25. Soulful Hurtz
Chapter Twenty-Five
SOULFUL HURTZ
I hated the rain, but that was California weather for you.
The rain always seemed to make me think of my problems a little harder.
A strong feeling of hopelessness was taking over my whole mind.
I was fighting through this shit the best way I knew how.
I thought having money and being able to finally provide without worrying about feeding my sisters would help out majorly and it did. Mentally though, it did nothing for me.
I was having a hard time getting my sisters on board with not having our mom around. I didn’t expect them to understand, I just thought that it wouldn’t be this hard. Every day Luv acted out and popped off at the mouth asking about Antoinette.
I was already dealing with a lack of concentration when it came to the street shit.
I didn’t know much about dealing with a young ass kid that had a smart-ass mouth.
I was trying to teach Luv and Passion about respect, but they saw me as being their big brother.
Passion stayed quiet a lot and would randomly ask questions about that night.
The night of me finding her and my mom at that damn park.
That night couldn’t leave my brain, it stuck to me more than the two bodies I caught.
I had a persistent feeling of sadness and I lost interest in everything.
I didn’t know how to cope with that shit.
Seeing my mom in that particular state had me tossing and turning every fucking night.
I didn’t get much sleep and when I looked over in the mirror it was obvious that I was starting to drop pounds from the lack of having an appetite.
I wanted to see Jocelyn, but I refused to place my dead weight on her. We were both eighteen but to me she had a happier life ahead of her. I decided to let her go so she wouldn’t constantly look at me with sad judgmental eyes. I hadn’t been to school in months and was better off without that shit.
The way that I had been feeling these days was dangerous. It’s like I had the urge to kill again and find a way to release all this pent-up pain and anger.
On top of that, I still hadn’t heard or saw Sovereign.
Bundy and I were maintaining things good as fuck.
Since I wasn’t attending school, I ate, slept and bled the block.
I stayed on top of niggas and made sure the count was right each week.
If a nigga got mouthy with me, I practically broke his face in half.
Days of taking disrespect was over with, I stood on everything I said and meant that shit.
That shit with Clapback and Murk’um had me looking at muthafuckas sideways.
Each week when it was meeting time, I arrived two hours early like today.
I got out and sat in the back seat of my car behind tinted windows and just observed.
Most of them never even noticed my car parked on the street because they pulled right in and stood out in the parking lot talking and laughing with no cares in the world.
I would hot box my back seat and watch, just to see if I would catch some shit that was unusual. By the time everybody went inside, I was the last man walking in.
Taking my eyes away from the gang, my cell phone alerted me that my sister’s school was calling. I already knew that it had nothing to do with Passion. They were most likely calling about Luv’s ass. I answered on the third ring and was greeted by the principal.
“Hello, this is Mrs. Wilbern calling from Eastside elementary.” I watched three black Cadillac Escalades pull into the warehouse parking lot and sat up some to focus on who the fuck it was. Opening up the middle console, I reached in and pulled my gun out and sat it in my lap.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Wilbern, I’m in the middle of a meeting. Is everything okay?” I tried to sound proper as fuck but was starting to fail at doing so. In a couple of seconds, I would probably be hanging up in this bitch face to go into action once I saw who was all hopping out of these unknown cars.
“Luv has been suspended for fighting and using profanity towards her substitute teacher. I truly thinks she needs an I.E.P like we discussed.” I shook my head no, like she could see me.
My nose was practically glued to my back seat window watching closely.
I heard Mrs. Wilbern clear her throat and then I finally responded to her.
“Luv don’t need a I.E.P she’s not dumb. She passes all her test; she’s reading and writing plus doing math at the right grade level. I will talk to her and put her on punishment.” I tried to reassure her but that wasn’t good enough for the principal.
“Yes, Soulful… I understand, however, an I.E.P can grant her a behavioral counselor. Someone to pull her out of class a couple of times a day so that she can keep busy and focus more on finishing her class assignments. Luv grades are being affected because she has loud outbursts and argues with other students while the teacher is trying her very best to control the class setting.”
