Family Over Everything

by Paige Green

  “Like I told you before, I want you on my team, Deion.”

  “For what? And why does that man, Jewels, want us?”

  “Remember the time you walked in on me and Menace with all that money in the duffle bags?”

  Sitting back down, Deion tapped his chin, thinking. “I don’t recall.”

  “Yes, you do, man. We had those duffle bags and you asked where we got all that money from!”

  “Oh, yeah, I remember that now!” Deion said, snapping his fingers. “Why? What about it?”

  “Well, that was the money and drugs we confiscated from Jewels. That’s why Melissa was killed, because of the money we took,” Day’onne admitted.

  Deion sat in deep thought as he digested what Day’onne had said. His mind raced back to the time he’d overheard Shay talking about the robbery to her best friend, Cherry, and when he’d walked in on Day’onne and Menace with the duffle bags. It all made sense. He wanted to kick himself for not realizing that earlier.

  “Man, why would you do that? You had something to do with Melissa’s death and you’re just now telling me this?”

  “I know, man. I fucked up, Deion. I’m not going to lie; I regret doing that shit, even until this day. I miss Melissa, man. But the damage is already done; we can’t take it back.”

  “You’re heartless, man. What do you want from me, Day’onne? Where do I fall in with this?”

  Taking the blunt out of his mouth, Day’onne stared into his brother’s eyes. “I want you to ride, Deion. We’re family. Yeah, we might’ve never really been close, but when it comes to our lives, we got to stick together. I want to train you. Teach you how to play your part in these streets. You might be making money from that book, but the real money is in the drug game. Plus, I’m about to open a club in the next couple of months, so you know niggas is getting paid. I never really asked you for anything, but right now, we need each other more than ever. If we work together, we could make twice the money and get rid of that nigga Jewels.”

  Deion looked at his glassy-eyed brother, contemplating his next move. Even though he didn’t want to get caught up into the street life, he remembered all the money he had seen on the table in the living room. With that image embedded in his head, he took Day’onne’s deal into consideration.

  “What about Corrine?” he asked, almost forgetting about her.

  “What about that bitch?” Day’onne spat harshly. “We don’t even know if she alive or not. This is about me and you, Deion. We all we got. Jewels probably killed her a long time ago.”

  With his mind flooded with memories of Corrine, Day’onne raping her, and Melissa being killed because of Day’onne, he swallowed the huge lump in his throat as he pushed them to the back of his mind and said, “I’m in.”

  Smiling, Day’onne shook his brother’s hand and took another pull from his blunt.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Hey, Daddy!” Jewels’ five-year-old daughter, Yazmin, yelled before jumping into his lap.

  “What’s up, baby girl? How’s daddy’s little girl?” Jewels asked, flashing a bright smile as he looked into his daughter’s dark, chinky eyes.

  “Good! Momma said when are you going to take her shopping?”

  “Tell Momma I said leave me alone,” Jewels said, looking up at his baby’s mother and shaking his head.

  Relisha ignored him as she got up off the sofa and strutted into the kitchen. He watched her leave the living room, loving the sight of the natural bounce of her plump apple bottom. They were all posted in Jewel’s condominium located on the outskirts of Pennsylvania. The place was decorated in a red and black elegant décor. The living room was furnished to perfection with black wraparound sofas and body-length mirrors decorated the walls. The floor-to-ceiling windows, stainless steel kitchen appliances, and cream-colored walls made Jewels’ place warm and comfortable.

  Jewels, who was dressed in a pair of baggy sweat pants and a white T-shirt, gently sat Yazmin on the couch and got up and walked into the kitchen. His once clean-shaven head was now nappy and knotted and his powerful aura had diminished.

  “Why the fuck you keep asking me to take you shopping?” he asked in his low, cold voice as he walked into the kitchen.

  “Because your daughter and I need some clothes. Plus, I’m tired of resting my head in Northview while you get to lay up in this nice place,” Relisha fussed.

