“Not with me? The fuck is that supposed to mean. I hope you don’t think you’re about to?—”
“When I’m ready, I will most definitely be with someone else. And if you’re about to pull that ‘you can’t be with anyone but me’ bullshit, then don’t waste your time or energy. I don’t owe you anything. Not one gotdamn thing. I gave it all to you and you know what you did…”
She was all up on him and the only thing preventing Nyelle from being in his face was their height difference.
“Chill, Ny…”
“No. You fucking chill. You know what you did with it, you shit on it like I didn’t matter to you, so don’t ever in your life think you have a say in what I do, who I’m with, or who I love. Trust, it’s no longer your business, and if you try me on it, I will make your life a living hell.”
The look they shared had Reese gritting his teeth. She knew things about him, a lot of things that could really hurt. Money, drugs, guns, bodies but when he let her in, he never expected that they would one day be on opposing sides. He never planned to hurt her; the shit just happened.
“Are you threatening me, Nyelle? Because if you are, then you better rethink that.”
“It’s not a threat baby, it’s a promise. Let me go because I’ve already let you go. All I want from you now is to take care of your son. He needs you, I don’t.”
The two had a standoff until Reese chuckled and moved his tongue over his lips. Something he did when he was at a loss for words. She knew it too. The worst part was that Reese was well aware that she was right. She didn’t need him. She had a good job, he would never not take care of his son. Nyelle was smart, beautiful, and damn sure worth having. Any man in their right mind would step up. She didn’t need him, but he wasn’t ready to let go.
“Chief…” Reese yelled out for his son but kept his eyes on Nyelle. Nick came barreling down the hall, ending their moment.
“Are you ready, Daddy?” He beamed, moving to his father's side.
“Yeah, chief, kiss your mama and tell her you’ll be back in a little while.”
“She can go right, do you want to go too, Mommy?”
“No baby, you go. I’m tired and want to relax for a while. Have fun with your dad. I know he misses you..”
Nick ran to his mother and threw his arms around her legs before moving back to his father. The two made their way to the door, and as Nick yelled his goodbyes to his mother, Reese and Nyelle shared a strained look. Him communicating that this wasn’t over and Nyelle communicating that it was. Only time would tell who was right and who was wrong.
11
“Ineed anything you can give me on this East guy.” Patterson glanced at Big Mo, who was anything but big. He weighed no more than a hundred pounds if he had to guess and likely didn’t clear five feet.
“East?” Mo tensed up at the mention of his name. “Nah, there isn’t shit to tell.”
Patterson quickly picked up on the shift in Big Mo’s demeanor. He was antsy and on edge all of a sudden. Mo knew a lot about East, mostly just hearsay, but everyone knew the stories were true. There were bodies and the disfigurement of those that lived through his wrath. There were also money and drug exchanges that kept East’s pockets deep, but that was a long time ago. People assumed he still had one foot in, but no one knew for sure.
What Big Mo did know was that nobody fucked with East and he wasn’t about to cross that line. He didn’t have much of a life, but what little Mo had, he was holding onto. Fucking with East could mean his body ending up on one of those reports of unsolved cases.
“You’re scared of him?” Patterson grinned. He was annoyed because he knew Mo was indeed holding back.Who the fuck is this East guy and why was he so important?
“Yeah, and you should be too. East doesn’t bother anybody and nobody bothers him.”
“I’m not anobody,Mo. I do what I want.”
“Yeah well if you’re fucking with East, you’re gonna have to do it without me.”
“Is that so?”
“Hell yeah? That little change you give me isn’t shit for me to be losing my life over. I might have made some bad choices dealing with you, but I’m not about to make one that will be a permanent bad decision.”
“So you’re saying that East is a killer? I pegged him as a dealer but a killer too, huh?”
Mo chuckled and shook his head. “I’m not saying a damn thing is what I’m saying. That’s my word. I gave you what you needed on Ace. If you’re coming at East, like I said, do that shit on your own.”
“So you’ll go up against Ace but not East? I don’t get the semantics of this street shit. I thought Ace was the leader in all this.”
Big Mo just looked at Patterson like he was stupid. In a sense, he was. He didn’t know a damn thing. A man like Ace had power because he had money. He paid people to do his dirty work. There was respect given, but only because he controlled people’s destinies. East was different. He was on an entirely different level. He handled his own shit, dropped muthafuckers who got in his way, and never once gave a fuck about anything but making things happen, at any cost. East was a living, breathing product of the streets whereas Ace purchased his position after it was handed down to him by his father. Ace came in at the topbecause of who his family was. East worked for his spot. Two very powerful men for two very different reasons.
