“Dominique! My Miami money maker. How you doing, man?” he asked, happy to see me.
“I’m good, Octavio. Happy birthday. 75 years old. That’s big. You going to retire now?” I asked him, and he chuckled.
“You know that I don’t believe in retirement. I’ll stop hustling when I take my last breath,” he voiced.
He took his eyes off me, so that he could look over at Riot. This nigga was starstruck. Jaw damn near on the ground. He couldn’t hide the gleam in his eyes. I’m not sure where his wife was, but she needed to come over and slap the shit out of him.
He reached out his hand for Riot, and she put it out for him, thinking that he was going to shake it, but his slick ass kissed the back of it.
“And you must be, Riot?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Yes. Happy birthday to you,” she said to him, and he smiled.
“I appreciate it. Your name came up, Riot. I won’t say how, and from whom because I don’t reveal my sources. They tell me that your brave. Your smart, and your quick. Your calculated. Little thing, but I hear your dangerous. I look in your eyes, and I see value. You have the same value that I see in Dolo’s eyes. Same as his brother Diego and his friends Kendrick and Bray. You’re not where your supposed to be right now, but I know that you are well on your way. You will be a problem. A good problem. I’m sure of it,” he poured into Riot, and she stood there, smiling back at him, taking in the things that he was saying to her.
From there, he let her know that he wanted to speak to me, and she wished him a happy birthday again. Before she could walk off, I kissed the top of her head, and I stood next to Octavio, curious to know what it was that he wanted to talk to me about.
“Dem 9 boyz. I want to know why there are still men left to breathe?” he asked, cutting to the chase, getting right to the point.
“We’re working on it, Octavio. I swear we’re on it,” I let him know, and he nodded.
“And I have no doubt that you’re working on it. I know you, Dominique. I would just appreciate it if you moved a little faster. I care because when your crew has conflict, and you are moving my product, now I’m in the middle of it. That noise will eventually get loud. When it gets loud, attention follows. Problems are then followed. You want to know what problems cause, Dominique? It costs money,” he lectured me, and I nodded, hearing everything that he was saying.
“You know how I am when it comes to unnecessary losses. We have business together, but I love you like a son. Take care of your business in Miami,” he finished.
“I’ll get it done,” I assured him.
“Your friend. Mook. Where is he?” he asked, changing the subject.
“He had prior obligations back home,” I told him.
“Hmm,” he let out a scoff.
“Keep an eye on him,” was all he said, but that statement was heavy. He sounded like Riot because she was always saying that same shit to me about Mook.
“Are you and Riot together?” he asked me, and I chuckled.
I turned my head to look at Riot, and she didn’t have her eyes on me because she was talking amongst Kendrick, my brother, and Bray. Once I saw that she was in good hands with my brothers, I went back to my conversation with Octavio.
“I’ll kill for her. Knock a nigga shit loose over her,” I told it all without having to tell it all.
“Just make sure you do it right, or she’ll kill you,” he flipped my words around, and then he reached his hand out for a pound, and he hugged me like a father would.
I wished him another happy birthday, and he went back down, so that he could enjoy the rest of his party.
Once I was alone, Riot came over to me, and she stood in front of me. In a room filled with all these people, I reached bothhands down, putting them on her ass, eyes on nobody but her. She picked her arms up, wrapping them around my neck, and she smiled.
“You okay?” she wanted to know.
“Yeah baby. Everything good. You ready to go?” I asked, and she nodded, letting me know that she was.
“I can’t stop telling you how beautiful you look tonight. My lil gangsta wearing a dress,” I joked, getting her to laugh.
“You going to take it off me when we get back to the room?” I was shocked behind that shit.
My dick was shocked too because it jumped in my briefs. My big man stood at attention towards those words.
“Losing your virginity is similar to death. Meaning, you don’t get a do- over. Once we fuck, we fuck. That’s big girl shit, Bean. You ready for big girl shit?” I asked, calling her by the nickname that I knew her family called her. This was my first time saying it, and she smiled when I did.
