Chapter 8
“Marquise!” Honey moaned as I ate her pussy. I slurped on her clit and dug my fingers inside of her, pressing them against her spot with every thrust into her. Her back arched as she squirmed away from me.
“Stop running,” I warned.
She whined at the interruption of my feast. She pushed my head down. “Don’t stop.”
“Stop running then,” I retorted.
“Marquise, please.”
I smirked and returned to the meal between her legs. Honey’s pussy was my favorite addiction. She had the wettest, juiciest, fattest pussy I’d ever had. She had the type of pussy that made a man want to tattoo his name on it. She had the type of pussy to kill about it. I wouldn’t hesitate to empty the clip on any nigga who even thought about trying to taste her.
After she sprayed her delicious juices on my tongue, I slurped that shit up and went to insert my dick.
“You know I have a long day today. I have to clock in at the restaurant in less than an hour,” Honey stated.
I nodded as if I gave a fuck about what she was talking about. I rubbed my tip in her wetness. I loved the sound her pussy made when it was ready for me. I dipped inside of her and licked my lips when her walls suction-cupped my length.
“Fuck, you know I’d die in this pussy.”
She laughed. “Please don’t. Mothafuckas would start calling me tombstone coochie or some shit.”
I chuckled. “Good. No other nigga better ever have the audacity to get a taste of my pussy. You hear me? This juicy ass mothafucka belongs to me. Only me.” I pounded her shit like she’d pissed me off. I folded her legs into her chest and dropped the dick inside of her.
“Fuck! Marquise. Please.” She moaned as she pushed at my chest.
“You better take all this dick. I want you to feel this shit in yo’ soul, baby.”
I massaged her insides. My eyes bore into hers while she fought to keep her composure. My body tensed as my nut inched forward.
“You know where this nut goin’, don’t you?” I asked as I pressed my body into hers and stroked deep into her.
“In me. Nut in your pussy, baby.”
I shook from the intensity of my orgasm. Without warning, I pumped her full of my nut and mixed it in her juices as she came on my dick.
She lay out on the bed like a starfish sunbathing on a rock. I chuckled and kissed her inner thighs before I stood up and stretched.
“You cool with driving yourself today? I got to do my rounds on the blocks, and I might not finish in time to pick you up.”
“Whatever,” she mumbled.
“Don’t do that, Honey.”
“Do what?”
I chuckled. “Play dumb if you want to.”
“You the only man I know who can piss me off right after snatching my soul. It’s like you think of ways to make me mad. That’s your kink?”
“You’re the one who be trying to make an argument out of nothing. Twice a month, you know I do my rounds, so this shouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Like I said, whatever.”
“I must didn’t fuck you good enough. C’mere. Let me knock that attitude out of you real quick.”
She fought the smile as I pulled her to the edge of the bed.
“Marquise! No. I have to get ready for work.”
“Work can wait. You need an attitude adjustment.”
We clashed a lot, but Honey was my soulmate. Everything I did, I did for her. She was the woman I wanted to settle down and build an empire with. I spoke life into everything she did because she deserved everything she dreamed of and more.
* * *
I pulled the Camaro down the block as Lil Wayne blared from the speakers. I brought the blunt to my lips as I parked next to some of the young dudes in the crew. They were chopping it up like me, Mouse, and TK used to back in the day. It was cool to see how much shit gets passed down from each generation. There was always a brotherhood in these streets. We had to have someone to chop it up with, or we’d die from mental health issues.
“Marq, you collecting today?” Quintin asked as he approached the car.
Quintin was no older than nineteen or twenty. He’d been on the block for about a year and a half. We took him in when his grandmother passed away. We got him a steady cash flow so he could take care of his little sister and brother.
“Yeah. What you got for me?” I inhaled from the perfectly rolled blunt.
“Twenty in the duffel and six in the backpack. The last couple weeks been good to us, especially with ol’ dude’s crew moving blocks.”
“Good job. Keep the six and stop by Banks’ spot for the re-up.”
“Yes, sir.”
He passed me the duffel, and I tossed the black bag into the passenger seat.
“Keep yo’ head up and pay attention to your surroundings. Y’all doing good shit out here. I appreciate how hard y’all work.”
“You keep our pockets fat too. We are loyal to that.”
