When A Hood Legend Claims It All 3

by Belleza

  “It ain’t nothing like that,” I replied shaking my head.

  “You don’t gotta lie, nigga,” Wesley laughed pushing me in my shoulder. Since we were done and them fools wanted to play tag team and joke around, I stood to my feet and dapped them up so I could leave. I had a long drive back to Delaware.

  “I’m out. Be safe.”

  Once I left out of Mar’s place, I retrieved my phone that’s been going off since I got there. I saw it was Tara calling, but this time when I noticed it was a FaceTime call from my daughter’s iPad I answered.

  It took a moment for the phone to connect and at first, I was smiling until I saw my daughter with tears running down her face. I felt my blood boiling.

  “What’s wrong, Nia?”

  “Mommy is yelling and screaming. She’s packing our stuff up saying we gotta go. Daddy, I don’t want to get kicked out. I’m only a kid. I can’t take care of myself,” she whimpered.

  “It’s okay, Nia, I’m going to take care of us,” I heard my son say in the background. I never experienced heartbreak, but this had to be equivalent to it the way my chest got tight and my eyes stung from the water pooling in them.

  “She not putting y’all out. I’ma be there soon.”

  “I don’t want to live with her anyway,” Kenia said with a pout turning into full blown sassy mode. Even in an angry state she was still able to pull a laugh out of me.

  “I’ll be right there. Do you want to stay on the phone?”

  I took my keys out and hopped in my car. “No, because I need to pack my Barbies. There’s no way I can leave them.”

  Kenia was off the screen and then Kent got on. “Get my superman toys too,” he called over his shoulder.

  I was laughing my ass off because my kids were really a trip.

  Kent and Kenia looked nothing alike, especially since they were fraternal twins. While Kenia resembled me, Kent looked more like his mother and was a shade darker.

  “What’s going on big man?” I asked trying to distract him from whatever was going on over there.

  “I don’t even know. Girl stuff I think,” he responded shaking his head.

  “Let me call ya mom real quick.”

  “What if she kick us out before you get here? Do you want us to go to the park?”

  I sighed. There was no reason my five-year-old twins were preparing to be out of their home. “She’s not going to kick you out.”

  “You sure?” he asked.

  “I’m positive. Let me call you back.”

  Kent ended the call and I went to his mother's name in my contacts pressing on it so it could call. She answered on the first ring as if she was waiting for me to return her phone call.

  “About damn time,” she answered the phone.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I barked at her.

  “So, who’s the bitch you had around my kids and don’t fucking lie either.”

  “They’re our kids and you know damn well I wouldn’t lie to your dumbass. You had my daughter hair looking crazy, so I got my friend to do it.”

  “So, you have bitches in my daughter's hair! How disrespectful can you be?”

  “Your ass disrespectful walking around with weave down to ya ass and your daughter got naps and lint balls in hers. Fuck you expected me to do it? If you didn’t want someone doing your job you should’ve done it yourself.”

  “All that money you got, and you couldn’t pay a hairstylist to do it? Instead you got one of your little bitches you fucking to do her hair.”

  “Call her a bitch one more time.”

  “Oh, so not only are you fucking her, but you care about her! I know you took them out with her too, but it’s all good,” she retorted. “Tell shawty if she wants to play step mom she need to not half ass it and play her role all the way. You have ten minutes to come get your fucking kids or they will be sitting on the porch!”

  Click!

  The line went dead, and I tossed it on the side of me. I hopped on the express way and gunned my BMW to their house hoping the bitch wasn’t that fucking retarded to have my kids outside of the house.

  I was driving so fast I didn’t hear my phone ringing. I nearly jumped out the running car when I saw my kids standing on the porch with trash bags next to them. When they saw me, they jumped off the porch and into my arms.

  “Daddy, I told you she was going to kick us out!” Kenia cried. “All because your friend did my hair.”

  I kissed both my babies on their forehead and held them tight to calm them down. It was all jokes earlier on the phone, but this situation tore me apart. They both were shaking and holding onto me as if their lives depended on it.

  It took everything in me not to kick down that bitch’s door and strangle the shit out of her. For my kids’ sake I kept calm and scooped both of them up in my arms and took them to the car. I strapped them both in their booster seats and shut the door. I took both of the trash bags and placed it in the trunk of my car and rode back to my crib in Delaware.

  They were crying so hard they eventually were knocked out and slumped in their seats. When I got there, I left the bags in my trunk and carried their heavy asses both in my arms. I didn’t have any intentions on waking them up, so I laid them in their bed taking off their shoes and then tucked them inside.

  I was thankful they were sleep because I honestly couldn’t think straight. Death was the only thing on my mind. They were better off without Tara anyway. She didn’t do shit for them.

  After going to my bar and pouring myself a drink, I went outside and rolled a fat blunt to take my mind off the shit that happened. Knowing I had to get this shit off my chest, I ended up calling Rita expecting her not to answer since it was the middle of the night, but she did.

  I could tell she was growing on me because I would’ve never called anyone about this shit. Since she really cared about my kids, I felt like she needed to know the bullshit their nut ass mom was on.

  “Hey, is everything okay?” she mumbled hoarsely.

