“Just cause I’m not trying to cook up no dope tonight don’t mean that I’m not about my money. I stay hustling. This nigga got one of the biggest contracts in the NFL and he is digging me real hard. I don’t need to reschedule shit. You either need to handle this dope in the morning when I can help or you can do it without me. Shit it’s three of you, how much dope do you got?” Loyalty smoothed out her off the shoulder Rachel Roy jumpsuit and stepped away from where she was sitting.
Killian walked in and stood watching the three of them. Even though they all didn’t share the same blood, these were his sisters. He would ride and die for them. “I smell dat pack in the air and it ain’t even rolled yet. What’s da hold up Truth? Fi’ dat shit up man, I got some but it ain’t nothing like what you got.” He said, calling Honesty by her nickname.
“She needs to do something, my nerves bad I need my medicine. These bitches wanna argue back and forth. Let dat hoe go out and get her some pro-bowl dick. She betta be plotting on a pro-bowl lick. ‘Cause if it is dope to break down, that mean that Honesty doing her part. I got two computers up here in front of me, so you know I’m working. Let her go so she can do what she do best. Meet us for breakfast at eleven at Unity, and be safe.” Reality said to Loyalty as if she was the oldest.
She got up from the table and went to sit closer to Honesty so that she could roll the blunt. Reality was the youngest and she was the meanest. People always told her that she was mean because she was just like her daddy. But she was really mean because of her daddy.
He robbed her of the chance to ever know her mother when he murdered Beloved and left her dead body in the house with the three little girls. Real, as everyone called her was the exact opposite of happy and everyone loved her, but no one understood her except Killian.
“Bitch, you got them computers up cause your ass is probably on Facebook on one computer and Twitter on the other. You are nothing but a social network junkie, Real. Love y’all anyway. I will text you and let you know where we end up at. See you guys at breakfast in the morning. By the way is Pop-Pop coming?” Loyalty asked as she got ready to walk out the door.
“You know that is his spot, he will be there. He said that he has something to discuss with all four of us, so be on time.” Killian said as he snatched the rolled up blunt out of Reality’s hand.
Honesty got up from the table and walked toward the back of the house. Her six foot frame was athletic and commanded attention even when she didn’t want it. She walked back into the kitchen with her arms loaded with the bricks of dope wrapped up tight in plastic wrap and tape. After dumping them on the table with a thud, she looked at Killian and Reality and shouted that it was time to work as she reached and grabbed the blunt front the ashtray.
“Damn Loyalty shoulda stayed! Where the hell you get all dis work from? Shit we gonna be here all night fucking with this shit and I got shit to do. Loyalty is the mathematician she would’ve had that shit broke down real fast.” Pulling up a chair, Killian stared at all the dope on the table.
Reality closed both of her laptops and put them in their cases to make space on the dining room table so they could start. Each one of them had their own gig and they all put in the pot, but lately since Honesty had hooked up with her childhood friend Gorgeous, she had been bringing in the bulk of the money.
Honesty walked into the kitchen, opened the cabinet and pulled out the Pyrex glass pots. She went in the pantry where she kept all the other paraphernalia and got them what they needed to work. Being prepared as always; she had protected gowns, hairnets, gloves and facemasks. Last but not least she got out the three different sized digital scales and a Seal- a- meal food saver.
She loved the dope game, she was almost a natural. Her cook game was so serious that she even cooked for some of her associates. Honesty or Truth as she was known on the streets always had the best prices on the Westside. She didn’t hold no punches and all the niggas respected her because she held her own. The dope game reminded her of her mother because she too had been a hustler. She knew that she couldn’t sell dope forever that is why she went to college and earned a degree in business. But for now, she couldn’t see herself doing anything else in the world.
“Gigi getting it in ain’t she? Damn, I wish my godfather was the head of one of the Mexican cartels. Everybody in the city that got dope that is ‘bout something had to get it from her. Everything else is some real bullshit, been stepped on a thousand times. Gigi got that shit on lock. It makes it hard for me. I hadn’t been hitting no licks lately cause all of the folks getting the cake are her people, and she like family. But she has been sending me other work, I’m still eating. She is good people.” Killian started busting open the packs after getting suited up in the protective gown, gloves, facemask and hairnet.
“Nigga out of all the hustles in the world, hitting licks shouldn’t be yours. Our dad is one of the richest niggas in the city and you are out here taking from motherfuckers. Shit, I’m happy all the work in the city is Gigi’s. If that is what it took to make you stop doing that shit with your ignorant ass.” Reality said as she lit her own blunt.
“Yeah, Gigi got this dope game on lock, I’m happy that I reconnected with her at her mom’s funeral. Her momma was our momma’s only friend, shit at least the only one that she let visit the house. You know they use to smoke weed, listen to music and sip wine. I remember all that shit. Then both of them had three kids except Gigi’s grandmamma took care of them. You can tell they were two of a kind, look at the crazy names we all got. They couldn’t give us regular names like Britney or Ashley. Man we got these ol’ crazy ass names, Honesty, Loyalty and Reality.” Honesty scooped mounds of the off white powder onto the biggest scale.
