by Tiece
“Good,” she responded. “From this day forward you will continue to make your trips alone.”
“That I already figured.” He stated. Amara smiled on the inside, looking over at the father of her son. She was proud of him for becoming the man that she’d groomed over the years. He was the type of man that girls dreamed about. He was a handsome hard worker and loyal, but more so, loyal to the game; not her. She’d made it that way over time by becoming the woman who broke his heart then turned her back on their son. On top of that, she was also the mastermind behind the set up of his best friend. She shook her head with distasteful thoughts of being so conniving and heartless as she gracefully made her way over to the safe.
“I’m giving you five bricks for your next three trips.” She cautiously stated while punching in the code to the safe.
Malcolm scratched his head. “Five bricks,” he said. “Why am I getting five bricks? I normally get ten.”
She glanced back at him already knowing that he wasn’t going to be pleased. “I’m sorry, but there are consequences to your actions or have you forgotten about that since it’s been so long ago?” He reluctantly nodded his head having remembered six years prior that he had sold three bricks to an untrustworthy person, but had he spoke with her first it would’ve saved him a hard lesson to learn.
“Amara I went to school with the man. Besides Russell, he was one of my closest friends. All I know is that he’d moved away and when he came back he was making power moves and so was I. He had the money for the bricks and I had the bricks for the taking. I never had a reason to think that he was a snitch. Hell, he was boy, my nigga from back in the day,” he explained.
Amara smugly grinned as she turned away from the safe to look at him. “And he was also the person that set you up. I have always told you to not fuck with anyone new, friend or no friend, without consulting with me first. If anybody in my click gets fucked up it can lead back to me. Nothing is bringing down this operation so either you listen or you pay the price. Today, you’re paying the price for going behind my back to jump on that sweet lick in Miami.”
“Don’t remind me,” he annoyingly uttered, not happy at all. .
“Look, you would’ve been serving time for that shit years ago, but I saved you then.” She informed him. He knew that something was done behind the scenes that kept his so-called friend from ever testifying against him. Plus, he had only spent a night in jail and once he was out that was it. Long story short, because there were never any witnesses then somehow there was never a case. Everything just magically disappeared. There were times when he often wondered what happened to his ex-homey but he never questioned it as long as it kept him free and clear. The nigga was a rat now to him anyway; hopefully a dead rat for trying to sacrificing his freedom.
Amara always felt the need to keep assuring him that she had his back in hopes that he’d still see some good in her, something that reminded him of the Amara he first met and fell in love with. However, that never seemed to work because anytime the shit hit the fan she always looked like the bad guy and any heat from Malcolm was always directed towards her. It was like a win lose situation except when dealing with Malcolm she was always the loser.
“Malcolm, I keep telling you that I have eyes and ears everywhere on the streets and if I don’t know something I always have a way of finding out.”
“I think I get that by now,” he stated with ill sarcasm.
Amara looked at him with a straight face and shook her head. She couldn’t believe that he’d sit there and act like his actions didn’t almost cause the worse chaos possible inside her domain.
“Anything I’ve ever asked you to do was for your own good.” She said already knowing that his life was spared back when he sold those three keys to his rat of a friend. “If you just listen and let me talk to you or at least communicate with me then we wouldn’t be going through this.” She reached inside the safe and pulled out five bricks and sat them on the desk in front of him. Malcolm immediately frowned as if the sight of seeing the unexpected weight loss had suddenly made him sick on his stomach.
“Amara, I’ll be losing out on at least twenty-five thousand.” He knew he fucked up but he couldn’t believe that she’d take things that far. “Damn, don’t do this.” He firmly stated thinking that three trips of losing out on twenty-five thousand or more was a loss of over seven-five thousand or more. “I feel like you’re holding me back.”
She distastefully smiled. “Holding you back, are you serious right now?”
“Yea I am serious right now.” He said feeling frustrated as hell at not knowing what to do about it. “You don’t want me to be able to not need you. I think it scares you that one day I’ll have enough money to call it quits and walk out on you for good. There would be only one reason for me to come around you and that’s to get my son, but I’d be just fine with going to get him from your mama’s house like I’ve always been doing.”
Amara wanted to snap on him but she kept her cool. “Just let it go will you. You did this to yourself not me. You’re lucky that it’s only for three trips because it could’ve been for more.”
“This is a hard hit and you know it.” He said standing up as she packed the five bricks inside a black duffle bag.
“Malcolm, you’re living good. If I didn’t want you to have nothing you wouldn’t. You were just a nickel and dime hustler when I met you. I helped you get paper and lots of it. I know you’re taking a hit, but don’t forget that I know you’re not hurting either.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” He quickly questioned.
“Exactly what I said,” she responded. “I know about your account.” He looked at her somewhat confused.
“My account,” he pondered.
“Yeah, your account,” she eagerly stated. “The one you have in the Cayman Islands with over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in it. And I’m not stupid; I know you got more cash stashed somewhere else so don’t act like your mouth is dry with your tongue hanging out because you’re good.”
