by Jones, Bella
He continued to do business with the Oglesby Boys and even started supplying them without Samir and the rest of the crew’s knowledge. He made sure Valli didn’t get suspicious by making it look like his sets where moving more work than usual. But the one thing Cesar couldn’t avoid was the talk on the street. He knew eventually word would get out about his dealings with Rocko and his crew, but he didn’t care, because Rocko manipulated him into believing he was running the Oglesby Boy crew.
His plan was to use Cesar as much as he could and eventually take over the streets using the work he supplied him with.
While the rest of the Corleones were investing in legal endeavors, Cesar was blowing more money than he was actually pulling in. He managed to make sure he paid what his sets owed, but his Rockefeller lifestyle was catching up to him.
The Corleones met at Samir’s condo once a week for poker night, and to discuss the nature of their business, but Cesar was M.I.A. so much, it came to the point where the others were beginning to pressure Samir about voting him out.
“Cesar been with us since we started this thing four years ago,” twenty one year old Samir interjected.
“Man, SC, fuck that. This nigga is never around, and he ain’t been handling business at all. I hear he still fucking with them Oglesby niggas too, and I don’t like that shit,” Seven responded.
“I’ve been hearing the same thing around my sets,” Chase added.
“I’ve been telling you niggas I don’t trust him. Since were sixteen, seventeen years old. Ever since we expanded, that nigga been real big headed and shit, running round here with his head up his ass, blowing cash like water; this nigga making the same money we making, but yet, he living in a fucking apartment. Come on Sam, something just ain’t adding up,” Meko spoke his peace.
“I’m saying; we need to handle this situation before it ends up handling us. Because this nigga Ces hasn’t been acting like a Corleone lately, and we all see it but you, SC,” Seven told Samir.
“What, y’all don’t think I hear the same shit y’all hear? I’m in the same streets y’all in. I’m running the same operation y’all running. But Cesar is a part of this family, and we have a loyalty to this family no matter what. Niggas been trying to take our spot since the second we got in this game, and if we dismantle Cesar’s position, how y’all think that’s gon’ look?” Samir replied.
“It’s gon’ look like we got rid of the snake in the grass before it bit us in the ass,” Meko said.
Later that night Samir went to bed with his mind racing. He knew Meko, Seven and Chase were right about Cesar, but his loyalty was getting the best of him. This was not the time for them to fall apart because they had too much riding on their possible expansion with the crew out of Atlanta.
He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling in silence. Khloe could sense something was wrong, but she tried not to ask him about his business because she felt that wasn’t her place. She just wanted to make sure he didn’t stress too much. He had taught her so much about life in the few short years they were together. He didn’t shield her from his life, but he didn’t involve her with everything either. He taught her the aspects of the game he had to learn on his own, and some he learned from his brothers and his father. He made sure she would be able to hold her own if anything was to happen to him.
She respected him on a level she never respected anyone in her life. He taught her what it was to be a woman, and what it meant to carve out your own way in life. Her only wish was to take away his stress. She saw him age so much over the last year from his business becoming more strenuous and intense. Through it all, she made sure that his home life was easy, but she knew something more than the woes of the game was getting to him.
“I took Kelsey and his brother the money today, babe,” she said softly as she climbed on top of him.
“Okay babe, thank you.”
“My guidance counselor at school said I should have enough credits to graduate this year if I wanted to.”
“Oh yeah, that’s good baby, I’m proud of you.”
“Yea, you should be, you pushed the shit out of me about school.”
“Well, I wanted to make sure you know how important it is for a woman to be educated. A pretty face is nice, but a woman with a brain is unstoppable.”
“What’s wrong baby. Why are you so stressed?” she asked him hoping he would let her in.
“Nothing Khlo, I’m good. I got things handled okay, don’t worry about me.”
“How can I not worry when you’re involved in such a dangerous lifestyle?”
“Listen, just kiss me.”
She didn’t press the issue; she just did what he asked. He didn’t let her in on the situation with Cesar. He made love to her four times that night, each time coming inside her, hoping to create another part of himself.
Being inside her loins was the only time his mind was clear. Being with her made him forget about all the bullshit he was going through in the streets.
The next morning he woke up to the non-stop ringing of his phone.
“You have a collect phone call from an inmate in the Cook County Jail, would you like to accept the charges?” the operated asked.
“Yea, I’ll accept.”
“Samir, what’s up with you?” Sin’s voice sounded weary on the phone. Being in jail for the last 4 years was taking a toll on him.
“I’m good bro, how are you?”
“We cool little bro, glad this little bid is coming to an end. But this ain’t a social call. You need to come down here and see us, we need to talk.”
“Look, Sin, don’t worry about it, I got it handled.”
“I’m sure you do, but bring your ass down here tomorrow, you hear me?”
“Yea bro, I hear you. I’ll be there.”
Samir knew exactly what Sin and Ace wanted to talk to him about. He knew he had to get a handle on this Cesar thing, and voting him out the crew was starting to look more like his only option. It was one thing to have Meko, Seven and Chase encouraging the decision, but to have his brothers looking at him like he couldn’t handle himself wasn’t an image he was comfortable living with.
