“Why it look like you got smaller? They weren’t feeding you in there?” he asked after about thirty seconds of both of us just remaining silent.
I rolled my eyes at that because I felt like this nigga was playing with me. He was saying everything except for what I wanted to hear, and that shit was about to piss me off. At the same time, I knew that I couldn’t spaz the way that I wanted to because I needed to eat, and he was the one that controlled the motion. It was up to him if I could still have a seat at the table, so I couldn’t come at him the way that I could everyone else.
“Man, Gold watch out with that. You know the kind of bitch that I am. If I had to pop up on you here, then you gotta know that I’m desperate. I been hitting you since I came home, and you been dodging me. You told me over the phone that you were going to let me know when you made it back in town, and you didn’t do that. Somebody had to hit me and tell me that you were here. I’m home, and I’m ready to work. Where you want me? I can go home, and change right now, so that I can work one of the traps. You need me to make a drop, collect, what? Nigga, tell me something,” you could hear it in my voice that I was desperate, and hungry for this shit.
Back when I was locked up, I had been ready to get released because all I could think about was jumping back in with Gold, making money, stacking it, and really getting on my shit. I was only trying to live with Ari for at least another month or two because I wanted to move into my own shit. I never lived alone, and that’s what I wanted for me this time around.
Gold sat there in silence. There was a look on his face that was hard to read, so I couldn’t even tell you what his next choice of words were going to be. It felt like he was evaluatingeverything that I’d just said to him and was trying to figure out a way to respond.
When he eventually cleared his throat, and he ran his hand down his face, I knew from that alone that what he was getting ready to say next wasn’t going to be good.
“I ain’t going to lie Riot, I have been dodging you. You know that I’m the furthest thing from being a bitch ass nigga, but I look at you like a daughter, so I guess I didn’t have the heart to tell you what I wanted to. My thing is, before you got locked up, I was already on you, telling you that you needed to learn to calm down, and watch your temper. Every day, you was coming to the traps, getting into it with the niggas, ready to put one of them on their heads over the smallest shit. That wild shit that you did at the club, beating that girl ass like that, it could have been avoided. Unless that bitch put her hands on you, you didn’t have no reason to do all that. You should have walked away from that. The world knows you not pussy. You done beat enough niggas, and bitches ass, so you no longer have to prove points that you can fight,” he started.
I didn’t interrupt him because I was itching to see where he was going with this.
“You a liability to my shit right now, Riot. It’s fucked up that it had to come to this, but I can’t trust how you’ll move right now. I’ll have your ass doing a drop with one of the young niggas, ya’ll will start going at it in the car, the car start swerving, now the cops pulling ya’ll over with all my drugs and shit in the back. I think about that shit, Riot. I’m not going to stand here and pretend that you weren’t a good worker. Probably the best worker I ever had, and that’s why I was training you up the way that I was before you went in. I just can’t take the chance. Not with this drug shit, I can’t. I can put you on with something for my trucking business, the theater, the arcade?—”
“Ay nigga don’t insult me! I’ll take you telling me that you don’t trust me anymore, and that I’m a liability, but leave it at that. Don’t throw shit out there, telling me that you’ll put me on with your trucking company, the theater, none of that shit because you know fuckin well that that’s not the kind of timing that I’m on. A bitch go to jail one time while I’m working for you, and you get rid of me just that fast? All the shit I helped out with for your operation! The motha fuckin money that I counted with my bare hands. The packs I moved for you. Now all of a sudden, I’m a liability, and you think the better fit for me will be to work one of your side gigs? Yeah, aight nigga,” was all I said, not about to stand here and show this man that I was hurt behind this, so I turned around on my heels, so that I could walk out of the door.
“Riot?” he called after me. I stopped in my tracks, and turned around, so that I could look at him.
“I ain’t worried about you. This ain’t the end for you. I knew Grim personally. You everything like that nigga. Just the female version. You got his hustle, and even though you worked for me, hustle was never something that I taught you. You came to me already with that. Don’t look at this as me dumping you off. This going to be the beginning of your villain story. I watched all kinds of hustlers and drug dealers come up through this game. Some hustlers were meant to work for people; some were meant to run their own shit. You ain’t the kind of person that’s supposed to be up under someone for long,” he stated, and I could tell that there was more he wanted to say, so I listened before walking away.
“A couple of years from now, when your running your own shit, being in a position that’s higher than I’ve ever put you in, you’re going to thank me. I’m doing you a favor, so you going to thank me for this favor one day,” he finished.
