Trapstar Double book (Parts 1 & 2 Boxed Set)

by Blake Karrington

  “Damn nigga. What tha fuck took you so long?” Hakeem complained when Tank finally sat down next to him. “I called yo’ fat black ass over two hours ago!” he continued.

  “Chill wit that fat boy shit!” Tank said, getting aggressive over the name calling.

  Hakeem could see his body twitching uncontrollably, and knew instantly that Tank was high.

  “Nigga you caked tha fuck up ain’t chu?” Hakeem asked.

  “I did a couple lines, my nigga, but I’m good. What’s popping?” he asked.

  “I’ve got something I want to put you up on, but I got to know you going to keep your mind straight. And that means chilling on that nose candy, my nigga,” Hakeem said, his voice turning serious.

  “Don’t you worry about me bro, I got this under control. Now let’s hear what you got for me,” Tank said already knowing more than likely it was some grimy shit.

  Tiffany came over and sat on the other side of Hakeem and began sipping on a Long Island Iced Tea. She was trying her best to eavesdrop on their conversation, but could barely hear them.

  Tank stared at his partner in crime in disbelief. His mouth went dry, and he took a quick sip of his drink before he finally responded.

  “Nigga are you serious?”

  “Dead serious Tank. Dead fucking serious.”

  “Damn Hakeem.” After a long moment of silence, Tank spoke. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  Hakeem didn’t answer right away. Bitterness seeped through his veins, exiting his pores as his mind once again returned to Brianna. He’d pay her back. He would never let a woman beat him at his own game!

  “Hakeem,” Tank called, interrupting his thoughts.

  “What is it nigga?” Hakeem asked sourly.

  “I asked you was you sure about this?”

  “Do I look like I’m bullshitting wit chu nigga?”

  “Well, I can tell you now, we going to need some help with this. With the word being out about you fucking around with the Feds, it’s going to be hard to get crewed up!”

  “Nigga can’t none of that shit be confirmed on these streets. Muthafuckas are starving right now, so for the right amount of bread, they will forget all that shit. So you let me worry about that. You just find a nigga to rock with you for what I need you to handle, and I will take care of the rest.

  “Shit, I already got someone in mind.” Tank answered.

  “Who?” Hakeem asked looking at the smirk Tank had on his fat face.

  “Cowboy, who else?”

  “That old nigga bro? How you going to get Unk down with some shit like this?”

  “Yeah, that old nigga. You know he murder certified, and he needs the money, so I know he will be down. And best of all, he don’t deal with no young niggas, so I don’t have to worry about discussing your street rep right now.”

  “Look, for the last time, don’t keep bringing up that shit. A nigga had to do what a nigga had to do to make sure I could see these streets again. I didn’t fuck nobody who I rocked with, so to me, it’s a dead issue. If somebody got a problem with it, fuck’em. Now don’t blow a nigga high at my homecoming party. If I was your black ass, I would be finding one of these strippers broke enough to want to buff that little black dick of yours off!” Hakeem said trying to hold back his laughter.

  “Fuck you nigga, but I will take another one of these drinks, since it’s all on you!”

  Hakeem partied the night away. Just like he predicted, one by one, niggas came up to congratulate him on making it back on the streets and asking him to hook them up. Hakeem understood that at the end of the day, the streets had to be fed. When they were hungry, they really didn’t pay attention to the hand that was feeding them as long as the food kept coming.

  On the drive home, Hakeem and Tiffany discussed her run in with Brianna at the club.

  “Yeah, your bitch trying to act like she got heart now. Her and her girls tried to jump me outside of Lux, but you know me and my girls sent them bitches packing. She do got one chick riding with her that can fight, but you know I put her on her ass!” Tiffany said giving her version of the events.

  “Well I don’t care who she got with her, that’s shit going to get handled. But for right now, I need you to just fall back on this beef with her. I got some real shit planned for her and her sista’s ass.”