  “You know my money is tight. I just got out the joint a couple of months ago; I’m trying to lay low and get my shit together.”

  Relisha rolled her eyes and folded her arms under her breasts.

  “Fuck that, me and your daughter is tired of riding around in that lame ass Caravan while you ride in an Escalade! I’m tired of you acting like you don’t have any money when you know damn well you do!”

  Seeing him clench his jaw, she smiled, knowing she’d struck a nerve. Five years ago, before he’d gotten locked up, Jewels had scooped her up off the streets and gotten her into a rehab, trying to find more information on Day’onne. After getting out of rehab and going back to her old image, before the drugs, he couldn’t help but take her home and sex her.

  The first night they had sex, Relisha ended up getting pregnant. A couple weeks later, Jewels was in prison.

  “You ungrateful bitch,” he spat, grabbing her by her throat and slamming her into the wall. “You weren’t complaining about money when I took your crackhead ass off those streets and got you clean! Shit, getting your ass pregnant was one thing; now you all in my spot? You better learn how to respect the hand that fucking feeds you, you ungrateful bitch!”

  Relisha gasped for air as Jewels violently threw her to the ground. Tears raced down her cheek as she watched him walk out the living room and run upstairs.

  Standing to her feet, Relisha ran after him.

  “Where you think you going?” she asked, watching him step out of his clothes.

  “Don’t worry about it. Take my daughter and go home, Relisha. I got business to handle.”

  “Fuck you, too, motherfucker,” she mumbled under her breath, walking out the room.

  “What’s going on, man?” Jewels said as he walked into Respect’s apartment.

  Respect, who was seated on his sofa, hopped up and gave his best friend a hand dap. “Shit, chilling, you know? How’s everything?”

  “Same shit, man; just a different day. Trying get my weight back up, you know what I mean?”

  “I hear that. I wake up every day thinking about what I used to have. Look at this shit,” Respect said, glancing around his small place. “This is a far cry from what we used to have; by now we’re supposed to be retired from the game, sitting on millions.”

  Five years ago, Jewels, Respect and Wise had gotten locked up and lost everything. The FBI had been seeking Jewels and his operation out for more than ten years but since Jewels was always smart and two steps ahead of everyone, they never could find anything to charge him with. But after stopping Loyal one day for a broken tail light, they’d searched his car and found over fifty grand worth of pure cocaine bricks in his car. Folding under pressure after the FBI threatened to smack him with a life sentence, Loyal snitched on his entire team. He told them everything from where all of their stash houses were located to the Cuban connections.

  After finally getting an approved search warrant, the FBI had wasted no time invading all of Jewels’ spots, completely wiping him out. They seized all of his bank accounts, cars, houses, and even his club before finally arresting not only him, but his whole crew and workers. Since they didn’t have any evidence of any of the drugs in the stash house tracing back to Jewels, the judge smacked him with a four- to seven-year bid after finding a gun in his club office. Locked up, he’d lost everything he owned, even his respect. And now that he was out, he wanted it all back and he’d do whatever it took to make it happen.

  “Yeah, this shit is crazy. But what’s up with that nigga, Wise?” Jewels asked.

  “He still up there bending over for them niggas. I
still can’t believe that nigga gay! Wise, out of all people? That nigga used to be a straight player.”

  “Man, I still can’t believe Loyal did this shit to us. If it weren’t for him, like you said, we would’ve been retired by now. I’m broke as hell, that’s something, I’d never thought I’d experience in my life,” Jewels said, looking at the ground.

  “That’s why he got dealt with. But what we need to do is get back on top. Pittsburgh is still our streets! These young niggas don’t know what they’re doing!”

  Jewels rubbed his nappy goatee before going into deep thought. His thoughts transferred to Day’onne. While he was locked up, he’d received word of how Day’onne had claimed his entire drug operation, was pushing major weight, and had Pittsburgh on lock. It made him sick to his stomach to know Day’onne had taken over his empire that he’d worked so hard to accumulate over the years. When he finally got out of prison, he had put the out on the streets that he was ready to complete the job of killing Day’onne and his family.

