by Roy Glenn
“It will be all right,” Sterling said without taking his eyes off the screens.
“I hope so.”
“Look, nigga, why don’t you just go on and tell me what’s on your mind.” Sterling laughed. “You know you want to. What, you waitin’ for me to ask? Well, this me askin’. What’s up?”
DP chuckled. “You remember I was telling you about me and Rain Robinson and how I was thinking about, you know, trying to take over her shit, right?”
Sterling laughed, but he still hadn’t looked away from the screens. “Yeah, I remember you telling me that dumb shit.”
“Since you wasn’t down with it, I got with Kwame Coleman and we went at her.”
Sterling laughed, still looking at the screens. “I thought you said you went at Rain Robinson.”
“You did.”
“Did what?”
“Heard me say that I went hard at Rain Robinson.”
Sterling finally looked away. “Hold up,” he said with his hand in the air. “That was you and Kwame?”
DP nodded his head. “That was us,” he said and sipped his drink.
“Ballsy. Stupid as fuck.” Sterling pointed at DP. “But ballsy. What the fuck was you thinking?”
DP took his time and told Sterling in detail his plan on how he was going to kill Rain and take over The Family.
“Sounds like you had them on the run, and maybe if you had actually killed Rain … maybe that shit woulda worked.”
DP shook his head. “No, dude. Even if she was dead, them mutha fuckas were on to us and turned that shit around on us so fast it was ridiculous.” DP laughed. “They killed everybody and burned Pops shit to the ground.”
“Damn.”
“Kwame’s people just weren’t up to the task.” DP finished his drink and got up. “You want another drink?”
Sterling finished his and handed DP the glass.
“What your Pop say about all this?”
“Nothing.” DP laughed. “When the shit got thick, he left the country,” he said as he poured. “Right now, he’s somewhere in Venezuela.”
“That’s fucked up.” DP handed Sterling his drink. “So, what now?”
“Right now, everything is everything. Cops think the trafficking business is shut down, so that takes sexy ass Carmen Taylor off my ass.”
“Did you get to meet her?” Sterling asked excitedly.
“No, and it’s a good thing I didn’t, or I’d be in jail sharing a cell with Walter. Kwame is dead, so as long as they didn’t tie him to my father, I’m good and its business as usual.”
“And if they did.”
“Then I need to think about whether I’m gonna stay here and keep doing business or leave the country.”
“Leave now.” Sterling drained his glass and stood up. “I still can’t believe that you was stupid enough to try them mutha fuckas after I told you how stupid it was.” Sterling looked at one of the women on screen that was sucking her nipple while she masturbated for a second or two. “’Cause if you killed Rain, all that would have done was bring Mike Black back from wherever he is, and that was the last thing you wanted. When somebody shot Bobby Ray, that nigga came outta nowhere killin’ mutha fuckas until he found and killed the niggas that did it.”
“You didn’t mention that shit before,” DP said casually as if it would have mattered at the time. And maybe it would have, and by the time Kwame brought it up, it was too late.
“I didn’t think I needed too.” Sterling laughed. “I always thought you was the smart one.” He shook his head. “I see now that I was wrong,” Sterling paused. “At least on this one, Dee. This one got away from you. Totally out of character.”
“Why you say that?”
Sterling sat back down. “You have always been the one to think shit through and not take risk or make stupid mistakes. You leave that shit to me.”
DP laughed. “Mistakes I have to clean up.”
“But that’s my point, Dee. Usually it’s you telling me don’t do that shit, I do it anyway and you have to clean it up. But this time, it was me who said don’t do it and you who did that dumbass shit anyway.”
“Point taken.”
“Whatever, nigga,” Sterling said and stood up again.
“Where you off to?”
“Going to get ready. Taking Venus to see Cristal at The Four Kings tonight. She’s real excited about going because she thinks The Regulators are gonna be there too,” Sterling said, and DP laughed. “What’s funny?”
