Though it was spring and it was the furthest thing away from being cold in Texas, he could feel the wind on his face. The warm air brushed against his skin as he darted as fast as he could through the short bushes and tall trees separating his school from the gas station he’d just robbed.
Kayden could hear the traffic and evening noise in the distance as he made his way farther from the scene of his crime. It wasn’t until he was on the back stairs of his high school that he stopped. He was winded and needed to catch his breath before entering the auditorium. The last thing he needed was to come stumbling in and have their senior class director to put him on the spot. Which she would probably do anyway, simply because she didn’t necessarily care for him.
He looked down at his clothes, fixed his oversized shirt, straightened the gold jewelry on his wrist and around his neck, and took one last deep breath before pulling the door handle. As soon as he walked in, all eyes were on him. One familiar pair stood out among the rest: Aiden Lattimore, the senior class valedictorian, captain of the football team, president of the math club, academic scholarship recipient, and last but most important, his identical twin brother.
He was at the front of the auditorium behind the oak podium with his index cards in hand. The moment he saw Kayden, he raised his hands and eyebrows in question. Kayden being the vibrant young tyrant that he was, he smiled and held the peace sign up while heading to his seat.
“Where do you think you’re going, young man? You are late.” Mrs. Peterson marched toward Kayden with a vengeance. Her one-inch heels clicked against the tiled floor the entire way.
Kayden sucked his teeth and turned around in a huff. He’d already known she was coming, so he didn’t even bother trying to fight it.
“I have told you all week that you needed to be on time for rehearsal.” She started in on him the moment he was facing her.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Peterson. It was my fault.” Aiden met them in the middle of the floor. “I asked my brother to run back home and check for one of the note cards for my speech. I must have lost it somewhere.” He looked as pitiful as he could as he stood lying to Mrs. Peterson. “I knew I would probably have to rehearse the most since I’m the biggest part of the ceremony, while Kayden not so much.” Aiden shrugged. “Please don’t be mad at him.”
Mrs. Peterson stood with her arms folded across her chest looking from Aiden to Kayden with a very deep frown still on her face. Kayden could tell she was trying to decide whether she wanted to believe his brother or not, but he honestly didn’t give a damn if she did or if she didn’t. That was her business.
“Kayden, you are one lucky little deviant. Find your seat.” Her eyes tracked from his feet back up to his face before she walked back up the aisle.
Aiden waited until she was out of earshot before leaning over and whispering to Kayden. “Nigga, where the hell were you?”
Kayden’s long fingers patted the denim material of his jeans. “Getting us some graduation money.” His smile was broad as he watched Aiden’s eyes get large before shrinking back to their normal size.
“Man, your ass won’t be satisfied until you get caught. I’ve told you to stop doing that shit.”
Both of them laughed after Kayden shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.
“Gentlemen, if you don’t mind.” Mrs. Peterson’s voice came from the front of the room.
Aiden rolled his eyes to the ceiling before turning around and walking back to the front, while Kayden went to his seat. The rows were small as he maneuvered through his classmates. Between talking and stopping to dap his friends up, it took him a little longer to get to his chair than need be.
His butt hit the seat simultaneously with him making eye contact with Mrs. Peterson. Kayden could tell by how red her light-colored face was that she was angry. He didn’t care about her attitude any more than he’d cared about the gas station cashier’s fear for his life.
When everything was finally back to its regularly scheduled program and Aiden had resumed his speech, Kayden relaxed in his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him. He watched his twin brother with admiration. Aiden was everything that he wasn’t. Everything good that Aiden was, Kayden was the exact opposite.
Aiden made good grades; he didn’t. Aiden had college offers; he didn’t. The list went on. And though on most days he wished he could change it, Kayden had come to terms with the choices he’d made for his life, and he was okay with them. Though most people would probably be envious of someone surpassing them and winning in everything that they did, Kayden was nothing of the sort.
He loved Aiden and probably wanted him to succeed more than anybody else in their life. Although Kayden was probably one of the city’s most troubled youth, and would more than likely end up in jail, Aiden didn’t judge him. He loved Kayden just as much as Kayden loved him. It didn’t matter how different they were, the love they had for each other was the same.
Aiden had been taking care of Kayden for as far back as Kayden could remember. From diapers to high school graduation, they’d been together. Even with Aiden taking the higher road to everything and Kayden taking the lower, illegal one, they were inseparable. The only thing that proved to be successful at separating the two was Kayden’s actions, and just like every other time it happened, it was a total inconvenience.
“Excuse me, we’re looking for a Kayden Lattimore.” The boisterous voice at the back of the auditorium grabbed everyone’s attention.
As soon as Kayden and Aiden laid their eyes on the police officer who had just busted through the auditorium door, both of their heads dropped. Although neither of them said anything about who was who, it was obvious. Almost everybody in the room had looked at Kayden.
Being who he was, Kayden stood up and accepted his defeat like a man. He looked over toward where Aiden was standing and shook his head from side to side in a dejected manner before walking toward the officer at the back of the room.
