“Rudy is trying to get another court date. He’s working on it. I should be out of here soon. So ain’t nothing going on?”
“Nothing, baby. Just missing you, that’s all.”
“Bullshit. Come see me right away.” I didn’t give a fuck that I was all the way in Miami.
“Come see you?” she stammered.
“Yeah, come see me. You was just bitchin’ about not being able to come see me; now I say come on and you offering resistance? You coming or not?”
SHAN
Oh shit. No, he did not just order me to come see him. He must have heard something. But… No, he couldn’t have. Fuckin’ bigmouth Nick! I knew Briggen. He knew if he got me in front of him he’d be able to get me to tell him everything.
“Shan! You coming or what?”
“When do you want me to come?”
“As soon as possible. Visits are seven days a week.”
“I don’t feel like dragging Anthony with me.”
“Get Keeta to keep him for a couple of days.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll get right on it.”
Click.
He hung up.
I had already called the holding facility there in Miami. They only allowed them four hours a month and one hour a day. I was not flying way to Miami by myself to sit on a visit for one measly hour to be interrogated. And leave my son? I don’t think so.
I knew Briggen would be calling back. He only hung up to get my blood boiling. Sure enough, fifteen minutes later, the phone rang.
“Shan, I want you down here as soon as possible.”
“Briggen, I said I was coming. You only hung up fifteen minutes ago.”
“When are you coming, Shan?”
“Call back in an hour. I need to make a reservation, hotel, babysitter, all of that, Briggen. When I was trying to see you, you didn’t want me to come. It wasn’t necessary, you told me. Now all of a sudden it’s urgent.”
“You damn right it’s urgent. So why are you bullshittin’ around?”
“I’m not bullshittin’, Briggen. Anthony’s crying, I gotta go.” I hung up before he could say another word. I’m a grown-ass woman and he ain’t my muthafuckin’ daddy.
As I was online going through the motions of finding a travel agency and looking for flights and hotel deals, just doing what I was told, it hit me. Something came over me like I was possessed by the spirit of my girl Brianna and her fuck it attitude. I was fed up with second-guessing myself and putting everyone else before me. I had been doing that shit since high school. I was fed up with always doing everything Briggen wanted me to do and when he wanted me to do it. Even if I didn’t feel like it. But not this time. I was not up for going to Miami for no damn one-hour visit. For what? For him to lie to my face about how he was one-hundred percent legit or lie about how he didn’t fuck with Mia no more? Fuck that! I had a shitload of money stashed in my garage, and it was mine, all mine. And once Nick moved that other dope I would have another shitload of money coming in. So I decided, “Fuck it!” I knew I could get Miss Carrol who ran the day care to keep Anthony. She loved him to death. I had it all mapped out. I was going shopping, getting my hair done, and then I was packing my bag and going to Vegas.
FIVE DAYS LATER…
BRIGGEN
I was on pins and needles as I waited for the guards to tell me I had a visit. But Shan’s ass never bothered to show up, which only confirmed the rumors my sources had been pullin’ my ear to. On top of that, every time I dialed her number it would shoot straight to voicemail. Her ass thinks she slick, but I ain’t gonna sweat it because I told her once they straightened out those old warrants I would be out and she and I would be face to face.
And here I was, fresh out, back on the street and locked out of my own damn house. Shan was still refusing to answer her phone, and I hadn’t heard from Keeta. My cell was in the house and I just wanted to get inside.
I went next door to my neighbor’s house and asked to use their phone. I called Keeta, and, of course, she was running the streets. I told her to run her ass by her house and get my keys that I had stashed there.
“Boy, what else you stashed in my house without me knowing?”
“Just bring me my damn keys so that I can get inside,” I told her and hung up. I thanked Billy, my neighbor, and went back and sat on my front porch.
Shan’s sudden behavior had definitely raised a red flag. I had no clue what she was up to, and I didn’t even have a clue as to where she was. I was trying to figure out why she didn’t tell Keeta where she was going and why she wasn’t answering her phone. The more I thought about her, the more I started buggin’. What if someone kidnapped her and my son? I damn sure didn’t want to get the fucking pigs involved. This was not like her. On top of that, I’d been hearing that Nick had been over here several times. What if she was with him? My mind was swimming in the questions that I had no answers to. I sat on my porch ready to lose it.
Finally Keeta pulled up, jumping the curb, damn near missing my fence by a thread. I stood up and waited for her to get out of the car.
“What’s up, jailbird?” she teased me.
“Just give me my damn keys, Keeta. You haven’t heard from Shan at all?”
“Not at all, I already told you that.” She came up on the porch and gave me my keys.
“I got it from here,” I told her. I needed to get inside and focus.
“You don’t need my help?”
“I said I’m good, Keeta.”
“Damn, you don’t have to snap. I guess you don’t need to know that Miss Carrol has the baby. Oh, that’s right! You don’t need me. I’m outta here.” She turned and started for the stairs pulling out her phone and went to dialing.
“When did you find that out?” Miss Carrol had been a friend of our family’s ever since I could remember. She had been helping with the running of the day care since it opened.
