A Hood's Second-Chance Summer

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Hood

“Holmes, let’s go.”

Shit, Ms. Rhonda ain’t got to tell me fucking twice. I been ready to fucking slide; fuck, you mean I been in this motherfucka way too long. I looked up to see Ms. Rhonda standing outside my cell, her keys already in her hand.

“I thought you’d be ready to leave this motherfucka. You’re the only inmate I know who ain’t ready to walk out on the Feds on his damn release date.”

She’s a goddamn lie.

“Ms. Rhonda, chill, on a nigga.”

“Shit, I was hoping I was wrong.” Ms. Rhonda shook her head.

“I guess some of y’all niggas really do like prison.

Unless you plan to stay here until Casino is released from the Feds, I suggest you pack your shit and start fucking moving.

I gotta take yo ass downstairs in twenty minutes so they can process you out. ”

I smirked.

Ms. Rhonda wasn’t wrong.

“For real, though,” she said, her voice softening. “I don’t wanna see your black ass back behind these damn walls. If you don’t listen to anything else I’ve ever told you, treat Adrienne right. I like that girl.”

Ms. Rhonda had met Adrienne a handful of times. What Ms. Rhonda didn’t know was that Adrienne wasn’t the only bitch who came to see me during my bid. And what Adrienne didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

“Hood, that’s a good girl. Don’t fumble her.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I hear you.”

But I’m not fucking listening. The truth was, Adrienne deserved better than a nigga whose heart still belonged to someone else.

My heart never left Edgewood.

It never left Fumi.

The only woman who truly stopped checking for me and gave a fuck about us.

At least I wasn’t out here selling fucking dreams. I never promised Adrienne anything; shit, I didn’t promise her anything yesterday or tomorrow.

“I don’t want any of this shit,” I said, looking around my cell. “Y’all can throw it all away.”

I didn’t bring shit with me when they slammed those iron gates behind me seven years ago. I wasn’t taking shit back. Ms. Rhonda stepped aside, and I walked out of Cell Block B for the last time.

I threw my hand in the air. “Aiight, potnas, a nigga out this motherfucka.”

Shouts echoed through the tier. “Stay out!”

“Don’t bring yo ass back, nigga!”

“Aye, Hood pop yo shit on these goofy ass niggas!”

“I plan on it.”

Ms. Rhonda stopped outside another cell.

Casino.

My brother stood on the other side of the bars, waiting for me. Leaving Casino behind was the only part of today that didn’t feel right. We locked fists through the bars.

“Gang.”

“Gang,” he answered with a grin.

“Eight more months, nigga.”

“Fa sho I got it.”

Aye, Casino was built for this shit; he can handle the rest of his bid without me. We both knew he’d hold everything down until he touched the streets again. We had plenty of rank in this bitch.

Shit, money moved.

Respect moved.

Even a few COs moved; however, the money told ‘em to.

One of the potnas yelled from farther down the tier. “Gang, gang! They finally freed Hood!”

Laughter bounced off the concrete walls.

Seven years.

That’s how long I’d been caged at FMC Lexington. Today, I was finally going home. And the first stop wasn’t my house.

It was Edgewood, the streets still calling a nigga.

The smell of fresh air and pine trees filled my goddamn lungs. Freedom smells good as fuck. The day I walked through those gates seven years ago, a piece of my soul stayed behind. The moment I stepped back outside, I felt like I got that motherfucking piece of my soul back.

A nigga was finally free. As soon as I touched down in my city, it was up.

East Atlanta made me.

Edgewood raised me.

Edgewood fucking paid me.

Everything I became started on those fucking streets. I scanned the parking lot until my matte-black Porsche Cayenne rolled to a stop right in front of me.

The driver’s window eased down. Adrienne smiled. Then she stepped out.

Damn.

My money looked good as fuck on Adrienne. She had always been petite, but over the past seven years, she’d filled out in all the right places. Her skin was the color of a sandy brown pecan cookie, sprinkled with freckles that somehow made her ass even finer.

Adrienne’s sandy-brown hair still fell midway down her back, and those two dimples could’ve convinced a preacher to fucking sin.

Adrienne wasn’t the same girl I’d left behind.

Neither was I.

I’m a different nigga.

Adrienne had hips now.

Ass.

Two handfuls of titties. I’m not stupid. A nigga had been keeping her company while I was gone. Truth be told, I wasn’t tripping. My heart still belonged to someone else.

Adrienne moved quietly. Whoever she had been dealing with covered his tracks well, because even with my reach from behind the wall, I could never figure out who the nigga was.

Funny.

I ain’t really give a fuck, because my mind always went back to Fumi. I missed the fuck out of her. Shit, I still love her. I’m man enough to admit I was the one who fucked us up.

Adrienne tossed me the keys. As always, she expected me to drive. I caught them, wrapped an arm around her waist, and pulled her against the driver’s door. My palms rested on the roof above her head as I stole a few kisses.

