by B. Love
“I can rock with that. You know a nigga gon’ be making moves all night, but I at least wanna set some time aside a few days out of the week to have him. Maybe like Monday through Wednesday or some shit like that. And then see him on the weekends when I’m out and about. It’s easier for me to swing through and kick it with him in between stops.”
“That works. You have him three days, I’ll have him three days, and he can go to my mama’s house Saturday evening until Sunday night. We can switch holidays.”
“Or spend them together. I’m cool with that.”
Makayla smiled. “Okay. Me too.”
“Good.” Jason smacked her ass. “Now get your ass up before I say fuck this friend shit and have you bent over this table.”
54
Kannon
December 2020
Shit was falling apart, and Kannon knew it was because of Jason. Even though Jason hadn’t gone into detail about why he’d been released early, there were only a few reasons why that was possible. Kannon prayed it wasn’t because Jason had become an informant, but with so many things crumbling around them, he was starting to think that was the case. As their board of advisors and lieutenants trickled in, Kannon shot his mother and Makayla both a text to make sure they were straight. His nerves had been on edge ever since bodies started dropping like flies.
Nathan rushed through, breathing heavily. Both Kannon and Jason stood as he leaned against the table.
“What’s good?” Jason checked as Kannon put his phone in his pocket.
“The house on Getwell…” Kannon inhaled a deep breath. “The warehouse on Holmes, and the apartment on Ketchum…” Nathan’s head shook. “All three were hit and wiped clean. And Leonard just called and told me there was a drive by on Castalia. Blacked out bulletproof trucks. These ain’t no lil’ niggas beefing over territory.”
Kannon sighed and plopped down in his seat while Jason lowered his beanie further onto his forehead. “Aight, ’preciate the update.”
“This shit is getting out of control,” Kannon grumbled when Jason sat back down.
“Man, say. I got a feelin’ I know who behind this shit. We’ll rap after this meeting is over.”
Kannon nodded in agreement, grinning in pride when Jason stood to start the meeting. For the past five years, that had been his role. Now that his friend was out, Jason had rightfully taken his place as the leader again. Kannon couldn’t have been happier. Even though he still offered Jason wise counsel, Kannon loved being able to fall back and not be in control of every fucking thing.
Kannon watched the eyes of the men as they listened intently. Jason informed them of the men that had been arrested, totaling twenty-five, the houses that had been robbed recently, and the drive by. Jason gave the facts then Kannon ended it by assuring them everything was under control and would be handled accordingly.
After the meeting ended, and they headed to Jason’s car, he confessed, “I folded.”
Kannon looked over at him. “Fuck you mean you folded?”
“To get out. I gave a few names.”
“A few names?” Kannon repeated with a loud whisper, using his hand in Jason’s chest to keep him from walking to his side of the car. “You snitched, Jason?”
Jason’s head shook. “Not on anybody in the streets. I didn’t break code. I just told them about a few dirty cops and agents.”
Kannon inhaled a deep breath as he looked towards the sky. For his life sentence to have been eradicated, it had to have been more than a few. “That would explain why they’ve been able to bring so many of our men in and why that drive by was so fucking professional. The fuck were you thinking, Jason?”
“I was thinking I got a son out here that neither you nor his mother told me about over the past five years.”
Kannon chuckled. “Don’t give me that bullshit. You’ve been in the streets more than you’ve been with Austin, so what is this really about? What was worth you putting a target on not just your back but everyone in our organization? The whole point of you taking those charges back in the day was to keep everyone safe. Ain’t gon’ be no stopping them mothafuckas if they want to make you pay or keep you from testifying.”
Jason’s eyes rolled slightly as he leaned against the car. “I did do it for Austin.” He paused before adding, “But I did it because I felt played too.”
“By who? For what?”
“I felt like I’d given up my freedom to make sure my team was straight, yet the people who were supposed to be the most solid kept a major secret from me. I started thinking like… why in the hell am I in here to protect them when they kept this shit from me?”
“So you said fuck us, let the chips fall where they may?”
Jason chuckled. “Not at all. I just realized niggas ain’t about that code like I thought they were.”
Their eyes remained locked for seconds on end, neither blinking nor looking away.
“You got some to say to me, just say that shit. Or do what you feel you need to do. But you risking more than me and Makayla with that stunt you pulled. Everybody that’s held their weight to make sure you were straight while you were gone can be pulled in the crossfire too.”
“This ain’t about putting you and Mak in the crossfire.”
“Then what is it about?”
Jason pushed himself off the car. “Putting myself first for a change. You still my brotha, and I’ma always go to war for you, Mak, and my son. But we’ve all made decisions on behalf of one another that we shouldn’t have. For once, I chose to make a decision that would benefit me best. And that was to secure my freedom.” He shrugged. “If that means we gotta put a lil work in to make sure these crooked ass folks know what we about, I’m down with that, and I expect you to be too.”
Kannon chuckled with a shake of his head. He should have known there was more to Jason’s release than he was saying, but he wasn’t expecting it to be this.
