give Jb and his mother privacy, they went back into the bedroom. Feeling embarrassed but keeping his cool Jb raised his voice right back at her. “Straight up don’t ever call me that name again, my name is Jb and don’t you try to put your hands on me, it’s been a long time and we need to get some shit straight. This is my place not yours and these are my friends and I really don’t know why you are here and I really could care less”. Blown that her son was talking to her in that tone Charlene replied, “you have a hell of a way of talking to your mother!” Jb looked at her as if she had just said the ultimate disrespectful thing to him. “Mother! Since when did you become my mother, the woman that I just buried was my mother. Just because you pushed me out don’t make you my mother Mae Jenkins was my mother that’s who raised me, that’s who looked out for me and that’s who I respected unlike you. Where were you when she died huh? Living it up with your new husband, see she was the only one who believed in your ass not me, I knew from the day she started getting sick that you were not coming to get me at all. Jb let go all of his built up frustrations all of his pain out that day, because all of this time he had never grieved for his grandmother, he had never spoken to his mother to let her know how much her being absent from his life hurt him. Her eyes watered as she tried to console her son. “Well I’m sorry I wasn’t here Jb, I was going through some things and I should have been there for you and for my mother but I wasn’t and that was my fault, I fucked up J. I’m here because I needed to get away for a while’. Jb looked at his mother assuming she wasn’t telling him everything. “What’s going on, where’s your husband?” asked Jb as he waited to hear her answer. “My husband is back home he doesn’t know I’m here, hell
he probably doesn’t even know I’m gone. I just need to stay here for about a week or two just to clear my head”. She said as she kicked her feet up on the sofa, Jb really didn’t know what to say, he knew his mother being there would put many things on hold, sure he was grown and it was his place but he didn’t want his mother knowing his business. Jb walked into the room to tell Divine and Quan what was going on. Quan was the first one to ask questions. “Yo, what the fuck is up with that your mom’s is out there straight wilding, what the hell is her problem. Talking like she bout to stay here, you know that shit is not going to work. Divine agreed, “Yo Jb you better think of something quick because we have a lot of shit hanging in the balance. And we can’t afford to get caught up behind her being here. Jb knew they were right and he wasn’t pleased with the thought of sharing his spot with his mother. “Yo, I don’t know what the fuck is going on with her something just don’t seem right, what made her pop up here after all these years. Let me play nice and take her out to lunch or something so I can really find out what’s going on”. Quan and Divine both wished him luck. Jb walked into the living room and offered to take his mother out to lunch so they could talk things over and get an understanding on things. Divine and Quan got the house in order and put things away just in case she was staying. Still thrown off by the unexpected visit from Jb’s mother Quan said to Divine. “Yo I don’t know about you D but something don’t seem right with Jb’s mom, why would she leave her so called good life to come all the way back up here to get in touch with a son she hasn’t seen in eons. Talking bout she need to stay here for one to two weeks”. Divine agreed, “Yeah something doesn’t seem right, then she walked up
in here like she owned the damn place, maybe she wants money. But how in the hell would she know we getting money like that, I doubt if she talk to anyone from around here”. Divine and Quan continued to try to figure out exactly what Jb’s mother really wanted. Meanwhile Jb and his mother were out at a nice restaurant; impressed by her son’s taste she complimented him with a smile. “Well this is nice Jb, How many times do you bring your girlfriend here? Jb laughed at her assumptions and replied. “I’ve never been here and I don’t have time to take any female out to eat”. Shocked by her son’s response she chuckled and she said. “What, you don’t have time for females, a nice looking young man such as yourself don’t have time for females? Jb wasn't interested in answering any more questions. He had questions of his own but it didn't look like he was going to have the chance to ask them. His mother sat across from him with more questions than a reporter did. “So what have you been up too Jb? I mean I’m not trying to get all in your business. I just want to make sure you’re ok, last time I saw you, was when grandma got sick”. Trying not to think about that day and the promise his mother made him, or the way he felt when he lost his grandmother. He knew he had to tell his mother something to keep her from questioning his income. “well that was a long time ago, now me and the crew we sell shirts and other nice items, hats, kicks whatever we can design”. Lying his ass off but he sure wasn’t going to sit across the table and tell his mother he and his friends were drug dealers. What Jb didn’t know is that his mother already knew he was getting paid; she had spoken to an old friend not too long ago who had put her up on his activities. Charlene wanted to get her hands on some of the money she heard her son was making but she