“On my way over here.” I followed behind her bombarding her with questions. She held up her finger to shut me up. “Miss Carrol, hi. This is Keeta again. Anthony’s father just made it to the house. He wants to talk to you.”
She handed me the phone. “Hello, Miss Carrol.” I was glad to know that my son was fine.
“Hi, baby. Your li’l man is fine. I don’t have a problem keeping him for another two days until his mama comes back. Y’all know he’s a good baby.”
“I know. But I’m just getting back. Have you talked to his mother today?”
“She calls every day. She’s in Vegas winning all types of money! That girl got good luck.”
“I need to come pick up my son. I’ll be there in a half hour.”
“Okay, you know I’ll have him ready.”
She hung up, and I gave Keeta her phone back.
“You want me to get him?”
“Nah, I’ll go. Thanks, Keeta.”
“Boy, you know I got you. What about your car keys?”
“I got an extra set in the house.”
“Alrighty then, if you need me, call me.”
She left and I went into my house. I needed to shower, shave and call Nick. As I got dressed, I put together my plans and then thought I better take Keeta up on her offer. I grabbed the house phone and told her to go pick up Anthony and to tell Miss Carrol not to tell Shan I was home. She said something slick and hung up on me.
The next thing I did was go through my house. I had to get a feel for whatever Shan was up to. I saw the new Mercedes GL450 in the garage. I found my cell and called Nick.
“Nick, what’s good?”
“Briggen, what’s up with you? Where you at?”
“I’m at the crib.”
“Oh shit, you out?”
“For now, yeah,” I said.
“Fuck that for now shit. Money talks, nigga. You forgot? You want me to swing by? I gotta run something by you.”
“Yeah, come on through.”
CHAPTER TEN
JANAY
Boomer and I were waiting at the Detroi
t Science Center for this Nick character. We were just told that our shipment was dropped off already and being distributed. “Why do you think he’s giving us such a good price, Boomer? I mean, he’s practically giving it away.”
“Here he comes, you can ask him yourself.”
“Boomer, what’s up? Glad you are back out on the battlefield.” He embraced my uncle, and then turned to me. “And this must be Janay.”
“Yeah. This is my niece.”
“It’s cool to finally meet you. I didn’t get an opportunity to speak with you at the round table. What did you want to ask me?”
Nick was such a pretty boy, looking around my age, thirty-one. He was staring at me, waiting for my response.
“Why are you giving us such a good price?” I asked focusing on the business at hand.
He smiled. “That’s an easy one to answer. For one, it’s out of respect. And two, I want to contribute to the family that should be at the top of this food chain. Y’all know how to treat your people and run your business. Makes my job that much easier.”
“If that’s the case, then how long can we get it at this low price?”
“That depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“That depends on you.”
NICK
I’m not one to mix business with pleasure, but damn. Seeing Janay up close and personal I wasn’t expecting her to be supermodel sexy and so damn feminine. She had on a pair of black stilettos, black tight-fitting jeans that showed off each and every one of her curves and a simple but expensive white blouse. She was dressed like a woman with class. I didn’t want to take my eyes off her, and had to remind myself that I was here on business. The ball was in my court, and it was time for me to make that move.
“I’m listening,” Janay responded.
“Make me your main connect and I can guarantee that the price will stay the same. I’m confident that you can’t get a lower offer than mine nowhere.”
Janay’s expression remained blank. Boomer glanced over at her, then back at me. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen and paper. I watched as he jotted something down and passed the note to Janay. I kept my game face on as I waited for a reply. I knew the outcome because like I told her, she wouldn’t find shit lower or better than what I was offering.
After a long silence, Janay extended her hand for me to shake it. “We have a deal.” Once our hands locked, she pulled me close for an embrace. “Don’t fuck us over, baby boy,” and with that, she pinched my cheek.
Boomer thought that was funny.
“Boomer, our business is concluded here with Mr. Nick. I’ll be in the car.”
I watched her hips sway as she walked away. Damn, she’s a bad bitch! I thought.
Boomer obviously read the expression on my face because out of the blue he said, “You ain’t her type, youngin.”
“What’s her type?” I asked him.
“Trust me. You ain’t her type. But I’ll be in touch. Let me catch up with my niece.”
He left me standing there, and I left and headed over to see Briggen.
WHEN BRIGGEN OPENED THE front door, I stepped into a tension-filled atmosphere. I could feel it. He was carrying Li’l Peanut and had his cell glued to his ear. He waved me inside and pointed to the sofa. I sat down, and he disappeared upstairs. I heard him arguing with whoever it was he was talking to, and then his voice trailed off.
I sat there and waited for him to come downstairs, deciding how much I was going to tell him. I knew a nigga of his caliber didn’t leave his castle without anybody watching it. I wasn’t going to show my hand; I was going to feel my way through this. I knew I had to be careful and needed to call his bluff.
When he came back into the room, he said, “Nick, when they say ‘when it rains it pours’, whoever said that shit wasn’t lying.”
“What’s been up with you, man? Don’t tell me your ghost walking ass finally caught a case.”
“Man, I don’t even want to talk about that. But there a few things I do want to talk about. Why have you been stopping by my crib?”
