by Jerniqua K.
***
When I woke up a few hours later, it was 6:30 and Lyric was still asleep. I smiled when I thought about what had taken place a few short hours ago. It had started getting a little chilly lately, so after taking a shower, I threw on a cream-colored Akoo sweater, dark blue jeans, and a pair of wheat Timberlands. I sprayed on a little cologne and kissed Lyric once again before grabbing my phone, keys and my duffle bag. As soon as I made it out of my condo, I called Tyriq.
“What’s good?” he answered.
“I’m leavin' the crib now. Give me about ten minutes.”
“A'ight. I’ll be outside. I ain’t trying to risk staying in and have Mariah tripping again.”
“Nigga I’m starting to think you scared of my sister,” I laughed.
“Man fuck you! Just get yo’ ass here muthafucka,” he continued his rant as I hung up the phone, shaking my head. I didn’t feel sorry for his ass at all. I told him to stay away from my sister, and his ass didn’t listen; now he was stuck with her crazy ass forever.
I turned the volume up and pulled my car out of the parking garage. I made it to Tyriq and Mariah’s almost ten minutes later, and just like he said he would be, Tyriq was sitting on the porch smoking a Black and Mild. When he saw my car hit the corner, he stood up and started walking toward the sidewalk. I brought my car to a slow stop and allowed him to jump in.
“You ready to get this shit over with?” he asked
“Hell yeah. I left Lyric back at the spot and I don’t want her to be tripping about me being gone too long.”
Tyriq glanced at me and laughed. “You just ain’t gon’ learn nigga.”
“Learn what?” he looked like he knew something that I didn’t.
“Look how that bitch Journee did you. These hoes don’t mean you no good, Brick. All you need to be focused on right now is getting to this muthafucking money.”
I looked at him for a moment. “Nigga, how the fuck you gon’ tell me what the fuck I need to be focused on? I’m a grown ass man, I know how to balance this shit.”
“Yeah whateva. Don’t ever say I ain’t try to warn yo ass.”
By the time we made it to Eden’s warehouse, it was 7:58. We went through the usual pat down routine for a few seconds before we were granted access into her office. She wasn’t seated at her desk like she usually was. Just as I was about to call out to her, I heard heels clicking, and I knew that she was close.
“If it isn’t the notorious Brick! I’m so glad we were able to get you out of that bitch!” she said as she pulled me into a hug.
“Yeah thanks for that, Eden. On some real shit, I owe you big for that.”
“Don’t even worry about that shit. I wanted you both here because as you know, Reign and Sabrina are no longer a part of my operation.” A look of hatred flickered in her eyes as she sat at her desk, and it threw me for a loop. Before I got locked up, those three were like sisters; I wondered what brought about the change. “My sisters and I have been taking turns coming here, but it’s becoming tedious. Therefore, we are closing shop.”
“What!?” Tyriq said.
Eden shot him a look, and he calmed down.
“Instead of doing business here, we came to the decision that we will turn our blocks over to the both of you; granted, you still cop your work through us.”
“Come on now, E. You know damn well we ain’t fucking with nobody but you!” I wasn’t just saying that shit either. When I first started hustlin’, I tried to stick to just selling loud but Eden had the purest dope I had ever seen, and when I saw the way those fiends would beat down the doors for that shit, I knew that there was no way I could miss out on that money.
She smiled and looked at me, her green eyes almost burning a hole in my skin. “I know this is sudden, but Brick I know it’s nothing you can’t handle. Before you went away, the two of you were unloading more than ten bricks of dope a week, and almost double that in weed. I honestly don’t see anyone else fit for the job. I’ll even allow you to cop at an even lower price. You were the man before, but now you have the chance to be a fuckin’ boss.”
Eden’s deal sounded so damn tempting! I didn’t want to keep doing this hustlin’ shit, but my money was dwindling and I refused to be a broke nigga. “A'ight Eden.”