Malcolm found himself becoming really upset with Amara. It was like he couldn’t do nothing without her knowing about it and he was getting sick of it. He had carefully put money up in a Swiss bank account hoping that this would be the one thing that Amara didn’t know about, but he was wrong.
“You know what? I’ll just get this work and see you when I’m scheduled to come back. I don’t wanna say something that I’ll regret.” He said grabbing the duffle bag but before he could exit the room Amara stopped him.
“Malcolm,” she called out feeling really bad that he felt like she was against him. “I’m your connect and your boss so I call the shots and you have to obey them. Well, don’t forget that I have a boss too and he calls even bigger shots and I have to obey them. I’m not here to hurt you. I just want to keep you safe.”
“A’ight,” he nonchalantly responded and exited the room. He knew who Amara’s boss was, although he had never met him. The truth was that nobody in their right mind would ever want to be on his bad side, but at times he wished that Amara would stand up more for him because she could, but he doubted she ever would.
Amara stood with her hands on her hips. “Send your friend in here, please,” she called out then sat on the edge of the desk, crossing her feet at the ankles while in deep thought. She hated knowing that the longer Malcolm stayed in the game the more he was going to dislike her. It wasn’t good for business between the two of them but somehow her boss just didn’t see it that way.
__________
Malcolm entered the all white modernly decked out room and walked straight over to the bar to fix him a drink. Russell just sat staring at him while taking a quick swallow from his drink. His mind was flooded with thoughts of finally seeing enough light to come up. True enough he’d held down his fort and did a damn good job at it, but everybody knew whose money was longer.
Once Malcolm poured himself a shot of Hennessy and turned it up he turned to look at his bes
t friend.
“She wants to see you now.” He said then turned to pour himself another shot.
“Is everything good man? You might wanna slow down on the shots like that.” Russell stated as he leaned forward in his seat to stand to his feet.
“Oh yeah, don’t worry about me. Everything is just peachy.”
“If you say so, man,” Russell responded. “Where am I going now? This place is huge. I’ll fuck around and get lost.”
Malcolm mustered up a grin. “Just walk straight down the hall, crossing over the entrance way and into the room that will be directly facing you, the weight room. Amara is in there waiting for you.
“The weight room,” Russell mocked with a smile. “Okay sounds good to me.” He headed out of the room. There was a glow coming from the entrance hallway as he approached it that made him feel this peaceful relief that he was now a part of something major. Personally working with Amara was a sure thing and certainly had its benefits. It felt good to finally be a part of something so elite.
Chapter 12
Russell had just made it back from his second trip to Atlanta, this one by himself. He stepped inside his house walking over to the island counter and sitting the black duffle bag down on it. He took a seat on a bar stool in front of the duffle bag and stared at it with motivating thoughts of distributing its contents.
A month had passed by so quickly and he was really feeling himself because he’d quickly gotten off of the first three kilo’s that Amara had given him. It felt even better to walk in there and pay off his tab. She was very impressed and gave him two additional blocks as good faith in helping him get back on his feet after being robbed. He was now officially apart of her elite squad which was like a dream come true if you were a dope boy. It felt good to know that he and Malcolm shared the same connect. Amara was certainly likable with her beauty, charm, and intellect. Their conversations were enlightening and their transactions were smooth. There was nothing he could complain about.
“Hey babe,” a bubbly Tammy spoke as she entered the kitchen. “What are you thinking about?” She asked walking over and kissing him lightly on the lips.
“Nothing much,” he said looking her over. “You look good.” He couldn’t resist the urge to slap her on her fat ass because it looked so delicious in a pair of J Brand Maria high rise skinny jeans.
She jumped from the unexpected lick with a grin. “Thanks, even though I’m not quite finished,” she said sliding across the floor bare feet as she made her way to the refrigerator then opened it. She reached in and came out with a Bud Light Lime Strawberrita.
“I hope y’all have a designated driver,” he said watching how quickly she drank from the small sized can of fruit beer.
“That would be my cousin.” She said taking the can down from her mouth only long enough to speak. “The girl never drinks.”
“Come here,” he said turning to face her. She walked over and stood between his legs, wrapping her arms around the back of his neck. “I just wanted to say thank you,” he stated causing her to lean back a little and stare in his eyes.
She smiled. “Aww, what made you say that?”
“I see that you’ve been pretty happy these past few weeks. I’ve seen a smile on your face ever since the girl’s birthday party. It’s refreshing to see you so cheerful.”
“I have a reason to be cheerful. My man is getting back on his feet from taking a huge loss. Our girls are doing well and have successfully turned nine without me breaking their spoiled little necks yet.” He grinned at her sense of humor. “I’m just thankful for everything.” She cheerfully said. “I know you’ve been working hard and all of that has been for us.” She kissed him. “Yes, I was mad about the whole trip to Florida and the way you acted after we’d gotten hijacked, but I know that you had your reasons for being like that.”
Russell removed Tammy’s grip from around his neck and stood up. He started looking around the kitchen as if he was looking for something.
“Tammy,” he called out looking past her. Her lips curled up on the end as she playfully eyed him. “Has anybody seen my wife Tammy?”