  “I know exactly what we can do to get this money,” he finally said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “About a month ago, I put the word on the streets that I want Day’onne and the rest of his family dead. If we could get that nigga, we could get our operation back and pick up where we left off.”

  “Damn, you still on that shit from when he robbed you? Would you let it the fuck go? You already killed Melissa, shit!”

  “Man, fuck that! I don’t give a fuck if it was twenty years ago! He crossed me and he’s still going to pay! Now all I want you to do is have my back, round up a few of our former workers and ride with me, man! Is that too much to ask?” Jewels barked.

  “No, man, I’ll do it. I’m down.”

  “Alright, that’s all I want to hear. I can use Relisha to my advantage and she can help us get them.”

  “Yeah, definitely. Plus, you heard Day’onne and his right-hand are about to open a club in a couple months down in the strip district?”

  “Damn, dude doing it that big?” Jewels asked enviously.

  “Yep, but don’t worry, we’ll get him.”

  “Indeed.”

  Corrine, Mercedes, and Tessa arrived at Sugar’s. The three distraught, lost teenagers were dressed in filthy clothes and their hair was dirty and knotted. They stood on the front porch, nervous, contemplating their next moves.

  “Are y’all sure y’all want to do this?” Tessa asked.

  “What other choice do we have? It’s not like we have anywhere else to go,” Mercedes replied.

  “Yeah, y’all are the only family I have. Like you said before, Mercedes, we’re all we have and we have to stick together,” Corrine said, looking at the ground.

  “Who are y’all?” Sugar asked, opening her front door.

  Sugar, who was a notorious pimp in Northview, stood five feet even and was a bonafide hood chick. She rocked a twenty-inch Asian weave that touched the top of her plump apple bottom. She had smooth, dark skin and, although approaching forty, looked as if she was thirty. When she had heard faint voices on her front porch, she’d opened the door and found three young girls with duffle bags around their shoulders standing there.

  “Hey, Ms. Sugar, my name is Tessa and I’m a friend of Sweety,” Tessa said, referring to a former prostitute.

  “Sweety? Oh, that girl made me a lot of money. I miss her; how is she doing?” Sugar asked, taking a long pull from her cigarette.

  “She’s good, but she told me if I ever needed a job, I could come to you?”

  “How old are y’all? Y’all look awfully young.”

  “Fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen.”

  “They get younger and younger each year,” Sugar whispered, shaking her head.

  She had helped many young, lost females in her day. She had brought them in with open arms, teaching them how to survive in the streets while they sold their bodies to strangers.

  “Okay, come in,” she instructed, flicking the cigarette.

  Walking into her apartment, all three girls were appalled at the sight before them.

  Corrine twisted her nose up in disgust as she watched naked and half-naked women and transvestites strut around the house. Taking a seat on the sofa, all three girls tried to focus on Sugar as she began to talk.

  “So, what’s y’all stories?”

  “What do you mean?” Mercedes asked, confused.

  “Everybody that comes up in here has a sad story. Some women have kids, others are homeless, and others were runaways. Now, what’s y’all stories?”

  “We’re homeless,” Mercedes said nonchalantly.

  They didn’t know Sugar and they didn’t want her all up in their business. They were there for only one thing and that was to make money.

  “Okay, I see. But this is how it goes, I put y’all on the corners, and y’all fuck and suck as many men as you possibly can in that one night. Whatever you bring home that night, I get half of it,” Sugar stated bluntly.

  The girls swallowed the huge lumps in their throats as they nodded.

  “Now, are y’all sure y’all are ready for this? Because I’m telling y’all now, I don’t play about my money and if any of you fuck with it, that’s y’all throats. This is a very dangerous game y’all are getting into, so come with caution and make sure y’all have my money. Are we clear?”

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “Who’s this nigga?” Menace’s brother, Troy, asked, glancing at Deion as he walked into the empty kitchen.