She squealed as she sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. “Perfect! All I need to do now is make a few calls and have you sworn in.”
“Sworn in?” I asked with my eyebrow raised.
She looked over at Tyriq. “Riq, could you give us a moment?”
He nodded his head and stepped out of the office.
“I promise, it’s nothing crazy Bryce. As you know, I’m a part of the Mafia. It’s ran just like a business operation, and the Don’s like to know who they are working with at all times. By you working with me, you will always be under my protection as well as the Mafia’s. Your problems become ours. The ceremony will take place in Miami. There you will meet the heads of the roundtable, as well as make a few business connections of your own. This street shit is cool, but you’ll literally become a boss. Your hands will never touch a brick again, and you’ll still see millions. You will definitely see just how lucrative this shit really is.”
I nodded my head as I listened to her. My phone started to vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and smiled when I saw the notification saying I had a message from Lyric.
LYRIC: Do you always leave strange girls alone in your condo?
ME: Only the ones that fuck me like you do.
LYRIC: :) Don’t keep me waiting Bryce.
ME: I’ll be there shortly.
I placed the phone back in my pocket and when I looked back at Eden, she was smiling at me.
“Who’s the lucky girl?”
“What makes you think there’s a woman in my life?” I asked, returning her smile.
“Only a man in love smiles like that from a simple message.” I smirked, but said nothing. I didn’t want to say that I was in love with Lyric, but I could see myself going there with her one day.
Lyric
After I finished texting Brick, I got out of the bed and jumped into the shower. When I was done, I pulled my hair into a high ponytail and began looking through his medicine cabinet. Luckily for me, he had an unopened toothbrush. I pulled it from the cabinet and proceeded to brush my teeth. After rinsing my mouth out with warm water, I went into my bag and found an extra pair of panties and a bra. I slid the underwear on my body and then pulled on the t-shirt and jeans I had worn before. Leaving the room, I decided to give myself a tour of his home since we had gotten distracted the night before.
Across the hall from his room was a spare bedroom. I went inside and was instantly shocked at how beautiful it was. My feet sunk into the thick white carpet, and I couldn’t resist wiggling my toes on it. A huge queen-sized bed sat in the corner of the room, with a TV mounted on the opposite wall. The words Live, Love, Laugh were plastered on the wall. I noticed a picture frame on the nightstand, and almost broke my fucking neck trying to get to it. There was a picture of Brick and some girl hugging in the frame. I tried not to get jealous, but it was no use. Just the sight of him with someone else drove me wild. The shit was crazy. We’d only known each other for almost two weeks, and I was already catching feelings. This feeling was definitely new.
My stomach started growling, so I figured I would go and start on breakfast. I walked in the kitchen and went straight for the fridge. Thankfully, this nigga had food here! I pulled out sausage links, bacon, cheese, eggs, bread for toast, and a few strawberries and grapes. I let the pan heat up before I placed the sausages and bacon in it. While the meat cooked, I cracked the eggs and shredded the cheese, and added a little salt and black pepper before mixing them together. Just as I was getting ready to put the bread into the toaster, my phone started ringing. I looked at the screen and rolled my eyes when I saw that it was Yandy calling.
“I’m busy Yandy,” I said as I scrambled the eggs.
“Whatever Lyric.
I’m calling because I got a lick for us. Since you decided not to go through with hitting that nigga Brick, I found something else that should have us sitting pretty for a while.”
My ears perked up at the sound of money. I had a little over ten thousand saved from previous licks and dancing, but I knew that it wouldn’t be enough for me to be comfortable when I left Benton Harbor. I still needed at least ten more bands.
“When you trying to make this happen?” I removed the bacon and sausage from the hot pan and began searching the cabinets for plates.
“Tonight. Meet me at the house at 8 so we can go over this shit.”
I heard a key in the lock, so I quickly agreed to what she was saying and ended the call. It was all in great timing because as soon as I pressed end, Brick came strolling in with a big ass smile on his face.