“Good. Be safe.”
“You do the same.”
I pulled off and continued to make my rounds. I had a good groove set as I checked in on all the runners and team leaders. Mostly everyone was in good spirits, with their minds locked in on getting to the money. I’d been to three blocks before my work phone rang and threw me off my route. It was Banks.
“Yeah?”
“Head over to Chris’ spot. They got trouble.”
“What’s going on?
“I think Gee crew fuckin’ with them. I received an SOS from Toon.”
“You go handle that situation with Toon, and I’m gon’ go swing by Gee shit.”
“Fa sho.”
I hung up and busted a U-turn in the middle of the street. My tires screeched against the pavement as I zoomed down the road to Gee’s spot. He and his lame ass friends were the ones we got into it with on the block back in the day. Those sorry ass niggas couldn’t take their L and had been messing with our blocks for years. We ain’t mind because all they did was talk shit, but I guess his workers were feeling froggy and wanted to jump today. Regardless, streets were about to turn red.
On the way to Gee’s spot, I called my uncle.
“Marq.”
“Merlot, Gee’s crew giving the runners hell. I’m headed over there now to put my foot so far up his ass?—”
“No. Hold on. We don’t need a war right now.”
“It’s not a war. It’s retaliation for them pushing up on our blocks.”
“It’s not the time. We’ve got too much shit goin’ on, Marq. It’s not worth it.”
“Nah, man. I can’t let this shit go unchecked.”
“Marq! What did I say?”
“You made me your second in command?—”
“That doesn’t mean you call all the shots. You want to go guns blazing, and we don’t have time to cleanup with so many other priorities.”
“A’ight.”
I hung up the phone. Unfortunately for Uncle Merlot, I hadn’t grown up enough in the last couple of years. I did what I wanted, and today was no different. Going eighty in a forty-five, I sped down the streets to Gee’s side of town. I parked my car in front of the garage before I hopped out. My presence alarmed the young boys stationed on the porch.
“What are you doin’ here?” one of them asked. His eyes were wide, as if he’d seen a ghost. Today, I might have been a ghost who was ready to collect a couple of souls before I departed.
“Gee in there?”
Another one nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why?” the third boy queried.
“Tell him I’m outside.” I crossed my arms over my chest and kept a stone-cold expression.
The three young boys looked amongst themselves. They shared a quiet conversation before one of them finally stood up and entered the building. Gee’s headquarters were in Fifth Ward Houston. He was in the trenches, to say the least. There was a high crime rate, which meant people paid police off to turn a blind eye to the crimes committed like gang members who killed other gang members.
Gee and I had a similar upbringing. We were two nappy headed boys raised by the streets. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have a father or uncle in the business to make the hard life bearable. His environment created a bitter block boy. The way he ran his business was a product of the trauma he endured growing up. However, I wasn’t the type of person to keep letting disrespect slide. He’d been begging for an ass whupping, and I’d gladly give him these hands one more time.
The door opened, and Gee emerged with a grimy smirk on his face. He’d been in his fair share of wars, the evidence being the scars all over his body. The most noticeable impurity on Gee’s face was a diagonal jagged scar that stretched across his temple down to the right side of his mouth, a knife fight gone wrong.
“Look what the dog dragged in,” Gee stated as he looked at me with a bored expression.
“I ain’t here on no joking’ shit, Gee. You know what I’m here for.”
“What do you want, Marq?” he asked in a calm tone.
“You and your crew have been harassing our runners. I’ve been letting that shit slide, but my patience has worn thin.”
“Is that supposed to scare me or something?”
“You fucked with Chris and nem. Now I’m here to fight about it. You’ve always been scared to catch a fade because your weak ass can’t fight.”
Gee chuckled. “Ain’t nobody scared of Merlot’s lapdog. Shouldn’t you have his dick in your ass? Since you gotta run everything by him like a bitch.”
I rolled my head to loosen up my shoulders. Then I cracked my knuckles. “You’re saying a lot of shit on that porch. Come down here so I can remind you who the fuck I am.”
Gee chuckled. “You think because you had a couple good fights back in the day, you some big bad wolf? Nigga, I’m not scared of you.”
“Fight then.” I stepped forward and had every intention of getting up on that porch to lay hands on Gee.
Pop. Pop.
