This was why I kept everyone out of it. Otherwise, we’d have a bigger problem on our hands. I set my helmet on the seat and walked toward the group, dapping everyone up before settling against the steel table in the center of the room. The rest of them stayed on their feet, waiting for me to speak.
“Aight. We got a problem. Which you know if I called y’all here and not the club.” I pointed out the obvious.
I nodded in Juelz’s direction so he could tell them all the details he had shared with me. I sat quietly, watching their expressions change from confusion to disgust, then anger in seconds. Once Juelz finished, they turned to face me with a ton of questions. I held my hand up to stop them from talking at the same time.
“My thoughts exactly. These old heads stuck in their glory days, and it’s only going to bring chaos to the town and the club. We don’t need a visit from the fucking Crown unless it’s to tell us we’re on our shit. This won’t be going on much longer.”
“Shit like this is why my daughter can’t have contact with her birth mom,” Benny chimed in.
I knew hearing this would hit home for him after dealing with Tierra’s crazy ass. I’d be in the same place if I heard about people flooding these streets again—streets that had been clean because of the pact we made. If the others in the area found out the Thorns had broken that treaty, it would be a field day.
Which was exactly why that shit pissed me off—moving on impulse with only one thing in mind. Money.
“I hear you. This can cause a street war that’s unnecessary because other folks think we cornered the market so we could be the only ones selling in the area. We plan to cut off their supply, then Rafe, bitch ass gone have to see me. I also have to make the ride to the Crown before his final resting place is established.”
Ace stepped up with a nod. “What you need us to do?” he asked.
“I need y’all to handle rumors and shit. We riding out to talk with the Crown this weekend. Benny, I need you to stay behind at the club and watch the spot. Make sure those muthafuckas’ ain’t selling in my spot while I’m gone. Money and Ace, I need y’all to have his back. We all got things and people to live for. But this man got a baby on the way, a kid at home, and a fiancé.”
Money and ace nodded.
“Rico, you and Juelz are with me.” I laid down the plan.
Once I finished, each of them left the warehouse, until it was just Benny and I.
“You know I can still handle shit if necessary,” he pointed out.
“Nah, you good. You got more to live for than the rest of us. I don’t even like bringing you in on this kind of shit. You are in the limelight and shit because of Jordan. Not to mention, you Tat majority of the league. You’re a household name and we not allowing Black Thorn business to tarnish that.”
Benny stopped, gave me a nod, then reached out to dap me up. He pulled his bike out of the warehouse and took off.I followed, pulling mine out before locking up and heading to my grandparents’ place. Anytime dark thoughts crept in, that’s where I went to quiet them.
I didn’t need to think twice about what came next, but I needed a moment where the thoughts didn’t sit heavy on me. I pulled into the driveway behind my granddad’s truck. After hopping off my bike, I jogged up the steps and let myself inside.
The clanking of pans told me everything I needed to know. My grandma was in the kitchen cooking. I stepped in quietly, and before I could reach for her, she called out my name.
“Is that my little baby trying to creep up on me?”
I stopped my pursuit and chuckled.
“How you know it was me? And not some other person trying to break into your house.”
She turned around to face me and swatted me with her dish towel she was holding.
“Honey, you have your own brand of cologne when you walk through that door. Not to mention, ain’t nobody just walking in here if they aren’t supposed to be if they want to live.”
I shook my head and chuckled. I grabbed an apple from the dish of fruit she had on the counter, then leaned against it.
“Alright now, gangsta. I have a question, though.”
She wiped her hands and turned to give me her undivided attention.
“I’m taking this girl on a date tonight. I want to make a good impression?—”
“Oh, when can we meet her?” she asked with a big smile.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, but I definitely need to make this date worth remembering or you not gone get a chance to meet her at all.”
My grandma gripped her hips and tilted her head to the side with a soft smile.
