Hustle & Heartache
Page 25
“You heard her,” I had said solemnly. “Don’t give her cause to bite. Fuck that, my guy. Let’s not even make this bitch bark.”
The woman had stopped suddenly and turned to face us. Then, with a sly smile tugging at the corner of her lips, she had winked at me, and I knew she had heard everything we had just said.
“You hear my husband talking to you, little boy?” Zora said irritably, the sound of her voice yanking me back to the present. “It’d be wise of you to answer him.” Then her expression changed suddenly from calm and kind to serious and murderous. “Or would you rather answer to me and the Grim Reaper?”
Husband? I thought incredulously. How the hell this gray-haired dude get a bad bitch like this? This nigga must be stacking mad dough if he can cop a bitch from Sierra Leone. Whateva the fuck country that is. Is that why they call this nigga Stackz? ‘Cause he got stacks of money? Or is it because he got stacks of dope? Whatever the reason, it don’t matter. ‘Cause when I’m done with the game, they gonna be calling me Mo’ Money. As in Mo’ Money than the rest of these broke-ass niggas. “First of all, you can put yo’ lil’ dog back on the leash, ol’ skool. And second of all, I earn mines,” I said calmly but boldly as I answered his question about taking my brother’s spot as one of his major distributors. “And I will be taking my brother’s spot, but I’ma be distributing my own shit when it’s all said and done. I just want you to put me in contact with yo’ drug connect as a favor for how much money my brother made for you over the years, him being one of yo’ most trusted business partners and all. Plus, since I was kind enough to return yo’ dope, 130 keys in fact, I think a little generosity is well deserved our way, don’t you think?”
“That so, huh?” Stackz asked, the amusement obvious in his voice.
“Hell yeah, that’s so,” I responded harshly. “I want you to introduce me and my crew into yo’ circle of business partners, and in return, I’ll kick some of the profits yo’ way every now and then. And as far as whether or not I know what I’m doing, or if I knew what my brother was into, it ain’t none of yo’ ma’fuckin’ business what I know or what I’m capable of, ol’ skool.”
“And why would I do that for you? Huh? I mean, how do I benefit from this deal?” Stackz asked as he grabbed a grape from the fruit bowl sitting in front of him and popped it in his mouth. “Besides some weak-ass promise about a little kickback every now and then from business sales, you ain’t really got shit to bargain with, youngsta. And although I appreciate it, the dope was already mines, so you can take that bullshit ‘bout you doing me a favor by returning it and shove that shit up yo’ ma’fuckin’ ass.”
I could tell that he was not interested in what I had to say, but he was entertaining our meeting nonetheless. “Like I said, out of respect for my brother’s reputation and his business relationship with you, I’m willing to work for you for a short while to help you keep putting food on yo’ table, but after we learn the ropes of this dope game shit, me and my crew gonna be eating our own meals from then on in. Feel me?‘Cause in the end, family comes first, and family’s all that matters to me. That’s my offer because that’s the only offer on the table.”
Stackz just stared at me quizzically, a puzzled expression on his fact. Then he burst out in laughter. Not a chuckle or a humorous laughter. It was a maniacal laughter, deep and loud. The kind of laughter from the scene in a movie where you knew just from hearing it that a killing was surely about to take place shortly after.
Stackz found my response so funny that he was coughing with tears in his eyes by the end. “This lil’ nigga got balls big as an elephant. Believe me, I’ve been to Africa enough times to know that to be true.”
“What the fuck you doing, nigga? You gonna get us murked,” Raheem whispered nervously beside me.
“Chill out, fam,” I whispered back confidently. “I got this.”
“Zora,” Stackz said, grabbing his diamond-encrusted cane and standing. He started towards the massive winding staircase, then stopped and turned his head slowly, looking back over his shoulder at Raheem and I. “Introduce these niggas to the Grim Reaper and let Lucifer know we got two more on the way.”
Without allowing another second to pass, Zora snatched her machete−the Grim Reaper−from the table and raised it high in the air, right above my chest. But I was one step ahead of her. I nodded to the guy leaning against the wall and he sprung into action.
Before Stackz knew what was happening, the guy had the barrel of his 9mm pressed firmly against Zora’s temple. “Drop that pocketknife, bitch, or you die,” the young man named Jamal spat through gritted teeth.
Hesitating for only a moment, Zora dropped the blade and put her hands in the air.
“What the fuck?” Stackz said as he turned back, now realizing what was actually taking place. “Are you fucking serious, Jamal? I treat you like a son, like my own flesh and blood, and you pull some shit like this on me? Come on, Jamal! Man, this ain’t you, son. Remove that gun from my girl’s head and spray both of these ma’fuckas like Swiss cheese, and I promise you all will be forgiven. I’ll even give you that red Corvette of mine you’ve been eyeing.”
“Fuck you, old man,” Jamal spat after mulling it over for a moment. “You treat this bitch better than you ever treated me. So fuck you and this bitch.”
“I’m gonna cut off your fucking balls and shove them down your throat,” Zora growled through clenched teeth.
“Keep talking, bitch, and I’ma make you get on yo’ knees, show you how real pimps check their hoes in this country.”
“Jamal... Put the gun down, son,” Stackz said sternly, trying to reassert his dominance over Jamal.
Seeing the look in Stackz’ eyes, Jamal hesitated, but only for a second before his eyes darted in my direction. Then he looked back to Stackz and smiled devilishly. “Naw, son, I ain’t gonna put the fucking gun down. Now shut the fuck up, nigga, for I smoke yo’ old ass.”
Then Jamal looked in my direction again, this time for further instruction on the current situation. “What up, Dre? What we doing now, fam?”
Stackz’ eyes darted from me to Jamal then back to me. “Well, ain’t this some shit,” he said knowingly.