“Damn, Adrienne, this is how you greet a nigga after seven years?”

Adrienne looked up at me with that same look she’d worn since the day we met.

She’s still happy.

She’s still hopeful.

She’s still in love with a nigga.

I just ain’t the nigga to give her that last one.

“I love you, Hood.”

“I know.”

Adrienne laughed and shook her head. “So… you not gon’ say it back?”

“I ain’t the type of nigga who throws the word love around. I care about you. You already know it.”

“We’re going to have to work on that.”

Adrienne wrapped her arms around my neck and jumped into me. “Welcome home, baby. I missed you so much.” She smiled against my lips, then bit my bottom lip.

“There you go with this shit,” I laughed. “Now let’s get the fuck outta here so I can remind you what seven years of hard pipe feel like.”

Adrienne reached inside the truck and tossed me a brand-new iPhone and my trap phone.

I slid it into my back pocket before climbing behind the wheel.

“Hood, I brought you some clothes. You wanna grab a room so you can shower and change first?”

I started the engine.

“Nah.”

“You sure?”

“Shit, I’m free.” I looked straight ahead. “I’m ready to go home.”

Adrienne nodded and buckled her seat belt. “If you say so.”

Fresh clothes could wait.

Jewelry could wait.

The flexing could wait. Right now, I just wanted to put as many miles as possible between me and prison. Every mile brought me closer to Edgewood. I turned the radio up and started eating up the miles. Adrienne reached over and turned it down.

“Hood, I need to tell you something.”

I glanced at her. “What’s on your mind?”

“So, what are your plans now that you’re home?”

“I’m getting back to this paper I’ve been chasing my whole life.” I shrugged. “And I plan to spend as much time with you as I can before I hit the streets.”

Adrienne sighed. “A lot has changed while you were gone. The streets ain’t what they used to be. You’ve got more money than you know what to do with. I think it’s time to find another route.”

“The streets are all I know. Until I figure something else out, I’m outside hustling.” I’m finna stack this cash fast.

“I got a few ideas.”

I looked over at Adrienne. “Why do you want me out of the streets so bad?”

“Because I already lost you once. I’m not trying to lose you again.”

A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth.

“So, why’d you give me my trap phone back?”

“To tie up loose ends.”

Adrienne ain’t calling the shots; I’m the one calling them.

“Is that right?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t think one of these young niggas will try to test me, do you?”

I promise I’m upping the switch on a lil nigga I put on their momma; lil niggas better stay in their lane, not mine.

I promise I’ll put their ass on a white fucking t-shirt. It’s like that.

“It ain’t about that. The game changed while you were away.”

I laughed. “I’ll adjust.”

She grew quiet. Then… “So, what are your plans for us?”

There it was.

I knew this conversation was coming. “Hoe, what you mean?”

“Hood, don’t play with me.”

“So, you’re asking if I still want an open relationship?”

“Yes.”

“Then yeah.”

Adrienne nodded slowly. “Okay.”

I looked over at her. “That’s all you got?”

“No.” She folded her arms. “I’m not sharing you in 2026 with any bitch.”

I smirked. “So, what the fuck are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if you want us, it’s just us. You and me, and no one else.”

Adrienne held my gaze.

“If you can’t do that, I’m out.”

Damn. She wasted no time. “You ain’t even given me an hour of freedom before you started calling fucking plays.”

Adrienne burst out laughing. “I’ve had seven years to think about this.”

I looked over at her. “So, who is this nigga?”

“What?”

“The nigga you’re fucking.” Silence. “I know it’s somebody.”

“It ain’t about him.”

“Oh, but it’s a nigga involved.”

Adrienne nodded. “Yes.”

I chuckled to myself. “My reach is long as hell, and I still couldn’t put a face to this nigga.”

“I kept it that way.”

“I see.”

Adrienne looked straight ahead. “I can end that situation today.”

“Then why don’t you?”

“Because I’m not leaving one situationship just to step into another one.”

That made me look at her. “For once, I want certainty.”

I drummed my fingers against the steering wheel. “So, how long are you giving me to figure this out?”

Adrienne laughed. “Hood, I’ve already given you seven years.”

“Damn… I just got out.”

“And I’m aware of that.”

Adrienne softened her tone. “But if you need a few more days to decide whether you wanna be faithful, then I already have my answer.”

The truck fell quiet. Finally, I spoke. “I ain’t ready to be tied down, Adrienne; you either share the dick or have none at all.”

“I know.”

Adrienne didn’t yell. Thank God she didn’t start fucking crying. She lowkey had an attitude, but she accepted what the fuck was going on.

“I’ve been seeing somebody while you were gone,” she finally admitted. “He knows about you.”

I nodded. “I figured.”

“And I know other hoes came to see you while you were in jail.”