agreed to help her but he was in too deep. Once this was done he knew that he was gonna have to go into hiding.

  Chapter 22: Just me and you… Just us two

  Honesty missed Gigi so much but she didn’t want to go around her with so much going on. She hadn’t been responding to her text or her phone calls. But that didn’t stop Gigi from continuing to call and text her. Pop-Pop was happy that she had been staying in the house. But she really wanted to take a trip and get away from it all. Her cell phone had been ringing but she didn’t want to talk to anybody. A lot of her workers had been calling for work and for her to pick up money. She told them she wasn’t feeling well. She knew that she couldn’t leave her money in the street for too long though. The feeling of depression had taken over and it didn’t seem like it was gonna release her anytime soon. Honesty would call Killian and tell him to go and collect for her and to tell all her workers she would have something for them in the next two days. She had to do something to shake that feeling. Maybe a day out would help her feel better. Shopping always cheered her up.

  Killian walked into the den and saw his sister sitting on the sofa in complete silence. “Damn girl, turn on the television or something. What you doing, meditating?”

  “I guess you can say that, I’m just trying to sort through all this shit going on in my head. But what’s up with you?” She asked her brother as she reached over and rubbed her hands through his curly hair. That was a habit of hers ever since they were little.

  “I got something for you that should make you feel better.” He pulled out his cell phone and showed her a picture of the dope that he had got back from Poke.

  Honesty jumped up from the sofa like a jack in the box. She was so excited. She couldn’t believe that her brother had gotten the dope back. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, brother. I love you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

  “Lucky for you, you will never have to find out. Now can you get up and take a bath, do your hair and for Pete’s sake change your clothes. You look like you have had that on forever.” He was happy that he could put a smile on his sister’s face. After the shooting and robbery, he knew that she doubted herself.

  She didn’t want to know how he did it, she was just happy that she had that taken care of. She had people waiting to get their hands on it. Honesty decided that she would go ahead and get up and put on some clothes and deliver the work herself and then she would stop and see Gigi and take her the money that she owed her. This day was looking up after all. “What are you about to do?”

  “I have been so busy, I’m gonna chill with ol’ girl. Take her to the mall, buy her something nice and then take her to dinner. She has been holding me down. I know she loves me and I got feelings for her. I just think that I’m too young to be tied down. But she is the only one that I’m kicking it with.” Killian got up from the sofa.

  “Have you ever told her how you feel? I mean you can’t assume that she knows that you have feelings for her. How do you know that she knows that she is the only one that you’re with? You are always busy in the streets handling business. Just because you tell her that you are handling business doesn’t mean that she doesn’t second guess what you are saying to her. Yeah take her out, but remember the only way to keep a woman once you get her is to make her feel special in some sort of way each and every day.” Honesty kissed her brother on the cheek and as she thought about what she said to her brother, she decided to do something special for Gigi herself.

  “You right sis, I do need to show her more often. She is a good girl and she is a good mother. She breaks her back for her lil’ man and she never ask me for anything. I like that because you know these hoes out here be so quick to have their hand out. I know I’m stingy as y’all say but I give shawty everything that she could want, or at least I try. I’m thinking about asking her to move in with me. She is there most of the time anyway.”

  “Wow, you really do have feelings for her. Is it safe to say that you are in love? How do you feel about her having a son? You have to be a father figure for him too if you are in her life.” Honesty was so surprised at what her brother was saying to her, because she had never met the girl who had won him over. But she understood too, because Killian had always been a private person.

  “Awwww man, I wouldn’t say it’s safe to say that, but I know that they are a package deal and that I can’t have one without the other. That is one cool ass lil’ boy, I have a ball with him. I do not have a problem stepping in and filling in for his father’s absence. He knows I’m not his father because Leigh makes sure that she keeps his dad’s memory alive. He died in Afghanistan.”

  “That’
s what up bro. If she makes you happy, go for it. Tomorrow isn’t promised.” Honesty walked away and headed up the steps then stopped. “Oh and go ahead and tell her you love her, cause I know that you do.”

  Killian walked out the door as he thought about what his sister said. He was glad that his dad wasn’t home because he didn’t want to hear his mouth about everything that was going on. He jumped into his GXP and headed to the city to pick up Leigh. He answered his ringing cell phone. It was Leigh “Hey Bae, I’m just leaving my dad’s house. I’m on the way to pick you up. Nawl, leave lil’ man at home with your mom. He can stay with us tonight. See you in a minute.” He ended the call and turned up his stereo blasting Future’s mixtape True Story.

  Just what the doctored ordered, some alone time with her baby. Leigh understood that Killian was busy all the time, she was so happy that she had school, her son and her design work to keep her busy. If not she knew she would be damn near a stalker when it came to him. She had fallen fast and it was so unexpected and at times she questioned whether he felt the same. But when she saw how he was with her son, or how he surprised her with gifts, she knew for sure that he loved her, she just wanted to hear it.