by Meesha
“Good morning, baby.”
I turned around and looked down in the face of my flavor of the day. Sincere was one of the bitches that I entertained from time to time. At forty, I still wasn’t ready to be in a relationship. If I decided to settle down, Sincere would be the one I kept around. Her skin reminded me of a cup of mocha flavored coffee. She had a body that would throw you off your game. Titties sat high and perky, thirty-eight double Ds stayed staring a nigga in the face, slim waist, and an ass that you could see from the front with a camel toe that stood out in everything she covered it with.
“Good morning. I have a meeting with my nephew so I’m gon’ need you to shake. I have to discuss some important shit with him, but I will hit you up as soon as we’re finished. I’m gon’ need another dose of that power pussy you possess,” I said kissing her lips while I grabbed a handful of her ass.
“I understand, business before pleasure. You know when you send the dick signal, I’ll be here faster than a superhero. I’m going to give you a pass for last night because I see you had something huge on your mind, don’t do anything crazy, Erique.”
“Don’t act like you know me, Sin. Things will be all good, believe that. I can’t promise things won’t get crazy. The mindset that I’m in is Beast mode, Erique is playing in the background. I don’t want you to worry your little head about me, I ain’t going nowhere, that’s something I can promise. Now, go upstairs and get dressed, Ricio should be here any minute,” I said letting her go to pour a hefty cup of java.
“Erique—Beast, it’s been years since I’ve seen you in this frame of mind. Back then it wasn’t a good thing, the streets are not what they used to be. The niggas out there are ruthless, they don’t give a fuck about anything or anyone.”
“And I do?” I asked looking over my shoulder with a grimace on my face. “I don’t give a damn about any nigga out in the streets. They bleed just like me. I won’t get dirty unless I have to. If I have to put in work, the streets will hear my roar and get the fuck outta my way. Until then, let me handle my business.”
I leaned against the counter as I sipped from my favorite Notre Dame mug. Sincere had been around since I came home from the Army. She had seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. What I loved about her was the fact that she didn’t mind getting her hands dirty and she was riding regardless. She always tried to talk me out of a lot of shit, but didn’t hesitate to turn into Sin City when the time came. She was nothing nice when she was in that element. Beauty, brains, and deadly as hell. Shit made my dick rock up every time I thought about it, that’s why she was my bitch.
“Okay, let me get out of your hair. I’ll get up with Leslie and go shopping or something. Hit my line when you’re ready for me,” she said heading out of the kitchen. Abruptly spinning back around, “oh yeah, that bitch Sable called your phone while you were sleeping. I had to check her ass for calling herself coming at me disrespectfully. I will snatch her fucking tongue out through her throat. Talk to that hoe and let her know her place before she come up missing,” she didn’t wait for me to respond, she just turned and walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs.
Chuckling as I grabbed my dick, I was about to go upstairs and get all up in her ass when the doorbell stopped me in my tracks. Her rant replayed in my head and I wanted to ignore the door all together, but I knew Mauricio was on the other side. I opted to let him in instead, that boss shit would be on my mind all day and I was going to ball her up soon enough.
“Happy birthday, lil nigga!” I said as I opened the door giving him a manly hug. Mauricio looked like his damn daddy so much, it brought tears to my eyes because I missed my nigga.
“Thanks man, twenty-one is about to have ya boy out here flossin’,” he said laughing.
“As long as you do it the right way. Keep ya circle small and you will be alright. There are plenty of snakes out here in this cruel world. After today, things will be different for you, mark my words,” I said stepping to the side so he could enter.
Leading the way to the living room, Sincere walked her sexy ass down the stairs looking like a whole five course meal at seven in the morning. She had on a pair of tight jeans that hugged her hips nicely. The off the shoulder blouse she wore did nothing to hide how big her titties were. She had on a pair of stilettoes that made her legs look endless and I was loving the sight before me. I was fighting the urge to take her back upstairs to my bedroom. Hearing Mauricio whistle loudly, I knew his ass was about to act up.