  “What you going to do Hakeem, tell me?” Tiffany pleaded.

  “Nah… not right now, but just know your nigga going to be back on top and you going to be right there with me!” Hakeem knew exactly what to say to make Tiffany happy.

  She smiled and laid her head back in the seat.

  __________

  Brianna drove into her old parking garage at a cautious pace, with Kasy and Selena in the back seat. The darkly tinted windows held her identity private. Still, she felt a severe sense of unease flow all around her. Two days ago, she’d been informed by her tenant at her and Tre’s old home that FBI agents had come by with several questions pertaining to her whereabouts. After which, there was an unmarked car watching the building.

  Before exiting the charcoal gray rented suburban, Selena spoke. “Hey Bri, let me go inside and check things out mami.”

  Before answering, Brianna craned her neck in all directions for any signs of someone laying and waiting, or watching for that matter.

  “Did you hear me Bri?” Selena asked her again.

  “Ye…yeah…I mean yes.

  “Are you saying yes as in you hear me, or yes I want you to go inside to check things out?”

  “Oh I’m sorry Selena. Yes, please check it out.”

  Without hesitation, Selena exited the SUV then disappeared into the lobby of the building.

  Within minutes, she came back to the car and escorted Brianna to the elevator. Angie, Brianna’s tenant came to the door. Once inside, Angie filled Brianna in on all the questions the federal officers had asked, as well as what they looked like. Brianna tried her best to hide her anxiety, but did a poor job because her right foot was steadily tapping the floor.

  The conversation left Brianna thoroughly confused. The Feds had gone to her old residence simply to determine her whereabouts; nothing else. They simply wanted to know where she was laying her head. But why? she thought. Why would the Feds be asking questions about me?

  Brianna retraced all of her most recent problems with different wanna be thugs she’d had run-ins with, most of whom were connected to her by Hakeem. She felt confident that she’d covered any and everything that could trace any wrongdoings back to her.

  Kasy could see the tension on Brianna’s face, so he cut into her thoughts.

  “Look Bri, they just wanted to know where you were, that’s all. It could be something as simple as them having some information about Tre’s death. So don’t let this shit get to you. What we need to do is reach out to an attorney and let them see what’s real.

  “You right Kasy, and I know just who to call.” Brianna spoke with confidence.

  She had made the decision to call someone she was familiar with, Tre’s old attorney. Tre had sent her by his office plenty of times to drop off money. How had she forgotten to make sure she stayed lawyered up, as Tre referred to it? He had always made sure he kept at least one attorney on retainer.

  __________

  “Greetings Brianna, it’s been awhile.” Tre’s old attorney said, extending his hand to her.

  “Yes it has been quite some time.” Brianna said to him.

  “Now if I may ask, what brings you to my office today?”

  “Well Mr. Casteno, I think I may have a problem, a big problem.” Brianna said.

  “Oh I see, well what kind of problem are we talking about?”

  “The Feds kinda problem.”

  At the mention of the Feds, Mr. Casteno leaned forward in his chair. “Yes that can be a huge problem, please tell me everything you know, and do not leave any details out.”

  Brianna nodded her head in understanding, then gathered her thoughts before giving him all t
he details. Once she finished, Brianna sat patiently in front of Mr. Casteno, waiting on some type of response. She felt as if his lake blue eyes where penetrating her as he stared calmly in her direction.

  After a long moment, he spoke. “Brianna, let’s just make the very first assumption clear.” He paused, and then continued. “The Feds are looking for you, the question is why? Why do they want to know your whereabouts? If they were questioning people down at headquarters, that would be different, but instead they’re looking into all of your previous addresses.”

  “All of them?” Brianna asked in surprise.

  “Yes, all of them, and I’m sure they have even checked out your mother and father’s address.”

  “Damn!” Brianna said loudly.

  “It’s nothing to be too worried about. When I say checked, it doesn’t mean they necessarily went there, in fact I’m almost certain that they only surveyed the home in hopes of seeing you.”

