Chapter 1
“Jue, how you like this one?” Tasha asked Juelz as she held up a wine-colored bodycon dress against her in the mirror.
They’d been at this mall for damn near two hours.
Had gone in almost every store there was.
Juelz told her she could have it her way, but he didn’t expect her to go into every store.
“It’s straight,” Juelz answered, arms folded, leaning on the wall like his soul was slowly leaving his body. “Just like the last thirty outfits. Get it and let’s get the fuck up out this store.”
“Okay, meanie.” She stuck her tongue out. “Let me try it on real quick. Then we can go.”
She grabbed his hand, dragging him behind her.
They had been engaged for two years now, and you never really saw one without the other.
Juelz was ready to get married any day—courthouse, chapel, backyard, wherever.
Tasha? She would always say. Juelz, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, and brush it off.
“Scuse me, miss, can I try this on?”
The salesgirl’s smile lingered a little too long, clearly checking out Juelz more than the dress. “Yes, the first fitting room should be open.”
“Thank you,” Tasha replied. She went into the first room and pulled Juelz in with her.
No way she was leaving him out there with that girl eye-fucking him like that.
Inside, Tasha peeled off her crop top slowly, letting it drag over her head.
Her C-cups bounced free, and she didn’t miss the way Juelz’s jaw tightened.
She slid her pants down next, swaying her body from side to side, giving him a show.
“Aight,” he warned, gripping the middle of his jeans. “Don’t start some shit you can’t finish, Stank.”
She laughed as she stepped into the dress. “Zip me up, bae.”
Juelz stood and slid his hands over her hips, up her waist, memorizing every curve like he hadn’t already a thousand times. “Shit, I don’t wanna zip nothin’. I wanna take it back off.”
“Jueee,” she giggled, turning toward the mirror. “Ooh shit…this makes my booty look crazy big. I'm definitely gettin’ this.”
“That’s exactly what I had in mind, my baby,” he added. “Unzip this shit.”
She was still smiling when he pulled the zipper down, his hands already claiming her chest. His thumbs brushed over her sensitive nipples.
His mouth followed, slow and deliberate, his tongue tracing a path from her collarbone to her breast, taking each nipple into his mouth and sucking hard.
Tasha sucked in a breath, a sharp moan escaping her lips. “Shit, Juelz...you ain’t playin’ fair.”
She pushed him down on the fitting room bench and straddled him. He was kissing all over her breast, leaving a trail of bite marks on her soft skin. “Damn, Tasha. You don’t even know what you do to me, girl.”
She chuckled, pushing him back against the mirror as she sucked on his neck. She was kissing all over his spot, and he was about to lose it.
“Lemme get in that pussy real quick,” he asked, as he trailed a finger close to her center.
Tasha pushed his hand away, laughing at his suggestion. “No, crazy!”
“C’mon!” he humped against her. “Just lemme put the tip in then?”
Tasha laughed even harder. “You know I’m still bleedin’, Jue.”
As she said it, she realized it had been day eleven, and it showed no signs of slowing down.
She always felt bloated and exhausted. The bleeding had been relentless, heavier than her usual flow, leaving her drained and worried.
She told herself it was just stress and she’d make an appointment, eventually.
“The fuck, Tash? It’s been a week and a half,” Juelz complained, frustrated. “Look at my shit, you got me harder than Chinese arithmetic, girl.”
Tasha ignored his comment; instead, she reached down and took out his hard erection and got on her knees.
“Don’t worry, I gotchu.” She wrapped her lips around his penis that was already leaking precum, and she didn’t hesitate to lick it up.
She swirled her tongue around the sensitive head.
Juelz groaned, his head falling back against the mirror.
“Shit, Tasha… you ‘bout to pull a nigga soul thru that shit, girl.”
She took him deeper, her hand stroking what couldn’t fit in her mouth. She worked him expertly, knowing exactly how to please him and what he liked. Long, slow strokes followed by quick, shallow ones, then deep-throating him until he was literally twitching.
“Fuck, girl, you tryna make me bust already?” Juelz panted, his hands tangled in her hair. Tasha kept on sucking, ignoring him. She moaned around his dick, the vibrations sending shivers through his body.
She was in control now. He was on the verge of shooting all his seeds in her mouth until—
Knock. Knock. knock.
Three knocks hit the door.
“You okay? How’d that fit?” the clerk called. “You need a bigger size?”