They grabbed and handcuffed him immediately, but not without informing him of the charges and his rights first. As he walked out to the squad car preparing to be loaded into the backseat, the only thought that crossed his mind was how much he wished he could have at least given Aiden the bag of money.
CHAPTER 1
Ten years later
June 2017
“Damn, man, my boy Gotti got these li’l thots out here showing out.” Jackie, one of Kayden’s little workers laughed. “They Snapchatting their pussy for real.” He pulled his phone out and tapped on the screen a few times. “What’s her Snapchat name? I’m about to follow her and see if I can get some pussy pictures, too.”
All of the men in the room chuckled at his immaturity, Kayden especially. He remembered like it was yesterday when he was the youngest hustler of the crew. Now he was the person in charge. Niggas were breaking their necks to answer to him, and that’s the way he liked it.
“Y’all li’l niggas stop fucking off and come count up this money. I got some places I need to hit.”
“Got you, boss.”
“On it.”
They all answered in various ways as they got back to work. It had been a long day and Kayden was ready to hit the rack. He’d been up bright and early that morning supplying the streets with the drug they loved to hate, while picking up and dropping off money. It was the beginning of the month, and it was time for his team to eat.
“There’s fifty stacks in each one.” Jackie set two large duffel bags on the table in front of Kayden.
“Here’s thirty more.” Another bag was placed in front of him.
Kayden nodded his head and stood. He dapped Jackie up before grabbing the bags.
“Y’all make sure y’all lock up tonight. Any of my work come up missing, so will you.”
The men in the house expressed their understanding as he walked out of the house. Kayden looked up and down the street before going to his truck and placing the money inside. After slamming the tailgate closed, he hopped in and drove off. He’d told Aiden
he would be there within the hour and that had been thirty minutes ago. Aiden was his twin brother and the city’s next mayor.
Kayden and Aiden had been born only minutes apart, and had been joined at the hip ever since. The only things separating the two were what they chose to do with their free time. While Aiden chose to spend his time going to school and involving himself in the activities of the community; Kayden would rather run the streets and commit crimes that Aiden had to eventually aid in getting him out of.
It had been like that all their lives. Long before Aiden ever became a lawyer, he had been talking Kayden’s way out of trouble, but their love went both ways. There was a lot of shit that Aiden wanted to do that he never had the money for, starting back in high school with Kayden buying Aiden the new Jordans that came out.
The list went on from clothes to cars, college tuition, and Aiden’s most recent endeavor, campaign fees, all things that Kayden took care of for him with no problem. Since he was in the lower income part of town, it had taken him a little over twenty minutes to get to Aiden’s campaign headquarters, but he’d finally pulled in and parked. He called him as soon as his truck was in place.
“Aye, I’m outside.”
The noise in the background was a clear sign that Aiden was still working. “Headed out there now.”
Kayden ended the call and tossed his phone in the cup holder and got out. Before moving, he grabbed both sides of his baggy Balmain jeans and pulled them up so that they were back onto his waist. Satisfied with the slight sag of his pants, Kayden began walking around to the back of the truck. He’d just stopped at the rear bumper when he spotted Aiden walking toward him.
The tailored black suit and red-and-gray dress shirt Aiden was wearing looked expensive as hell as he moved toward the truck. Whatever the perfectly fitting pants and jacket hadn’t given away, the suede fabric on his tie and handkerchief most definitely did. That suit had to have been pricey, and Kayden could tell that without having ever worn a suit in his life.
“Look at your black ass out here looking like money.” Kayden held his hand out and Aiden slapped it while using his other hand to touch his tie.
“You know I’m allergic to that fake stuff.”
Kayden laughed and opened the tailgate. “Shit, me too. You know I rocks nothing but the best.” He looked down at the jeans he’d spent almost two thousand dollars on. “I’d just rather have on shit I can move in. You can have all them tight-ass, expensive-ass, colorful-ass suits.”
Aiden nudged Kayden’s shoulder as they shared a laugh. “The difference between me and you, though, is my suit looks like it cost a few thousand and your jeans don’t.”
“See, your shit fits your style, like mine fits mine.” He shrugged. “We live two different lives, my nigga, and the way we carry ourselves shows that.” Kayden grabbed the bag that had thirty thousand dollars in it and handed it to Aiden. “I’m a street nigga, while you…” He waved his hand toward the building Aiden had just come out of. “Are about to be the fucking mayor.”
Aiden looked over his shoulder and nodded while placing the bag of money on his arm. “We are who we are.” He dapped Kayden up again. “Appreciate this.”
“As many times as you’ve had to defend me in court, nigga, you know I got you.”
“A’ight, then. I’m wrapping things up in here now so I can head home and get some sleep. Where you about to go?”
They walked back toward the front of Kayden’s truck. “Home, nigga. I’m tired as hell.”
“If you’d stay your ass out them streets and get you some rest, you’d be all right.”
Kayden opened the door to his truck and got in. “I got more time than I’ve got money, so I’ma spend all of that shit racking up these coins.”
