Chapter 2
How everyone got into this business was almost as unique as the person themselves. For me–I had just been looking for a smoke.
I’d only been in here for a short time, and I didn’t really have any connects. Coming from Texas, I thought there’s no way that Louisiana is that far off from what it’s like living back home.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I’d just been looking for something to take the edge off after losing more and more job opportunities.
I wasn’t doing anything besides retail security, which was relatively easy to find work in Texas, but for whatever reason I couldn’t find anything.
I was starting to get pissed off, really, but nothing a little green couldn’t help.
And that’s always the thing for me.
I was anxious around people, and not because of some sort of tragic backstory or whatever.
I just didn’t fucking like them, and working security all day meant that most people avoided me in general.
Either because they didn’t want to deal with anything that I could possibly have to say about them or with them.
Occasionally, someone might ask me where something is, but it was relatively solitary work, which meant that I got the peace and quiet I always was looking for.
Maybe I was still wearing my hat or something like that, and Redd asked me who I worked for. At first I thought he was fucking joking because he was very intense about the question. I told him who I was working for at the time, which was no one. I was just wearing an old hat.
And he was like, “Yea, could have swore that company was based in Texas. The fuck are you doin’ out here for?”
When he found out I didn’t have anyone to work for, he’s like, “Hey, you work for me.”
That’s it.
That’s how I came to be Dupont.
At the time, Dupont was not the Dupont it is now–not even close–but you could say I got in at a good time. Personally, I didn’t love selling marijuana, but I was definitely more attuned to keeping the sellers safe. Any of the boys out on the street–I was in charge of keeping them safe for a while.
I just went with it because the money was good, but after a while I started managing other men underneath me who also were keeping the men safe. Now I’m managing all of them—the scheduling, the assignments, you name it.
So when my King said that he needed a secured area in Atlanta after our family discovered there was unrest under our Queen’s ascension, I hopped at the chance.
And though I hate people, I respect the hell out of my King, and I want to do anything I can to protect his best interest and anyone who falls underneath him as well.
I’ve had a good life because of his aspirations, so I’m there when he needs me. Loyalty is nothing when you know who to be loyal to. It’s simple and easy.
I had been working with Geno for as long as I had been with Dupont. He’d been the man that had been closest to me in rank, and someone I considered a friend, even.
It’s been a little over a month since we found out about his betrayal.
It might be hard for some to wrap their head around why you would care about there being someone like Geno in the family, but Dupont isn’t just one member.
The pain of disloyalty runs deep. If you’re disloyal to one of us, you’re disloyal to all of us.
You put everyone in jeopardy when you start thinking solely about yourself and what you could stand to gain from being so shitty.
For me, finding out about what had happened to not just Geno, but what he tried to do to Redd, it hurt me in a way I couldn’t fathom.
To think that I had misjudged him so thoroughly.
To think that he had been a rat under our nose for so long.
It hurt not only my heart, but my pride too.
Dupont had suffered its number of losses in the time that we had a change in partnership.
First, it was when the Lafayette family decided to change its leadership, from Terrell Lafayette Senior running the show to his son, Terrell Lafayette Junior.
I understand wanting to retire, because Lord knows Senior needed it, Junior was in no way fit to rule the business, especially when Senior wasn’t all that great in the first place.
Blue had made the decision to cut ties with Lafayette, to end any work with them, and everyone in the family agreed that it was the best thing for us. Not only did they stand for nothing, but Junior was a real piece of work.
Everything after that was sort of a landslide.
Now Lafayette is being run by Senior’s daughter, and she’s a force to be reckoned with. Not only that, but it seems that there are people who are threatened by Racquelle coming into power too.
I couldn’t have imagined that it would have been Geno. I’ve seen the tapes, I’ve heard what he had to say.
And Colton… working ahead of security, it feels like more times than not I’m having to deal with his shit, really, or I’m hearing about his shit.
A partnership between Colton and Geno was not one I would have been able to call, and though I was willing to take the job in Atlanta before I knew about how Geno had done us all so dirty, I feel it more so now.
It wasn’t just those two acting alone. There is someone else who is behind whatever they had been planning to achieve with their schemes.
We can’t afford to have unrest like this in the family, and we definitely cannot afford it when someone is trying to stir up shit about Racquelle taking over.
I don’t have any two feelings about her rise, because our money looks better, our numbers have dwindled, but that’s for any number of reasons.
You don’t go into this line of work expecting to live forever, but you do expect to have to watch your back.
Sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet.
More than that, I see that having Racquelle running Lafayette and partnering with Dupont has made my King happy as hell.
I’ve never seen the man smitten in my life before, but whatever she’s doing, it’s trickling down its positive effects to us.
Not only is it benefiting us to have a happy King and Queen, but it's made the money even greener, and we don't get into business to make less money.
My job has been a little bit more difficult, especially because I am naturally suspicious of most people. Oftentimes it's unfounded, but my suspicions hadn't failed me before.