“Ain’t it, though?” I repeated as I stood, smiling and rubbing my hands. “I know I don’t have to say it, but shit just got real in this bitch.”
And that is when I enacted my real plan.
To Be Continued!
Pretty Girls Love Street Kings 2 is on the way VERY SOON!
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Only a Bad Boy Can Love Her
By Porscha Sterling
Will be available 1/31
Pre-order your copy now!
Best-selling author, Porscha Sterling, comes back with the highly anticipated spin-off to the Bad Boys Do It Better series with yet another riveting tale about the unavoidable attraction that good girls have for bad boys. Focusing on the offspring of two of her most loved and most dangerous characters, the infamous Outlaw, the youngest of the Murray Brothers and Legend, the leader of the Dumas clan, she weaves a story of young love complete with all the dramatic twists and turns that are typical of her series as she dives into the world of January Murray. As a mafia princess, January wanted a different life and vowed to never love a bad boy. But when she meets Legend Dumas, her life will never again be the same.
Read the synopsis below and prepare yourselves for Only a Bad Boy Can Love Her, available January 2021!
Balance.
Balance was my everything.
Growing up as a classically trained ballerina with dreams of being a professional dancer, balance was my life. Everything about me depended on it; my diet, my temper, my sleep and waking schedule. I even dedicated myself to rigorous yoga and martial arts training to learn how to maintain focus by balancing my breath.
Balance was literally my everything.
Living like this came with several rules and I was the kind of person who didn’t mind following them. Rules were made to protect me; they kept me safe. And I never had issues following them but, to be totally honest, I never once had a reason not to.
At least, not until I met him.
My name is January Luckeisha Murray, daughter of the honorable Janelle Murray and Luke ‘Outlaw’ Murray, the infamous leader of the Black Bag Mafia, an underground crime society. Most know me as the apple of his eye, a cherished mafia princess who always followed her father’s rules about staying out of the public’s eye. But now daddy’s little girl is all grown up and I’m ready to share my story.
This is a story about the time when I decided to break all the rules… The time I fell in love.
Addicted to a Detroit Savage 3
*Now Available*
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All things must come to an end, in the finale of Addicted to a Detroit Savage. When Delano finds out the truth about his past and discovers the terrible secret Kairo has been keeping from him, he breaks and changes his ways, but that’s not all. He soon realizes that the woman he married is not who he thought she was. Lies and secrets begin surfacing to the top and their relationship turns for a dead end.
Kairo goes on the run and soon turns to the Voodoo queen for answers. She finds herself on an endless cycle of exacting revenge and comes face to face with her long-time enemy, Johnny. She soon learns that blood isn’t thicker than water when someone she trusts betrays her, Delano, and Malachi.
A Hustler’s Weakness
Will be available 1/26
Pre-order your copy now or start reading now on the LiT Reading App
Money, power, and respect seemed to make I.E. and Truth pretty much untouchable to most for years. Growing up in the streets of Newark, NJ, they made a pact at an early age to become two of the biggest and richest drug dealers around. By the age of 24, they had successfully accomplished their goal. Young, black, and paid, life was good in their eyes and they had no complaints. The ladies loved them, and the streets respected them.
With his height and the chiseled body to go along with brown eyes that fit perfectly against his golden caramel skin, I.E. was gorgeous, and he knew it. Let his aunt tell it, “that baby boy was born perfect.” Every female in the hood was pretty much willing to do anything to be his girl, or at least one of them, but he prided himself on being unattached. He’d never been in love or had a woman he called his own. And he loved it.
Truth loved his lifestyle just as much as IE loved his. Dark-skinned with dreadlocks, he was built solid and strong. The women flocked to Truth everywhere he went but they also knew that he was only concerned with getting money and his long-time girlfriend, Shafequah. She was his world, and everyone knew it. And there was no way he was going to replace her, ever.
One night at the club changes everything when Truth and I.E. meet the breathtakingly beautiful Tina, and her equally as beautiful God-sister, Ka’mirah. It’s in that meeting that everything in their world begins to change in the blink of an eye.
When I.E. and Tina decide to give in to their feelings for each other, it sends both I.E. and Truth into a street war with their rival and Tina’s ex, Raheem. Determined not to back down from his empire or the woman he wants in his life, I.E. is ready to defend his territory by any means necessary. Stuck in a street battle with I.E., Truth is also waging war at home when he finds himself caught up with two women he can’t choose between. Whatever he eventually decides, he knows for sure that life as he knew it will never be the same.
Loving Adonis
Will be available 1/26
Pre-order your copy now or start reading now on the LiT Reading App
Karmen Howard vowed early on no one, and she meant no one would run her life. She lived her life how she wanted, not worrying about what others thought about it. Amongst those people who wanted to call the shots in her life was her religious father who only drove her further away. Then there was her husband, Adonis, who she had been with her entire life.
Adonis, every women’s dream man, came from the hood and was never seen as the type a “Howard” girl should be with. However, being with Karmen made him want to change his ways and become a better man. While he strives to be what she needs, his wife’s wounds run deeper than he’ll ever know. Just when doing all he can to be what she needs began to weigh him down, his sister-in-law moves in with them which takes their lives on rollercoaster in a completely different direction.
While both girls were raised in a Christian home under strict rules and demands, Kashae knew it had to be more to life. Unexpectedly, being able to move in with her sister and brother in law she was ecstatic, but what she didn’t bank on was what was to come. Realizing her sister and brother in law didn’t have the picture-perfect marriage through her for a loop. They always seemed happy and so in love but being under the same roof with them proved differently.
What happens when both love and loyalty are put to the test between the ones you call family? When it’s all said and done, is blood indeed thicker than water?
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