Chapter 14 Bentley #2
These were two individuals who knew nothing of me and vice versa.
I had a state to run, and they looked like they were looking for Jeffrey to bring them their morning coffee.
It was a reason I stayed off the radar. Money motivated and power followed.
I felt like a fuckin’ peon confined to these four walls.
We had nothing in common, and I wasn’t ‘bout to front like we did.
Whatever bullshit I had going on with Enzo would be dealt with as soon as I touched free soil.
“You need a lawyer or something? Nigga we got the best in the nation,” Royce chimed.
“Oh yeah? Send them to me then. I had a goofy named Windale, but he done dropped the ball. It’s funny cause the nigga balled when it came to getting my team out. Me on the other hand can’t even get a fuckin’ maybe out his ass. I been a sitting duck for over a year,” I vented.
“Something told me to have Yonnis on standby,” Royce stated with a sly grin.
“Yonnis? You mean the nigga handling my mama estate and whoever the hell Rose is?” I asked. I was told about Yonnis through Aunt Daisy. If I would’ve known he was a criminal attorney as well, I would’ve been reached out.
“That’s exactly who I’m talking ‘bout and show some respect nigga. Without Mama Rose, we wouldn’t have known yo’ ass existed. She kept you under wraps like you was a fuckin’ golden child or something,” Royce claimed.
“Nigga, if I ain’t that then who the fuck is?
Look, I got more than enough bread to pay Yonnis whatever number he throw my way.
Get his ass down here ASAP. These charges should’ve never stuck to begin with.
” I was still pissed that I was serving time for some bullshit that should’ve been swept under the rug if Windale would’ve done his fuckin’ job.
“He put you here, huh? This Enzo nigga?” Royce inquired.
“I got video footage of him placing white in my car. I push weight, but I know my shit. The bricks they found under my seat had a fuckin’ blue jay on it. My seal consist of a black and orange gator. I don’t know where he got that shit from.”
Royce released a hearty laugh while shaking his head.
He knew something I didn’t and that was obvious.
“I do. A couple years ago I had a shipment that was taken from me. It took me some time to get the details but when I finally got a name, it was yours. Time pass by and my lil’ brotha come in the picture.
He’s a lost and found too by the way. Any who, Genesis let me know that Bentley threw them a job and his crew took it.
Time pass again and it’s time for Genesis to get his inheritance from Mama Rose.
At the end of her message to him, you’re mentioned.
She ask him to find you. The thing is, Genesis already ran into you.
He give us this rundown how you a pussy nigga and so forth. ”
“Now what in the fuck would make yo’ kin think I’m anything pussy? Do I look like one of them fuck boys to you?” I questioned. From the time he got here, he ain’t been able to hoe me. He had to know I wasn’t what his brotha described.
He glared at me before chuckling again. I was just as dedicated to being the realest nigga in the room. He wasn’t gon’ outshine me, not in a state I got domain over.
Nodding, he wore a smirk and kept speaking. “We don’t sweat shit until a couple months ago when the nigga showed up seeking validation from us. Mercedees think he’s there for the inheritance.”
“He is,” I mumbled. However, Heidi caught it.
“I thought you ain’t know why he was there. Bentley, I showed up here because too much fishy shit is going on. We can help get you out of here and we can also help with Enzo. If you don’t want the help, we can leave. I just thought lending a hand was better than sitting on it,” Heidi chimed.
We locked eyes and as the seconds passed, the contact stayed intact.
Heidi showed no fear of me. I didn’t know if it was because she had Royce or if it was because she genuinely wasn’t afraid.
There was no cowering under my gaze like she did on arrival.
Somewhere along the lines, she was gaining comfortability.
“By all means, if you lending it, then I’m taking it beautiful. Do yo’ thing. If this Yonnis nigga can handle shit, let him. If he can’t… I appreciate you trying. Do me a favor though Heidi.”
“I already am Bentley. What more do you want?” she sassed.
Leaning forward, I said, “Drop the contact info. I’d rather have you in my ear than in a text. It’s easier.”
She leaned forward and challenged, “For whom exactly?”
Grinning from ear to ear, I couldn’t help but admire her beauty.
This woman ain’t have no business looking the way she looked.
The makeup she wore was light and natural.
It didn’t look caked on the way these other bitches did.
Her lips were full with a small spot of vitiligo above the top one.
Her nose was button shaped carrying a tiny stone on the right side of it.
Her brows were thick and arched while her lashes complimented the almond brown iris’s.
My focus traveled from her face to her body. I was a lil’ darker than Royce but Heidi was darker than us both. Her skin glowed as if she’d been dipped in gold. The shine it gave as well as how blemish free it was captured all of my attention.
“Can you not look at me like I’m a piece of meat, please? It’s uncomfortable,” she admitted.
Hearing that caused me to sit back and adjust my gaze.
The last thing I wanted was for her getting a creepish vibe from a nigga.
“My apologies. I guess taking you in unapologetically would raise flags. Being able to talk to you through the phone rather than ChatMate is easier for me. I know Enzo, and I know how he moves. I lied. I used to know how that bitch boy moved.”
“It’s fine. I don’t mind. I care more about getting you out and with your family than what he’ll do.” She looked around, and I assumed she was looking for something to write with.
“Just run it. I’m good with numbers,” I assured her.
“Heidi don’t get fucked up in here,” Royce interjected. “I don’t give a fuck who this nigga is. You know I don’t even play like that. Wrap this shit up. I’m ready to go. A nigga starting to have flashbacks.”
Once again, Royce was trying to control the situation.
I wasn’t a nigga that allowed anything with my hand on it to be controlled by anyone but me.