Two niggas stepped out of the third black truck and walked towards the Escalade that was parked in the middle of both trucks. They separated and looked around like they were peeping the scene.
“I’ve decided to let her finish the rest of the school day.
She will be suspended for two days.” Now that shit pissed me off, I planned on getting on Luv’s ass when I picked her up today from school.
She couldn’t go to daycare because they expelled her, so now her ass had to come straight home from school.
“Okay thanks, Mrs. Wilbern.” I hung up and watched Inferno step out the truck looking like the devil in all red.
The same nigga that gave me the address and keys to the condo in the city of Torrance stepped out of the driver side of the first Escalade.
The next person that exited the passenger side was that pretty boy ass nigga named Killa.
I don’t know why I swallowed down out of nervousness, but when my eyes landed on Inferno helping Queen out of the backseat, I calmed seeing her face.
Queen’s hair looked wild and curly hanging above her round ass.
Balenciaga shades covered her eyes. She rocked a teal blue crew neck Balmain shirt with a pair of white joggers.
On her feet were teal blue low top chucks.
She was dressed down but still looked like money.
I could see the diamond stud earrings shining like her glossed up lips from a distance.
The ice on her neck gleamed even though it was raining.
Inferno took the umbrella from Big B’s hand and opened it.
Placing it above Queen’s head like the queen she was.
Together they looked like wealth, Inferno leaned down and whispered something in Queen’s ear and she nodded her head and smiled up at him.
The gesture was weird as hell, because I never witnessed Queen smile at a nigga.
Inferno grabbed her hand, and they walked toward the entrance.
This meeting was going to be very interesting.
Grabbing my black Nike hoodie, I put it on and stepped out of my car. Walking across the street, I made it into the parking lot and walked past the two big security niggas that stood with their hands folded in front of them.
I entered the front of the warehouse and was surprised at the three sixty on the inside.
Instead of folding tables being in the center of the room, Queen replaced them and had the front of the warehouse looking like a big office space.
She had about forty comfortable office chairs still wrapped in plastic.
I could see the second level from where I stood.
Big boxes that looked to be shipped out sat stacked neatly up there.
I also notice her office on the second floor that had her name stamped on the door.
“Glad everyone is here and on time. This is officially F.Y.F’s new headquarters.” Her voice echoed in the room as she pulled her glasses from her face. This was my first time seeing the face tattoos and also seeing her face bare of any makeup.
I took a seat at the end of the table and locked eyes with Inferno. He stood behind Queen and his men stood behind him.
“A lot has happened.” She paused from talking as Bundy approached her with a blunt.
She smiled up at him as Inferno frowned.
Before she could open her mouth to take the blunt between her lips, Inferno snatched it from Bundy and balled that shit up.
He tossed it like a paper written with errors across the room.
Big B stepped to the side of him, but Inferno shook his head no, and then sneered.
“I hate to cut my wife off, but I’m only going to say this shit once. So that you niggas and females can save yourselves from dying.” He looked over the entire room with an icy glare.
“Disrespect will be matched with death. If you have never known what it feels like to be burned alive, then I know muthafuckas better show respect at all times.” He turned towards Bundy and reached for the top button of his Polo shirt.
He buttoned that shit up and dusted off imaginary dust from his shirt.
“Tighten up and tuck your feelings, boy. Don’t ever disrespect me again.” He moved away and turned towards Queen. He leaned down and pecked her lips, then traced her lips to get rid of any lip gloss that smeared the rim of her lips. When he was done, he stepped behind her and eyed only Bundy.
I felt for Bundy, everyone in this room knew that he was in love with Queen. Big B handed Inferno a blunt along with a mini torch. He then placed the blunt between Queen’s lips then sparked it for her. She took a deep pull with a satisfied look on her face.