Halo
Atwin. I still couldn’t get over that shit. What was the purpose in holding out on that information? It was just stupid. He could’ve saved so much trouble had he opened his mouth and told me. Did he not think that I’d run into that man sooner or later, being that we stayed in the exact same city? It’s insane.
For the last hour or so, I’ve been riding around, trying to figure out what I was going to do. Jah wasn’t lying at all when he told me that Joker wasn’t who I thought he was. I felt so bad for snapping on him the way I had. Jah had been nothing but good to me ever since I knew him, and I picked someone I barely knew over him. He was always there whenever I needed him, and I turned my back on him.
When I stopped at Circle K to get gas, I noticed a white Range Rover parked at the door and it made me think even more about Jah. Maybe it was confirmation that I needed to go and find him.
Starting up my car, I pulled away from the pump and headed toward Ridgeview, hoping that he was gon’ be out there. Jah hadn’t been hanging out there as much lately ever since he came into that money, which was a good thing. He needed to stop being in the streets like that. That’s one of the reasons why I didn’t like him on that level.
Pulling into the parking lot, I saw Jah hopping into his truck. I stopped directly behind it and jumped from the car. He peered at me through the rearview mirror and shook his head when he realized it was me.
Opening the door, he climbed out and closed in on me. “What, Halo?”
His lips slightly curved downward.
Yeah, he was in his feelings if he was calling me by my real name.
“I wanted to come and say that I was sorry for jumping to conclusions. You were right.”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he shook his head. “It was never ’bout me being right, Halo. I was just trying to look out for you. You know I care ’bout you. I know you ain’t want to deal with that street shit, that’s why I told you what it really was. That nigga a fuck nigga for not letting you choose to deal with it.”
Sighing, I stepped to the back of his truck and leaned into the bumper. Joker had my mind fucked up.
“If I didn’t want to go and stab him in the face right now, I probably would’ve jumped down your throat for speaking on him like that, so you get a pass.”
Look at me sounding like I wasn’t fully done with this man. I mean, how can I be? We were about to welcome a child into this world pretty soon. I was on the ledge, debating what I really wanted to do about my situation. It’s hard, because I’ve already been a single mother for so long, I didn’t want to end up taking care of another child by myself.
Jah stepped directly in front of me and shoved his hands into his pockets. His eyes pierced mine, and he asked, “So you’re really ’bout to stay with him after giving me all that bullshit ’bout not wanting a street nigga?”
“It’s complicated, Jah.”
“How?”
His brows dipped.
“I can’t fully walk away from him if I wanted to. I’m pregnant, Jah.”
He yanked his hands from his pockets and rested them on top of his head. “I’m sorry,” I said and reached for him, but he stumbled back away from me.
“Yo, what the fuck!”
his voice bellowed. His jaw muscles tightened. Jah took one look at me and rounded the truck back to the driver’s door.
“Jah?”
Peeling away from the back of the truck, I neared him. He stopped with his back facing me. This man couldn’t even look me in the face.
“I gotta go, Halo,”
were his last words before climbing into the truck and pulling off. I’d hurt him. I didn’t have to see his face in that moment to know that. In my defense, I didn’t know the type of man Joker was. He’s hiding behind the fa?ade of being a coach, having people thinking that he’s this sweet and caring man, but deep down, he was ruthless as hell. From the way Jah was speaking, he might even be a monster, and I didn’t know how I was going to deal with that.
As I watched Jah pull out of the parking lot, I knew that after he got that information, our friendship was over, and I couldn’t blame him. Jumping back into my car, I pulled out the parking lot and headed home.
When I turned into the driveway, I saw my daddy’s truck parked on the side of the street. He’d been spending a lot of time over here lately, hanging with Ma and getting to know his grandson. I felt bad for keeping him away from Brave after I found out who he was, but I was trying my best to work on our relationship now.
