PROLOGUE
GENESIS “BLACK” ATKINS
Scanning everyone in attendance, I realized I was the only one with sense. The plan these muthafuckas came up with wasn’t worth a fuck. Robbing this particular nigga wasn’t as easy as these dumb muthafuckas were making it seem. The way they wanted to move, every nigga in this room would be dead within twenty-four hours of the lick.
“Aye, who came up with this Swiss cheese ass plan?” I asked not giving a fuck about who I offended. Wasn’t nobody gon’ do shit.
“What? The fuck you say lil’ nigga?”
I looked over at the nigga who called himself Walt. He spoke just as slow as he looked. My thing was, I didn’t stutter once and my voice was loud and fuckin’ clear, so I was confused on what the fuck he missed. I didn’t give a fuck how many years ahead of me you were, I wasn’t scared of you or the next nigga. We could go there at any given moment.
“Muthafucka, you heard me. This must be yo’ shit with yo’ sensitive ass. Yo’ dumbass ain’t thought shit out, huh? All you focused on is getting you. Yo’ flawed ass plan leaves me and my crew open like a hoe legs out there. I don’t know how you move,but I ain’t jeopardizing nobody in mine. Regular shipment at eleven but coming at ten. That’s cool, but you want us there at 10:30 leaving us approximately fifteen to get in and out. You said Striker gets there before eleven. We need a window!” I shouted.
It seemed like I was the only one who noticed the holes. We could get the shipment, that wasn’t the problem. Working under pressure wasn’t the problem either. Niggas like Royce fuckin’ Atkins didn’t leave room for others to make mistakes. I watched him too long to know better. Walt’s plan left us crunching time with the lick being in less than eight hours. We were dead men walking if we pulled this shit off.
“Chill, Black. We can handle it,” Tevin aka TJ spoke up.
He was down for any and everything. Just gullible for the money not thinking ‘bout how to get it ‘cause he knew that was all me. Hell, all of them waited for me to mastermind the game before playing.
“That ain’t the fuck ass point. The point is we ain’t doing time for his whack ass or catching a grave before it’s time. Stop being a money thirsty bitch and let me work. Walt, how big is the shipment, and where’s it coming from?”
“Who the fuck you think yo’ young ass talking to, lil’ nigga?” Walt was seconds away from me hopping on his ass. Everybody knew it which was why Hulk stepped in.
“Man, hell nah. We ain’t come here for all that. Black, it’s a job. Accept the shit and let us work. We need the fuckin’ bread. All we need is ten minutes no matter the size and you know it. Stop giving this nigga a hard time. We good, Unc. We’ll be there on time,” Hulk reasoned. He draped his arm over my shoulder and drug me away.
I shrugged him off and lit my blunt. Him and his fuck ass uncle could go to hell. All I was trying to do was keep us out ofjail and alive. The bread didn’t matter to me simply because I knew where to get more. My hacking skills was top fuckin’ tier.
“Get the fuck out my face, Hulk. You and yo’ bitch ass uncle can suck my dick. It’s a setup and you know it. I don’t even know why you agreed to this shit.” I was over the bullshit.
“Unc said all we got to do is drive the truck from the Springs back to the city and drop it off at said address. We doing this for forty grand, that’s ten apiece. That shit might not matter to you, but it does to us. Not all of us got a backup plan like you.”
No one outside of Hulk knew my real name. To everybody else, I was Black and nothing more. Although I carried the Atkins name, I didn’t have the status, but you couldn’t tell that nigga otherwise. He assumed I’d be just fine if I ever left. That wasn’t the case in the slightest. Niggas wouldn’t be gambling their freedom if I did.
“What’s the backup plan, Hulk? Tell me what the fuck I got in the clutch that I don’t need to make no bread, too,” I said sliding my hands in my pocket.
I was already irritated as fuck and his smartass comments had me ready to hit him in his shit. Truth be told, I was seconds away from doing it which was why I was trying to have some self-control. After all, he was my patna.
“Muthafucka, you know what it is. All it takes is for you to walk in that hoe and tell them yo’ fuckin’ name and money gon’ fall like rain in that bitch,” he claimed.
I heard jealousy all through his tone. Trust wasn’t something I had for a fuck ass soul, but I gave these niggas an inch of it simply because we grew up together. I knew better than to count on anybody but myself. I was the furthest thing from slow.
“Tuh. Get yo’ pressed ass out my face like the fuck I said. The plan shitty and I ain’t putting my hands on it. Y’all want in, do it yourselves and that’s final.”
“Damn. You really turning yo’ back on us for them? We the ones that’s been here bruh,” Hulk argued.
I scrunched my face up in confusion. Out of everything I did for the crew he was coming at me like I was the flawed one. If anything, the way he was acting was making me look at him differently. I mean my nigga was in his feelings today.
“Bitch, I don’t give a fuck what they are to me. I said the plan was holier than bagels and bitch that’s what the fuck I mean. If y’all down for that shit, then be my fuckin’ guest. I ain’t touching it,” I reiterated and walked the fuck out the spot.
They were moved by money, which was cool. By all means, get yo’ fuckin’ bread. However, easy money ain’t always easy to get. They were gon’ need more than an inside man to get that shit done and Walt was an unloyal ass nigga. I didn’t know who was pulling his strings but it damn sure wasn’t Royce anymore.
Hulk said Walt had somebody ready to dethrone Royce, but none of us knew who the fuck that was outside of him and Walt. Even after asking him several times for a name, he wasn’t trying to give it up. Hold yo’ people down by any means but damn, let a nigga know who we working for. If you ain’t tell nobody else his name, the least you could do was give it to me. I started this jack boy shit.
Ace ran behind me like I knew he would. I was the oldest nigga here and had these dumbass niggas following behind me like I was a final boss or something. They couldn’t function without me for real, but they were ‘bout to learn today. I wasn’t touching that bullshit Walt brought to the table.
“Ain’t no way you let Hulk get you out yo’ body like that,” he said catching up to me.
Ace, he was my right hand and knew how far to take shit. Hulk and TJ always tried me until I was ready to put hands onthem, Ace played it safe at all times. Once I crossed that line, he knew it wasn’t no coming back.
