Money & Love Don't Mix

by Ace Gucciano

  She wanted to know as she cut off her car and they both got out and made their way towards her front door.

  “I don’t know what I’mma do…But one thang I do know is I’m done with dis street shit. I tell you no lie, I thought da’ judge was gone throw da’ book at my ass fo’ coming in front him wit all dem charges after just gettin’ out from doin’ ten years.” He replied as they went inside Miranda’s crib and closed the door.

  “Well I feel ya’ baby boy…A hundred percent now dat I know the reason why y’all pulled the lick, but just don’t let erry’thang you saying be jail talk like most niggaz. Think bout wat you want outta life, think about ya’ mom, ya’ future and what all you can accomplish by working a simple nine to five. Hell, legal money last longer than drug money,” she preached, having his undivided attention, “Now hold on and I’ll be right back.”

  He then took a seat on her sofa while she headed upstairs to get the ten bricks.

  Chapter 14

  Later that night at 7:45 pm Trouble and Miranda arrived at the El-Rancherio Mexican restaurant where the entire parking lot off was empty. She looked at Trouble with doubt but he said, “Don’t panic just yet, baby. It’s just 7:45, dey prolly ain’t gone pull up until 8:00.”

  “Okay.” She responded as she backed into a parking space, shut the car off, and they remained in complete silence for the next fifteen minutes. However, not a soul entered the vacant parking lot since they came. Time continue going by as it was now 8:20 pm; nervous and scared Miranda hysterically blurted.

  “Something ain’t right, bae, we should leave. I believe dey tryna set us up to get robbed, I really do!”

  “Well if that’s how you feel, you obviously feel dis way fo’ a reason. Always go wit ya’ first instinct in a situation like dis. So let’s get da fuck outta here baby.”

  She then cruck her vehicle, and was about to put it in drive but the front door of the restaurant came open and two Hispanic guys came walking out in their direction. As the guys drew closer and closer, Trouble was able to make out the two as the two henchmen and he quickly blurted out.

  “Hold on baby!”

  Stopping Miranda from putting her car in drive to pull off. The two henchmen approached the passenger side of the vehicle where Trouble was seated. Trouble stepped out of the vehicle saying,

  “Man what’s up?! Y’all here to handle business or—”

  “Where are de bricks amigo?” one of the guys interrupted.

  “Where my homeboys at? Y’all get y’all shit when y’all free my niggaz!” Trouble responded.

  “You not in any position to ask questions amigo! Now, I’ll ask you again, where are de bricks amigo?”

  His aggressive words made it hard for Trouble to bite his tongue, but he knew he was in a no-win situation in more ways than one. Therefore, he swallowed his pride and said, “They’re right here.” He walked towards the back of the vehicle and shouted. “Pop the trunk, baby!” he then reached inside and grab the duffel bag and shut the truck.

  “Now hand me de bag, and we’ll send ya’ two compadres out soon as we finish inspecting these ten brick.”

  Trouble handed over the duffel bag and stood there looking as the two guys turned around and headed back towards the restaurant. Trouble and Miranda waited and waited, and just like before she began to feel as if something was about to happen. Though, Trouble kept assuring for the everything was cool.

  Thirty minutes later the restaurant doors came open and he saw both Smoke and Dre making their way out as fast as they could. The moment they approached the vehicle he and Miranda noticed all the cuts, scars and bruises all over them as the three of them got into the vehicle and left the scene.

  “What did they do to y’all!?” Miranda asked disturbed by Smoke and Dre as physical condition.

  “Dey humiliated us, what it looked like?!” Smoke responded.

  “Humiliate ain’t da’ word,” mumbled Dre, “Please… Just get me somewhere I can stretch out. My whole body sore.”

  “We got ya’ my nigga. We on da’ way back to her crib now.”

  Twenty minutes later, when they arrived at Miranda’s spot, she called her best friend Summer over who was a registered nurse and had her nurture Smoke and Dre. Afterward, the ladies had them a glass of pink Moscato, the fellas smoked a few blunt of Kush and they all sat and played spades the rest of the night.