Getting out the car, I trotted down the driveway to the street where the mailbox was located. Opening the mailbox, I pulled out the mail and shuffled through it before closing it and trekking up to the front door. It was nothing but bills and junk mail. At one point, seeing a bill used to make my heart race. Now that I was in a better financial situation because of Joker, they didn’t bother me too much. I wasn’t the one paying them anyway.
Sticking my key into the door hole, I unlocked it and pushed the door in. “Oh my God,”
was the only thing I heard before I saw my mama’s naked body drop to the floor in between the couch and the coffee table. I yanked the door back closed so fast that the wind slapped me in the face. Standing there, eyes wide as saucers, I debated if I wanted to enter the house at all or just get back into my car and leave as if nothing happened.
“I’m just gonna leave,”
I said, pointing my thumb over my shoulder and stepping down from the porch. Soon as my feet touched the walkway, the door opened behind me.
“Halo, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were coming home this early.”
I halted at the sound of Ma’s voice. My back still faced her. I wasn’t certain if I could even look at her right now.
“You have your own bedroom. Why you couldn’t do that in there?”
I asked and finally turned around. She stood there with her robe tied tightly underneath her breasts. I guess that’s why Daddy was spending so much time over here; he was fucking the shit out of her. Ew. The image that embedded in my brain. I was gon’ need a lobotomy to erase it.
“We got a bit carried away. We were talking and having a lil wine. One thing led to another and…”
My hand lifted in front of my face, palm facing her. “Please spare me the details,”
I told her.
“I really am sorry. Are you going to come back into the house?”
“Is he dressed?”
I asked her with an arched brow. It was one thing to see my mama naked, I damn sure didn’t want to walk in and see my daddy’s dick swinging.
“I’m sure he is by now.”
Shaking my head, I approached her. “I really can’t believe you right now.”
“I’ve been locked away for years. Can you blame me?”
“I guess you have a point there.”
She slapped me on the arm and I leaned away from her. “Don’t be touching me right now. I don’t know where those hands have been.” Ma’s cheeks turned beet red. Hey, she did it to herself.
We entered the house and Daddy was sitting on the couch. “Hey, baby girl,”
was the first thing out of his mouth. It should’ve been an apology for bussing my mama down on my new couch, but I wasn’t about to go there with him.
“Hey,”
was the only response he got from me. I didn’t even bother to look his way, I just took the stairs up to my bedroom and shut the door behind me.
Removing my phone from my pocket, I dialed Kris’ number and tossed myself against the bed. She was never gon’ believe what I walked in on. It rang a couple times before connecting.
“Hey, girl,”
Kris’ voice came through the line.
“Why I just caught my mama them fucking?”
I wasted no time getting to the point.
“I know you’re lying.”
My lips pursed, and I replied, “I really wish I was. She was naked as the day she was born.”
“Oh my God, I can’t believe you actually saw that.”
“Me either. How’s it going with you and Bronx?”
My mind shifted back to how my man was actually a twin. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around that. Joker has so many things going on at one time that it’s crazy. The unnecessary secrets he’s been keeping have me wondering if I can really trust him.
“We didn’t really talk much after you guys left. He got called to do some job, but said that he was going to get back up with me once he gets back in town. I guess the time with him being away is good for me to be able to fully process what happened. He had me thinking that I was sleeping behind you, and that just don’t sit right with me.”
“I know… that’s insane. We’ve never done anything like that.”
“And never will,”
she added. “Do you think that you’ll be able to forgive Joker?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard for me to say right now. I’ve always been open with him about everything and now it’s like all these secrets are coming out. It has me thinking can I really trust him.”
Kris sighed and responded, “I definitely can understand that.”
The sound of truck pipes roared from outside let me know that my daddy was leaving. I flipped over on my side and stared at the blank white wall in my bedroom. “Do you think it’ll ever get better?”
I questioned Kris, feeling the tears forming in my eyes.
“Baby, you haven’t been through all this bullshit for it not to. Trust me when I say that it’s gon’ get so much better for you that you’ll be able to look back and laugh at the things you’ve been through.”
