Chapter Five Trill #2
The incent that I lit in my office traveled throughout the shop.
Killing the smell of the weed. Even though I smoked in here before the day starts; I didn’t want anyone to walk into my establishment smelling it.
Anybody could walk in at any given time.
I always want my business to be presentable. From the aesthetic down to the smell.
“What’s good Jay?”, I said, speaking to my lead mechanic.
“What’s up Trill? How you feeling man?”
“I’m good man, just wanted to come in and touch basis with you. Make sure everything is lined up good and we’re still on good timing.”
“Everything is on perfect time. I know you’re a stickler about that.
I’m real excited about this one car. It’s an old school dunk and they want us to gut the inside and redo it.
The bitch already has the candy pink paint.
Get this, a chick drives it. She’s supposed to bring it by today and drop it off to discuss what she wants exactly. ”
“Oh, hell yeah, the old schools going to do it every time. What time she’s supposed to stop in. I want to be here to see it.”
“I told her be here by nine, so she should be one of the first to get here this morning.”
“Bet, that’s what’s up. Make sure everybody stays in line and do what the fuck they’re supposed to. I got a feeling some big timing clientele will be in this week. I need everybody on the up and up.”
“I got you, for sure.”
After chopping it up with Jay, I decided to go outside to catch a breeze.
I was texting on my phone when I saw Ice’s ass pull up.
I don’t know what wind blew him in but nevertheless I’m happy to see my boy.
Despite that run in at the club that night, he has been doing a good job at staying out the way. That’s the best thing for business.
It’s not always the easiest thing to do, but I needed him to stay off the police’s radar as much as possible.
“What’s good my nigga?”, I asked Ice.
As soon as he was out the car, we slapped hands to greet one another.
“Not shit. Decided to pull up on you and Mazi’s ass.”
“Everything good on the business tip?”, I asked.
Looking over my shoulder and checking my surroundings in the process. I didn’t want to risk anyone overhearing us talk about shit that we shouldn’t be discussing out here anyway.
“Yeah, business is sweet. I can’t complain at all man. It’s like I never left the streets and that’s the way I like it.”
I smiled at his revelation. That’s what happens when you have people in your corner that have your back tenfold.
A real homeboy isn’t going to let his partner miss a beat.
No matter if he’s doing time behind the walls or not.
It’s supposed to be like the nigga never left.
Ain’t no rebuilding because the shit was upkept the entire time.
“That feels good to hear man. That’s all I ever wanted for you. Even though this shit is all fine and dandy, we got to look into some legit shit too.”
“For who? You got your shit going.”
“For your ass nigga. You’re capable man.”
“I don’t know man. I’ve been an illegitimate nigga my whole life. This shit is all I know”, he said laughing.
“You can learn some new shit. I ain’t giving up on you nigga”
He just shook his head and laughed lightly.
Sometimes I feel like I believe in the nigga more than he believes in himself.
I didn’t know what the hell I wanted to do outside of the game at first. I sat myself down and thought about my other interests.
Since a childhood, I always had a love for cars.
Growing up in the hood, I grew a love for the candy paint, the big ass rims, even the sound of the pipes on fast cars.
The shit only made sense when it came down to it.
I wanted to do some shit that niggas in the hood wasn’t thinking about doing.
Every nigga I know wants to sell dope or chase hoop dreams. Not that I’m not athletic but I wanted some shit that was within reach.
I saw this old, abandoned building that sat on the corner of third for most of my life.
Found out who it belonged to and had a sit down with the older guy.
At first, he wasn’t interested in selling.
Like most older people he was stuck in his ways.
I didn’t give up easily. I stopped by often to check on him and his wellbeing.
I began to help him with little shit around the house like taking out the trash.
Overtime we built a bond, and he asked me one day what I wanted out of life.
My answer was simple, “To beat the odds and do something different that wouldn’t cause me to look over my shoulders 24/7”.
That same day he gifted me the building.
All because he wanted to see me do better.
I tried several times to pay him for it.
He assured me my money was no good. That was the biggest blessing ever.
Nobody never did anything like that for me in my life.