  “I’m sorry to wake you the hell up, but you don’t want to know the shit that just happened.” I took the rest of my drink back like it was water.

  “What is it?”

  “The kids must’ve been talking about you and their mom got mad. She told them she was going to kick them out of the house. Nia called me crying. When I called her, she started snapping saying how if you wanted to play step mom to take them to you. They were standing on the porch by the time I got there.”

  “What?!” she yelled. “For how long?! What kind of mother is she?”

  I shook my head. “The bitch ain’t a mother, that’s the thing. No real parent gonna do some shit like that. They’re fucking five years old. What hurt me the most is that my son was trying to comfort Nia telling her he gonna take care of her. That’s fucked up.”

  I heard shuffling in the background and when Rita didn’t respond I called her name out. “Yo, what you doing?”

  “I’m getting dressed. Send me her address,” she finally said.

  “For what?”

  “What do you mean for what? I’m going to beat her fucking ass. You don’t do no shit like that to no fucking kids!”

  Although I was mad as fuck, Rita’s anger kind of turned me on. She was riding hard for me and again that was a feeling I haven’t received from anybody. As much as I wanted Tara’s ass beat, I didn’t want Rita to do it.

  “Her time is coming, but since you’re out of bed, you might as well slide down here. If you don’t feel like driving, I’ll send you an Uber and send you to work in one.”

  “You sure? Where are the kids?”

  “They’re knocked the hell out; all the crying they were doing. I know they’ll be happy to see you after this bullshit when they get up. Plus, a nigga lonely right now,” I added, and I knew she was smiling on the other line.

  “Look at you…”

  “Don’t even rub that shit in… just bring your ass over here.”

  “Fine. I’ll pack and you
need to add breakfast to the deal. I can’t go to work hungry.”

  I laughed. “I got you for sure.”

  I ended the called and ordered her an Uber that cost $60 for the trip. I was pretty sure in the morning when traffic was popping the commute would’ve been more, but with how I was feeling I’d send an airplane to go get Rita if I had to. The way I was feeling, I needed someone with me, which was odd as fuck. As much as I hated to admit it, Rita was the only person I wanted around me at a time like this.

  Vett

  Two Weeks Later…

  Stepping out onto the balcony I closed my eyes enjoying the rays of the sun soaking my body. I needed a vacation more than anything and this quick business trip was doing the trick. I thought it would’ve taken a while for the insurance company to cut my check for Pitt’s death, but it came and lifted my spirits all the way up. After taking Pitt’s and that whore’s life I was on pins and needles thinking they were going to link me back to the body. I didn’t feel comfortable with the cop knowing I pulled the trigger. Trevor assured me I didn’t have to worry about her, but my father always told me once I started something, I had to end it. I wasn’t trying to end back up in prison.

  I was damn near down to my last penny. Now that I had the check and some of the money cleared the first thing I did was book Trevor and I flights along with our stay at the Mandarin Hotel. We were currently vacationing in the lap of luxury in the five-star hotel. It had its own private beach along with many amenities in the hotel; there was no reason to leave.

  I’ve been out of jail for months and didn’t truly know how it felt to be pampered the way I was years ago. I spent the first couple days shopping until I dropped. The next day I got a massage and spent time on the beach bathing in the sun. It was now day three and I figured it was time for me to get back to business.

  As I stood on the balcony and enjoyed the view of the beach, I felt a pair of arms circle around me. I turned my head and kissed Trevor’s lips.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked me.

  I relaxed my body in his arms as we swayed from side to side.

  “Better. We needed this. Philly has too many bad memories.”

  “We’re one step closer to living like this all the time. Were you able to get in contact with your distributor?”

  I bared my teeth down because I was going to be the bearer of bad news. Trevor wanted this meeting to go down as bad as I did, but I knew things weren't going to go as planned. Turning around to face him. I lifted my head to look into his face.

  “I spoke to him,” I sighed. “He’s willing to talk to me… alone. He made it clear that he didn’t want me to bring anyone else. It was so weird because it was like he knew I wasn't alone. That was the first thing he said.”

  As expected, Trevor didn’t look too happy.

  “Babe, I got this. Black just has a certain way of running things. He doesn’t do business with everyone and is very secretive. You should know in the life we live things gotta be this way, but I’m telling you we got this. Now that Pitt’s out of the picture and I have this money I can clear his debt and start over.”

  Placing his hands on the side of my face, he inched down until our lips met. “I know you got this. What time did he tell you to come?”

  Bringing my arm to my face I glanced at my Michele watch and seen that I had an hour before his driver was going to come and get me. Black was very particular about things and moved differently.

  “One hour.”

  Trevor’s smirked and kissed me again. “Maybe we got time to do a little something while you get yourself together.”

  “You’re going to make me late,” I laughed feeling his hands untying the plush robe that covered my body.

  “Trust me, I won’t. The way you be having me a quickie is possible.”

  We both got in the shower and Trevor took up almost half the little bit of time I had to get ready. I ended up having to brush my hair back into a ponytail and quickly put on something to wear deciding to pop the tags off the clothes I purchased on the first day.