“Got damn, Sin! It’s too early to be shitting on these hoes like that. Unc, you hitting that shit right, nigga!" he yelled pushing my shoulder.
“Respect my shit, youngin. Don’t get beat the fuck up on your birthday, muthafucka. That’s still my bitch, now calm that shit down.” I said grilling his ass.
“My bad, I had to give her props because she out here killing shit. No disrespect, Sin, how you doing?”
“I’m good, Ricio. Long time no see and happy birthday. Hold on, I got something for you,” she said walking into my office. Coming back out with a long box wrapped in gold wrapping paper, she handed it to him. “I had to give you something special for your twenty-first birthday, I hope you like it,” she said smiling.
Mauricio carefully tore the paper off exposing a black velvet jewelry box. He looked up with an inquiring stare and slowly opened the lid. He smiled big as he lifted a platinum linked chain out for us to see. He focused on the ‘RB’ charm that was filled with diamonds.
“This mufucka go hard! Thank you! Damn Sin, this is nice, what’s with the RB?”
“I felt I should get you something that you could rock with your daddy close to your heart. The RB stands for ‘Reese Boy’.”
Ricio stood there quietly for a few seconds before he looked up with his eyes glistening with tears. Holding them at bay, he opened his arms for a hug. When she walked into his embrace, he held her tightly and cried like a baby. I knew he missed his father just as much as I did.
“I appreciate this so much, thanks again,” he said kissing her cheek.
“No problem, enjoy your day. I’m gonna head out and let you guys talk,” she said turning to stare at me. “I’ll see you later big daddy,” she said kissing my lips lightly.
I watched her ass switch all the way to the door and was still staring after she was gone. Thinking of all the ways I was going to wax all that when she came back was pure enjoyment, I couldn’t wait to act on it. When I glanced at Mauricio he was laughing softly.
“What the fuck you laughing for?”
“Man Unc, stop playing and make an honest woman out of Sin. She has been around forever and you can tell she loves yo’ ass. I don’t know why, but she does.”
“She ain’t going nowhere, when I get to that point, she is the first in line. I’m not ready, one day though.”
“I feel you on that. Having options is where it’s at, you don’t have to worry about none of these hoes questioning you about shit. I’m not loyal to nan bitch except my mama and she ain’t here.” His tone went down a couple of octaves when he spoke those words.
“With that being said, I guess it’s time to talk, let’s go into my office.” I said grabbing my coffee, leading the way.
As I got comfortable behind my desk, he looked around at all the pictures I had hanging on the wall like it was his first time seeing them. I had every picture that I had of Reese on the walls. Majority of them were of the two of us together. The one he focused on the longest was the wedding picture that displayed his parents. I knew he was coming over so I removed the picture of my nigga laid out sharper than a knife in his casket. That’s the one I’d spent hours on end staring at to prepare me for the moment I would have to tell Mauricio what was real and what was fake.
“I talked to Max last night, that muthafucka wants me to snatch a knot out of his ass. His mind has been poisoned, but when I see him, I’m fucking him up. I’ve been around all y’all lives and the disrespect that I got from him, is something that I won’t accept
. As he spit venom from his mouth, all I heard in my mind was ‘fuck him up, Beast’. That’s exactly what I plan to do too.”
“That’s what I was thinking when he pulled that tool on my ass. The only thing that saved him was Nija. He’s my lil brother, but he crossed the line last night. I wanted to kill his ass, Unc. On the strength of family is the reason he was not scooped up and rolled into a meat wagon. I’m done. I hate to turn my back on him, but the nigga idolizing Big Jim over my Papí’s legacy. That’s a slap in the mufuckin’ face like he is saying, fuck Reese Williams!”
Mauricio was hot for the shit Max did, I didn’t blame him. I never got in the way of Reese’s rants, I wouldn’t get in Mauricio’s way either. God cloned my best friend because I swear his son’s mannerisms were the same as his. Now I had to see how strong his drive was, as well as how angry he could get. I needed him to turn into a monster when I reveal what I’ve waited years to tell him about.
