East walked in his shop and all eyes were on him. It was the natural order of things since people were drawn to his presence. When he was in a room, he owned it, with little to no effort on his part. East offered a few nods of acknowledgement to some of the regulars before addressing each barber with a group greeting. It was a sign of respect. It was his establishment, but they worked just as hard as he did to keep money flowing. When East reached Chuck, he was granted a different greeting.
“Come holla at me,” East tossed out casually, breaking his stride as he moved past Chuck heading to the back. After the two reached the warehouse, East unlocked the door and entered with Chuck right behind him.
Chuck immediately noticed the four crates, which prompted him to give his attention to East. “When did they get here?”
“Late.”
“I figured you would have hit me up.”
Memories of the previous night and early morning flashed through East’s head before he addressed the statement. “I got caught up. How many clients you have today?”
East was already processing how he needed to adjust to make sure Chuck could handle the product. It wasn’t normal for it to be left in his shop for more than a few hours. East was cautious about that but the last shipment and being arrested fucked up his usual timeline.
“I have a few scheduled for later but I can move them around to take care of this.”
It was after three and East was still paying the price for the lack of sleep. He and Joi hadn’t woken up until after twelve. They kept their conversation at a minimum before East headed to his place to shower and dress for the day. He didn’t have time to revisit the situation with Patterson or Joi because he had more pressing issues to deal with, but he would make sure he caught up with Joi later.
“I’ll take your appointments. Package this up and get it out of here. You have everything set up?” East was well aware that the late hour of the delivery likely messed up Chuck’s schedule, but he also knew Chuck would make it work. The money he received ensured he would handle it.
“Yeah, I’m straight. I can make a few calls and get things worked out.”
“Aight, bet. Let me know if you need anything.”
East would handle anything that needed to be done, however he was always careful about being hands on. Even though East organized everything by putting the system in place, as well as ordering the product, Chuck was the one connected to it. Anyone East distributed to didn’t know he was involved. They communicated with and made their purchases through Chuck, who handled the distribution, deliveries, and collected the money. East didn’t have to fully trust Chuck because East trusted that Chuck understood the consequence of crossing him was a permanent one. The discussion was had only once whenEast first presented the opportunity to Chuck and it would never be had again. If Chuck fucked up, he would go missing.
East was also protected because Chuck was the only name and face his buyers knew, something he learned from Cabo when they first met. There were only a handful of people who dealt with Cabo personally, and East was in that number, however he had to earn that privilege. Both men functioned in a way where there was never a paper trail or proof of their illegal activities. Only assumptions.
That was another thing that pissed East off about Patterson. He was more than positive Patterson had no proof of his business dealings, but the assumption was enough to make him a target. It was the reason East knew for certain the end result would be him making sure Patterson was permanently no longer an issue.
“I’m good, boss. You look like shit anyway. You sure you don’t want me to move my appointments?”
“Nah I got it. No point in missing money.” East would much rather be at home in his bed, but business was a priority. It was the reason he was currently sitting on a mini legacy.
“Cool. I’m about to get started then. I’ll be here in time for my first appointment tomorrow.” East understood that meant he would be responsible for shutting down the shop, something Chuck usually handled most days. East started to the door to leave the storeroom when Chuck spoke again.
“Ay, you must have had a long ass night. You forgot to set the alarm when you left. Everything was straight though.”
Joi!East glanced over his shoulder and Chuck was already loading the crates to start individually packaging the product based on distribution, so he didn’t respond. Instead, he headed back to the shop to prepare for the rest of his day, which was about to be extremely long.
“Ay yo, where is Chuck?” DJ tossed out after giving East a quick glance. By then East was at his station and did a mental inventory of how busy they were. Fifteen chairs lined the wall and only three were empty, however no one was standing, so today could be considered slow. He was grateful.
“He’s out. What you need?”
DJ was in the middle of a cut, so he motioned with his head to the men who were waiting. “He has two walk-ins.”
When East gave them his attention, they had eyes on him, waiting until he waved over the first one after making eye contact. “You’re up. I’m handling his customers today.”
The man moved to East without question. He knew who he was and knew he was just as good if not better than Chuck. Neither of the other barbers questioned the fact that Chuck left unannounced. It happened from time to time and was always commissioned by East, so it wasn’t their business. They also assumed certain things about their boss, but never spoke on it. Keeping their jobs was more important than worrying about what East had going on. As long as it didn’t stop their money, they didn’t care.
“Ay, East, ask Poole where his car is.” East could already feel the setup before the laughs began.
“Maannn, here y’all go with this shit,” Poole groaned as he dipped his chin, shook his head, then focused on the man in his chair finishing up his cut.
“I’m tired as hell and need a good laugh, so I’ll run with it. Where’s your car, Poole?” East lifted the cape which was folded on his station and shook it loose before dropping it around his client.
“My girl got it,” Poole mumbled, knowing his answer wasn’t going to fly. Dawson, who started the whole thing, jumped on that with the quickness.
“And where she going, Poole?”