  “That’s Deion’s twin, dickhead. Remember him?” Menace asked, slapping Troy in the back of his head.

  “Oh shit, I remember him. What’s up, nigga?” Troy said, giving Deion a hand dap as he took a seat.

  Deion, Day’onne, Troy, and Menace were all seated around a table in one of their many drug houses up Northview. In front of them were stacks of uncut cocaine and heroin bricks.

  “What are those?” Deion asked, pointing at the bricks.

  All three men looked at Deion as if he was stupid before bursting into hysterical laughter.

  “Nigga, how are you going to write a book on hustling when you don’t even know what bricks look like?” Menace laughed.

  “Man, forget all of y’all! Let’s get this shit over with!” Deion spat.

  “Alright, Deion, these are cocaine and heroin bricks,” Day’onne said, holding one in his hand. “This is how we make our money.”

  “I know that. I’m not stupid, man,” Deion retorted, cutting his eyes at Day’onne.

  “Listen. I’m going to show you how to cut, cook, and bag all of this.”

  “Why though? This doesn’t have anything to do with handling Jewels! And don’t them naked-ass females do that for you?”

  “Would you shut the fuck up and listen? Yeah, I want you to help me with Jewels but I want to put you down with this shit, too. I’m telling you, bro; this shit here will make you rich by the time you twenty-five. Now, chill, sit back, and learn.”

  “Alright; go head, man,” Deion said as he watched Day’onne take a box cutter and opened the brick.

  “Before you begin to cut, taste it and make sure it’s the right product. Sometimes them Cubans be trying to get over on niggas, so always taste it. All you do is take a little bit of cocaine on your pinky, run it against your gums, and if it numb up, you all good,” Day’onne stressed.

  Deion nodded as he watched his brother continue.

  “Next, take a small shank or anything sharp and cut the chunks of cocaine into small piles.”

  With every move he made, Deion continued to watch closely, making mental notes of what Day’onne was teaching him.

  Day’onne, Menace, and Troy spent the next couple of days training Deion on how to become a certified street hustler. Deion wasn’t into the street life and it was almost like pulling teeth trying to get him to listen. But, in a matter of four weeks, all three men were confident enough that he was ready for the streets and to st
art making that money.

  When Deion walked into their main stash house one day wearing a navy blue Puma jogging suit with the matching shoes, Day’onne couldn’t help but smile.

  “Damn, nigga! Look at you! Finally looking like one of us. Glad you decided to put down them business suits!” Day’onne laughed and gave his brother a hug.

  “You already know, nigga!” Deion smiled.

  “Alright, all you need is some good pussy, now. That’s why I brought you somebody I know you’d love to fuck, then duck,” Day’onne said, snapping his fingers.

  Deion’s heart slammed into his chest when a beautiful redbone walk out of the next room. Looking into her familiar gray eyes, Deion couldn’t help but smile.

  “Shay? Is that you?”

  “Yes, what’s up, baby?” Shay smiled before giving him a tight hug.

  Dressed in a pair of skintight skinny jeans, a white baby tee, and black stilettos, she licked her lips seductively as she stared at Deion. Day’onne, who hadn’t forgotten about how Deion always had a crush on Shay, knew she could be the finishing touch on turning Deion into a real street hustler.

  “You want to go out to eat or something?” Deion asked.

  “Man, fuck that soft shit! Take that bitch to your spot and fuck her brains out!” Day’onne said, cruelly.

  Shay cut her eyes at Day’onne. She held her hand out to Deion. “Sure, I’d love to go out.”

  Taking her by her hand, he led her out of the stash house and they were on their way.

  “So what have you been up to since we graduated from high school?” Deion asked as he pulled Shay’s seat out for her.

  He had taken her to a fancy French restaurant on the Eastside she would enjoy. Taking a seat and picking up the menu, she said, “Um, I didn’t graduate from high school.”

  “Oh, why didn’t you?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.