“Well good morning,” I purred.
He came over and kissed my lips. “Good morning.” He looked around the kitchen, and then back to me. “Shit ma, a nigga can get used to this.” He stole a piece of bacon from the plate and sat down at the table. I made our plates, and slid one in front of him.
“I hope you ain’t mind me leaving you here. I had some business to handle and I didn’t want to wake you.”
“It’s fine. Shit you live here, I knew you’d come back sooner or later,” I said laughing.
“I see you got jokes.”
“Just a little bit.”
“So you got plans today?”
“Not until 8.” I stuffed a forkful of eggs into my mouth and prayed that he didn’t notice me pigging out.
“So that means I have a few more hours to play, huh?” I looked at him and saw nothing but lust in his eyes. My clit throbbed, and I knew at that moment that Brick had my ass hooked.
***
“You sure you have to leave?” Brick asked as I stepped out the shower.
“Yes. I promised my aunt I would help her with something. Plus, if I don’t get away from you, I might lose feeling in my legs permanently.”
“What if I don’t want you to leave?”
I got on the bed and crawled over to him. I traced his lips with my tongue, and then kissed him. “You act like I’ll never come back.” He stood from the bed and threw on his boxers, a pair of hoop shorts, and a wife beater.
“You right, I’m tripping.” He grabbed his keys from the nightstand and watched as I got dressed.
Five minutes later, we were out the door. When we got in the car, he started it but instead of pulling out of the parking garage, he looked at me. “I just remembered I don’t know where you live.”
I rattled off the address and sat back in the seat as we drove through traffic. It was funny how at peace I felt with Bryce. I really wanted what we had to grow into something more, so I promised myself that I would tell Yandy I was done after tonight. There was no way I could keep lying to Bryce about who I was; the shit wasn’t fair to him.
The drive to my house felt shorter than usual, but I knew it only felt that way because I wasn’t ready to leave Brick just yet. I leaned over and kissed his lips, promising him that I would call him before the night was over. I got out the car and walked to the door. I took one last look at Brick before pushing the door to my house opened. As soon as I walked in, all I heard was screaming. Here we go!
Yandy
“What the fuck is going on?” Lyric yelled as she walked, in slamming the door behind her.
Destiny was on the top of the stairs with tears in her eyes, and I was on the couch rolling up a blunt to calm my nerves. I was so close to choking Destiny’s ass that it scared the shit out of me.
“So now y’all bitches can’t talk?” she asked as she looked between the two of us. When Destiny said nothing, I took it upon myself to fill Lyric in.
“Your sister is pregnant.”
Lyric’s head spun around so quick that the shit would have been funny as fuck had it happened under different circumstances.
“Pregnant? Destiny, is she serious?”
I watched as the little heffa hung her head and slowly nodded it. “I didn’t think shit would happen like this, Lyric! Me and Dom have always been careful.”
“Are you keeping it?”
“Of course she ain’t!” I yelled. I paid most of the bills in this bitch, and I’d be damned if I had to stretch my money even more because she couldn’t keep her fucking legs closed. Destiny looked at me like she wanted to try me.
“Who the fuck are you to say what the hell I’m gon’ do?”
“Muthafucka I’m the one who took yo ass in so you wouldn’t get shipped off to foster care, or did you forget? Bitch you betta act like you know!”
“Stop it!” Lyric yelled in my direction. “Yandy, you ain’t the only muthafucka that’s paying bills in here! If Destiny and Dominic want to keep their baby, that’s their decision.”
I wanted to talk bad to her ass, but I bit my tongue. I had something better in mind for Ms. Lyric. Destiny went up the stairs and slammed the door behind her, as Lyric came and sat across from me. I passed the blunt in her direction, and she grabbed it and hit it.
“I hope this plan you got is legit, Yandy. This is the last time I’m trying to do this shit, for real. I finally found someone I like, and I ain’t trying to have this bullshit be the reason I lose him.”