“You … hangin’ out at The Four Kings.”
“What’s funny about that?”
“You know that’s one of their spots, right?”
“Who?”
“Mike Black, Rain Robinson, whoever … trust me, it’s their spot.”
“No shit.” Sterling sat down again. “I thought a nigga named RJ owned the spot?” Sterling laughed. “At least the mutha fucka walks around there like he owns the joint.”
DP shook his head. “He does. RJ is Robert Ray Jr., which in case I gotta break it down for you, makes Bobby Ray his father.”
“I did not know that. I ain’t never had no dealings with him, just this nigga, Money Marv. Me and him had a little confrontation that is yet to be resolved.”
DP laughed. “That’s Nick Simmons’ son.”
“I didn’t know that shit either.” Sterling paused. “Nick Simmons … that’s another murderous mutha fucka.”
DP laughed. “Seems like I ain’t the only one been fuckin’ around with these niggas.”
“No shit. I was about to pull a drive by on him and that nigga, Judah.”
DP laughed. “That’s Doc’s son.”
“Who’s Doc?”
“He’s one of their captains. If you had hit them, you would have brought them down on you too. And I know firsthand, you don’t want that. We don’t want that. We got a good business going that doesn’t conflict with theirs, so as long as we don’t fuck with them, they won’t fuck with us.”
“Yeah. All we gotta do now is hope that they don’t connect Kwame to your pops.” He looked at DP. “And hope that you got whatever it was that made you wanna fuck with her out of your system and we’ll be all right.”
“I’m done with that shit, trust me,” DP said, but the truth was something different. He watched Sterling leave the office and then he got up and went to the bar.
After DP poured himself another drink, he went back to his seat and sat down. He took a sip, closed his eyes and thought about how Rain took over, ramming her pussy back on his dick, hearing that pussy pop. How his eyes crossed beneath his lids and he was so turned on by Rain’s words. Fuck me, nigga! Give me that big fuckin’ dick! They only made him harder for her, made him want her more.
“But I will let it go. I don’t wanna die, so I will let it go.”
While DP tried unsuccessfully to put thoughts of Rain Robinson out of his mind, Sterling sat looking out the window as Barnes drove him away from there. He was thinking about his situation and how totally fucked up it was. He still couldn’t believe that DP was dumb enough to go up against Rain Robinson and Mike Black’s crew.
“Especially after I told him how stupid that shit was.”
They were in business together and although he didn’t say it to DP, but Sterling thought that this was the kind of thing that you talk over with your partner.
“Not tell him about it after you got your ass kicked,” Sterling told Barnes as he drove. He understood that the actions of one partner affected the other. “And Dee know that shit, ’cause he the one that told me.”
To Sterling, this was the type of thing that tested the limits of both partnerships and friendships. But there was something else that he understood and that was honor and loyalty. And that made him think about one night, a long time ago.
Sterling, DP and three of their men were making a buy from a guy named Skip. Everything was going fine; a little shit was being talked between the two groups, but nothing that was gonna blow things up.
Sterling had just tested the product and nodded at DP. He put the case with the money on the table and that’s when it got wild.
Neither he nor DP knew who shot first, but all of a sudden, guns were out, and bullets were flying everywhere. Sterling shot Skip in the head and DP shot his boy, Reon twice in the chest.
Sterling laughed a little as he remembered watching DP close the case with the money with one hand while blasting away with the other. Sterling turned over the table to give them some cover.
“We gotta get outta here,” DP said to Sterling that night.
“No shit,” Sterling said as he put in another clip.
DP pointed with his gun to the case with the dope. “We need to make a grab for that case.”
“Okay. Cover me,” Sterling said and handed DP his gun.
“You ready?”
“Go,” Sterling said, and DP came up firing with both guns. When he did, Sterling made a grab for the case. “Got it!”
“Good,” DP said as both men put in fresh clips. “Now let’s get outta here.”