“I’ma do whatever I gotta to do protect those I love. Ain’t shit changed.”
Jason extended his hand for Kannon to shake. “Then let’s show ’em we ain’t nothing to fuck with.”
Kannon nodded, but he hoped Jason securing his freedom hadn’t started a war they couldn’t win. It was one thing to go against men in the streets, but it was totally different when you were dealing with crooked law enforcement officers. They had reach and resources beyond Kannon and Jason’s means. But no matter what it took, Kannon was committed to making sure they all were straight.
55
Jason
It was the first time Jason had seen Chyna since he and Makayla agreed to be just friends. Now that he didn’t have the weight of making something happen with her on his mind, he was able to focus more on Chyna. But as he watched her scurry around her bedroom tossing clothes into her suitcases, he was sure things weren’t going to play out how he wanted them to. Since they didn’t talk much, Chyna hadn’t bothered to give him any details about why she was packing – she merely told him to make himself comfortable while she continued to run around her room.
“Chyna,” he called, pulling his vibrating phone out of his pocket. The sight of Nathan’s name made him sigh. The last thing he needed was more bad news. “Yeah?” he answered.
“I traced the plates on the trucks from earlier. The shit came back clean.”
“I’m not surprised. Just keep everybody on alert. Pull everybody from the trap houses for now. We only supplying our high paying dealers until this is handled. Tell everybody to lay low.”
“Aight, one.”
“One.”
“Everything okay?” Chyna asked, taking a break to sit next to him.
“Yeah. Ain’t shit we can’t handle.” Jason’s hand went to her thigh. “Wassup with you, though? Where you headed?”
“My father has gotten word that things are about to get bad here. There’s a war that’s about to wipe a lot of people out. With the heat, business won’t flow as steadily as it used to. He wants me to leave and lay low.”
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Jason squeezed the back of his neck. “How does he know that?”
“He has connections with very powerful men in all the states we do business in.”
“Did he say who was involved in this war?”
Chyna’s head shook. “If he knows, he didn’t tell me. He just told me to leave.”
“Where are you going, and for how long?”
“I think I’m going to take my mother to him for a little while. Let her see where we come from.” Chyna smiled. “She’s so fucking black she thinks a vacation means going to Vegas or Atlanta.” Jason chuckled. “After that, we might go to the UK and somewhere she’s always wanted to go like the Bahamas. When the dust settles, I’ll be back.”
His head shook. “I feel like I just got you and I’m about to lose you again.”
Cupping his cheek, Chyna pulled him close and kissed him. “You can come with me. We’ll be safe and out the way.”
If only she knew…
“You know I can’t do that. My obligation is to the streets. Plus, I got a kid now. I can’t just up and leave.”
Chyna sighed and stood, returning to her closet. “I guess this is going to be goodbye again, at least for a little while.”
“Or you could stay. I can protect you.”
Her head shook as she sighed. “My father wouldn’t allow that.”
“You’re a grown ass woman. It don’t matter what he would allow.”
She cut her eyes at him quickly before closing her stuffed suitcase. “Yes, I am a grown woman, but I will honor my father’s wishes until I am married.”
“Married?” Jason’s face twisted up. “Since when do you want to be married?”
She smiled. “I don’t want to be, but it is expected of me. You don’t have to worry, I don’t expect it to be you. I know there’s no real love between us and I still don’t want children.”
“So you’re marrying a man for what? Just the sake of appeasing your father?”
Chyna pushed her hair out of her face and stopped packing long enough to look at him. “I’m marrying a man to create a dynasty. One that will allow us to become billionaires. Money will always be most important to me. My father wants to pair me with a man that will help me make that happen. If it’s someone that I can fall for and get close to, so be it, but money is the motive for me.”
A wide grin spread across Jason’s face as if he was a Cheshire cat.
“You know I’m all about my paper too. You speaking my language.”
Chyna’s walk was slow and seductive as she made her way over to him. Straddling his lap, she asked, “Would you be willing to meet with him? See what, to him, my hand in marriage would be worth?”
As she gripped his neck, Chyna stroked his jawline with her thumbs. Marriage, of any kind, had been off the table for Jason. But, if he was able to find a woman who wouldn’t expect anything from him beyond a partner to dominate the streets and get money with… maybe that would be acceptable.
“We would need to make our intentions clear. I’m not trying to be tied to the same pussy for the rest of my life. Yours is good, but I think I would get bored easily. We would also have to make sure we are on the same page as far as kids are concerned. The one I have now, I gave as a gift, but I wouldn’t want anymore. I don’t need us to start an agreement and your feelings change a few years from now.”
Chyna’s smile was wicked. “Has it changed since you’ve known me so far?”
“No, it hasn’t.”
“And it won’t. But you take some time to think about it. We can pick this back up when I return.”
She hopped off his lap and went back to what she was doing, and Jason resisted the urge to tell her that he was the one behind the pending war. If her father found out, there was no guarantee that he’d want her to have anything to do with him. Or that he’d still be a free man when she returned for that matter.