“You don’t know?”
“If I did, do you think I’d be asking you?”
“Shan told me she got my number from your cell. She called me because she found a package and she needed help.”
“She found a package of what?”
“A key of dope.” There I was calling his bluff. I wasn’t sure what or how much he knew. “She took me to the garage and showed me a bag that had a key of dope in it. She said she didn’t know who else to call and asked me to move it for her. I had heard that you was locked up, but she confirmed it that day. I took the dope so you wouldn’t have it sitting around in your crib.”
“What the fuck?” He looked confused and shocked as he tried to process what I had just told him.
“I know, man.”
“How she just gonna call you outta the blue?”
“She called me. She said she found my number in your phone.”
“Nick, stop bullshittin’. You know it’s MOB… Money Over Bitches. What’s the real deal, nigga?”
“I ain’t bullshittin’. But your concern should be that whoever she took it from crashed into her, and as she was leaving, her tag fell off the back of the car. She said she went back for it, and it was gone. She don’t know who has it.”
“Fuck! And just a key?”
“Yeah. One key,” I lied.
Brig looked at me as if he knew I was lying. But what could I say? I glanced at my watch. I didn’t have any more time to waste sitting here playing twenty-one questions.“What else is up?”
“Big Choppa’s peoples were at the last roundtable.”
I had to laugh. Choppa was a rare breed. Here he disappeared only to resurface to make sure his daughter sat on his throne. “I’m not surprised. Choppa is from the old school. He rides until he dies.”
“Yeah, that’s true. But at the same meeting they took Melky out. He was one of my key players. How they gonna do that without my vote?”
I could hear in his voice that he had major problems with that move. “Man, you know you can’t be attached. When niggas fuck up and have to pay the cost ain’t shit you can do about it.”
Brig’s face was all contorted the fuck up. I didn’t know why he was surprised. He knew better than me how the game was played. “Him and Skye were the ones who tried to kidnap Choppa’s daughter, remember? You know Chop wasn’t gonna let that shit slide.”
“Yeah, but they took Skye out. That beef was supposed to be squashed.”
I shrugged his comment off. My mind wandered off to Shan. I wanted to ask him about her but at the same time, I didn’t want him to become more suspicious than he already was. If he didn’t have anything else for me, it was time for me to leave. He seemed as if he was ready to start trippin’. I was glad when I heard his son, my nephew, crying.
JANAY
I couldn’t believe that Nick had the audacity to try to hit on me. Didn’t he know who I was? And Boomer had the nerve to tell me to use it to my advantage. That shit was old as hell and I told him how insulted I was that he would even say that to me.
“What? You think I’m talking about pussy?”
“Of course. What else could you be referring to?”
“Nah, baby girl. I’m talking about his mind. His knowledge. What he knows. His information.” Boomer poked the side of his head. “How did he get to be the consultant to eighty percent of the drug families in Detroit? He’s slowly becoming the only supplier. He almost controls the supply and demand. The boy is smart, Janay.”
I laughed, “Boomer, y’all force me to run the family business. Now y’all gonna tell me who to fuck?”
“Janay, you know you have to be ready for whatever the game throws at you. You backing out on the family?”
Why did my uncle just call me out? Boomer told me that if my heart wasn’t one-hundred percent in this, then I would need to make a decision.
Needless to say, I en
ded up on the phone with Nick and we talked for damn near four hours… This was some bullshit!
SHAN
When Briggen first called with that visit shit, I admit, I did panic. And most of the time when I panic, dumb ideas come to mind. Vegas being one of them. I booked a trip to Vegas, first-class everything. I stayed at a new boutique hotel called The Atria. My timing was perfect. Floyd Mayweather was fighting, and I was making it my business to be there. At the fight I bumped into some fly bitches from Jersey, and we made plans to hook up right after. And it was on.
But when I spoke to Miss Carrol and she said that Briggen came and picked up Li’l Anthony, I could have died. I immediately came down off of my “freedom fun” high. And talk about fun? After I hooked up with the two Jersey chicks, we got it in. We gambled, we swam, we went to the shows, gambled and partied some more. I won $27,000, but only had fourteen of that left and decided to quit while I was ahead.
My new friends, Courtney and Michelle, were disappointed that I had to leave and cut my trip short by two days. It was time for me to go home and face the music. So, here I was pulling up into my driveway.
I paid the cabbie, and he got out to get my bags. I was anxious to see my baby, but I had mixed emotions about seeing Briggen. I missed him, yes, but at the same time, I knew to be prepared for battle since I did not come and see him like he instructed me to. I put the key into the lock and before I could turn it, Briggen snatched the door open holding our son.
“Anthony!” I couldn’t help but smile and take my baby into my arms. This was the longest I had ever been away from him. Briggen stood there looking me up and down before grabbing my bags from the cabbie. My son was so glad to see me, and I was so glad to see him. He wouldn’t stop bouncing up and down.
“Shan, what the fuck has gotten into you?” Briggen snapped before he even got into the house good. “I can’t wait to hear what you got to say, and you better hope I like what you tell me.”
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