My fingertips grazed my abdomen through my shirt. I balled up the fabric in my hand. This baby I was carrying inside me was the reason why I knew that I couldn’t give up on Joker and I, but that didn’t mean I should give in to him so easily. If he was gon’ get the message to not ever play with me again in life, I was gon’ have to stand on business and make him work to get back in my good graces.
“Halo?”
Ma called out my name, sounding like she was still downstairs. Sitting up in bed, I swung my legs over the edge and lifted to my feet.
Gripping the doorknob, I pulled the door open and yelled back, “Yeah?”
“There’s some woman at the door for you!”
she shouted back. I was so busy on the phone with Kris, that I hadn’t noticed my Ring camera had gone off, alerting me someone was at the door.
I bounced down the staircase and halted at the last stair when I saw the woman standing there in my doorway. Her jet-black hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail at the nape of her neck with these cute ass curly side burns. She was dressed in a white button up and navy blue slacks. Her hands rested in her pockets with her thumbs poking out. My brows snapped together. Her eyes synced with mine, and I said, “Girl, let me call you back.”
A grin creased her face as I removed my phone from my ear. “Can I help you?”
My feet didn’t stop moving ’til I was standing directly in front of her.
“Halo, I’m Agent Elsa. I was wondering if I can have a moment of your time?”
Jaheem “Jah” Barker
I done made it out the streets, bitch, I’m good.
If you try to take somethin’ from me, I wish you would.
Doped up, but honestly, can’t shake this shit for nothing.
Ibobbed my head to YoungBoy’s “Sneaking”
as I sat there in the driveway of one of my trap houses. My mind was all over the place after seeing Halo. She really fucked a nigga up, but I couldn’t sit too long and dwell on the shit. The baby she’s carrying, that’s supposed to be mine, not that fuck nigga Joker. The fuck was she thinking?
I took a toke from my blunt and rested my head against the headrest. The smoke clouded my lungs, and I puckered my lips, releasing it into the air. All the hard work I put into trying to get Halo and this nigga swooped right in and stole her from in front of me. Every single time she needed something, I was there, which was why I tossed her place in my last hopes of getting her to come back to me. That shit didn’t work. The mufucka Joker came right in, playing her knight in shining armor. I had my people out there watching her and lurking to make sure she was straight and safe. She tried to play me as if I was nothing but a street nigga. After my uncle got killed and I came back with that money, I thought I had her ass. Wrong. Joker already had his claws deeply inside her, feeding her bullshit and lies.
Boom!
My fist banged against my steering wheel. Ever since my eyes first landed on Halo, I fell in love with her. This shit hurt, but if that’s where she wanted to be, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Resting my head back against the headrest, I closed my eyes. I was a failure. I protected Halo from all the other danger, but I couldn’t stop her from getting her heart broken. The bitterness inside me wanted to tell her that’s what she got for choosing the wrong nigga, but I couldn’t allow those words to leave my lips.
A tap at my window grasped my attention. My strap aimed at it before my eyes opened.
Jack stood there with his hands up in surrender and wide eyes. I pressed the button with my free hand and let the window down and rested my gun in my lap.
“I know why you’re here, and I wanted to come out here and tell you that Po Boy said he needs a couple more days. We’re a few thousand short. It’s been a slow week.”
Typical. I was so used to hearing this bullshit ever since I took over. All these mufuckas had an excuse for something. They thought that just because I wasn’t my uncle, they could pull fast ones on me. In order to gain their respect, I was gon’ have to start making examples out of these bitches. Starting with Po Boy. Enough was enough. I’on know if the shit that just happened with Halo was the cause or what, but somebody was ’bout to pay for my feelings.
Shutting off my truck, I climbed out and closed the door behind me. I didn’t normally enter the traps. Usually, I’d stop by and they’d bring the cash out to me and I’d be on my way. Since Po Boy seemed to not have all my got damn money, I had no other choice but to go in there and see what the fuck was going on.