  $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

  Early the next afternoon, Miranda jumped out of the bed quickly, and headed towards the stairs to go down and see who was banging on her front door. As she made her way downstairs she noticed Smoke, Dre, and Summer still asleep on her living room sofas. So she walked up to the door, looked through the peephole and whispered Rude Boy to herself the moment she saw who was on the other side. Then she turned around and looked at Dre, Summer, and Smoke who were still asleep as she deactivated her ADT alarm system and quietly stepped out onto the front porch. The sound of Miranda shutting her alarm off awoke Trouble as he quickly got out of bed after noticing he was there by himself.

  “Rude Boy, what’s going on?!” asked Miranda, surprised to see him.

  “Where ya’ dude at, have he called or came by yet?”

  “Nope! I told you his ass too ashamed to come around after I caught him and his lover doin’ their thang,” she stated leaned up against a door. Then all of a sudden she felt the door open and immediately looked back to see who was. The moment she noticed it was Trouble, she told Rude Boy, “I’ll be right back,” as she quickly stepped back inside.

  “Erry’thang good baby?” asked Trouble the moment she stepped back inside.

  “Huh… I mean, yeah everythang’s cool. It’s just Rude Boy looking for my ex, that’s all.”

  “I understand dat, but what da’ hell he doing just poppin’ up at da’ crib unannounced, he know dude don’t stay here no mo’ don’t he?”

  “Yeah, but he just stopped by to see if he called or came by. He’s not here to bring drama or anything like that if that’s wat you thinking.”

  “You don’t know wat he’s here on, now watch out,” Trouble told her as he moved past her and reached for the door, “Shit on top of dat, I wanna see dis fool who you claim erry’body scared of.”

  She stepped to the side, shaking her head as Trouble opened the door with hostility.

  “Aye, what you need, my nigga!?”

  “I need…Trouble!! My dude, what’s goin’ on, when you get out!?” the over excited Rude Boy inquired.

  “Damn my nigga, I didn’t recognize you. You look different since you grew ya dreads back.” Trouble responded as they gave one another some dap and a hug. Miranda heard them talking and open the door.

  “Y’all alright?”

  Trouble turned around smiling from ear to ear.

  “Damn baby, I ain’t know dis was da’ Rude Boy you was talkin’ bout! He use to tell us stories in da’ pen bout how he was living it up out here and stuff he use to do, but erry’body thought he was lying.”

  “Naw, wateva he told y’all, he wasn’t lying. I’ll be da’ first to tell you.”

  “You already did…as a matter of fact, come on in.” said Trouble as he and Rude Boy went inside.

  “Aye, don’t pay dem no mind. I had a lil’ get together last night and erry’body got so high and drunk dat dey fell asleep where dey was at,” said Trouble as he made his way towards the kitchen, “Come on in here my nigga…Aye baby, wake all dey ass up wen you get a chance.”

  “Okay!!” she shouted as she started trying to wake Summer.

  “So, what’s been going on wit ya’ since you got out da’ pen?”

  “My dude, I ain’t gone lie, shit has been up and down fo’ me. It ain’t like it was out here before I went in.”

  “Wat ya’ mean?”

  “I mean it’s hard to trust motherfuckas now. I fronted one dude ten pounds of weed, he ran off on me. A few of my workers sold to undercovers, now dey sitting in da’ county waiting to go to court, then dis bitch ass nigga Dex who
ya’ girl use to talk to ain’t nowhere to be found. He had ten bricks of my shit dat he was ‘pose to be moving fo’ me. But fuck dem pussy mutherfuckas when I catch em’ dey dead.”

  “Naw homie, it’s time to get money I can’t let you go out like dat.”

  Rude Boy laughed, “I see you haven’t changed one bit, you still won’t let me do shit to a motherfucka, huh?”

  “Hell naw you my nigga I ain’t suppose to. If anything I’ll let you pay a muhfucka to handle dat shit fo’ you. You got money you ain’t got do shit ya’ self, all you gotta do is sit back and call shots.”

  “Yo, I feel dat,” Rude Boy responded as he directed his attention towards Smoke and Dre who just entered the kitchen.

  “These my two homies, Smoke and Dre. I been knowing these niggaz since pre-school we like brothers. We came up together, went broke together, hit licks together, got caught and all went to prison together. But through it all we all kept it real wit each other.”

  “I like dat. Y’all boys got a bond wit one another, real loyalty I like dat.”