  “Damn.” Brianna mumbled again, relieved that she hadn’t stopped by her parents’ house during her younger brother Jonathan’s graduation party.

  “Is there anything… anything else you can think of, that might be helpful?”

  “No Mr. Casteno, I can’t think of anything else.”

  “Very well, I’ll get right on this. In the meantime, just stick to your normal activities. My honest opinion is that if the federal government wanted you for something major, there is no doubt that you would be behind bars. So until I have more for you, don’t you sweat this at all, ok?”

  “Ok, thank you so much Mr. Casteno.” Brianna shook his hand and headed out the door.

  Brianna pulled out her phone and saw there were several missed calls and texts. She walked towards the elevator while scrolling through her messages. Just as she rounded the corner of the elevators, she walked directly into a chest that smelled of Gucci cologne.

  When she looked up, she met familiar eyes.

  “Brianna?” the voice queried.

  Brianna smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry!”

  “It’s quite alright. No need to apologize.”

  Brianna continued to smile, getting lost in the chestnut colored eyes that gazed at her.

  “It’s good to see you again,” he said.

  “You too. You work here?”

  “Yeah, I’ve been an attorney for about seven years now.”

  “Good for you. I was just handling some legal matters for my business. I didn’t expect to run into my neighbor.”

  “You know, I actually wouldn’t mind running into you a bit more often.” he said with a cool smile and mellow voice.

  Brianna couldn’t help but smile like a schoolgirl. She rubbed her hand across his shoulder as she walked towards the elevator. “We’ll just have to make that happen, now won’t we?”

  She pressed the button for the elevator and could feel his eyes following her. She couldn’t blame him. She wore a black skirt suit that was anything but basic. The jacket stopped just below her waist, and the skirt clung to her curves, putting her best asset on display.

  When the elevator arrived and Brianna stepped on, Brandon was right on her heels entering with her.

  “Let me take you to dinner some time.” he said.

  Brianna pushed the button for the ground floor before responding, “Sure.” she said simply.

  “Are you busy this weekend?”

  “I’ll have to check, but I think I’m free.”

  Brandon walked Brianna to her car and they exchanged numbers. As she sat in her car alone, beaming about her upcoming date, she couldn’t help but to think about Tre. She could barely remember their first date. The thought of having a first date with her neighbor made her nervous. What if she didn’t like him after the date? Would things be weird when she saw him in the street?

  It was at that moment that Brianna realized that she was entering yet another new phase in her life. Tre’s death had brought about more changes than she could have ever imagined. Dating. The idea of it intrigued her. She’d never really had the opportunity to do that in the past. She was practically clueless on how these things even worked. Brianna had moved in with Tre shortly after they’d started dating. The only other man she was close to was Hakeem, and she still got sick to her stomach when she thought of him. Still she didn’t regret the decisions she’d made or the experiences she’d had.

  Brianna had been like any other young girl with dreams of growing up, getting married, having babies, working a normal job and living happily ever after. This was the first day since Tre’s murder that she felt that it was still a possibility.

  She pushed those feelings back. “One step at a time, Brianna,” she told herself.

  Brianna put the keys in the ignition and headed home.

  __________

  Hakeem had been back on the streets of Charlotte for a few weeks, laying low. He hadn’t left Tiffany’s house since the homecoming party. After days of hiding out, Hakeem began to gather his thoughts and put together a plan. A plan that would get him back into the upper player status of the streets, and ultimately allow him to bring down one of the most under the radar female drug king-pins in the city of Charlotte’s history.

  Hakeem also knew the first matter at hand concerned him and his now severely tarnished street credibility. Stepping on the wrong grounds in and around the Charlotte area could instantly get him killed.

  He snatched up his cheap Verizon pre-paid cell phone. He knew the last thing he needed was to catch a new case from running his mouth on a phone in his own name. After turning the power on, he breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that he did have a signal. He punched in some numbers and waited.

