“You sure picked a fine time to ask. I’m single, so you don’t have anything to worry about. I do have a daughter, though.” I revealed. I wanted to let him know up front in case things went further. Promise, and I were a package deal.
“That’s what’s up. I don’t have any kids yet, but I have twenty nieces and nephews, so I’m good with kids.”
My eyes widened at the number because I wasn’t expecting so many.
“You must have a big family.”
“Yes and no. I’m the youngest of four. None of my brothers seems to know what a condom is, so a few of my nieces are the same age. I want to have at least one, but I’m in no hurry.”
“Are you waiting for the right time in your career or the right person?” I probed.
“A little of both. My pops wasn’t around when I was young, and I promised myself I would be there for my kids. When my future woman gets pregnant, I want to devote my time and attention to her and my child. I want to be able to attend doctor’s appointments and everything else she needs.”
His words touched me because I remembered being pregnant with Promise and having to attend those appointments alone. Chop always had an excuse for why he couldn’t show up, and it hurt my feelings each time.
“I like the way you think.”
“Yeah? Well, maybe if you stick around long enough, you’ll discover a lot more things you like about me.” Kavello and I vibed and talked for another thirty minutes before he returned me to my girls. He made sure to get my number and to reiterate his offer to see him perform.
I had butterflies in my stomach even though I wasn’t sure where things would go. It was nice to feel wanted by someone who made their intentions clear. I guess that was what dating was all about.
dreaux davis
. . .
“I-I’m sorry,Dreaux. I thought I would have enough time to make the money back.” This fat thief attempted to plead his case, but I wasn’t in the mood. Honestly, I was already in a fucked up mood, so finding out mothafuckas were stealing from me only made things worse.
“You’re tryna make this seem like it was a one-time occurrence. According to the reports, you’ve been coming up short for months. You owe me forty bands, and the crazy part is I know you would have kept skimming my money off the top had you not gotten caught. I don’t know how many times I have to tell y’all I don’t play about my money. I make sure you have your product on time, and all I ask is for you to return my profit the same way.”
“Come on, Dreaux. I’ve brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past, and I know you aren’t hurting for those crumbs. I’ve seen you blow more than that at the strip club.” The arrogance in his tone set me off because he seemed to be still missing the point.
“Nigga, I wouldn’t give a fuck if it was ten dollars. My shit should never be short. The fact that you think it’s okay to playwith my money tells me you don’t respect me, and that, in itself, is a problem. When you y’all joined my crew, y’all signed a contract with the terms and conditions of being a part of my organization. Now, what is the consequence for mothafuckas who steal from me? Huh?”
DeAngelo dropped his head in shame, but it was too late for that shit. I had been sparing mothafuckas, and that wasn’t in my character.
“Answer the fucking question, bitch!” I cracked him over the side of his head with the butt of my gun and watched him fall to his knees like a bitch. It had been a while since I caught a body because Justice had been on my ass about my anger. I told him if I loosened the reins, folks would think shit was sweet, and that was exactly what happened.
“What’s the consequence, mothafucka? I don’t have all day.”
Tears ran down his face, but I wasn’t in the mood for the pleading and begging. I was trying to take a step back in the organization and give my lieutenants a chance to step up, but they weren’t ready to take over yet.
“Please, I have a son on the way.” Snot dripped down his lip, pissing me off even more.
“I don’t give a fuck about you or that bastard baby of yours. You should have thought about your child when you decided to steal my money. Now, you’ll have to watch over him in hell, pussy.” I let off one round into his skull and watched his body drop. The cleanup crew got to work as soon as I walked back into my office.
“You straight, boss? You seem on edge lately.” Tech questioned. He was one of my lieutenants, whom I planned to pass the business down to. He was a few years younger than me, but he was full of hunger.
“I would be better if I didn’t have to always come out here for some bullshit. Y’all are supposed to keep up with each houseto make sure everyone’s count is on point every month. How the fuck did he get away with stealing my shit for months? At this point, we need Justice to go over all the finances for each house and ensure everything is in order. If there are discrepancies, I need you to handle them. I don’t care if we need to replace the whole damn crew. I can’t have mothafuckas around me, I can’t trust.”
“I understand, and I’m on it. Other than that, are you good?” I kept my personal life separate from my street life. Most people knew I had siblings, but I never brought them around, and I rarely used social media, so there weren’t very many pictures of them with me. I tried to protect them as much as I could from the other part of my world, because people would often try to reach you through your family.
“Everything is straight. I’ll hit up Justice to let him know what I need done, but I trust you and the rest of the team to take care of everything else.”
“Consider it done. I’m about to talk to the crew to let them know what’s going on. If I need you, I’ll hit you up.” Tech walked out of the office as I sat there in my chair, trying to get my mind right. I was used to dealing with chaos on the business side, but not having peace in my home had me off my game.
My sisters still weren’t fucking with me, and the feeling was mutual. My aunt kept blowing my phone up to talk about my momma, but I told her the same thing I told everyone else. If they wanted to help her, then they could, but I had washed my hands of the situation. Then there was Peace and my baby girl.
I still couldn’t believe she was mine, but she gave me a new sense of purpose in life. Every time I saw her face and heard her little voice, it lifted my spirits on my worst day. Things between her mother and me were a different story. On one hand, I wanted to be with Peace and raise Promise as a family, but there were too many obstacles in the way. The biggest one was Belleza. Ourlast encounter was still fresh in my mind, and the reason why I had to end things with Peace.