  Using my jewelry to accessorize the outfit, I kissed Trevor goodbye and went down to the lobby where the black truck was waiting for me. The driver opened the door for me and shut it after I slid inside. I was scared when I noticed I wasn't’ in the car alone, and almost regretted that Trevor wasn’t with me.

  “Give me your phone and put this on,” he said in a gruff voice holding out a black scarf my way.

  I did as he said and watched him turn my phone off before I put the scarf on. The last thing I remembered seeing was us driving by the hotels and beach. The ride was bumpy, and I eventually lost track of time. When the truck finally came to a complete stop, I heard the car door open and shut and then the one next to me open. Feeling a hand tugging on my arm, I allowed the person to lead me out of the back of the truck.

  I heard a few beeps, doors unlocking and opening. Instead of the sun, I felt cool air on my skin. Once the door was shut behind me, the scarf was removed, and I looked around to notice I was in a building. It looked like a factory, but I couldn’t be too sure because it was just a hallway with doors.

  “Hold out your arms. Spread your legs.”

  The same man that sat in the back of the truck with me, checked my body for any weapons and wires, told me to open my mouth and then took my purse from me as well. I hated that it felt like I was in jail all over again. I didn’t complain though because I knew this meeting was necessary and I was willing to do whatever it took to sit down with Black again alone.

  The last time I saw him, it wasn’t a pleasant meeting and I hoped this time I got better results. I followed the man to a room where Black sat at a table alone. It reminded me of an interrogation room.

  “I hope my men were good to you.”

  “Yes, they weren’t too bad,” I replied even though I wanted to let him know all the extra shit was uncalled for. “I’m ready to get down to business.” Folding my hands, I fiddled with the wedding ring that still adorned my finger.

  “I received the money your husband owed me. I heard the bad news.”

  The way Black stared at me, it had me uncomfortable in my seat. “Yes, Pitt’s dead.”

  “I know. How are you holding up?”

  “Pretty good.” I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. Like I said I’m ready to get back into business. It’s been ten years too long. I was hoping that we can get the deal we had but double the weight. I would like to pay half up front and the other half fronted–”

  Black shaking his head, stopped me from talking. I knew I was pushing my limit by asking for this favor and was mentally prepared to be turned down. What could I expect after my husband owed him money?

  “I understand. Well how about just the weight we were getting before I was locked up? I’m willing to start off small again. Anything to gain your trust.”

  He shook his head again. “No can do.”

  “Why not?” My eyebrows snapped together.

  “For one, I’m not obligated to do anything for you. I’ve only kept the deal going because of who your father was to me. It was a mistake because even though you are a part of him, you would never be him which is why I got the results I wasn’t expecting. You’re a liability especially since you’re thinking with this,” he said tapping on his chest and then his head, “and not this. In this business you can’t be emotional. That’s a weakness and that’s what the man you’ve been staying with is playing on.”

  My mouth parted slowly hearing him mention Trevor. He smiled from my reaction. “You don’t think I know everything. The miles apart doesn’t mean I don’t have any reach.”

  “He won’t dictate the moves I make,” my voice cracked as the words came out because I even knew that wasn’t true. It didn’t make it any better that Black was peering at me so hard like he was reading my mind.

  “Either way, I can’t help you. If you’re looking for product the guy Mar might be willing to help you out.”

  My lip cu
rled at the mention of his name. He was part of the reason Black no longer wanted to work with me. I was sure of it.

  “Help me out?” I repeated. “I wouldn’t dare. He was Pitt’s competition.”

  “How? When Pitt stepped on his coke so bad it wasn’t worth shit. He drove his customers away with how he handled his product. You can’t blame another man for your mistakes.”

  I was getting so annoyed. I would do anything but ask them young boys for anything. “Is that a ‘no’.”

  “I thought I made myself clear?” he said matter of factly.

  His dark face was contorted into a menacing scowl. The meeting was pretty much over, so I pushed myself back from the table and headed towards the door where the guy that blind folded me stood.

  “Oh yeah… Mrs. Wallace,” he called out to me, “In the game you’re in it forever or you’re in a pine box. You’re benefiting from your father just by being able to walk out of this door. Don’t make me regret this decision.”

  Swallowing the lump in my throat, I waited for the door to open and stepped out with my head held high even though I wanted to ball up and cry. I took the trip back home trying to process what I was going to do now. Five-hundred-thousand-dollars was a lot of money, but it wasn’t enough to continue to live the lavish lifestyle I once lived.

  The ride back seemed to be quicker than going up. I was handed my belongings after the blindfold was taken off. I stormed up to the hotel room where Trevor was on the phone. He glanced at me and then told his caller he was going to call them back.

  “How did it go?” he questioned me. “Never mind, the look on you face says it all.”

  I snatched the ponytail out my head feeling like a headache was coming on. “He won’t work with me. Not anymore,” I complained shaking my head. I went over to the mini bar and took a small bottle of vodka out and chugged it down in one gulp.

  “Shit!” he hissed punching the air.

  He rubbed his chin as if in deep thought and then placed his hands on his hips. “Fuck it. If he won’t sell it to us, we’ll take it. Save us some bread while we make some.”