“I feel you. This one will be our best one yet,” I smiled.
***
We pulled up to the Trumpeter Bay homes about ten that night. I pulled my black Tahoe all the way toward the end of the housing community to where a huge white house sat on top of a hill. I looked over at Lyric and noticed that she appeared nervous as hell.
“You good Lyric?”
“Who lives here?”
“This nigga I met last night named Eric.”
“So, if you met him last night why didn’t you run his pockets?” she questioned. I wanted to slap the shit out of her for asking so many questions, but I decided against it.
“You and Destiny were both preoccupied. You know I don’t do this shit on my own.”
She sighed and sat back in her seat. “I don’t know about this, Yandy.”
“Girl, look at this muthafuckin house! This nigga is breaded up and yo ass is playin! When he brought me here last night, he opened the safe and I saw the combination. This shit is easy, Lyric. We’ll be in and out.”
“I know this nigga got an alarm.” I rolled my eyes; she was really starting to annoy me.
“That’s already taken care of. When he took his shower this morning, I worked my magic. Just trust me Lyric damn...nothing is going to go wrong.”
“A'ight, let’s get this shit over with.”
We got out of the car and made our way to the back door. I almost felt bad for lying to her about where we were, but that shit left my mind as soon as it entered. I could never feel bad about getting money. Shit, I couldn’t even allow myself to feel bad for putting Lyric in this situation; all she had to do was go along with the plan in the first place and we wouldn’t even be going through this bullshit. The bitch just had to go and fall in love.
When we got to the door, I jiggled the loose handle of the sliding glass door and like magic, we were in. Since I knew my way around the house I took the lead, and Lyric followed behind me with a gun.
“The stairs are over here, come on,” I whispered.
She nodded her head, and together we went up the stairs. We went into the last room on the right, and I headed straight for the safe.
“Hold this still so I can see.” I gave her the flashlight I was carrying, and when she focused it on safe, I quickly turned the knob. 08-17-09. The lock clicked and within seconds, stacks of money was right in front of our eyes. I looked over at Lyric, and we both smiled. Not wanting to waste any more time, we grabbed bundle after bundle until there was nothing left in the safe.
“A'ight, we gotta get the fuck up out of here,” she said.
“I think we should look around some more. I’m sure he got some more shit in this bi
tch!”
“Quit being fucking greedy, man! We got more than enough in that bag Yandy, let’s go!”
“Why you acting so fucking scary Lyric, damn!? It ain’t gon’ hurt to search this muthafucka!”
“I’m not trying to be here when this nigga gets back! You can do what the fuck you wanna do, I’ll be outside.”
The bitch walked off and left me standing there. That was the last straw. I took the necklace that Lyric’s parents had given her for her tenth birthday with her name on it and left it in the safe. I grabbed it before she even made it home earlier. I never wanted to see any bad come to my niece, but lately she had been acting like she was so much better than everyone, like her shit didn’t stank. She deserved everything that was coming her way.
I searched the bedroom and saw a few pieces of jewelry that I knew would bring in a few bands. After I threw them into the duffle bag, I went back out the back door and jumped in the truck with Lyric. She was already in the driver's’ seat so as soon as I jumped in, she pulled off...what a fucking night!
Lyric
When we made it back to the house, neither me or Yandy wasted any time counting the money. It took us about thirty minutes, but it was the best thirty minutes of my life! Minus the jewelry, we had come up on about eight bands! Yandy took her half and the jewelry and went to her room without saying a word to me. I didn’t even let the shit bother me though. Instead, I went to Destiny’s room to check on her. I knocked on the door, and she called out for me to come in.
“How you feeling?”
“Not too good. Dominic is mad at me and I haven’t talked to him in a few days. I don’t know what to do.”
“What you mean he mad at you? I know that nigga ain’t trying to back out of his responsibilities!” I became upset at the thought of that bastard leaving my sister to raise the child that they both made alone.