They both came up firing and shot their way out of there that night. Once they were out of there, DP and Sterling ran as fast as they could to their car and DP drove them away from there.
It didn’t go the way they planned, but they came away from there with the dope and the money, and they were still alive to talk about it. There was just one thing left to do.
“We need to get rid of these guns,” DP said.
“Roll by the river. I’ll jump out and dump them there,” Sterling said and that was the only reason that he wasn’t in the car with DP when he got arrested. When he got back to the car from dumping the guns, the police had DP on the ground in handcuffs, along with the cases with the drugs and money. DP showed his honor and his loyalty by keeping his mouth shut and never saying a word about who was with him that night.
That ain’t the type of nigga you turn your back on when the shit gets hard, Sterling thought as Barnes pulled up in front of his place and he went inside. “Venus!” he yelled and got no answer.
He took off his coat. “Venus!” he yelled again and this time, Venus came out of the bathroom quickly, tying her robe as she walked.
“What are you yelling for?” she asked.
Sterling kissed her lips. “Thought you didn’t hear me. What was you doing?”
“I was in the bathroom about to take a shower to get ready for tonight,” Venus lied.
She was in the bathroom taking tittie pics and sending them to RJ when he got there. She was glad she got in the shots when she did and didn’t get caught because she really didn’t need Sterling finding out. But not even her fear of getting caught dampened her excitement over seeing RJ. She was wet just thinking about his dick sliding inside of her.
“I’m so excited. I can’t wait to get there.”
Venus had been sexting with RJ all day and planned to fuck him before the show and after; if she was lucky.
“I’ve been thinking about it all day,” Venus said, and that was the truth.
Chapter Four
But RJ was a little busy at the moment. He and Marvin were pinned down behind a car, shooting it out with at least four men. They were seriously out gunned and on top of that, they were running out of bullets.
As it is with most, if not all situations like this, it didn’t start out this way. RJ and Marvin had gone to collect a gambling debt from a man named DeMarco Eason. He was an accountant who liked to shoot craps, play the ponies, and make sentimental but stupid bets on The Jets. He wasn’t good at any of them, so he owed the house and had been ducking Marvin for weeks.
DeMarco had been at The Four Kings the night before and told Marvin that he had the money and was about to give it to him when a fight broke out and Marvin rushed off. By the time things got settled down and Marvin got back to DeMarco, he was gone. So, that evening, and only since they were in the area, Marvin and RJ decided to drop by and they caught him at home.
“Surprised to see us,” Marvin said, when DeMarco jerked open the door. He pushed him back inside. “Where’s my money?”
“I don’t have it,” DeMarco said, as he regained his footing.
“What you mean, you ain’t got it. You had it last night,” Marvin said, and RJ punched him in the chest, because he didn’t want to leave any visible marks. Demarco stumbled backwards.
“I mean, I don’t have it here,” DeMarco coughed and backed up.
“Really?” Marvin looked at RJ and he shrugged his shoulders. “Really?” he asked again.
And then Marvin punched DeMarco in the chest so hard that he stumbled back against the wall in the hallway.
“I’m getting tired of this shit, DeMarco.” Marvin patted his cheek. “You say you gonna call me, and then you don’t. You say you got it, and then you fuckin’ disappear on me. Now I’m standing here in your face and you got another fuckin’ excuse.”
RJ punched DeMarco in the stomach and the blow doubled him over. Marvin stood him up straight.
“Look at me when I’m talking to you,” Marvin said.
RJ punched DeMarco in the stomach again, and once again, the blow doubled him over. Marvin stood him up straight again.
“I’m gonna ask you one more time. And if you don’t tell me what I wanna hear,” Marvin laughed. “I’m just gonna let RJ beat the fuck outta you.”
“And I’ve wanted to beat the shit outta you since I first saw you,” RJ got in his face to say.
“Where is my money?”
“In my pocket,” DeMarco said. He held up one hand and slowly reached in his pocket, pulled out the money and handed it to Marvin.
