"Nah, I got you." Rize nodded.
"Bet. Get shit situated with these niggas. I'm up." Walking away, I had barely gotten out of the mill before Wolfe called after me.
"Honor."
"I'm not in the mood to talk, Wolfe. I had you pull up to help Rize get rid of those bodies, not for a therapy session."
"Since when did I become Molly the fucking maid?"
"Nigga, what?" I frowned.
"Some shit Chosyn had me watching. You sure about putting Rize in Ember Hills?"
"Who else gon' take it? Rize is solid. He'll be straight there."
"Ight, but we still need to hit Crown about that shit. Regardless of y'all's issues, business is business."
"Yeah, ight. Relay the message to that nigga, then get back at me. I'm up."
Not giving Wolfe the chance to say shit else, I hopped in my whip and sped the fuck off. Rather than cruising through traffic, I sped through my city, not giving a fuck about consequences. My head was too fucked up to think clearly. If a cop pulled me over and saw the blood on my hands, a cell would be my next destination, but shit, maybe that's for the best. Being locked up wasn't some I ever wanted to experience again, but I'd be lying if I said a year or two in a cell doing the bare minimum andnot giving a fuck about anyone or the bullshit they came with sounded like a vacation.
I laughed off the thought, then connected my phone to the Bluetooth and started blasting "So Appalled". I bopped my head through Kanye's verse, but once Jay's came on, I felt that shit in my soul.
"Dark Knight feeling, die and be a hero. Or live long enough to see yourself become a villain."
I rapped the line, dissecting it as it related to my life. At one point, Wolfe and Crown saw me as the hero in their stories. I took pride in it because, for once, a nigga had done something right. My intentions going in might've been selfish, but the more I studied my brothers, I realized they were just like me, lost and broken.
Lucian had his ways about him, but I'd be lying if I said what he taught me wasn't valuable. What I learned stripped me of my innocence, but it also provided the calloused skin I needed to survive. I did the same for Wolfe and Crown. I taught them how to fish, instead of casting the rod for them. I even protected them from the dangers they couldn't see.
I moved with the mafia to keep air in their lungs, and somehow, I turned into the muthafuckin' villain. Just as Jay's verse faded into the beat, my music cut off, a text lighting up my phone screen.
Lucian
Meeting at the docks, 6 pm
Choyce Mancinelli
Pullingup to the block I told Kage to meet me at, I slowed to a stop, threw the truck in park, and grabbed my phone to text Honor. Things couldn't move forward without a plan and aside from the brief conversation in his car, Honor hadn't said anything about one. Whether Honor realized it or not, a clock was ticking.
Me
We need to talk.
Honor
Meet me at the docks 5 pm
The docks were an hour out, which wasn't bad since Lucian wanted to meet there at six, and it was only a little after three-thirty now.
Me
Perfect.
"What'd I tell you about having your head buried in that phone?" Kage's voice slipped through the cracked window,startling the fuck out of me. I dropped my phone in the cup holder and recited the words he drilled into my head almost every time we were out together.
"The streets don't forgive those who don't see it coming."
"Right. So, what do you think is gon' happen when you're sitting on a random block, head in your phone, unaware and unprotected?" he scolded, sounding just like a father.