56
Makayla
The blue and white lights swirled as the siren rang out. Makayla checked her speed, confirming that she wasn’t going above the limit. She hadn’t switched lanes improperly or run any red lights, so she was unsure why she was being pulled over.
Pulling off to the side of the road, Makayla sighed in slight frustration. She’d already had a long day going over blueprints for the head start. The last thing she needed was to be held up when all she wanted was to go home. After rolling down her window, she placed both hands on the steering wheel.
“Good evening, ma’am,” the officer greeted, lowering his frame to look into the car.
“Hello. Why did you pull me over?”
He smiled softly. “You were speeding.”
“No I wasn’t. I took a screenshot of my speed when I noticed your lights, too. So…?”
His smile faded as he put his arms on top of her car. “You’re the one who used to run with Jason and Kannon back in the day, aren’t you?” Her face twisted with confusion. Before Makayla could ask him any questions, he told her, “Tell Jason he’s not invincible, and neither are you. You’re all within reach. We’re watching him.”
“What?” she almost yelled, unbuckling her seatbelt. At that point, she didn’t give a fuck about going one on one with a cop. If he shot her, it would be an unfortunate turn of events. He’d pushed a button that Makayla hated to have tapped. Inhaling a deep breath, she opened her door and watched as he headed back to his car. “Did you just threaten me?”
Ignoring her, he returned to his car and sped off.
Makayla quickly grabbed her phone as she swerved back into traffic. She hadn’t allowed Jason to finish saying hello before she was screaming, “What the fuck have you gotten us into?”
“What are you talking about, Mak?”
“I was pulled over and the officer basically said I’m not safe and neither are you.”
“Did you get his badge or car number?”
“No! I wasn’t expecting things to take the turn they did.”
“Send me your location. I’m going to put guards on you.”
“What have you done, Jason? Does this have anything to do with why you were released early?”
He sighed. “I’ll talk to you about it when you get home. I’m already here.”
“Where is my son?”
“Our son is next door. Lil nigga rolled up on Kannon when we pulled up. He told him he didn’t appreciate the fact that Kannon hasn’t been spending as much time with him as he used to.”
That made Makayla smile. Kannon had fallen back some from the both of them, and while Makayla understood it… she’d definitely missed him. From the sound of it, Austin did too.
“Are you serious?”
“Dead. He had his lil scrawny chest poked out as he walked over and everything. Beat on the door like he was the man or some shit. Then when he was calling Kannon out about the shit, he was pointing his lil finger up at him. Meant every word he said. I was tripping.”
Makayla laughed as she shook her head. “I know he loves having you around, especially now that you’ve softened up a bit, but Kannon was our everything since he was born. So I’m sure he misses him a lot too.”
Jason let a few seconds pass before asking, “Do you?”
Makayla sighed as her smile lingered. “I do. I can’t deny that.”
“I wouldn’t ask you to.” Jason paused. “Look, I ain’t no fool. I used to see the way you and Kannon would look at each other. And if I’m keeping it trill, he’s the one who noticed you first. But while he was thinking of how to approach you, I just stepped. So in a sense, I took you from him.” Makayla’s mouth dropped at his confession. “When I gave you to him and told him to take care of you, I knew there was a chance that some shit would pop off between y’all. Any real man gon’ feel some type of way in that position – he’s with a beautiful woman helping her raise her son. Of course he gon’ catch feelings. And of course you gon’ catch feelings. Not just because he’s treating you good but because he accepted Austin as his own. So if y’all fucked around
while I was gone, I won’t even knock that. It’s to be expected when a close bond like that is created.”
“But?”
“But I’m out now, and if something was to pop off between y’all… I can’t lie and say I wouldn’t feel some type of way. Only because I’d have to see my best friend love the woman I wasn’t good enough to love. You feel me?”
Makayla nodded. “Yeah, I feel you.”
“Good. I’ll see you when you get home.”
She nodded again before disconnecting the call. Even though she and Kannon had agreed to stay away from each other, there was finality in hearing Jason would be effected by it. Though she understood where he was coming from, she hated that the love she had created with Kannon would cause an important person in her life pain. A part of her wished she could have kept hate in her heart towards Jason and not given a fuck about how he felt… but that had never been her character. She’d always been loyal… even when it wasn’t for her own good.
57
Jason
“You think we’re playing, don’t you? I’m not anything like those little niggers you control on the streets. This is a big boy’s game.”
Jason chuckled as he paced. Ten more of his men were murdered over the past two weeks. Because of it, they had to shut all distribution down. His men weren’t safe, and it didn’t seem fair to Jason for his freedom to cost so many people their lives. Truthfully, when he agreed to become an informant, he knew this would happen. Even with them concealing his identity and promising to make sure his testimony was sealed, it wouldn’t take a genius to figure out he was the one delivering information since he’d miraculously been released.
Jason had been offered the opportunity to leave the state and assume a new identity under witness protection, but that would feel too much like running, and he couldn’t have that. Besides, Makayla and Austin were here. Kannon was here. Kingston and Tracy were here. His family, his business, were here. He couldn’t just leave. Not without a hell of a fight at least.