“Thank you.” Marvin patted DeMarco on the cheek and walked away.
RJ punched him in the stomach. “Should have done that when he asked you the first time,” RJ said and punched him in the stomach again. When DeMarco doubled over, RJ brought his forearm down on DeMarco’s back and it dropped him to the floor. RJ kicked him in the stomach. “Next time, don’t waste mine.”
When RJ and Marvin left the apartment and closed the door, six men got off the elevator and started toward them.
“Oh shit,” Marvin said quietly.
“What?” RJ asked.
“That’s DeMarco’s cousin, Evander and his crew,” Marvin said as they passed.
“Sup, Money Marv,” Evander said, and his crew mumbled.
“What up, Evander,” Marvin said and kept walking.
“I seen them niggas at the club,” RJ said as he and Marvin walked a little quicker to the elevator.
“Thems some treacherous niggas right there,” Marvin said, looking over his shoulder as Evander reached his cousin’s door and went inside.
RJ pushed the button for the elevator. “Shit,” he said and pushed the button again. “Come on.” But that was when DeMarco’s apartment door opened, and armed men came pouring out.
“Fuck it!” Marvin yelled and then he and RJ took off running for the stairwell.
As they ran down the stairs, two men entered the stairwell and began firing. RJ stopped on a landing, took aim as Marvin ran past him and fired twice before taking off running down the stairs again. One of his shots hit one of their pursuers and he went tumbling down the stairs, almost tripping up his partner.
When Marvin reached the next landing, he stopped, took aim and waited for his target to appear. He fired twice the second the target appeared in his sights and hit him with both shots. Then Marvin followed RJ down the remainder of the stairs and out into the lobby. They were able to make it out of the building, but they didn’t get far before Evander and the rest of his men came running out of the building blasting. RJ and Marvin were able to make it across the street and behind that car.
Marvin raised up and tried to get a shot off, but he realized he was seriously outgunned and quickly dropped back behind the car to avoid being hit by the barrage of flying bullets. RJ put his phone back in his pocket, readied his gun and crawled to the front of the car. He opened fire and quickly dr
opped back behind the car.
But then the shooting stopped. RJ peeked around the car and saw two men circling around. He nodded at Marvin, and they prepared to engage their attackers head on.
RJ rose up and fired on his man until his gun was empty, and he went down. When he did, Marvin stood up quickly and killed the other man as he advanced.
The shooting began again, and they took cover. RJ checked his pocket and loaded the last clip. Marvin had four shells left in the magazine, one in the chamber and one clip left. He pushed it back in and looked at RJ
“I hear sirens in the distance!” RJ said.
“Maybe they’ll have sense enough to leave!”
Shots bounced off the car and the wall in front of them.
“Guess not,” Marvin said.
“Yeah. We just need to hold them off a little longer,” RJ said.
“Let’s hope that shit works,” Marvin said and both men rose up, fired a few shots before dropping down for cover.
Evander and his last remaining man, Derick Mobley opened fire again with semiautomatics. Marvin raised his weapon and fired three times before dropping down to reload. RJ fired until the clip was empty and then he fell back behind the car.
“I’m out!”
Marvin rose up and fired again.
“They need to hurry!” he yelled, fired again, and dropped down. “’Cause I’m out too.”
There was silence in the street as the shooting stopped. Marvin peeked over the hood and saw Evander and Mobley coming towards them. “Here they come.”
They heard a car come to a screeching stop and then the shooting began again. RJ peeked over the hood and saw Pills firing two guns from behind the wheel, and Judah hanging out the back window firing an AR-15.
“Our ride is here.”
RJ had sent Pills a text that said, help, and he used the GPS signal to find them, just like they planned it.
Now that it was Evander and Mobley that were outgunned, they returned fire on the run and made it around the corner. As the sound of police cars got louder, RJ and Marvin got in the car and Pills drove them away from there.
Chapter Five