I followed Jack up onto the porch and entered the door. A couple females peeked at me from the kitchen and went back to bagging dope. They were standing in there in nothing but their panties. That’s the only way we can make certain that they wouldn’t run off with some shit that didn’t belong to ’em.
Po Boy sat on the couch, bagging up the cash that was supposed to been ready for me over an hour ago. Had Halo not stopped me when she did, I would’ve been here.
“The fuck is this nigga talking ’bout?”
I questioned Po Boy with my strap dangling in my hand.
“We’re short. Did he not tell you that?”
Po Boy answered me without even looking in my direction. He dropped the last stack into the duffle and zipped the bag. His gaze finally met mine.
“Yeah, he told me that, but?—”
“Then why are you in here questioning me?”
he cut me off. My blood boiled. This was the exact shit I was just talking ’bout. Before I knew it, I zoomed over to Po Boy and snatched his ass to his feet by the collar of his shirt and shoved my gun underneath his chin.
“Y’all gon’ stop fucking playing with me like I’m some pussy ass nigga. If you got a problem working for me, then you can take yo’ ass somewhere else. Don’t make me no difference.”
“A’ight, damn,”
he replied, and I released him.
“Y’all ass ain’t getting no more fucking product ’til you get me the rest of my money. Better get to work and make that shit quick,”
I told him and reached down and grabbed the duffle off the coffee table.
Exiting the house, I stepped off the porch, opened the back passenger door, and tossed the bag on the seat. Shutting the door, I climbed into the driver’s seat and started the truck. Po Boy was the last stop I was making before I headed to the warehouse and placed all the cash into the safe. There was a shipment coming in a couple days, and I meant what I said. They wouldn’t be getting anything if they didn’t get me the rest of my money.
Pulling into the parking lot, I removed my phone from my cupholder and shot Drake a text. I’m outside.
Not even two minutes later, he strolled out the door and I popped the trunk so he could grab the bags out of there. Getting out the truck, I grabbed the one off the seat behind me and off the passenger seat.
“For a second, I thought I was gon’ have to come out there and find you,”
Drake joked as he closed the trunk.
“I ran into a couple detours, but I’m straight now.”
“Bet.”
We trotted to the main entrance and entered the building. Drake was my best friend. The nigga I’ve been running with ever since I was a jit. Once I took over my uncle’s operation, I brought him along for the ride right along with me. I knew this shit was something I wasn’t able to do without him. A lot of the men weren’t feeling it, especially Rico, my uncle's main man, but I was the one running shit, and what I say goes.
I dropped the duffles on the floor of my office and went over to the closet. Gripping the door handle, I pulled the door open and was faced with the safe that took up the entire space. Pressing my thumb against the pad, I watched as the red laser moved up and down before the door popped open. Looking back at me was millions of dollars. My uncle had a profitable organization, and I was gon’ do whatever it took to ensure that it stayed that way. I’d never in my life seen this much cash before. It was gon’ take discipline for me to not blow it. Knowing where I come from and that I didn’t ever want to end up back there, I was gon’ do whatever it took to ensure that.
Grabbing the first duffle, I unzipped it and stacked all the cash inside the safe. “Pretty soon, we’re going to need another safe,”
I told Drake over my shoulder.
“I can’t believe that this is really our life right now,”
he responded.
“Believe it, and it only gets better from here.”
I finished placing the cash into the safe and shut the door. Rounding my desk, I took a seat in the chair and sighed.
Drake plopped in the chair directly in front of my desk and eyed me. From the expression on his face, I could tell that something was bothering him, so I asked, “What?”
“You’ve been a lil too calm lately. I’ve been wanting to ask what did you plan on doing now since none of your tactics have been working on Joker. You have to avenge your uncle’s death.”
Leaning back in the chair, I rubbed my hands together and replied, “I got a plan.”