Heidi had my name on it believe it or not.
She just ain’t know it yet. I was already feeling her vibe through that app so having her here in person only solidified things.
He could be overprotective all he wanted, but Heidi was spoken for. I could promise you that.
“Royce, would you stop. It’s a lot going on right now.
I agree that we need to keep in contact.
We’re dealing with a fraud back home and Bentley’s battling these cases down here.
Nobody’s on the same page or aware of what’s happening with the other.
As much as I don’t want to give up my line, I am.
He’s family after all. Real family. If we can tolerate Enzo, then we can tolerate Bentley as well.
Listen up cause I’m only saying it once. God be with me, 469-375-5721.”
“I got it,” I said tapping my temples.
“Run it back then Mr. I’mgoodwithnumbers,” she commanded.
“You don’t trust me?” I asked wearing a sly grin. She gave me that look that blatantly said no. Nodding, I said, “469-375-5721. Anything else you want me to remember ‘bout you?”
Standing she looked down at Royce and calmly said, “We’re leaving.”
“Aight lil’ nigga. I’ll see you soon,” Royce threw out.
Chuckling, I nodded. He was an older cousin, but he was by far one of the most irritating niggas I’d ever met.
I guess it was because others around him prolly needed him in some way shape or form.
I didn’t need shit, but that attorney attached to his name.
I had more than enough and prolly more than him.
He wasn’t needed, and I could stand on that ten toes.
I remained seated as I watched the two individuals that was playing a hell of a role in my departure walk away. Shit was finally moving how I needed them to. I believed Heidi when she said she was lending a hand. I was gon’ let her do her and see how long she could keep it in the fire.
I gave Kong instructions to find me a new attorney. As long as it was taking him, I started to doubt he was for me. Muthafuckas showed you who they were, you just had to believe them. I wasn’t trying to place my brotha in that category, but the side eyes were there.
Three days. All it took Yonnis was three fuckin’ days to touch down in the city.
Hearing I had a visitor from my lawyer used to be cool.
That was when I had an ounce of faith in Windale.
Hearing that shit now… I ain’t know what to expect.
I could say wholeheartedly, I wasn’t expecting this muthafucka in front of me though.
His entire aura screamed arrogant ass nigga with a cologne to match that reeked of pure money. That caught my attention the most.
Sitting across from each other, he was looking at me and I was looking at him. His demeanor was so much different from Windale’s. The professionalism was there but so was that hint of hood. I could spot my kind anywhere.
“You favor him. I can see why he’s stripping you of your freedom. That ten million would make any average man go crazy,” Yonnis said stating the obvious.
Anytime I saw Enzo, it was damn near like looking in a mirror from a different perspective. While Royce thought I looked like my mama, I took Bentayga’s face through and through. I saw one too many photos of him and I… we were the epitome of copy and paste.
“Ten million dollars is pocket money to me. That broke nigga needs it, not me. All I need is for you to do what Royce and Heidi boasted about. Can you get me the hell up out of here? And can you make that shit happen ASAP?” I questioned.
Nodding, he smirked, and said, “You talk shit just like an Atkins. I can, and I will.”
Smiling, I shook my head while thinking how much shit he was full of. He’d yet to ask any questions regarding evidence or any other information. I was over the frauds and incompetent people coming in my life.
“You’re a liar, and I don’t fuck with those. Go ‘head get up out of here Yonnis.” I stood letting the guard know I was done.
“A liar is what you classify that nigga back in Sage Springs. Me… shit, I’m what you call a big dawg. I ain’t never lost a case, and I ain’t never went back on my word. Doubt is cool but underestimating a nigga with an outstanding record is wild,” he replied cockily.
“How you gon’ win a case you know nothing about fuck nigga?”
“Bentley Atkins, age thirty-two, and in prison for drug trafficking. Oh, how could I forget… and a broken taillight. You caught a smooth ten off the bat without any solid evidence. I also know that your previous attorney never intended to get you out. You might’ve paid him good money, but he loves his kid more.
Detective Damarius Evans protected him from the system you created.
You were never getting out of here on his accord. I did my homework, sorry.”
Damarius… “Enzo, boy you a hell of a narc ain’t you?” I voiced aloud with defeat lacing my words.
With so much anger built up in me, I damn near cried.
At this very moment, my blood boiled. I couldn’t get to the nigga that fucked me over for an entire year straight and then some.
I let him breathe another twenty-four when everything in me said off his ass as a birthday gift to myself. Frustration found me within seconds.
“Yonnis, please get me the fuck out of here. I got plenty of video footage that’s time stamped proving I was set up,” I assured him.
“That’s good. My question to you is, how the hell didn’t you notice you had bricks in the car?”
“I parked that bitch once I got to the crib and let her sit. Since she my favorite, she gets drove often. It was time to give one of my other hoes a turn. She sat for a couple days before I pulled her back out. When I was ready to head to Sage Springs to see you, I got pulled over. The judge ain’t even give me a chance to defend myself.
I was given a sentence and that was all he wrote,” I explained.
“I need that footage Bentley,” he said standing and grabbing his briefcase.
“Call Keenan White aka Kong. He can get you everything you need. His line is 786-901-4253.” Yonnis gave a light head nod and headed for the door. “I’m tired of sitting Yonnis.”
“Give me a week… two max. Put a pillow under yo’ ass until then,” he jested.
Chuckling, I closed the gap and extended my hand to be dapped up.
He gave into my request followed by a quick brotherly hug.
Within seconds, I was left alone with another dose of hope filling a nigga veins.
From the way he spoke to the way he moved; my last few eggs were in his basket.
I was betting it all on his ass. One chance, and after that, it was time to play dirty.