“Quit playing,” she said hitting his arm. He laughed then kissed her.
“I just had to make sure that was you.” He teased. Tammy had her sweet moments, but overall she was always guarded when it came down to him. Because he’d been unfaithful so many times in the past she found it easier to be mad with him instead of letting him back in and getting hurt by him.
“I think somebody is out there,” she said overhearing the low boom from someone’s car speakers pulling up in their yard.
“It’s probably Cash. He should’ve been pulling up right behind me anyway.”
“Well, I’ll leave you to your business. I have to go finish getting ready anyway,” she said. “It’s the girl’s night out baby!” She quickly scurried down the hallway.
Russell grinned. “Yeah I hear you.” He said with a smile on his face. It just made him happy to see his lady happy. Things were finally starting to look back up for them.
A knock was heard at the front door just as he’d gotten there to see who had pulled up. He opened the door giving Cash dap.
“What’s up nigga?” He spoke as Cash eased inside the house. Cash was his right hand man from Statesboro, GA. He’d been dealing with him since he’d been in the game. Ironically, Cash was the person with the work first, but Cash’s connect got fucked up and all of a sudden he became the go to guy.
“Nothing much main,” he said walking in like he was tired and ready to call it a night. “I just finished letting this fine ass red bone tighten my locks up. She did such a good job that I wanted to tighten her up, but she was playing hard and shit. I said a few things to her while she was twisting in my hair. You know, she laughed a little but that was it. Next thing I know I’m falling asleep in her chair.” He shook his head, sitting down on the bar stool at the counter. “She had to keep waking me up too then teased about having hands that made a nigga do that. I wanted her to put them in other places to see if it would still work.”
Russell grinned because if nothing else Cash was a straight beast with a woman and could make her laugh right out of her panties. They loved his long dreads that stopped midway his back and his neatly trimmed tape around the edges. Not to mention his fresh True Religion gear also played a stylish part in sucking them in. He had to be the first one to rock any new arrival’s that they had.
“You a fool with it,” Russell continued laughing. “Who did you go too?”
“Some broad name Tameka, downtown on Broad Street,” Cash informed him. “My homeboy had already told me that she was fine as hell but I didn’t know how fine until I got there. He had also told me that she wasn’t letting a nigga in and he wasn’t lying. Whoever broke her heart fucked her up.”
“Tameka,” Russell repeated as if he was trying to see if he knew her, but in reality he’d been the one that had broken her heart two years prior. “I don’t know if I know her.” He lied, knowing all too well that she really did have hands like that because she’d had them tightly wrapped around him over a yearlong span. He’d gotten careless letting Tammy found out about the affair by snooping through his phone. Needless to say, she literally shut down Tameka’s shop causing her to take out and restraining order on her.
Cash pulled a few knots of money out of both of his deep pockets and sat it on the counter. “Is the girl good?” He asked.
“Ain’t she always good?” Russell questioned back.
“Just asking, because they were really biting on that last bomb I had.”
“Well, they’ll be biting on this one too and any other bombs you get as long as you get them from me,” he teased reaching in the bag and pulling out two of the bricks. Cash slid the money across the counter to Russell.
“That’s the whole forty-two thousand right there.”
“I trust you,” Russell said not wanting to count it right away. In six years, they’d never had problems like that so
he could count it later and be good.
Cash put the bricks in a little black duffle bag that he was carrying and zipped it up. “What are you getting into tonight?” he asked.
“I was thinking of checking out this house party later since Tammy is having her monthly girl’s night out. I doubt if I stick around this house since the girls are gone to her mama’s for the night.”
“I feel ya.” Cash said standing to his feet with a long stretch of his arms while yawning. “I’m just gonna stay the night with my lil ride or die in Burke County. I’m too tired to even drive back to Statesboro tonight.”
“You look tired. You need to get some sleep tonight.”
“Naw, not tonight,” he teased causing Russell to grin. “I’ve just been running ‘round all day getting up this bread from these knuckle heads in the streets.”
“I feel ya,” Russell said knowing all too well what it felt like to be fronted since that’s what he and Amara’s arrangement was, at least until he bounced back and could afford to pay upfront like Malcolm.
“Shit, I’m ‘bout to get on outta here. My lil ride or die cooking for me.” He smiled giving his friend some dap.
Russell nodded. “You got about 3 ride or die’s don’t you?” Cash laughed out loud like it was funny as Tammy stepped into the kitchen with her purse ready to go, make up just right, and stilettos walking tall.
“Hey Cash,” she spoke with a smile. He spoke back. “I’m headed out babe.”
“I see,” Russell said admiring her curves and pretty face. She pecked him on the lips and exited the house behind Cash.
“A’ight, both of y’all be careful.” Russell called out from the door then closed it shut behind him.
As Tammy walked closer to her car she glanced up at Cash who was opening his car door. “Will we talk tonight?” she cautiously asked feeling comfortable in knowing that Russell wouldn’t be peeking at them like that. He had no reason not to trust her.