Samir knew he couldn’t go back to sleep, so he got up and headed to check on Valli. Valli informed him that Cesar was doing his re-ups more often than usual, and at first Valli didn’t look at it like a problem, but he was requesting more work than he was supposed to get.
Valli told Cesar he had to talk to Samir before releasing the work and Cesar lost his cool. Valli held his ground, but Cesar was highly upset.
“Nigga was talking mad reckless, talking about he run this Corleone shit and he didn’t need no permission from you to do what he needed to do.”
“Have you heard of his sets pushing more work than usual?”
“Naw, I fuck with a few niggas in that area and they ain’t told me they moving more work than normal. I don’t know where this increase came from,” Valli informed Samir.
“Okay, well let me handle Cesar. Is it making us short anywhere else?”
“Naw, we good right now,”
“Give him what he came for, but keep a tail on him and find out where the work is going. If it’s not going to his sets, I’ma put my young boy back on it. If anything comes up that you feel is amiss, let me know.”
“Okay, I got you SC. Don’t even trip. If it’s some bogus shit going on, I’ll find it,” Valli assured him.
Samir wasn’t feeling good about what was going on under his nose. He couldn’t bring himself to believe Cesar was biting the hands that fed him. He began to question himself and his loyalty to Cesar.
He had a meeting with his father about a new venture and a new connect, so he had to put Cesar to the back of his mind and hold his composure in front of his father and Carlyle’s counterparts.
He drove in silence thinking about how much things changed since he was that 16 year old boy trying to jump in the game and build an empire with his best friends. He never knew that the more money they bou
ght in would begin to change the promise they made to each other four years earlier. Deep down, Samir knew Cesar changed, but he didn’t want to believe it.
When he pulled in front of the restaurant where his father was, his palms were sweaty and his stomach was in knots. He knew if his brothers knew about Cesar; his father knew first.
When Samir walked inside he was lead to his father’s table. He noticed an older Spanish guy that he never seen before sitting with him. He sat down next to Carlyle, confused as to what this meeting was about.
“Son, this is Paoulo, Paoulo, this is my son, Samir. The one I was telling you about,” Carlyle introduced them.
“Nice to meet you,”
“Same here, I’ve heard a lot about you and your black Corleone crew.”
“I called you here today, Samir because Paoulo needs a good crew to set him up in the Chicago market, and right now the Co-op can’t handle what he needs, so I think it’s time you graduate from having a middle man and go straight to your own source.”
“What? Pops, what exactly are you saying?” he asked in shock.
“What I’m saying is, you and Paoulo here should build a nice little business relationship, and instead of your old man being your connect, it’s time you have your very own connect.”
“What your father here is trying to tell you son, is I need a crew with heart and loyalty to distribute my product, and with everything you got going, I think you are the man for the Job. Can you handle two hundred kilos a month, at forty five hundred a key?”
“Yes sir, Mr. Paoulo, I can handle it,” Samir responded, still in shock about this opportunity.
“Well, good then, it’s settled. Let’s shake on it. I will contact your old man with a time to meet your entire crew very soon,” Paoulo informed Samir.
“I know about Cesar and those Oglesby Boys, Sam. Get a handle on that shit now, because this is a huge opportunity to finally be your own man, but one bad apple can fuck it all up,” Carlyle warned Samir as he walked him to the car.
“Dad, I got it handled,” Samir assured him.
He hit Meko and made sure to have the crew meet him in the gardens to let them know about his meeting. He knew with this new opportunity coming their way, their empire was about to explode. He was honored his father trusted him with this chance at having his own connect and the ability to run shit his way for the first time in his career.
They would really be able to flood the streets, especially his expansion.
When he made it to the gardens, Meko, Seven and Chase where already standing outside the trap, talking to Valli. Once again, Cesar was M.I.A.
“Mek, you didn’t hit Cesar?” he asked as he greeted his crew.
“Yea, I did, but he didn’t answer me back.”
“Okay, we don’t have time to wait for that nigga. Valli, you got on that right?”
“Yea boss, I got it under control.”
“Okay, good. Fellas, I just left a meeting with my pops and shit is about to get really real. He introduced me to a Spanish nigga named Paoulo and the Corloenes have officially shook hands with our own connect,” he told his crew in excitement.
“Stop playing, Joe,” Seven joked.
“I’m not playing. This nigga is about to hit us with two hundred keys a month at forty five hundred a key.”
“Oh shit. So, what you saying is, we can cop what we want when we want. No re-up rules?” Meko inquired.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. But we gon’ do things a little different though. We gon’ keep copping from my pops and keep our sets booming with that, and just hit our expansion with what we get from Paoulo. Only niggas moving major weight get this work outside of our expansions, and I’m gon’ take that meeting with them Atlanta boys and work a deal with them. This is the big time fellas.”
“Are we ready for this, SC?” Chase asked.
“My pops feels we are, so I say we are,” he responded. “I’m going to consult my brothers tomorrow about this and that….”