knew he wasn’t going to give it to her. Since Jb wasn’t being completely honest with her, she knew she had to get him to trust her enough to let his guard down so she could get her hands on his money. She made up a bogus ass story how her and her husband needed a break from one another and she decided to visit and make up for lost time. Jb really wasn’t buying his mother’s story, but he let her think she was telling a good one. After letting her know she was welcomed to stay for two weeks he excused himself from the table and stepped outside to call Divine and Quan. Once on the phone he let them know his mother would be staying for two weeks, and how they needed to play it safe because he wasn’t sure if he could trust her, he advised them to put everything in a safe place. Quan reminded Jb they had to make a run to prepare for the party at Jeremiah’s house; Jb told him where his re-up money was stashed at and informed them he would meet them shortly in the back of the building. Jb meets Charlene back inside the restaurant pays the bills and they head back to the apartment, he took her through the front entrance to keep her from running into Divine and Quan. Once upstairs Jb grabbed his jacket and told Charlene he had to make a few runs. Charlene kicked her feet up on the couch she didn’t bother questioning her son because she had other things on her mind and one of them was to snoop through the apartment Jb headed out the door to meet up with Divine and Quan, once downstairs Divine and Quan questioned him about letting his mother stay in the apartment. Jb let them know he we keep a close eye on her and keep their street business away from his personal business. Charlene waited for a few minutes in case Jb forgot something and needed to come back once she realized he
wasn’t coming right back she began to snoop throughout the apartment. everyone’s door was locked except for Quan’s, he forgot to go back and lock it when he went to get Jb’s bread out of his room, little did she know the money that she was hoping to find was gone. She entered Quan’s room. “Damn he got a lot of shit in this room, expensive shit too! she thought to herself, looking around all in the closet, under the bed, behind the Dresser, just as she was about to push the Dresser back she noticed a bag taped to the back of the Dresser which turned out to be coke. Quan always kept a stash back there for the females just in case they needed an extra push to get right. Pulling the bag from the back of the dresser, she said aloud. “I know this is not what I think it is”, she opened the bag up and dipped her finger in so she could taste it. “Damn” the taste of the coke enticed her. She scooped a little bit out, put everything back the way she found it closed the door, went into her bag for her make up mirror and a dollar bill and went into the bathroom so she could do her thing. Speaking aloud as she lined her coke on the mirror. “Damn I haven’t sniffed coke in a while and they wasn’t making it like this when I was doing it”. She was so focused on getting high she didn’t realize she was talking out loud to herself, she sniffed and sniffed until she found herself going back into Quan’s roo
m dipping into the stash and sniffing up all of his coke. Meanwhile Quan, Divine and Jb were almost to the pick-up location, neither one having a clue to what was going down back at the crib. Charlene had left the crib to stroll the neighborhood to find some more coke. She didn’t realize that her son and his crew were the only ones in the neighborhood that dealt with that. When they got back to the crib they didn’t notice anything out place, nor
did Quan notice that she had been all up in his room and in his secret stash. The only thing he noticed was that he didn’t lock his door, blaming Jb for his forgetfulness. “Damn I didn’t even lock my door fucking with you Jb” refusing to accept Quan’s blaming him, Jb replied with a smirk. “What is you talking bout you act like someone was in here, won’t nobody in here but my mom’s. As a matter of fact, where is my mom’s? He had no idea his mother was high and on a coke hunt. Catching a chill from the a.c being on full blast Divine said “I don’t know but she got the air on up in here and got a nigga freezing. I’m bout to lay down I’ll catch you niggas in the a.m.”