by Andrea Sad'e
“Thank you, Detective Blake, but I need a minute to soak this shit in.”
Slick
As soon as Detective Blake left the room, Ace started throwing stuff and punching walls.
I grabbed him. "Calm down, man. You know shit ain't even goin down like this."
The girls walked in to see what the commotion was. Seeing his bloody fists, Rayna ran to Ace and started to put a towel that was in the half bathroom he had in his office on his hand.
"What the hell happened?"
We explained to the girls what happened and they looked blown away.
"We’ll just move the drop date," Gena said.
"It's too late to move the date," Slick said.
Rayna started to stare into space and then she spoke up, "Let Gena and me make the drop."
Ace and I both almost broke our necks looking back at her.
"Hell no, you will not do no reckless shit like that," Ace said, raising his voice a little bit.
"Look, you know that they're gonna be watching everybody in your crew and you guys can still act like you're doing the drop but have something else in the bags, like some water bottles or some shit. I promise, Gena and I will be safe. We're smarter than you guys think."
After about 10 minutes Ace looked over at me and I shook my head, motioning for him to accept. We had no other option.
"Okay, but if ANYTHING looks off, don't go through with it."
"Deal," Rayna said.
Gena gave her a high five. It was crazy because they were just as close as Ace and me.
Ace started talking to me, "Listen, if this shit really goes down and my brother really tried to get me locked up, you know what it means."
"War," I answered.
Chapter 8
Rayna
"I'm nervous as hell," I told Gena as we sat in my living room planning out the drop for today. Slick and Ace had told us everything that was gonna occur at the drop and they also gave us specific directions. We discussed escape plans just in case anything went wrong.
"Girl, me, too, but ain't no turning back now."
I shook my head at her comment, knowing that she was telling the truth.
Slick and Ace walked through the door.
"Here are your bags," Ace said, placing two large gym bags full of money on the floor.
"Well, I see why these dumb niggas go to jail. This shit is so obvious," Gena said, looking at the gym bags and I started to laugh.
"Well, what do ya'll suggest?" Slick asked.
We both started thinking and it dawned on me. "Give us the money," I said. They handed us the money and I started stuffing it in my white MK backpack. "Gena, put the rest in your Gucci backpack."
She stuffed the rest of the money in her backpack and they fit perfectly once she stacked them right. "And you were saying?" Gena said, smiling at Slick.
"I guess you a lil bit smart," Ace said, putting his thumb and his pointer finger close together while smiling at me.
"Well, we gotta go then," they said, picking up the other gym bags that they needed.
"Let's do this shit," I said to Gena and she looked at me with her signature sinister smirk.
Ace
Slick and I were headed to make the "drop" at one of our warehouses. I saw an unmarked car far behind us. I was hoping for my brother’s and family's sakes that this would all be a mistake, but it looked like my brother really had done the grimy shit that he was accused of. Nobody knew all these details about the drops but him, Slick, and me.
I knew Slick wouldn't do no disloyal shit like this, but my brother? I just didn't want to believe it. This shit was crazy. I wondered how my parents would feel about all of this. I didn't know why but lately I had been having this strong urge to find them. Whenever I used to talk to Mark about it as a kid, he would tell me to shut up because they didn't love us. It made me cold.
"You good, bro?" Slick asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Yea, I'm good, bro. This shit just got my mind all fucked up. I'm glad you told me not to tell them that the girls were a part of the operation," I told him.
"Yea, man. Mark just kinda rubbed me the wrong way and I felt like the less you told him the better because I knew if he heard we were making more money than he did, he was going to get jealous. I felt it and you know when I feel something, it always ends up being true. I got yo back."
"And I got yo front, nigga, but we gotta stop with the mushy moments! Having girlfriends done made us soft as fuck," I said, poking my chest out real far, causing Slick to spit the water out that he was drinking. We were some fools.
We pulled up to the warehouse.
"Let’s make it happen," I said before opening the door and getting out of the car.
Rayna
After a 30 minute drive out of the city limits we got to a secluded place. A black Tahoe truck pulled up and Mr. Moreno, the connect, rolled down his window and motioned for us to come sit in his car. When we got in the car, we didn't exchange words. We gave him his money and he gave us our restock of product. I was about to get out but something wasn't right.
"Wait, Gena, the weight is off. Mr. Moreno, you shorted us."
He nodded his head and smirked. "You are smart. if you wouldn't have noticed I probably would have sent for your boss’ head for sending me someone with no knowledge of this game," he said, handing me the rest of the product.
I smiled. "Thank you," I said before getting out of the truck.
"You're a damn genius!" Gena said when we were back in the car. I gave her a high five and started driving back to the trap.
I walked in the trap, past the security guards and straight to the office Slick and Ace shared. I put everything in the safe. Gena and I sat down at the desks and put our feet up.
"We are pretty brilliant," I said to Gena.
"You my bitch forvevaa," she said in a funny tone.
I started laughing so hard. "Yea, you know we been tight since day one. No new friends, no, no, newww." We busted out laughing and got up, closed the safe and double checked to make sure it was locked and walked out of the trap house. We picked up some Red Lobster for us and our men and headed home.
