19. Fontaine Jackson
I took off my glasses and rubbed my eyes, feeling the exhaustion behind them. I’d been glued to my monitors for hours, combing through CCTV feeds, lurking on dark web boards, chasing down anything that might point to who was behind the shooting at Cash and Jasmine’s baby shower.
But there wasn’t shit.
No chatter from any crew in the city. Not a peep out of New York or Miami either. It was like whoever did it was a ghost—no paper trail, nothing.
The longer I dug, the more I started second-guessing what Hana said. What if the Order was behind it, and just playing games to keep Nairobi in line? Or worse, they were making this hard on purpose, so we’d have no choice but to come begging them for help.
That’s how people like them moved, always trying to stack the deck in their favor.
Jelani was lounging on the leather couch in my office, scrolling on his phone.
“Still haven’t found anything?” he asked, glancing over.
I shook my head. “Nah. I’m starting to think these niggas are making it difficult on purpose.”
He sat up and tossed his phone onto the table. “I mean… what’s the worst that could happen if we ask for help? Nai’s already working with them now.”
I gave him a look. “You know better than that. Everything about this life is transactional. You don’t ask people like that for favors unless you’re ready to pay for it later. Money wouldn’t want to be in that kind of debt.”
“Well lucky for my brother,” Jelani said evenly, “he’s not running shit anymore. I’ll run it by him out of respect, but this is my call at the end of the day. If that’s the only way we get answers, it is what it is.”
I had to remind myself—again—that Jelani was the one in charge.
Two years later and my default was to go to Cash.
Not that Jelani wasn’t doing a good job.
Outside of The Order and this shooting looming over us, things were smoother than they’d ever been.
He’d even set up a council with the other Atlanta crews to keep egos in check and make sure niggas weren’t stepping on each other’s toes.
There was a knock at the door. I looked up as Slim walked in.
Carmelo “Slim” Hawkins had a look that made people underestimate him.
While Cash and I were more solidly built, Slim was tall and lean.
At 6’4, he looked like he should be a starting point guard in the NBA.
Niggas made assumptions about his stature, never accounting for the fact that despite his lanky appearance, he could put a man on his ass with ease.
He was dark-skinned with low cut hair and tattoos that ran up both arms and across his chest and neck.
He had one of those faces that always looked unbothered even when he wasn’t.
Right now though he looked like hell—his eyes tired and jaw tight, like sleep had been evading him for days.
“Y’all find anything out about the shooting?” he asked as he sank into the chair across from me.
“Nah. Can’t find anything solid,” I said, crossing my arms. Something in his voice sounded off.
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “There’s something y’all need to know.”
“‘Bout what?” Jelani asked.
“Ol’ girl from New York.” Slim lifted his head, looking between us. “She’s Messiah Lawson’s wife.”
Now, we’d all wondered who Slim had been dealing with for the past few years, but he’d always been extremely private.
Aside from Drea, he never brought women around.
He always had a little roster, but there’d never been anyone consistent—until this chick from New York.
And even then, he never revealed her name, no pictures.
Just someone he dipped off to see every few months.
Sometimes he’d go completely offline for a weekend, and I’d always assumed that’s when she’d come down here to see him.
Her being Messiah’s wife was a big fucking problem.
Cash and Messiah were cut from the same cloth. Both were the type of niggas who didn’t posture and let their actions speak for themselves. It was fuck around and find out, and you damn sure didn’t want to be the one finding out.
“And you telling us this now because…?” Jelani asked, finally breaking the silence.
Slim’s jaw tightened. “The shooting might be connected.”
“How?” I asked.
“She called me,” Slim said. “She thinks her husband knows about us and she brought up the baby shower. I don’t see why she’d even know about that if he wasn’t involved somehow.”
Jelani let out a low whistle. “Cash finna beat your ass, bruh.”
“I’m trying to understand how you were this reckless?” I said, irritation crawling up my neck.
“I didn’t know who she was when it started,” Slim snapped.
“But at some point you did—and kept fucking with her.”
“That’s the part I’m stuck on,” Jelani said. “Everybody knows the nigga crazier than Cash, and you don’t cut her off. You don’t even say anything to us.”
Slim ran a hand down his face. “It wasn’t that simple.”
I snorted. “It never is with pussy and feelings. Niggas start thinking they’re immune to consequences.”
Jelani cocked his head. “Do you love her?”
“I care about her—” Slim started.
“Yes or no, nigga.”
“No,” Slim said, shaking his head. “I don’t love her.”
Drea’s face flashed through my mind. “You still messing with my sister?”
Jelani stood before Slim could answer. “We not even about to do all that right now.”
Slim looked at him.
“I’m not even about to dig in your ass like I want to,” Jelani said calmly. “You know this shit puts us in a bad position.”
“I know,” Slim muttered.
“Cash needs to know,” Jelani continued. “Tonight. This isn’t something we sit on. He’s gonna react how he reacts—that’s between y'all. We need to focus on fallout and damage control.”
I nodded. “We need to assume that Messiah already knows. From here on out, you gotta move like you have a target on your back.”
“Block her number,” Jelani said. “Matter of fact, do that shit now. You not contacting her again. At all. If she reaches out, tell the bitch to kick rocks or something. But this shit stops today.”
“Heard,” Slim said as he pulled out his phone.
“Second,” Jelani continued, “everything gets laid out, timeline, where y’all been together. All of it.”
Slim sighed heavily. “So I’m just a sitting duck?”
Jelani met his eyes. “Whatever happens after Cash hears this—that’s not us turning our backs on you. But you gotta own this shit. I don’t know if there’s any coming back from this, for real. Maybe Cash can call in a Hail Mary.”
I kept my arms crossed and my mouth shut. Jelani let out a long sigh and met my gaze. Neither of us said it, but we were both thinking the same thing.
Cash was about to lose his shit.