  “And Smoke, Dre dis my nigga Rude Boy. He was my roommate fo’ two years. I woulda starved a lotta nights in dat muhfucka if it wasn’t fo’ Rude Boy.”

  “Yo what up my nigga.”

  “Yeah nice to meet ya’ Homie.” Said Smoke and Dre as they both went over and shook Rude Boy’s hand.

  “Aye! Y’all let us finish talkin’ right quick, I’ma holla at y’all boys when we get through.” Said Trouble.

  “A’ight that’s what’s up!” Dre replied as he and Dre headed back to the living room.

  “So what’s up you still gonna put me on?”

  “Yeah mon. My word is my bond. How much you want, and how fast can you move it is wat I need to know?”

  “It depends on what you giving me, white or green.”

  “Da’ white girl, how long will it take you to move ten bricks of da’ white girl?”

  “Boutta week at da’ most, maybe sooner depending on who all needs some weight in my hood at the time I get my hands on it.”

  “Okay, that’s understandable. Look gimme ya’ number and I’ma have someone drop em’ off to you within the next hour.”

  “Bet!” said Trouble as he and Rude Boy exchanged numbers.

  “A’ight I gotta go make a few mo’ movers.”

  “That’s what’s up Homie, be safe out there, and don’t be too ashamed to call if you need me to come check a muhfucka when you need it done.”

  I won’t, my dude.” He responded as they made their way through the living room to the front door.

  “Yo good meeting you my nigga!” Smoke hollered, “Yo it was good meeting, you guys too,” he replied as he and Trouble walked to his cocaine white Audi truck, Rude Boy hit the automatic start and got in telling Trouble.

  “I woulda gave you a lil mo’ than ten bricks, but dis nigga Dex ain’t nowhere to be found so I can’t get the bricks back from him that I had him moving fo’ me.”

  Although, Trouble didn’t know Dex personally, he was glad that he was wherever he was since he and Miranda used the ten bricks that he had stashed at her house to pay off Smoke and Dre’s ransom.

  “It’s all good homie, shit you did me a favor wen you fronted me these ten to move fo’ you.” He replied before Rude Boy pulled out the driveway.

  An hour later, Miranda’s doorbell rung, and Trouble jumped up from the kitchen table where they all were sitting and enjoyed the Papa John’s pizza and lemon pepper wings Miranda ordered. As soon as trouble approached the door, he looked through the peephole, but didn’t see a soul. He had doubts about opened the door at first, but quickly pushed the doubts to the side thinking about the ten bricks and how happy he was to be back in contact with Rude Boy.

  He opened the door and saw a brown and tan checkerboard colored Louis Vuitton duffel bag sitting in front of it . He grabbed the bag and looked around to see if anyone noticed him, but didn’t see a soul as he eased back inside and closed the door. He sat the bag on the sofa and went back to the kitchen to finish eating. The moment he sat down he blurted out to everyone.

  “Aye baby, when you and Summer get through eating, let me holla at Smoke and Dre fo’ a minute.”

  “Dat’s cool…Come on, girl.”

  “Naw, I said when y’all get through.”

  “It’s cool, we can take out lil’ plates upstairs. Go ahead and holla we out.”

  “Naw, I’m bout to take my ass home. Come on walk me to da’ door.” Said Summer and they headed to the front door.

  Trouble looked at Smoke, then looked at Dre.

  “Before we all fell and did dat bid, we was together…Like brothers, ya feel wat I’m saying? We ate together, wore each other’s clothes, fucked da’ same hoes, shit erry’thang you name it, but time change erry’thang. So now we all doin’ out own thang, which ain’t nun wrong wit. But dat shit ain’t gettin’ neither one of us nowhere. So, it’s like dis, my nigga, Rude Boy a loyal ass nigga…His whole crew turned on him, used him and ran off wit his shit. And good thang I ran into him, cause now he giving me da’ opportunity to show him my loyalty, and dat’s what I’mma give em’ bottom line!”

  “So, where you goin’ wit all dis, I mean why we even having dis conversation?” asked Dre as he lit his cigarette.

  “Nigga…If you shut up and listen I’ll show you where I’m goin’ wit it.” Trouble responded as he got up, went to the living room and grabbed the duffel bag. When he returned to the kitchen Smoke and Dre began to look at one another strangely the moment they noticed the bag.