Ace
Our “Connect” was standing by his car, Slick got out and pulled the gym bags out of the car
"FREEZE," was all I heard after Slick and I gave the gym bag to the man faking to be our connect.
"Fuck," I said under my breath.
"What the fuck ya'll pigs want?" I heard Slick say.
"We know all about your little drop today, and we are going to take you two down. We know those bags are filled with drugs and money," the detective said.
"Do you?" I said, chuckling to myself.
"You won't be doing that chuckling when one of the prisoners has you bent over making you his bitch," the detective said, patting me down while Blake stood back watching the scene unfold.
"We have a warrant to search these bags," the detective said to me.
"Have fun," I said, leaning back on Slick's car looking bored. He opened up the bags and water bottles started falling out. He looked up at me and Slick with a red face and we were both crying laughing.
"Ya'll should be shame," Slick said, smirking. The police officer walked up on Slick and as usual Slick stood his ground. "Touch me and I'll murk yo ass in front of yo whole force," Slick said, which made the detective walk back to his car.
"Sorry for all of this, gentlemen. You may get your bags and go," Blake said with a smirk.
We grabbed our bags and put them back in the car. We got in the car and I got a text on my phone.
"They're following you so go straight home." It was Blake.
I showed it to Slick and we headed to the house. I hadn't talked to the girls and I hoped everything had gone as planned.
We walked in the door and Gena and Rayna had the music blasting and were dancing around the house. Obviously they felt accomplished and if they said it went as planned, we were going to be so proud of them.
"So ho
w did everything go?" I asked Rayna, giving her a kiss.
She told me everything that went down at the drop and I could honestly say that I was impressed.
"Damn, ya'll got my respect. We will need you guys in emergency situations but we don't want you guys doing much cause we want to keep ya'll faces outta these streets as much as possible," I said to Rayna and Gena, who was now sitting in Slick's lap.
"That’s cool," they both said. They pulled our food out and warmed it before putting it on plates. These girls were really down for us and they could have whatever they wanted between Slick and me.
While they were setting the table, Slick and I sat on the sofa and gave Mark a call. He picked up the phone sounding surprised to hear from us.
"Wassup, baby brother?" he said.
"Nothing much. Hey, could you come by the house in bout an hour? I need help with something," I asked him.
"Yea, sure," he said before hanging up.
Slick and I looked at each other and we knew from that moment that the war had started…
Chapter 9
Gena
“Damn, I feel sick as fuck,” I said to myself getting out of the bed. I had missed my period for a couple months and I guess I was in denial. “What you gone do, Gena?” I said to myself. I thought about it for a while before I got up and got in the shower and got myself ready. I got dressed to go to the store.
When I made it to Walgreens, I walked to the aisle with all the pads and hygiene products and grabbed two pregnancy tests while my stomach did flips. I grabbed some other things I needed and went to the register. I handed my items to this snobby old lady and she rang everything up.
“That’ll be 52.45.” I handed her my bank card and after a few seconds of trying, she handed it back to me. “It was declined.”
“There must be some kind of mistake, ma’am. I have plenty of money in the bank. Could you try it again?”
“Ma’am I’ve tried it 3 times. Now if you don’t have the money, you just don’t have it. No need to be embarrassed but I’d get it together before taking on all of this,” she said with a smirk on her face, looking at my pregnancy tests. “One second while I check and see if I can scrape up some cash out of my car.
“Sure” she said smirking. I went out to my car and grabbed a stack with a couple thousand in it and went in the store. I pulled out the huge wad of cash and the lady’s eyes got huge. “Now how much did you say?” I smiled.
“52.45.”
I pulled off two hundred dollar bills and handed them to her. “Keep the change and get yourself together,” I said walking off laughing.
When I got home, I tried to pee but it just wouldn’t come out. I guess I was nervous. I sat around and drank a lot of water and juice until I finally had the urge to pee. I peed on both of the sticks and sat them on the counter before I walked out and set the timer on my phone for 5 minutes. After the time was up, I walked in the bathroom and almost shit myself. Two positive pregnancy tests.
“What the fuck have you gotten yourself into, Gena?” I called Slick and asked him to come to his apartment immediately.
“You okay?” he asked, walking through the door.
“Yea, I’m okay. I just need to talk to you.”
“What’s up? You had me worried.”
“Slick, I’m pregnant.”
Chapter 10
Slick
"Come again?"
She dug in her purse and gave me 2 positive pregnancy tests. My heart dropped. I wasn't scared ‘cause I was grown and I knew I could take care of them financially; but was I really ready for this? Either way, I was gone have to get ready.
I managed to smile and give her a hug. "This is way earlier than I expected to be a father but I got you. I'll never leave you out here by ya’ self."
She started letting tears fall. "Thank you so much, Kendrick. I love you so much." I knew she had to be serious because she called me by my government name.
I got up and made some phone calls.
"Hey, let’s take a shower and get dressed.”
We showered and got dressed and headed out the door to my car.