Tasha burst out laughing, as she still had a good grip on the shaft of his penis.
“Umm…no, she said loudly and sarcastically as she swayed his dick from side to side. “This one fit just fine.”
Juelz smirked, pulling her head back down to his mushroom head.
“Okay,” the clerk called back quickly—already walking away to help other shoppers.
She picked up the pace now, her head bobbing faster as she felt his balls tighten in her hand as she massaged them. “You like that shit, don’t you, Jue, baby?”
“Hell yeah, I do. I’m ‘bout to cum,” Juelz warned, his hips bucking upward.
“Fuck!” he shouted. He was about to release everything he had into Tasha's mouth because the way she was taking him down her throat, he couldn’t keep up.
Tasha didn’t pull back. Instead, she took him even deeper, swallowing around him as he exploded in her mouth. She was still sucking as if she wasn’t ready for it to be over; her throat muscle was clenching around him, milking him for every last drop.
Juelz couldn’t take it, going in a state of shock, pushing her head off his semi-erect penis. “Shit, stop girl, you got it, damn. The muthafucka soft now. You fuckin’ demon.”
She panted, breath short, lashes fluttering. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood up, putting her clothes back on.
Juelz shook his head, laughing as he slumped back on the bench, trying to catch his breath. “You gon’ have me walkin’ outta here bow-legged, I swear to Gawd.”
Tasha adjusted her hair in the mirror. “You know how I get down. Now look at you, tapped out and tremblin’.”
“Girl, go ‘head on,” he waved her off, still out of breath. “Yo ass crazy.”
Just as he was pulling his jeans back up, his phone buzzed across the floor, the screen lighting up with Mar's name.
He glanced down at it, jaw clenching a little.
Tasha noticed. “Who that?”
He picked it up and answered. “Whaddup tho, my baby?”
Mar’s voice came through tight. “Need you to slide thru. Got a package for you, nigga.”
Juelz sighed, wiping a hand down his face. “Where at?”
“Warehouse off Old Bay.”
“Aight.” Juelz hung up and smacked Tasha on the ass. “Aye! I gotta go meet Mar.”
Tasha rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. She reached for her shirt, slipping it back over her head. “You stay with some shit, boy.”
He kissed her shoulder. “You mad?”
“Nah.” She pouted. “Today is supposed to be about me.”
Juelz groaned, adjusting himself. “Shit, it was. We been here all day and went to every store, Tasha.”
“Well, at least this last one made up for the long day.” She winked, opening the dressing room door and walking out like she ain’t just turned that whole stall into a porn set.
“I’m buyin’ this one,” she called back, informing the salesclerk.
Juelz followed, phone in one hand, wallet in the other. “Damn right you is. Whew!”
As the two headed out of the mall, they ran into a familiar face. Shyann. Her and Tasha had been friends for a couple of months now. They met at one of Tasha’s hair appointments and instantly clicked.
“Hey, Shy. What the hell you doin’ here, girl?” Tasha asked as she held on to Juelz’s arm while he carried the shopping bags.
“Shit, girl. I see y’all done bought out the mall and shit,” Shyann said as she peeked through their bags.
Tasha grinned and tugged Juelz’s arm tighter. “Umm-hmm. But finally, y’all two can officially meet. Jue, this my girl I be tellin’ you about, Shyann. Every time I try to introduce you two, somethin’ always comes up.”
Juelz gave her a quick nod and once over. “Whaddup?”
Shyann was eyeing him a moment too long. She finally found her words and replied to him. “Umm, nice to meet you finally. Tasha is always talking about you. Jue this and Jue that. Just done gon’ Jue crazy.”
Tasha flipped her hair and waved Shyann off. “Whatever girl. Well, I will call you later. Juelz ditchin’ me for his lil friends. So I have to roll. Maybe we can talk over drinks later.”
“Of course, girl, talk to you later.”
They hugged real quick, and Tasha strutted off with Juelz, still holding his arm like she was staking claim.
Shyann stayed there a minute longer, watching them fade into the distance, wishing she had something similar.
Somebody who rides for her. Someone to irritate the hell out of her and joke with.
She’d been playing it cool, dating here and there, but damn…
it had been a minute since anybody made her feel like that.
Hell, like anything. She turned, fixed her face, and headed to the food court like her heart wasn’t suddenly loud as hell in her chest. Ain’t no way she was going to let that loneliness start showing. Not out here.