Aiden shook his head at his brother before dapping him up once more and walking back into his office. Kayden made sure he was good before pulling out of the lot and heading to his next destination. He’d ridden around for two more hours before heading to his second to last stop of the night.
The bass from Kevin Gates’s “Satellites” vibrated through the back speakers of Kayden’s midnight blue Denali as he crept slowly up the street. It was a little after midnight, so the block was black, illuminated only by the glow from the streetlights, when Kayden pulled into the small parking space in front of the building. He was greeted with love as soon as he hopped out.
“Kayden, what’s going on, man?” One of his corner boys held his hand out to dap him up. Kayden obliged. “Where you at with it tonight? I know it’s somewhere.” He showed every single tooth in his mouth as he smiled.
“Nah, young nigga, I’ve been hitting the clock all day. It’s time for me to take it on in.” Kayden’s eyes wandered off to the three women who had just come out of the building. As soon as they saw him, they were all smiles. One of them even had the nerve to jack her skirt up some more, as if that meant anything to him.
“Hey, Kayden,” they spoke in unison.
“What’s going on, ladies?”
The one with the short skirt that she’d tried to make shorter walked to him and touched his arm.
“You should take me for a ride in your truck. It’s really nice.”
Kayden’s nose turned up. “For what?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I can help you unwind a little before you go home.” She shrugged and rubbed her hand over his chest.
“Help me unwind?”
She nodded.
“I think I’ll pass, but thank you, though.”
The girl looked a tad dejected but she smiled anyway before walking back to her friends, who were also eyeing him lustfully.
“Well, I’m in need of some unwinding.” His corner boy smiled at the girl and received an eye roll in return.
Kayden, being the goofy nigga that he was, starting laughing.
“I don’t know why these hoes love your ass.”
“They don’t love me. They’re just looking for a come-up.” Kayden dapped him up again. “Be glad they ain’t checking for you. I’ll slide through tomorrow. I just pulled up on you since I was out here.”
“Bet. I’ll have that package for you, too.”
Kayden nodded and dapped back to his car. Once he was back in, he saw various shadows lurking in the darkness, moving so slowly that they were damn near crawling up the sidewalk. Kayden shook his head in disbelief as he observed what the drugs that he distributed on a daily basis had done to their consumers. Some of their bodies were so small and frail that they could have easily passed for skeletons, creeping back and forth terrorizing the hood.
Their tattered clothing was the only thing that made them differ from the plastic cream-colored skeletons that he recalled from his tenth grade physical science class. Their eyes were bulging and taking over their faces so dominantly that when looking at them, that was all he could see.
The more he watched the people, the more disgusted Kayden got. True enough, he was one of the main suppliers, which was why he was even on that side of town that late at night anyway. It didn’t mean he enjoyed what he was doing or the effect it was having on the people that he served.
It didn’t matter how disgusted he got, this was his life. The one he had stuck his hand in the middle of the universe and chosen for himself. A young, rich nigga with more felonies than he could count on one hand, and the local trap star that everyone in the hood looked up to.
From robbing and fighting to his frequent stays in the juvenile detention center, Kayden had been frowned upon and easily became the black sheep of the family early in life; the second son to parents who had died doing all that they could to save him from himself, and the younger twin to the intelligent, business savvy, dominating criminal defense lawyer, Aiden Lattimore, Kayden carried a lot of weight on his shoulders.
After his parents’ untimely demise, Aiden had taken over the responsibility of looking out for Kayden, which was more of a burden than anything. No matter how Aiden tried to act as if he never got tired of baili
ng Kayden out of trouble, Kayden knew that Aiden had to be at his wits’ end with him. It had been years, and he was still getting into trouble.
Though their lives weren’t as carefree as they were back when they were kids, they still had fun together, even if the majority of it was spent bailing Kayden out of trouble. Kayden loved his brother and would do anything he could to help him succeed in life. Most people in Kayden’s position would probably be envious of Aiden and all that he’d accomplished while winning over the people in the process, but he wasn’t.
Kayden loved the life that he lived. It had been working for him for years, and he didn’t foresee it changing anytime soon. He had a heavy hand in the streets that had a reach much longer than Aiden’s, and he used it every chance he got not only to secure the life he led but the one his twin brother led as well.
Many people in the community looked at Aiden like the smart, hardworking citizen that he was, never bothering to educate themselves on what he’d had to go through in order to get there. Though that was cool with Aiden, it irritated Kayden to no end. It was like they loved his brother’s image, but didn’t love him.
Just like Kayden, Aiden was a product of the hood, raised in a low-income neighborhood with parents who could barely make ends meet from one check to the next. But instead of embracing that part of him, they clung to the cases he won, the plans he had for the city upon becoming the next mayor, and lastly, the handsome features that he possessed.
Tall, dark, and handsome was cliché as hell in Kayden’s opinion, but it described him and his brother to a tee. They were both six foot five around 230 pounds with skin the color of milk chocolate and the facial structure that one would only see in magazines.
Their lifestyles fit their personalities, and even though everybody on the outside tried their best to maximize their differences in efforts to tear them apart, it only drew them closer.
No Loyalty Page 13
