“Fine…” Cobra pulled the trigger and his body slumped forward. He hadn’t slept in days, possibly even weeks, for fear of the enemies he’d made. He owed money to people who had a target on his back. Very dangerous people who weren’t allowing him any more passes. They now knew the loss of his livelihood meant there was no longer a possibility of collecting. Cobra was tired of looking over his shoulder and sought a permanent solution. His bullet over theirs. The situation worked in Asao’s favor because a suicide was better than an open investigation that had the potential to find its way to his doorstep.
He stepped back and looked at the scene around him, making sure to move out of the way before the blood that spilled to the floor moved to the spot where his feet had been planted. Once he was certain there was nothing that could be traced to him, he left the same way he’d come and put the situation behind him.
“Keep it one hundred,Sao. You weren’t talking all that shit when Reg had you hemmed up.”
Asao smirked and brushed a hand over his head. In the early hours he had taken a life. Now he sat next to his father in the home where he’d spent his childhood, shooting the shit with his pops and his boys.
After he’d taken a life, he returned to his beach house, dressed in the clean clothes he changed into at his apartment in the city. He showered, not once giving a second thought to thelife he’d taken, then made the hour drive to climb back into bed with Samari and slept peacefully until she woke him with his dick in her mouth.
“Shit, neither were you.”
Dom flashed a grin. “Hell nah, I wasn’t about to say a damn word because Reg didn’t fucking play and he was mad as hell that we’d broken into his shop.”
Niles chuckled and Asao turned to his boy. “The fuck you laughing about? You were scared as hell too.”
“I didn’t do shit. That was y’all.” He motioned between Dom and Niles as the three men revisited a night they’d broken into Reg’s shop to break down their product. None of them dared take it to the homes where they rested their heads.
At seventeen and eighteen the three of them had been hustling for a few years and rotating their operation and stash between the women they were fucking until they got caught slipping.
The one Niles was dealing with at the time found out he was cheating and gave the stash to her brother in retaliation. That granted her brother six hands as an ass whooping and a reminder to never cross one of them. The product was sold before Dom, Niles, and Asao could get it back.
To remedy the situation, because they had a debt that needed to be paid, they’d robbed a dealer in the next city to recoup what they lost and vowed to never stash their product with women they were fucking ,which was how they’d ended up breaking into Reg’s shop.
“Muthafucker, you’re the reason we did that shit.” Dom frowned at Niles who shrugged the accusation off.
“I’ll take that but I also told your dumb ass breaking into Reg’s shit was a bad idea.”
A neighborhood junkie tipped Reg off that someone was in his shop, hopeful to cash in for the heads up. When Reg pulledup, he cursed the three teens out, punched them all in the chest. He followed up with a lecture about how things could have gone left had it been the cops who’d shown up instead, then allowed them to use his stockroom to handle their business. The deal was made with Reg demanding twenty percent of what they sold to teach them a lesson.
That was the deal for the first time only. He never requested a dime thereafter but allowed them access to his shop to keep them out of harm’s way. He couldn’t stop them from hustling but he could do his best to keep them from doing time. Access to a safe space allowed that, and regardless of Reg never asking anything in return, the teens made sure a stack of cash was tucked away in the drawer of his station each and every time they risked his livelihood for running drugs through this shop.
“Shit was wild back then. I still can’t believe we made it out.” Asao grinned, brushing his fingers over his beard.
“You owe Reg a lot for that,” Leedren stated solemnly and the three men nodded to agree.
“Hell yeah we do. OG looked out, but we also know why, so respect,” Dom added, looking right at Leedren who tipped his head. Reg was the neighborhood unc. He had a good heart and would always look out for the neighborhood hardheads, but with Asao, Dom, and Niles he took it a step further as a favor to Leedren. He made the promise to look out for his son and that occasionally meant turning his shop into a trap house. He risked his own livelihood and freedom to keep his word.
“Yeah, Pop. Your name meant something and we appreciate that.” Asao looked at his father, sharing a moment. Samari watched from the kitchen while she helped his mother clean up after their meal. Too much food that had Samari ready to curl up in bed to deal with the itis that had a hold on her.
“Those three cost me a lot of sleepless nights,” Kendra said, turning her head toward the living room.
“Oh I’m sure they did.” Samari grinned and glanced at Kendra.
“Now I can sleep and his father can worry.”
“Is that how it works?” Samari asked.
“No…” Kendra rolled her eyes amusedly. “But I can pretend and I have them both now so I won’t complain.”
Samari didn’t miss the way Kendra’s eyes drifted to her husband nor did she miss the smile on her face.
“It’s late, we should probably go.”
“There’s no rush, especially not on my behalf. I had him earlier and I’ll have himlater.” She smiled in a knowing way that had Samari smiling in understanding. “Lee didn’t just miss me, he missed his son. All of them actually. He needs this, I won’t rush it. I’ve been patient for twenty-three years. One night won’t make a difference. Come talk to me.” She waved Samari over and grabbed the bottle of wine they’d started during dinner. As soon as they made it to the table, Kendra’s eyes drifted to her husband again. He smiled, winked, then turned his attention back to the conversation. But not even a second later, Asao had his gaze on Samari and did the same thing.
“Youhave my son’s attention.”
Samari blushed. “Maybe.”