"Where we going, babe?" she asked me.
I smirked at her. "Just get in."
Gena
We rode for about 10 minutes and drove up to a nice-sized house.
"Where are we?" I asked Slick.
"Just chill out," he said, using a key to get inside the house.
"Ma! Da!" he yelled, and I instantly froze.
I saw a beautiful light brown lady with shoulder length hair walk out smiling big.
"Hey, Kendrick, long time no see!" Then she turned to me. "And you must be Miss Gena," she said with her arms outstretched. I embraced her and she looked at me. "You are a beautiful young lady. I hope I have a granddaughter in there. I have all boys that are older than Kendrick, none of them have had girls, either." Her comment caught me off guard because I didn't witness Slick tell anybody that I was pregnant.
"Ma, why would you think she was pregnant?" Slick asked her with a smirk on his face.
"I know a pregnant glow, Kendrick. So are you going to tell me or just look at mama like she's stupid?"
He sighed and chuckled. "Yea, she's pregnant but she doesn't go to the doctor till tomorrow to find out how far. We've been together for almost five months, so she's 3 months or less. We slipped up, but what's done is done and I'm excited."
It shocked me to hear him say that he was excited and it sparked something inside of me. I started to feel excited as well, I just didn't know how I would ever be able to tell my parents. They were so judgmental at times and I didn't need that stress on me. nothing nor anybody was about to compromise my child's health. A man walked into the room and Slick was the spitting image of who I knew had to be his father.
"Hello, beautiful!" he said, walking up and giving me a hug.
"Damn, pops I don't get no love?"
His dad chuckled. "Slick is the baby of three boys and he was always getting babied and loved on till it became habit, as you can see. He's a softy for his parents."
He gave Slick a big hug and we all walked towards the kitchen table. His mom had cooked baked chicken, fresh string beans, mashed potatoes, and biscuits with some homemade strawberry lemonade. My stomach growled just looking and taking in the smell of the food. I sat down and we all held hands for prayer. Afterward, we all passed the food around and started to eat all while laughing and making conversation.
"So, Kendrick, have you applied to any colleges yet?" his mother asked him.
He looked up from his plate and sighed, "Nah, ma, I haven't."
"And could you tell me why not?"
"Mom, we have been through this thousands of times."
"I know, son, but I thought you would grow out of the whole ‘wannabe drug dealer’ act. You graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA. That has to count for something. Right?"
"Ma, you're just going to have to accept me for who I am. I'm far from a wannabe drug dealer. I've made more money than you and dad have made in all the years that you have been working in this business and my pockets are growing constantly. I will be out of the game one day, but not today. So just drop it so we can enjoy dinner," he said before turning back to his plate.
I noticed that his dad didn't say anything. He just continued eating his food so I did the same, as if the conversation wasn't even happening. We all finished our dinner and said our goodbyes.
It was dark by now so I texted my parents and let them know that I was staying at my friend’s house. They knew I had a boyfriend but I knew they wouldn't approve of me staying with him. Slick's phone kept going off and I was starting to get suspicious but I just ignored it.
We got back to his house, stripped outta our clothes and hit the sheets.
*THE NEXT MORNING*
"Gena, wake up," Slick said while shaking me.
"Whaaa-what, KENDRICK?" I said. I hated being awakened out of my sleep. Big pet peeve of mine. I liked to wake up on my own unles
s I had to work or go to school.
"Girl, get cha ass up," he said, pinching my ass.
I got up and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. After I finished brushing my teeth, I hopped in the shower and after about 30 minutes, I was finally awake. When I got out of the shower and put on lotion, I noticed that my stomach was rounding and poking a little.
"I have to be at least 3 months," I said to myself. I’d always had a really flat stomach so I guess that's why my stomach was changing form so quickly. I put on my black Victoria’s Secret lace panty and bra set and a jean shirt with no sleeves and some grey tights and some custom made Nike Foams. Some gold jewelry and some lip gloss completed my outfit. Simple but cute. I unwrapped my hair and it fell right in place, so no need for a flat iron today.
I walked out and saw Slick sitting on the couch with some grey sweats on that hugged at the ankle, a black V-neck, and the same shoes I had on.
"Oh, you tryna match my fly, huh?" he said.
"Boy, whateva, ain't nobody even see you."
He got up from the couch. "Here," he said, handing me a bowl of oatmeal, a container with all different kinds of fruit and a bottle of water.
"Well thank you, Mr. McNeil," I said, grabbing my food and drink.
"That’s just to hold you over until after we're done doing what we need to do. Oh, don't forget this," he said, handing me a plastic spoon.
I grabbed it and we headed out the door.
"Where we going?"
"Just relax."
I sat back and enjoyed the ride. We rode to Buckhead into the same neighborhood Ace and Rayna stayed in but a few blocks back from their house. I saw a middle-aged black lady standing in front of a nice mini-mansion
"What are we doing?"
He ignored me and got out of the car. I got out and followed.
"Hello, Mr. McNeil. Hello, ma'am," she greeted us. "I know you guys will love this house," she said, walking towards the house