. Divine headed to his room. Quan was heading to bed as well he looked over at Jb with a grin and said, “Yo I hope your mama got a key or her ass going to be outta luck”. Quan headed to his room and closed the door. Jb sat up on the couch for a few hours watching a movie and just as he was about to doze off he heard the door unlocking. He jumped up and looked at his watch, shaking his head it was 4:00 in the morning, those were get money hours but due to their unexpected houseguest, the crew was on pause. Jb rolled over on the couch and went back to sleep. Charlene crept in the door and tried to be quiet as she walked to Jb’s room to go lay down. The next morning everyone was up except for Charlene, Divine was on the phone with Jeremiah getting everything straight for the party they planned. Quan wasn’t too comfortable Charlene being in the crib while they were out of town. He didn’t need any of his jump- offs popping up running their mouth, Jb didn’t like the fact that she was there but he figured her being in the house alone for the weekend wouldn’t damper their hustling. Divine got the party info from Jeremiah, and was ready to roll out. Jb
walked into his room and saw that Charlene was still sleeping, so he just grabbed some clothes and headed for the shower. Divine Packed all the major materials, while Quan headed out to pick up a car, # 1 rule never drive anything that could be traced back to you, so they would always get little females around the way to rent them a car for out of town trips. Charlene woke up before Divine and Jb could walk out the door, Jb pulled out a few twenty dollar bills and gave them to her letting her know they were going out of town for the weekend and would be back Sunday. Charlene gave him a hug and a kiss and grinned as she walked to the refrigerator, secretly anticipating being alone in the apartment. Jb didn’t know why his mother had that look on her face, but he figured she probably was going to have a man in the crib while they were gone. He grabbed his phone off the counter and headed out the door. Charlene wasted no time to searching for more coke and money. Little did she know she wouldn’t have access to anyone’s room except for her Jb’s and he didn’t keep any drugs in there. Charlene searched in the living room, the kitchen cabinets, bathroom all through Jb’s room and came up dry; her plans to get high weren’t going as smooth as she thought they would. Divine, Quan and Jb finally reached the address Jeremiah gave them. Quan was impressed by the layout, he never seen a house that big in his life. “Damn Divine the white boy is living phat as hell shit I plan to be living like this real soon”. Quan said as he pulled up to the driveway. Before they could put the car in park, Jeremiah met them at the car and signaled them to pull into the garage. Once inside Divine wasted no time letting Jeremiah know exactly what type of people to invite. Jeremiah called up every one he knew who loved to spend money, and who
wanted to have a good time and would pay the right price to do so. Meanwhile back at the crib Charlene’s search didn’t turn up anything but a sneaker box filled with old pictures of her and Jb when he was younger; going through the box she noticed there was a letter addressed to Jb from an unknown sender, that hadn’t been opened. She was eager to know whom the letter was from and why hadn’t he opened it, but she knew if she opened it, Jb would know she had been through his things. “Oh well” Charlene thought to herself, she decided to put everything back the way she found it and call it a night. Divine and the crew were finished with their set up for the party and decided to get some rest. The next day Jeremiah took the crew to the mall to do a little shopping. “Damn do any black people shop here? Quan asked looking around noticing all the shoppers were upper-class and white. Jeremiah replied, “Only the ones with the kind of money this shopping mall requires”. The four of them entered one of the men’s clothing stores in the mall, as they begin to look for the right attire to wear; one of the sales associate’s greeted Jeremiah. “Good morning Jeremiah”. Divine, Jb and Quan looked on as Jeremiah stepped away to speak to the well-dressed female. Once he was finished with his conversation, he re-joined Divine, Jb and Quan. Wanting to know more about the sale’s associate Quan asks Jeremiah if he would be inviting her to the party. Jeremiah laughs aloud and says; “hell no! Our parents have been trying to get us to hook up ever since middle school”. Divine glances over and the sale associate and says, “So what’s the problem? Jeremiah smiled and whispered. “The problem is she is stuck up as hell and not really my type”. Disagreeing with Jeremiah, Jb says; “shit her body type look fine to me! as he glanced over in her direction.
After everyone finished trying on their clothes, they walked up to the register to pay for their purchase. The sale’s associate who had spoken to Jeremiah earlier looked on as she wondered to herself who were the three black guys shopping with Jeremiah, they headed back to Jeremiah’s house to get ready for the party.