The sun was hiding behind some thick-ass clouds as Juelz whipped the Charger onto Old Bay, his tires humming low over the busted pavement. This side of the ‘D’ always smelled like burnt oil and burnouts on forgotten streets that nobody asks questions about.
He spotted Mar leaning up against a souped-up black Yukon, arms crossed, hood pulled over his head. Real lowkey, but that burn in his eyes said everything. Juelz killed the engine and stepped out, checking his surroundings, and that Glock tucked just enough to show if you were paying attention.
“Whaddup, nigga?” Juelz asked, dap already cocked.
Mar pulled him in with a shoulder-hug and a tap to the back. “Cooling. You took long enough, nigga.”
“Yeah…yeah. I’m here now.”
“Shit got funny after that last drop,” Mar said, eyes scanning the street like muscle memory. “One of the runners ran his mouth, and now I’m hearing all kinds of shit.”
Juelz licked his bottom lip, irritated. “You handle it?”
“Bout to. That’s why I hit you up.” Mar opened the back of the Yukon, revealing a duffel with the type of weight that made a man disappear if he lost it.
“This a lot of work, nigga. You need to make sure them lil niggas flip this shit quick.” Mar informed him as he zipped up the duffel.
“But we need eyes on that apartment off Glade. I think somebody been watchin’ our movements and shit.
Shit been lookin’ real funny lately. I think an undercover might be in that apartment or some shit. ”
Juelz didn’t flinch. “You wanna put Meek on watch?”
“Nah,” Mar said, closing the trunk slow. “I need somebody that don’t make noise. In and out. Peep the scene. That nigga Meek might just go in the damn apartment.”
Juelz nodded once. “Shit, you right about that. I’ll probably get one of the other lil’ niggas to slide through tonight.”
“That’s a bet. Call me if he peep something off,” Mar said, pulling his hood tighter and sliding back in his truck. “Make sure them niggas don’t fuck this up. If they do. It’s all our heads.”
“I got it, nigga,” Juelz yelled while watching him pull off before lighting a Black & Mild and blowing smoke toward the darkening sky. Old Bay never stayed quiet for long. And neither did the streets.
“You sure you got this?” Juelz asked, looking Trig dead in the eyes.
He nodded, “Yeah, I said I got it. I ain’t no rookie, nigga.”
He was posted up in the passenger seat of the Charger, strap tucked, all nerves masked under that loud-ass confidence. Juelz studied him for a second longer. Trig always came with energy, too much of it sometimes, but right now Juelz needed eyes, not action.
“A’ight. Slide by Glade, third building from the end. Don’t talk to nobody. Don’t post up long. In and out,” Juelz instructed, handing him a prepaid flip. “Only call me if it’s somethin’ real.”
Trig snatched the phone. “Say less.” He hopped out and disappeared around the corner.
Juelz pulled off, checking his mirrors before hitting the main road. He cut through a back lot near Fremont, and pulled up beside a beat-up Maxima, and two boys were posted outside smoking and play-fighting like the little niggas they were.
“Yo,” Juelz called out through the window. “Cut all that shit out and come hop in.”
They slid in, the smell of weed and oversprayed cologne trailing them. Both were young, maybe seventeen, eighteen, broke, and ready to work. That’s all he needed. Juelz popped the trunk on the Charger but didn’t get out just yet.
“I got some work I need y’all boys to move quickly,” he said, eyes flicking between both of them. “Ain’t no time for all that flexin’ and shit y’all be doin’. I need y'all boys on ya toes.”
“How fast?” one of them, Lil’ Rico, asked, already checking the corner like somebody might be watching.
Juelz lit a pre-rolled blunt before he answered. “Fast, nigga. Think 48 hours. Max. I’m tryna out this new connect, and I need this shit to move expeditiously.” He took a hit of his blunt. “That’s the only way them niggas gon’ fuck with us.”
“Say less,” the other one, K, nodded. “We on it.”
Juelz looked hard at them both. “Deadass. If y’all fuck this up, that’s y’all ass. You feel me?”
Both boys went quiet and nodded fast.
“A’ight. I’ll hit y’all in two days. That’s enough time to get rid of that work. Grab that duffel in the trunk.”
They jumped out, grabbed the duffel as if death were written on it. Juelz took one more drag of his blunt, then tossed the rest out of the window and peeled off.