  “Agent Ross.” A man said on the end of the line.

  “Yo Ross this is—”

  “My main man Hakeem!” Agent Ross cut him off. “We were told down at the station that you had been released and would be contacting us.”

  “What else were you told?” Hakeem asked, already knowing the answer to his own question.

  “We were also told you are a marked man, Hakeem. Your days of walking the streets in this city could be numbered,”

  “I hear you, I hear you, and I hear you!” Hakeem cut Agent Ross off with a shout. “Look man, I need some help.”

  “What type of help are we talking about Hakeem? And what are you willing to give up or sacrifice to get that help?”

  “How about a body and some major dope?” Hakeem stated matter-of-factly.

  “A body and drugs?” Agent Ross said in surprise.

  “Not only a body and drugs, but a body, drugs and a suspect with it all red handed.”

  Agent Ross let out a low whistle before responding. “I like that. How soon can we meet?”

  “Meet me behind the old Eastland mall building off Central.” Hakeem said. Now he was the one giving orders.

  “I’ll be there in an hour.”

  __________

  After his meeting with the Feds, Hakeem went back to Tiffany’s. When he pulled up, he was glad to see that she hadn’t gotten back home yet. Tiffany was always asking a bunch of questions and Hakeem knew that the less she knew about what he was up to, the better.

  The meeting with Agent Ross and his partner had gone off just as he’d hoped. The officers knew his information would be of use to the homicide division, and the drug case would be one that would put them on the six o’clock news. Before his release from prison, he’d given them some very credible information on a female trap-star by the name of Brianna Campbell. Top agents followed up on the information given to them and the investigation quickly turned into a red-hot case.

  Hakeem removed his sticky clothes before jumping in the shower. After showering, he pulled on a fresh white wife beater and pair of true religion jeans that sagged halfway down his ass. He concealed his 41-millimeter pistol with little effort, then inspected himself in the mirror on the bedroom wall. After giving himself his own seal of approval, he smiled.

  “It�
�s time for a nigga to get the fuck up outta here and clear his motherfucking name up.” Hakeem mumbled.

  Reaching behind the flimsy headboard of the bed, he opened a small digital safe, reached inside and grabbed five stacks. After another quick glance, he turned and walked out of the apartment. Tiffany had not been able to keep up the payments on his cars, so he was forced to drive around in a 2002 Honda Accord that he used to deliver dope in. Hakeem made a mental note to grab something fly real soon, before too many people saw him in the compact car.

  Chapter Nine

  The ringing doorbell chimed through the house. Both Selena and Charrise’s heads snapped and turned towards the door. They giggled like schoolgirls. Charrise’s jaw had dropped when Brianna told her that she’d ran into the sexy neighbor, and that he’d asked her out on a date.

  “You know what,” she’d said, “I’m not even surprised. I knew it would only be a matter of time before he asked you out. Judging from the way he was looking at you that day. The real surprise is that you actually said yes.”

  Brianna scrunched up her face. “Why you say that?”

  Charrise shrugged. “I always thought you liked thugs. This is a true pretty boy.”

  Brianna couldn’t exactly dispute that claim, considering her track record. But one thing she knew for sure was that she was ready for a change when it came to men. By her estimate, it was high time she had a man with as little drama as possible. Brandon seemed to be the perfect candidate for the job… so far.

  “Your date’s here!” Charrise yelled upstairs.

  “Can somebody get that please?” Brianna yelled back.

  Charrise rushed to the door and opened up quickly. “Hello,” she said. “Come on in.”

  Brandon looked like he’d fallen right off the pages of a J Crew catalog. He wore a gray two-button blazer over a stripped tee shirt that he’d paired with dark denim jeans. He walked in and his signature fragrance wafted into Charrise’s nostrils.

  “Dayum,” she mouthed to Selena as he strolled past her further into the house.