“Sit down, Ricio. I have some shit that I need to lay on you. I want you to hear me out with an open mind.” I sat with my hands folded in front of me, waiting to see if he had anything to say. When he didn’t respond, I kept going as I reached inside the cabinet to retrieve a bottle of Remy VSOP and two glasses. “Your father and I had been in the drug game for a very long time. I stepped out of the limelight and let him handle shit on the streets. He formed a crew of niggas to help him move millions of dollars of product, monthly. He came to my house one day telling me that he felt something was going to happen to him, that happened a few weeks before he was killed. Big Jim and Floyd were the ones on his radar strongly. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing throughout the years. Big Jim was the one overseeing the money because he was quote en quote his closest friend next to me. Come to find out, he was robbing your father blind. Reese had no clue because he was getting money hand over fist and he didn’t miss the money. Big Jim got greedy and tried his hand at stealing larger amounts. When Reese took it to him, he placed the blame on a young nigga that lost his life by the hands of your father and myself. At that point, I went over Reese’s records and saw exactly when the shortage started. It took weeks to come up with the evidence but by the time I got it together, he was dead.”
“How the fuck is this mufucka still breathing years after my daddy died!” Mauricio yelled jumping up. “You knew this shit and yo’ ass sat back and did nothing! How the fuck is that possible, Beast? You better have a strong explanation for this shit because right about now, you ain’t looking no better than his bitch ass!”
I couldn’t do anything except let him get everything off his chest. He had every right to be furious over the things that I told him. My reaction would’ve been just as bad, so I didn’t try to take that from him. What I did was told him why I waited, and why I didn’t react.
“Have a seat, nephew. I —”
“Fuck that! I’m cool right here! Explain yo’self, Beast.”
Running my hand down my face, I poured myself a hefty shot of Remy and downed it. I placed the glass on the desk and stared him in his eyes. “I want you to know that not saying anything was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Why I didn’t act was because, your father gave me strict instructions not to.” I said opening the drawer on the top right side of my desk.
I gathered the stack of papers that I had placed in the drawer and put them in front of me. I had documentation after documentation of how Reese ran his organization. There was evidence on how much heroin, coke, meth, ecstasy, and percs that were sold monthly. His net worth was also amongst those documents. Along with written documentation that stated how to handle everything if he was to leave this earth. I also had a copy of the document Big Jim presented to the courts to gain custody of the kids.
“Mauricio, the answers to all of your questions sits right here,” I explained slapping my hand on top of the paperwork. “Before I get into what’s in the content of these papers, I want you to listen to something.” I reached into the same drawer and pulled out a disk and inserted it into my Mac computer.
As we waited for the disc to load, Mauricio reached over grabbing the Remy bottle and poured a full glass. He threw the dark liquor back like a champ, going in for more. I didn’t attempt to stop him until he downed a double shot and reached for the bottle a third time.
“That’s enough, Ricio. I need you to be able to comprehend what I’m about to tell you. When everything comes to light, I don’t want you to be too fucked up to remember.” I said as I moved the bottle out of his reach.
“How the fuck did you expect me to react, Beast? You just told me some shit that you could’ve prevented, or at least handled! It seems to me, you didn’t give a fuck about Papi!”
“I won’t allow you to question the love I had for Reese! He was my nigga, my brother, before you were even a figment of his imagination, muthafucka! I stood down only because he told me he had Big Jim under control. I never stopped searching for the information he inquired about. The only thing I’m guilty of is not being there the night he was killed. The reason being, I had major surgery on my knee, but when you called, I got there as fast as I could. But that didn’t matter because my boy was gone! I’m hurting over his death just as much as y’all, if not more. Don’t ever discredit my loyalty to him.” I glared.
