A cup of black coffee got me right while I fed my daughter and helped her get ready for school. By the time I finished up, I had been updated on school, her friends, and her favorite teacher. I hung on to every word, knowing that I would forget half of their names. She would remind me all over again the next chance she got.
Amira talked nonstop. I usually enjoyed quiet mornings, but it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered if my girl wasn’t happy. My main priority in life was to be present for her. Amira deserved someone in her life who wouldn’t flinch or fold when it came to responsibility.
By seven thirty, I had kissed my princess goodbye at the drop-off spot in front of her school. I didn’t give a damn about the rules. I sat there and watched her until she disappearedinside the building. I wasn’t taking any risk when it came to my child. Although I liked to keep a low profile, there were people who knew who I was. Even near this expensive ass private school, there could be someone lurking around with the intention of hurting my daughter to get to me.
I made it to Cashville by eight. Like most casinos, it was open twenty-four hours a day. Things didn’t really get moving until around ten. By then, the staff moved like clockwork. The dealers were in place, and the waitresses were on point making sure everyone’s drinks were filled.
I moved through the building with quiet pride. Next to my daughter, Cashville Hotel and Casino was my pride and joy. I’d built it from the rubble of an abandoned casino to what it was today, with two of my closest friends. Reed was the face of the business and a marketing genius. Sawyer was the head of operations and security, using his expertise to make sure nothing got in or out without our knowledge.
Because of my uncle Darrell, who sent me to college, I was a whiz with numbers. At Cashville, I was the money man and made sure the finances ran smoothly. I did what I needed to do to make sure the numbers were right at the end of the day.
There were actually four of us. Aside from my two best friends, Reed and Sawyer, my cousin Darius was the fourth most important member of the team. I’d hired him on as the director of strategic partnerships. It was some shit that I didn’t even know existed until I was searching for a home for him in the casino.
Darius’s job was mostly fluff, but he was my boy. His dad took me in when I was fourteen and headed into the system when my mom went to jail for drug possession. Uncle Darrell was like a father to me. I would be forever grateful to him for teaching me the game. I’d convinced my boys to practically makeup a position for Darius due to his dad’s influence on my whole life.
Darius was a suburb kid. He didn’t know shit about the streets, and that was fine. As much as I tried to convince him that there was nothing wrong with being who he was, he insisted on trying to put on this street facade that he mimicked from his dad. Darius wanted everybody to think he was so tough, but in reality, the fact that my uncle was a well-established kingpin by the time he was born saved him from the struggles of the hood.
Living a spoon-fed life made him soft. I couldn’t fault him for being privileged, but at some point, he had to grow up and learn how to get it for himself. For the past seven years, I had been giving him chance after chance to wake up. So far, he was still the spoiled, entitled kid I played with every summer before I went to live with them.
It was Uncle Darrell who taught me how to read people. He was the one who showed me the importance of learning different languages. Everything I learned from my uncle gave me the skills to trade money and favors for loyalty and connections. Over the years, I helped Uncle Darrell grow his underground gambling spot into two locations. Eventually we had a multimillion-dollar operation.
When he went down for racketeering right before we went legit, he left his contacts in my possession. Once I took the business legit, the sky was the limit. I still maintained part of the other side of the business, but for the most part, everything was legal. I didn’t worry about the business as much as I worried about Darius.
With all the wisdom I gained from his dad, it would seem like he would have picked up something. I had yet to detect any of his father’s DNA in him. I wasn’t even sure if Uncle D was really his daddy at this point.
“Nic.” Darius’s voice broke me out of a daze.
I gave him part of my attention as I sat at my desk behind the two-way mirror. I could see everything going on below me, but no one could see me. I preferred it that way. I liked to play the background and let Reed and Darius play the front. They liked the attention.
“What is it?” I asked without turning to face him.
I knew that if Darius wanted to talk to me alone, he had some hairbrained scheme up his sleeves. I had heard enough of his get rich quick bullshit to last a lifetime. He kept saying that he wanted to start something that was just his. I had no problem with that. I could even understand it. The thing with Darius was that no matter what the situation was, he always wanted to go about it the wrong way.
His pops had the game laid out for us. He gave us the formula, but Darius liked shortcuts and gambles. He was so used to everything being given to him that he couldn’t appreciate the grind. He liked to do things his way, which was usually whichever worked fastest. His way had gotten him into more trouble than he could afford without me or Uncle D constantly bailing him out.
“I just wanted to run this idea by you. Now that we got this place running the way we want it, we need to talk about expanding.”
I shook my head. “It’s not time for expansion.”
“Maybe not on this side of the business, but there is too much money out there for us not to have our hands on it.”
“Plenty of money passes through here, bro.”
“Yeah, but you can never havetoomuch money,” he countered.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Being greedy will get you nowhere. All money ain’t good money, D.”
“I think you should consider this move. I can get a couple of guys in here to pitch it to you.”
“Ed-daayra ma’foola li-sabab.”
I could say it until I passed out, but no matter how many times I warned him about bringing in new people, Darius tried to persuade me to do otherwise at every turn. It would seem that when his dad was arrested, things would have crystalized. It was some of Darius’s associates who had set him and Uncle D up.
Uncle D took the charges, allowing his son to walk away scot-free. I questioned that decision on a daily basis. Sometimes you had to let people bump their heads. How else would they learn?
“Your money might be long, but I need some more paper coming in. I appreciate you for bailing me out time after time, but you should understand more than anyone how much I need a win.”
“We’re winning, D. You gotta learn how to recognize when you’re winning. I’m not risking having my daughter grow up without me for a few extra dollars. This is not up for discussion. The circle is closed for a reason.” I repeated my warning in English just in case his Arabic was getting rusty.