Geno and I had known each other for years.
He had been a part of Dupont for years, and though I didn't know him before he started working with us, I had spent any number of hours with him.
He was a friend to me. The betrayal to the family was distinct from the betrayal to me, because all of this was such a shock.
So, in a situation like this, where the only friends you can really have are ones that are connected to this lifestyle, it makes you even more hesitant to form any sort of alliances when there is no honor amongst thieves.
My ex had always been hesitant to allow that part of my life to affect her, because she was none the wiser when we got pregnant.
I had kept those things very separate. Even now, with our child only six years old, I do my best to keep Dupont as separate as possible.
though some people have slipped through the cracks, like Redd.
As he stands outside of my house right now, waiting for his opportunity to come and play Barbies with my daughter and his new fiancée, I find myself still being a little hesitant in allowing him to have the closeness that I once had with Geno as well.
I can only have old coworkers going on work trips that last a while so often.
Redd just got back from his, considering he was in a prison cell for over a year, something I didn't want to have to explain to my daughter, much to Marissa's displeasure.
I can't blame her for not wanting to have this part of my life bleed over into the one that our daughter lives in, but unfortunately I am who I am.
The choices I've made have led me to where I am.
Nothing that I've done has put her in any danger, but it has put her in a nice-ass house where her mother doesn't have to work a single day because everything that she needs is taken care of.
I still have to respect her displeasure with bringing my hood-rat friends around, though I would say Redd is more clown than villain.
He’s Graciella’s favorite uncle and no one can tell Redd shit about it.
I nod towards the large man with red hair as he comes in, immediately looking around for Gracie, and hold out my hand for Stephanie to shake.
"Well, I tried to get him to reel it in.
" But she pulls a bag from around her back that has way more toys than my daughter needs.
I'm sick of building shelves for all of the stuffies and toys that she's been accumulating.
I don't mind that my daughter is spoiled by everyone around her, but at some point we've got to understand she only has so many hours in the day to play with these things, and maybe they should start putting money towards her college fund instead.
If her current obsession with space continues, she’ll need lots of it.
"Redd!” my daughter yells as she charges towards the large man, who scoops her up and flies her around like an airplane, or shall I say a spaceship. She's not that small of a kid, but the man is absolutely yoked, so it's no problem for him to lift her over his head and zoom her around the house.
My ex is glaring at him because she knows exactly why he was in prison. Though she doesn't find him unsafe, she still is wary, as she should be.
I respected her wishes in letting him have time since he had gotten out, away from my daughter, to make sure that he was good. That kind of experience can really change you.
But I think the dark-skinned woman in front of me had a large hand in keeping him as sane as he possibly could be. He's always been a little bit off his rocker to begin with.
I accept the toys and place them on the kitchen counter, and once my daughter is done giggling at her Uncle Redd’s antics, she sees the bag.
"What did you get me, Uncle?" she asks with stars twinkling in her eyes. Her recognition of the store’s logo on the bag evident.
He flies her over to the kitchen island, where he deposits her on top of the countertop. She crosses her legs and greedily digs into the bag, pulling out tissue paper and wrapping until she gets to the good part.
It's an action figure of one of her favorite women in the space series that she is a huge fan of.
My Gracie is obsessed with the stars and space, and ever since she found out that there are lots and lots of movies and TV shows all exploring those ideas, she has not stopped consuming this one particular series.
The woman with pink and purple streaked hair and a space suit stands proudly with some small creature over her shoulder. The squeals coming from Gracie are enough to let me know that he's been doing his research. "Papi, look at what Redd got me! Look at what Uncle got me! Isn't she so pretty?"
I look at the name on the outside of the box.
“Heena," I say.
"Yes! It's her! She is the coolest character. There is no one cooler than her, except maybe me, because I'm going to be just like her."
"You are," I agree.
She begins unboxing but it proves difficult between the tape and seals then hands the box to me, expecting me to open it. Redd snatches it first, pulling a knife from his back pocket to open the box.
Stephanie hangs close by, not getting too close to my daughter until Gracie hands one of the things from the box to her to hold, which basically means that she'll be held hostage here in whatever unfolds with the rest of the things that are coming out of the bag.
A spaceship that the figurine can fit into and a shirt that has the same design as the one on the figure as well.
Gracie puts it over her T-shirt, not waiting for a special opportunity to wear it, needing to have it right now.
We might not be the most upstanding citizens, but I will say that nobody loves harder than people in this family.
Dupont might be a business, but it's brought us close together.
I don't have as much trust for some of the other people in this family.
I know without a doubt that Redd is somebody who is honest to a fault about his intentions.
He cares for his niece, calling her often, making sure she has everything she needs–as if I'm not already doing the same.
If Stephanie is not careful, she'll have about twelve children, as far as he's concerned. I think one's good enough for me. I don't need to be burdened with taking care of any more princesses.