Just as he was finishing his statement Cesar pulled up. He wasn’t too enthused about being there, but he had to keep up appearances, plus Valli called him about his re-up just as Samir had asked him to.
Cesar spoke to his crew and went inside to handle his business with Valli. After 20 minutes, he emerged from the house carrying the duffle bag containing the work that was supposed to be going to his sets, but instead, it was being supplied to the Oglesby boys.
“What’s up family, what we meeting about?” he casually asked.
“Had you been here when the rest of us got here you would’ve known,” Meko barked.
“Mek what’s the deal with you? I’m here now aren’t I?” he tried to keep the peace.
“Yea Joe, you here now,” Meko decided not to let himself get upset behind Cesar. He knew eventually he would slip up, and he would be right there waiting for him.
“We were meeting about our new connect my pops just linked us with,” Samir interrupted.
“New connect, what you mean new connect?”
“My pops linked me with a Spanish nigga named Paoulo. My pops can’t take on another connect cuz’ he dealing with the Colombians, so he passed it along to me.”
“What this Spanish papi talking about?”
“He’s talking at least two hundred a month at forty five hundred a unit.”
“Damn, those are big numbers, how we gon’ move that kinda of work?”
“You really should have been here when SC called the meeting, Joe. This shit is annoying,” Seven Chimed in, “As a matter of fact, what’s so important that you ain’t never around, aren’t you apart of this family?”
“I been a part of this family from day one, so don’t ever question my involvement in some shit I helped start. I don’t need to be around you niggas twenty four seven. I mean damn, I do have sets to fucking run,” Cesar snapped.
“Well, if you were running your shit effectively that shit would practically run itself. My shit run so smooth I only got go around on collect day,” Chase added in his calm demeanor.
“Good for you nigga,” Cesar snapped at him.
“Look, now ain’t the time for this shit. We don’t need to be falling apart right now, not with this fucking shit in our laps. This shit is about to make us multimillionaires, and I really don’t wanna hear this shit. We sound like females. We’ll deal with this later.”
“I ain’t the one with the problem, these niggas always starting shit,” Cesar told him.
“I don’t care, Joe, damn. To answer your question, we’re gonna use the new work to supply our expansions and keep copping from my pops to supply our home front. I’m going to Atlanta to fuck with some niggas out there, so that’s another avenue. Our niggas in Virginia move big numbers, so we’ll supply them with this shit, and only niggas copping major units. Next Week we’re going to Gurney to meet with Paoulo as unit, everybody needs to be there. Now, if you niggas don’t mind, I promised Ms. Khloe a dinner date, so I’m going home,” Samir told them as he ended their meeting.
“SC, ask Khlo if she going with Kaiyah tomorrow to pick out salons,” Seven asked.
“Why is Kai still running around, ain’t y’all about to have a baby any second now?” Samir asked as he got in his car.”
“Yea, but you know she hard headed as hell. I promised her when she graduated I would buy her a salon; she won’t let that shit go.”
“You niggas are whipped,” Meko laughed from his car window
“Sprung as fuck!” Chase chimed in.
“Yeah, okay, I’m whipped alright. That’s why you two niggas together, looking for pussy when I already got it at home, waiting for me,” Samir joked.
On the outside looking in The Corleones seemed to be living the life. Their reign in the drug game was only getting better. It seemed as if they had it all. Investments, hood fame, love and money, but their foundation was cracking right under them and they couldn’t feel it.
As they continued to move in their success,
Cesar’s greed was getting the best of him. His insatiable appetite for being the man was only growing bigger. Seven, Meko, Chase and Samir didn’t realize that this new opportunity would be more of a curse than a blessing.
Chapter Thirteen
“You nervous bro?” Chase asked Seven as they awaited the arrival of the first born Black Corleone baby.
“Naw, I’m not nervous, I’m just anxious to finally meet my little man.”
“I can’t believe one of us is about to have a baby. I can’t lie to you fam, I’d be nervous as shit right now. Fatherhood is a big step,” Samir chimed in.
“Yea, but I’m excited about it. I didn’t have a father around, so I’m glad that I got a son to be the kind of father he wasn’t. I envied the relationship you and your pops got, SC, cuz’ I always wanted that shit.”
“Look at it this way Sev, at least you got a chance to change that never ending cycle of little niggas coming up without a pops,” Meko added.
The impending birth of Seven’s son brought out a softer side of the otherwise serious business savvy Corleones. They never thought their lives would change so much the day got together at Meko’s grandmother’s house to devise their takeover in Chicago’s drug world. Now, one of them was about to become a father.
They did everything as a unit, so it was no surprise that they would be together at the hospital awaiting the arrival of Seven’s son. But there was one person who was absent to the occasion, and it happened to be Cesar.
It had gotten to a point where the other Corleones stop expecting Cesar to be around for their milestones, and he was rarely around for their business matters.
It had been two weeks since their last meeting in the gardens and Cesar was missing in action ever since. Samir was still waiting on word from Valli, but he made sure to put Meko’s soldier Carlos on the job.