That’s why I cherish it the way that I do.
Some people probably saw the building as a lost cause.
It’s really true, that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
I turned dirt into diamonds with this shit.
It’s been up ever since. Mr. James is someone I’ll always appreciate.
Anything that I could ever do for him or his family, I’ll always do.
My own daddy never did shit for me. A complete stranger has granted me generational wealth just off the strength. Goes to show there are still some good people in this world. I just want to pay the shit forward. That’s the main reason I was standing here trying to speak life into Ice’s ass.
“What y’all niggas out here chopping it up about?”, Mazi stepped outside and asked.
“Just trying to get this nigga to see shit beyond what’s in front of him. That’s all”
“And I’m trying to tell this nigga I’m a street nigga. That’s all I know”
“That’s all your ass wants to know nigga”, Mazi said.
“My point”, I added.
“Whatever man. It’s too early for y’all to be putting all this heavy shit on me”
The bass from a car approaching interrupted our conversation. I was checking my phone at first, but the thumping began to get louder. I looked up to see a Pink Chevy Donk approaching. I checked the time, and like clockwork shorty was on time.
“Damn that bih cold”, Ice said.
I nodded my head in agreement. Shorty had her windows down as she pulled into the parking lot.
I could see from where I was standing that she was just as cold as the car.
I just glanced at her though. I didn’t want to stare and come off as a creepy nigga or nothing.
I wasn’t checking for her or no shit like that. I just fucked with the car.
When she exited, we all said good morning.
Right on time, Jay came out to greet his customer.
She followed him inside so that they could handle business.
Ice’s phone began to ring, and we all directed our attention to it.
It rung loud as hell, as it rested on the hood of his car.
Londyn’s name appeared big as hell on the screen.
Mazi looked at me and just shook his head.
Ice pressed the button on the side of his phone to silence it. It was too late. We already saw the caller id. Not that it was any of our business anyway.
“You still on that shit I see”, I said.
“Some habits hard to die man. Speaking of, I’m going to get up with y’all niggas later”
Mazi just laughed at the nigga. Londyn has his ass back in a chokehold all over again. That nigga could care less about Dre and his shenanigans. He would literally have to come get the bitch from Ice. That shit has already been proven not to be an easy task though.
“Aye boss, she wants to holler at you about prices and shit.”
Jay stuck his head out of the door and got my attention. Mazi and I went inside to talk business with her. She had a video on her phone of the exact custom work that she wanted done.
“That’ll cost you anywhere between fifteen to twenty grand.”
“Cool, how much to expedite the process? I have a car show that I’m really trying to be at two weeks from now. I’m willing to pay for the services. I know y’all are the best at what y’all do. I see no need in shopping around”
“Jay, do you feel confident that you can make it happen in the timeframe that she needs”, I asked, redirecting my attention back to him.
“If we get a head start on ordering parts and shit today, most definitely.”
“We’re going to have to order parts today and have them rushed to meet your timeframe.”
Mazi was already on the site where we order parts. I’m a numbers man. so just from glancing at the shit we knew she would need, it was going to be costly. I had faith that Jay could do it. Like he said, it was just about getting the shit in.
“It’s going to be roughly around thirty-two grand with the rush of things.”
“Cool. My fiancé is already on the way, and we can get the ball rolling today.”
“Say less.”
Shorty didn’t even flinch at the price. Just looking at the car, I already knew she had it on her. She settled into the lobby as we all made ourselves busy doing other shit. She was prepared to leave her car today. Seems like no matter the price she was getting the shit done. Boss shit for real.
About ten minutes later, a well-dressed nigga in a cream-colored expensive suit entered. He looked all around the shop before he approached the front desk.
“Hi, Attorney Dominic Brown”, he said as he extended his hand.
Against my better judgement, I shook it.
“I’m looking for my lady Raven. She drives that chevy outside”, he said, using his head to give direction.
“Oh yeah, she’s around the corner in the lobby.”
“Thank you, my guy.”
“Baby, I thought I heard you out here. This is Trill, he’s the owner. And Jay in there is the one who will be working on my car.”
“Oh yeah.”