He probably was right, but that wasn’t the kind of shit that I wanted to hear right now, so I didn’t respond back to him. I left out of his office, leaving him inside by himself.
I was angry. I can’t lie; this shit was a pain in my chest because I didn’t know what I was going to do now. It took a lot out of me to come down here, and damn near beg Gold for my position back. I didn’t do shit like that. I had way too much pride. With that, I don’t see how I was supposed to try to maneuver my way and get on with another organization.
I felt defeated as I walked out of the building. This nigga made me so mad that I didn’t even wait around out front for the Uber to get me. I ended up walking off the premises, going out into the road, crossing the street, where I was now standing in a plaza, and that’s where I ordered the Uber to come, and pick me up.
Instead of having uber take me back home, I put the location for my best friend, Demetria’s house. We all called her Demi though. I grew up with Demi. Our fathers were best friends, and our mothers were pregnant with us at the same time. While my daddy was killed, her daddy was in prison, serving a lifetime sentence for a few murders that pointed back to him.
Demi was like the sister that I never had growing up. I’ve only seen her once since I’ve been home, which was the day that I was released, so I wanted to drop by for a little bit, just to see her, and her daughter, Dayani. With the fucked-up mood that I was in, maybe being around some love would help me feel a little better.
I arrived at Demi’s house about twenty minutes later. She stayed further west. Most girls our age probably had themselves an apartment or a condo, but Demi had a house. She’d gotten it a little over six months ago. I remember when I was in jail, and I called her, and she was all excited about the new home that her baby daddy had purchased for her. Her baby daddy’s name was Antwan, but he went by his nickname, which was Gutta. Guttawas a rapper out of Atlanta. I hated that nigga too. Although he spoiled Demi, that shit came with its flaws too because when she was pregnant with Dayani, so were two other girls.
Him, and Demi weren’t together for real, and the shit that they had going on was toxic, but I guess she loved it because the single-family home that I was pulling up to, and the beautiful Porsche that he’d gotten for her as a push gift probably made the disrespect, the cheating, and everything else that he put her through all worth it.
She knew that I was coming over because I texted her while I was on the way. I made it to the front door, and I rang the doorbell. It wasn’t but a good thirty seconds later that she came and opened the door for me. I could see Daylani off in the distance, who had just learned how to walk, and she was walking on her little chubby feet, trying to make her way over to the door, where we were. That little girl was the exact replica of her mother. Same brown skin, same slightly slanted eyes, and already at one years old, she was tall, so I knew she would have the height like Demi too.
“You texted me just in time because I’m flying out to Atlanta today to go be with Gutta,” was the first thing she said, and I chose to roll my eyes at that, pretend that I didn’t even hear her, as I walked in the house, so that I could get to Daylani.
When I did that, I could hear Demi laughing behind me.
“What’s all that about?” she asked.
“You know what it’s about. Stop telling me shit about that nigga dogging you out, and then two days later, you back on his dick. Don’t tell me shit about Gutta!” I snapped, dead ass serious, not wanting to hear that nigga’s name when I was around.
At the same time, I’d already made it over to Daylani, and she was happy dancing, reaching her arms out for me to pick her up. You would have thought that me, and her went way back.When Demi had her, I was locked up, but when I called from jail, I would always have Demi put the phone on speaker, so that I could talk to Daylani. I wanted her to know who I was. She’s seen my face before from the video calls as well, but this was only her second time seeing me in person. She loved me already. She was happy when I picked her up, and I kissed her on her little cheeks.
“Yeah, Ima stop telling your ass shit because you don’t be knowing how to let stuff go. I forgave the nigga, so why can’t you?” Demi was still going, and if I didn’t love the bitch so much, I swear I would have put the baby down and slapped her in her damn mouth because she sounded stupid.
You would think that she was an ugly bitch with some kind of self- esteem issues by the way she was standing here defending that ain’t shit nigga. My best friend was truly beautiful, but from her actions, sometimes, I felt like she didn’t know that for real.
“You want me to forgive the nigga that punched you in your mouth last month, and chipped your front tooth? I’m supposed to let that go? Or, do you want me to let go of the fact that right before that, ya’ll had gotten into an argument late at night, and he put your ass out of his fuckin car, and you had to find a way home? Bitch, move around me with that. You sound slow, and goofy,” I got in her ass.
See, I was one of those people that was straight to the point and cutthroat. I think that’s the reason why I only had one friend. A lot of people couldn’t handle me. I said what was on my mind. You never had to worry about me talking behind your back because I would literally talk my shit right in your face. Demi knew that the things that I was saying was right, so all she had in her was to wave me off.