  “Yo Trouble what’s up!?” the curious and impatient Smoke inquired wanting to know what was in the duffel bag.

  “Chill Smoke,” said Trouble as he slowly began to unzip the duffel bag, “Now look da’ shit I’m boutta front y’all ain’t my shit! So be extra careful wit it.” Trouble stated as he began unloading the bag onto the dining room table, noticing how he now had their undivided attention, “It’s out time to shine,” says Trouble as he gazed at both of them, “Thanks to my nigga Rude Boy we all boutta eat…He did me a big favor by frontin’ me these bricks, and y’all my brothers so ain’t no way in hell I’m boutta sit back and get money while y’all starve…So this what I’ma do, I’ma front y’all five bricks dat’s two and a half fo’ both of y’all.”

  “Yo that’s da’ move my nigga;but how you want us to sell it, set up shop in da’ hood selling ounces n’shit or you want us to sell weight.” Dre inquired.

  “Serve weight Dre, I don’t want y’all in da’ hood serving lil’ niggaz nicks, dimes and ounces all day dat shit hot and it take too long. We wanna move dis first pack as fast as we can so we can get another pack. See erry’time I re-up wit Rude Boy he gonna front me mo’ and mo’ and dat’s mo’ money in all our pockets.”

  “A’ight lemme go upstairs and get y’all somethin to put dat shit in. I’ll be right back.” Trouble replied before making his way up the stairs. The moment Trouble entered Miranda’s bedroom he noticed the unhappy expression she was displaying as he began to look around her closet for something that Smoke and Dre could put their bricks in. He found a black Prada duffel bag and was about to heading back downstairs when Miranda blurted out.

  “Baby you don’t need to get back out there in the streets…Ain’t nothing but a bunch of unnecessary bullshit waiting to happen, and you of all people ‘pose to know bullshit is easy to get into and hard as hell to get out of.”

  He took a deep breath and replied.

  “So what you want me to do, sit on my ass all day while you at work bustin’ yours!?” I ain’t dat kinda nigga.”

  “Well what did Rude Boy give you, I know he gave you sumthing, dat’s how he is.”

  “He fronted me ten bricks, why?”

  “Cause I got some folks up in Virginia that’ll buy you out, that’s why.”

  “Damn! That’s what’s up…Well dey can’t buy but five of em’ cause I fronted Smoke and Dre the other five so dey can come up. But holla at ya’ folks a
nd see if dey need anything.” He told her making his way towards the door to head back downstairs.

  “Okay I’m bout to get on that now!” she replied.

  “Oh, one mo’ thang, how da’ hell ya’ people gone get it if dey wanna do business?” he turned around and asked.

  “I’ll see if Summer wanna take em’ up there. She use to take em’ all da’ time for Dex. I’m sure she could use some extra money.”

  “A’ight bet…Well I need you to holla at her too then, but first let’s drop Smoke and Dre off at Smoke’s crib.”

  “Okay.”

  Chapter 15

  Thirty minutes later, when Miranda entered Lexington Square they all looked around peeping the scene as they noticed majority of the neighborhood outside as Smoke directed her to his apartment. When she pulled up to Smoke’s door he and Dre both gave Trouble some dap before stepping out.

  “We gone hit you up later on and let you know what’s what once we start networkin.” Dre said as he made his way up the steps behind Smoke.

  “Yeah hit me up and let me know somethin.”

  “A’ight we got ya,” Dre looked back and responded. “bruh hurry up and open da’ door. Shit I feel like all eyes on us!”

  “Man shut da’ hell up wit all dat scary shit, dis our hood ain’t nobody boutta try us out here.” Smoke responded as he finally opened the door, then they quickly went inside as Miranda backed out of the parking space and headed out of the complex.

  $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $

  Thirty minutes later when Trouble and Miranda made it home she got her phone out of her purse and began scrolling through her contacts as they both took a seat on the living room sofa.

  “What da’ hell you doing?” he inquired.

  “What it look like, I’m lookin’ for solo’s number so I can see if he need anything or not…He da’ one up in Virginia I was tellin’ you bout.”

  “Oh, okay, yeah holla at em’ and see what’s what.” He replied as she threw up her hand for him to hold on since solo answered the phone.