That was then and apparently, that’s where his seventy-six year olds fathers’ mind was too. They hadn’t seen each other since Erys was seventeen, jacking cars, armed robbery, and participating in shootouts as a Trae Way Gangsta from the west side. An intense moment between father and son that shared blood and eerie similarities.
Erys looked at the phone screen, staring at the end of the voicemail and still…shook. As fearless of a man he was, something about his father sounding like that rattled his core. Being back in Waynesville, knowing he sounded likethatrattled his core. However tonight, he didn’t have the time to get to the bottom of it or let the last piece he had of the people who’d made him tug at the tenderness he buried underneath the hardness of his exterior.
One foot in front of the other, he maneuvered out of the Cashmere Lakes home to the awaiting blacked-out Ram TRX. Trae Way shit through and through. Out the window, his name was being shouted with glee.
“Muhfuckin’ Crazy Trae from the westside!” Tone, a Trae Way Gangsta from the east side shouted out.
Erys hadn’t smiled in the last fifteen years. There wasn’t shit to smile about. He spotted the friend he’d met in his time in and out of juvenile detention centers, on and off the streets until the judge sent Erys away to Fort Wraith to teach him a lesson. A fifteen year lesson that didn’t make him any less angry – just frigid.
A nod was tossed in Tone’s direction before Erys climbed inside the lifted truck. The two shared a Trae Way handshake and Tone continued. “Can’t believe you back, nigga. Like I’m looking at a ghost or something.”
“Nah, ain’t no ghost. It’s me. What I can’t believe is that you roped me into moving back here. I swear your nephew better be worth a damn. I could be on an island enjoying retirement,” Erys’ tone came out in a low rumble. One Tone was used to, Erys had always sounded like he was ready to wreak havoc in any shape or form. Barely talked to most people but was fully about action.
“You’re the one who said he could be something,” Tone replied.
“I told you that shit to get you off my line,” Erys shared. “Who booked this nigga anyway?”
“Wild Flame. The new Midnight,” Tone added.
“Where the fuck Midnight go?” Erys asked. His ear hadn’t been to the streets because he never intended on being back here.
Tone kissed his grill covered teeth. “You don’t listen to shit I say?”
Erys looked up from his phone to the street to get a mental pinpoint of where they were headed. “Nigga, you call to talk for hours and I listen to the shit that matters. And sometimes, don’t none of that shit matter.”
Tone swayed his head in laughter. “All these years, you the same nonchalant nigga. Anyway, my nephew has grown. The nigga got a future and you got a charismatic way of gettin’ niggas to listen. Might be borderline psychotic but it’s effective.”
Erys turned to look at the side of Tone’s face before turning his attention back to his phone. “And who am I supposed to make listen?”
“I need to get him into MB’s space. But you need to know the product you selling before you do that.”
“You a muhfucka,” Erys blew. “If that nigga can’t rap his way out of a paper bag, I’ma leave you and that nigga in the wild spark.”
“Wild Flame,” Tone corrected.
“Whatever the fuck it is,” Erys muttered.
“I’m driving,” Tone stated matter-of-factly as if Erys had been that out of touch with reality the entire time he was on assignment.
“What the fuck does that mean to me?” Erys asked. “I have JoyRide. You think I was that out of touch?”
“Was?” Tone toyed. “Nah. Not completely.”
“Anyway back to … what’s the nigga’s name?”
“YN3Dub.” Tone spoke proudly and Erys’ face frowned instantly. “Young Nigga Three Way.”
“Man, let me out right fucking now,” Erys quipped. “I’m not wasting my time with no gotdamn Young Nigga Three Way.”
“His street name is 3Dub,” Tone defended in laughter.
“I don’t give a damn what his street name is. Don’t worry about it. Let me out, I’m not doing this shit with you. I haven’t had solid sleep in a bed worth a damn in fifteen years and you got me out here for this bullshit. Nigga, I should shoot you.” Erys was draped in seriousness while Tone laughed harder. “YN3Dub got to be the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard and you want him in front of MB with that? Hell nah.”
“Just hear him out and do your manager shit.”
“And while this Young Nigga Dumbass is getting on my nerves, you’re doing what?”
Tone smiled a whole diamond-encrusted smile. “I’m your money man. Got to wash all this shit somehow.”