“Shit I like my name, it fits me perfectly; Reality. It doesn't get any realer than this. All our names fit us. We all have seven letter names that describe wonderful characteristics. Mama’s name was Beloved, and it had seven letters too. Solitaire must was on that good shit when she chose her kids names, Gorgeous, Beautiful and Handsome.”
“She might have been high when she chose those names but they fit them too. I can’t speak for the brother, but dem two girls are bad as a muthafucka, shawty. Then it’s two of them and they look exactly alike. That’s my dream right there, if I could get a hold of both of their ass at the same time, I would die a real happy young nigga.” Killian said as he duplicated Honesty’s movement with the smaller scales.
“Dat was some good ass weed. I see y’all high as a muthafucka too cause y’all got everything out except for the baking soda. Reality said as she reached under the sink and pulled out an industrial sized box of Arm & Hammer. “I haven’t been smoking that much lately. I’ve been gone off dat Lean. I keep me a bottle of Actavis handy. That’s the perfect high for me, I be calm as hell now.”
Reality had been sipping syrup for the past year. She never told anyone. Now that she had finally come out with it, a lot of her behavior could be explained now. She was always dozing off, had a nauseous stomach and always had the cotton mouth. But those were small things compared to how the drug made her feel. She had recently found a connect that could get it for her on the low. She was thinking about telling Truth that they need to start selling it because everyone was fucking with the Lean now, so they would make money and then she would have more than she could stand.
Chapter 3: Mr. Miyagi
Loyalty walked down the driveway and was happy that no one had blocked her in. She was excited about her date with the football player. He was in Atlanta for the off season. She had met him Monday night at Magic City and they had talked so much in the last past two days she felt like she knew him already.
At the age of only twenty-one, she felt that she was old because she had seen so much in a short time. She’d been on the scene for a while now. People never believed her when she told them her age; she didn’t act like most twenty-one year olds.
She hit the key fob to open the door when someone grabbed her around her neck. She elbowe
d them in the abdomen and brought them over her head. They lay in a heap at her feet. Loyalty reached into her Louie bag to call in the house and let everyone else know that they had an intruder. The man pulled the mask off of his face. It was her dad.
“I taught you well, but it is the middle of the night and you come out the door with only your keys in your hands. Where is your pistol? You are getting too comfortable, Tee” He said calling her by her nickname as he rolled over and got up off the ground.
“Pop, you are an old man, I heard them bones cracking. I didn’t need my gun for you ol’ timer.” She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she unlocked her truck with the keyfob. She climbed into the black Porshe Cayenne Turbo and let down the window. “Love ya Pop-Pop, see you at breakfast in the morning.” She backed down the highway and headed out of sight.
Khalil turned to walk up the driveway to the kid’s headquarters. He felt uneasy for some reason. He looked around one last time before going into the work house.
Khalil Rasheed was like a palm tree, he had weathered many storms and he still was standing strong. He was a legend in Atlanta. He had made a lot of niggas and he’d broken even more. He was the true definition of a boss, he called shots and he had a small army of play makers behind him. Everyone called him Coach K and he lived up to that name.
Some days he asked Allah why he was still here on Earth. All he had to do was look at his four children and know that his living was not in vain. No one was perfect. He did what he did to survive and to provide for them. He did more good than bad so it balanced out. He wasn’t proud of the way that he had earned his living, but he not only took care of his four; he had many people that depended on him to survive.
Khalil loved Beloved with all of his heart. She was his first and last love so it was only right that he spent his life taking care of the girls that she left behind. He was already raising his son Killian. He knew that Loyalty was his daughter even though Beloved never said it. It was just something that he felt in his heart. Honesty and Reality didn’t receive different treatment because they weren’t his biologically. That night when he got out of prison and found them in the house with her dead body, he took them under his wing as his own daughters and nobody but them knew the difference.
Killian’s mother had overdosed on heroin when he was only two months old. She got addicted when he was sent away to prison. Luckily, she never did drugs when she was pregnant with him, so he was born healthy. When Khalil got out of prison, his only son who was his spitting image was staying with his best friend Slow Poke, or Poke as he was called by everyone. He had just left from Poke’s spot in the Bluff when he found Beloved.
Khalil relived the moment when he saw her dead body spread on the sofa at least once a day. It seemed to him that every woman he has ever cared for always had bad things happen to them. They were victims of the streets. He just promised to do the best he could with the precious children Allah had blessed him with.
Education has always been first so he made sure that each of his kids graduated high school and college. In return, he provided them with everything that money could buy. He always told them that whatever they did in their spare time was on them as long as he got those degrees to put on his mantelpiece.