****************************************************************** Later on that night the party was going well. Everything was working out the way Divine had hoped it would. He didn’t let anything or anyone stir him away from what his main objective was getting that money and keeping it. He would mingle with the ladies for a few minutes at a time throughout the night, but he always kept his conversations short. Never once getting caught up in the moment. Unlike Quan on the other hand his weakness was the females. Everyone in the crew knew that and warned him that the wrong one day that would be his downfall. Jb and Divine watched closely as Quan flashed his money and jewelry to the ladies by the pool. Far from impressed and trying to stay focused on the money Jb said as he continued to look on; “this nigga know we here for one reason and one reason only and he focused on some get pussy. It wasn’t the first time that Quan attempted to show off in front of the ladies and it wouldn’t be the last time. Divine wasn’t too worried about Quan entertaining the ladies , the only thing he found odd was how Quan was against hanging with Jeremiah because he was white and now he was sitting up there trying to impress some white females. As the party continued, Divine knew he had made the right choice by deciding to keep in touch with Jeremiah after their first encounter, because it was a huge benefit to him to have a white boy as a friend especially one with money
and friends with more money. Everyone Jeremiah invited was into the appetizer for the night “coke” and that was the whole purpose. The partygoers were mostly seniors in high school or freshmen in college. Most of them were introduced to coke by a friend or because they heard, stories how coke would keep them up all night. Some were either doing it because needed that boost to get them through exams or take their mind off the pressures of being perfect. Jeremiah didn’t have anything to worry about as far as the party getting back to his father, who in their right mind at this kind of party would snitch. After the party was over Divine, Jb and Quan sat down to count their earnings. The stacks being laid on the table amazed Quan. “Damn we looking alright, white folks sure know how to come out they pockets.” Jb looked over at Quan with a smirk and said. “how would you know nigga, your ass was too busy trying to fuck something all night” sensing Jb’s animosity Quan replied,
“damn Jb is you hating , shit I ain’t fuck nothing, them bitches sucked me off that was it”. Divine gave Quan a pound, “damn Q you on fire tonight ain’t you? Divine said as he and Jb busted out in laughter. Divine continued on,
“Naw fo’real it’s all good nigga you do what you do. you love the ladies you can’t change that, we came here to get this money and we got it” before Divine could finish his sentence Jeremiah cut in and said “there’s plenty more where that came from, my damn phone won’t stop ringing , damn near everyone that was here is trying to get some more of that powder”. Divine was pleased as he responded to Jeremiah. “That’s cool but we not going to keep doing the party thing that was just a little introduction, we’ll work something out as far as clientele goes. Besides, we wouldn’t want your neighbors to start to getting suspicious. Every
time your pops goes out of town, calling up them blue boys”. Jeremiah agreed and suggested they tried a different approach, the night was over everyone was drained from the party they crashed in the living room. The next morning Divine, Jb and Quan packed up everything and headed back to the hood, Jeremiah called up a cleaning service to clean up the house and get everything in order before his father returned. Once back in the hood Jb and Quan headed back to the crib while Divine went to pay a visit to Ace, whom he kept distant from the crew for his own reasons. It was always good to keep certain people in the cut. Divine would visit Ace for advice, even though Ace always told him if he ever came across a problem to let him know and he would help him out. Luckily, everything was going smooth for Divine; he hadn’t crossed that bridge yet. Ace was always happy to see Divine; because he respected the man, he had become a true moneymaker, he also like the fact that Divine was strong minded, respectful and on point with everything. The two of them sat down and conversed. As always, Ace had a story to tell. “Hey D, I just sent my girls out to the mall to go get some nice items for this trip we’re taking this weekend, you know I have to stay on top of this pimping shit. I don’t miss a beat and them bitches don’t miss a dollar you hear me”. Ace joked as he poured himself a drink, he grabbed a extra glass and offered Divine a drink, Divine declined with a smile and said “you know I don’t drink or smoke, a clear head gets bread a clogged one gets a bullet” Ace agreed with Divine on that note. They sat around catching up on things. Meanwhile back at the crib Quan and Jb walked in on Charlene entertaining herself, blasting some old jams and singing right along. Charlene noticed Jb and Quan walking in the door and turned the
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