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I took deep breaths before I reached out and touched his ass. The assumptions he spewed pissed me off but I knew I couldn’t act the way I wanted. With everything he said, at the end of the day, he was still my family. I was going to stand by him and his brothers until I took my last breath on this earth. Grasping the mouse, I clicked the play button to start the disc I had inserted in the computer.
“All the shit you said—” His words were stuck in his throat when Reese’s voice flowed through the speakers.
“My nigga! I hope all is well with yo’ ass. It’s game time, bro! Let’s send these muthafuckas to the grave. The fact that you’re listening to this disc, only means they got to me. I’m sorry for keeping you out of the loop about everything, but I’m a grown ass man that thought I had shit under control. Obviously, I didn’t but that’s water under the bridge. Listen to me and listen good, Beast. I put a lot of shit into play ahead of time because I knew they were gunning for me. The insurance policy has been updated, listing you as the primary beneficiary. Your name has been added to all of my business accounts too. The joint account that me and Maritza has is still in both of our names and that will stay the same for her and the boys to live off of. Money will transfer from the business account to that account every month, don’t change the dollar amount until the day I stop breathing. Maritza gets the house and the cars. I want you to keep an eye on my wife, man. I think that nigga is up to something, I don’t know what though.”
“Pause that shit, unc!” I did what he asked and waited on him to speak. “Papí is running so much down in a recording that was done before he died. Are you sure you didn’t have a clue about any of this?” Mauricio asked sitting up in the chair.
“I didn’t know things were as deep as they were. If I had, we would’ve been on top of it together. Your father had me to help him out of so much shit all our lives, I’m guessing he wanted to do this on his own to prove that he didn’t need anyone.” I said lowly.
“Papí was concerned about mama’s safety, he never said anything about that either?”
I hated the fact that he didn’t fill me in on that concern because if he had, Maritza would be alive today. “No, he didn’t.” I answered truthfully.
“Since all this shit happened, there has been a question that never left my mind. I want you to answer this truthfully because I already know the answer but I need confirmation. Was my mama on drugs?”
The look in his eyes had a glimmer of hope in them. I knew for a fact that Maritza didn’t do any drugs, she didn’t drink anything stronger than coffee. “No, your mother didn’t like what your father did to make money. She wanted him to stop a long time ago, she didn’t smoke nor drink. Th
e next question is going to be, how did she overdose, right?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly where I was going with it. If she didn’t do any hard drugs, how the hell did the needle end up in her arm? That was my thought process then, but now after hearing some of the things papí mentioned, this shit got Big Jim written all over it.”
“Maritza’s death definitely wasn’t an overdose. I argued that fact to the detectives on the case but without proof, nothing could be done. I didn’t receive the package that contained the disc and documents until a month after your mother’s funeral. By that time, Big Jim had already presented the documentation to gain full custody of your brothers.” I shuffled through the papers until I found the one I was looking for. Sliding the paper across the desk for him to look over.
“Why would papí sign us over to him and not you?”
“He didn’t. Let’s keep listening.” I said as I pressed play and Reese’s voice filled our ears once again.
“I found a falsified documentation at his house that would give him custody of Sosa and Max. I didn’t think anything of it because it was useless without being notarized. Big Jim was smarter than I gave him credit for. Watch out for my wife, he’s looking to take over my shit. Don’t let it happen, I need you to step up as my brother. In a little over four years, retirement will be over for you, Beast. You will be the connect again. Once again, you’re going to help flood the streets of Chicago with the purest cocaine from Columbia. On Mauricio’s twenty-first birthday, you are to play this recording for him. There is a key to a safe deposit box at Citi Bank taped to the inside of the manila envelope the discs were in, as well as a key to a storage space that I own. Inside that locker is one hundred and fifty bricks that I vacuumed sealed tightly. The money received from the load belongs to y’all, I already paid Jorge for them. Big Jim is probably living the lavish life trying to be me. When it’s time, I want Mauricio sitting on my throne as the Kingpin of Chicago.”