My ears rang as I blinked in surprise. Did this mothafucka just shoot me? The question swirled in my head as I continued to approach him. I wanted to kill him now.
Pop. Pop.
My steps halted as I felt the pain in my shoulder. He’d rang off four rounds, yet only one hit me. The bullet pierced through my shoulder and the pain increased my rage. Before I knew what I was doing, I charged at him like a wild animal. I tackled him to the ground and used my good arm to punch the shit out of him while I held him down with the wounded arm.
“Get this nigga off me!” Gee shouted to the young boys who were watching from a distance.
I punched that nigga in the mouth and hobbled to my feet. I kicked him repeatedly until the young boys pulled me away from their lame ass leader. With all the power I had left in my body, I snatched away from them and stumbled back toward my car. They helped Gee up who was unconscious. Niggas always passed out from the power of my punches. He had flashbacks of when I’d rocked his friend’s world upside down, and here he was filling in those weak ass shoes.
I applied pressure to the bloody wound on my shoulder. Blood on my hands had smeared all over the handle of my car as I pulled the door open and climbed in.
“Gee’s a dead man walking,” I threatened.
After I pulled out of the driveway, I reached into the glove compartment and grabbed my Glock. With shaky hands, I rolled down the window and let that bitch sing. I didn’t care who I hit in my blind rage. Once I’d emptied my clip, I tossed the gun into the back seat and sped off. My vision blurred.
In my haze, I found my phone and called my cousin.
“What’s up, dweeb?” Dayari asked when she answered the phone.
“Day, I’m… fuck … I got shot. Can you call my connect at the hospital? I need this shit on the low.”
“Marquise, what did you say? Where are you?”
“I don’t got time to explain. I’m headed back to our side of town now. I should be at the hospital in about thirty minutes. Tell them I think the bullet is lodged in my shoulder. Weak ass gun fucking sucked. Couldn’t even go all the way through.”
“Honey’s going to kick both of our asses, man.”
“Nah. Don’t call her until after I’ve gotten the bullet out my shoulder. She’s at work right now, and I don’t want to mess up her workday. Cooking is her first love, and I don’t want my knucklehead actions to interrupt that.”
Dayari sighed heavily. “Can you even drive right now?”
“I… shit. I don’t think I’ll make it on my own. You got my location. Come get me.”
“If my folks knew what you had me out here doing, they’d beat your ass.”
I chuckled. “In my current state, the dog could beat my ass.”
“Please be serious, dummy. I’m on the way. Try to pull into a gas station parking lot, or somewhere you can leave your car until they patch you up.”
“Fa sho.”
I hung up the phone and closed my eyes briefly. The car swerved out of my lane and cars around me honked their horns. I straightened back into my lane and willed myself to make it off the ramp and into a parking lot at the first exit. I parked haphazardly in the back of a building and allowed my eyes to close.
Darkness welcomed me. The pain of the unattended wound had knocked my ass out. I prayed it was repairable, with little lasting damage. If I lost function in my left arm, Gee would never see the light of day again.
* * *
“Oh, my goodness! Marquise! Wake up. Bitch, you better not be dead.” Dayari’s loud mouth woke me up. For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was or why she was here. Confusion left me soon as the throbbing pain in my shoulder returned.
“Ugh,” I groaned.
I blinked my eyes open and turned to see my cousin banging on the driver’s side window. My hand lifted to the lock and pressed it. When the door opened, my vision blurred again.
“Nah. Your ass is too big to carry to the other car. You have to do some of the heavy work,” Dayari explained. She wrapped her arms around my waist and supported my weight to her car a few feet away. She placed me in the passenger seat before she gathered my stuff and locked my car up.
“Thank you,” I mumbled as my eyes became too heavy to keep open.
“You’re going to get us in so much trouble, Marquise. You are always doing the most shit, and my dumb ass pulls up every time.”
Dayari pulled out into the busy streets.
Over the last four years, we’d become really close. Honey and Dayari had become close friends as well. We’d go out every couple of weeks with her and her boyfriend. She was like the little sister I never had. I could trust her with my life. At first, it was rough because she didn’t like the lifestyle I lived, but once I started spoiling her with things, she came around.
“I love you, Ari,” was the last thing I remembered saying before the darkness engulfed me.