Honesty, Loyalty, Reality and Killian were not forced to live the street life or a life of crime. Hustling was in them and they were getting it in by all means necessary. Khalil probably should be chastising them, but he couldn’t because they were bringing in a hell of a lot of money and enjoying life while they were doing it.
He opened the door with his key and he heard them in the kitchen bumping around and talking. There was nothing but the smell of the dope cooking and Kush weed in the air. All three of them had their backs to the door. The table in front of him had so much dope on it. Honesty had been going hard ever since she hooked up with Gorgeous, the oldest daughter of his and Beloved’s friend Solitaire. He had no idea that she was bringing in that much dope, but Poke had just told him earlier that Gorgeous was supplying the entire city. He smiled and then shook his head, none of these kids were twenty-five years of age yet and they were making major moves.
“You guys act like you didn’t hear me come in. Whew! It’s snowing in this mother fucker. What da lick read?” Khalil said to his kids as he sat at the table watching them work all the cocaine.
“Pop-Pop, fuck Jeezy the snowman, we got Gigi the snow woman. This work has no cut on it. I’m making money hand over fist. All my crews are eating. We are living good. I think everybody needs to just get on this and put everything else to the side right now. She even got Killa putting in work for her so he don’t have to touch nobody.” Honesty said as she turned around and pulled her mask down. She walked over and gave the man who raised her as his own a kiss on his forehead.
Khalil popped her on her butt. “Girl who are you cussing at? I’m not your homeboys or your siblings so act like you know.”
Khalil took off his father hat and put on his coach hat as he walked into the kitchen. He had taught all four of them everything he knew; how to cook dope, shoot pistols, martial arts, Arabic, riding motorcycles; everything. Now that they were grown, they put all of that knowledge to use, but he still coached them on their every move. They welcomed his experience and wisdom.
Reality looked at Khalil and smiled. She loved him with all of her heart. He was like her superman, there was nothing that her Pop-Pop didn’t know or couldn’t do. “Uh oh you guys, looks like the coach is on the field.”
He went to the pantry, got out the gloves and put on a face mask. Then, he started to show them a faster and easier way to cut the dope.
“Bump Coach, Pop is Mr. Miyagi. He is the teacher of all teachers.” Killian said smiling proudly at his dad across the island in the middle of the kitchen.
Chapter 4: Moment for life
The valet driver ran up to the Porsche truck as soon as Loyalty pulled into the parking lot for her first date with the football player. She was trying to be as optimistic as possible. She was tired of getting with niggas just for money. She had a way about her that made every guy that she got with want to do for her or take care of her. She never chose them, they always chose her. Loyalty was beautiful, classy, educated and she had her own. Now she wanted her own man, she was tired of going from man to man. She always left with way more than she came with, but it was getting old now. Her bank account was swollen, so now she thought that maybe she could just be with a guy without having an ulterior motive.
She stepped down from her SUV and adjusted her clothing. She reached into her purse and pulled out her BlackBerry to call him to let him know that she had arrived. Butterflies filled her stomach. They had built up such a rapport over the phone since the first night they met. She wanted to see what he was like when they were face to face.
Just as he was about to dial his cell phone number, she heard him call her name. Coming toward her was definitely one of the sexiest men, she had ever seen in her life. He stood about six feet four or better and he weighed in at two hundred and sixty pounds. Google was good for a lot of things. Once she found out who he was, she looked him up on the internet.
He reached down and pulled her to him in an embrace. “You smell really good and look even better. You are wearing that Rachel Roy outfit better than the models.”
She pulled away from him and looked up at him with raised eyebrows wondering to herself how in the hell did he know that she had on Rachel Roy. This nigga is suspect. Damn, she knew that he was too good to be true.
“Quit looking at me like that. Rachel Roy is my neighbor in New York and I have attended some of her shows. Not to mention that my younger sister is attending fashion school so all she talks about is lines of clothing and cuts of fabric. I am all man, and I really love women… just women.” He said as he pulled her back into him so that he could inhale her intoxicating fragrance.
“You like my cologne? It’s Gucci by Gucci. It is actually a men’s fragrance but I fell in love wit
h it the first time I smelled it so I bought some for myself. She said to him as he sniffed her neck.
K.J. grabbed her by the hand and they walked up the steps into the lobby of Two Urban Licks. They were greeted by the Maître d’. He addressed him by his name so she knew that he had to be a regular here. As he reached for her hand to greet her, he said “You two make such a lovely couple.” She couldn’t help but blush because she was actually thinking the same thing to herself.
As soon as they were seated, he reached across the table and grabbed her hand again. He seemed to be really affectionate. She liked that in a man. He also communicated well verbally so that was a major plus.
“So is there anything that you would like to ask me now that we are face to face” He said as he massaged the inside of her hand with his fingers.
“Yes! Can you tell me your real name? I know that K.J. isn’t on your birth certificate.” Loyalty said cracking a smile and showing her perfect pearly white teeth.
What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross Page 2