Chapter Five
Over four hours away from Satin Hills, Boe sat on his cousin’s porch with a hoodie pulled low over his head. He sighed as he stared at the issued phone the detective had given him. It hadn’t stopped vibrating since he arrived at his destination.
He didn’t know whether to answer and lie or just smash the phone right there. Either choice felt dangerous. What bothered him most was how fast the detective was pressing him. He had just gotten out of jail, barely had time to think, and already the pressure was on.
Boe let the phone vibrate again and again. On the third attempt, a voicemail alert popped up. He stared at the screen for a moment before pressing play and putting the phone to his ear.
“Borris, this is Detective Harris. It’s been twenty-four hours since we last spoke, and I’ve already called you three times. Silence tells me you’re panicking, and panicking people make mistakes.”
There was a pause that felt intentional to Boe.
“You were very clear about wanting the deal. I was very clear about what cooperation looks like. When I call, you answer. If I don’t hear from you by the end of the day, I’ll assume you’re no longer interested, and we’ll proceed accordingly. It would be in your best interest to call me back.”
“Fuck,” Boe spat as the message ended. He snatched the phone away from his ear and made a mental note to call him back as soon as he could.
His chest rose and fell rapidly as a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat pulled into the driveway, breaking his concentration. His cousin stepped out, a blunt hanging from his lips and smoke curling lazily around his head. With a forced smile, Boe stood and met him halfway. He’d beat him there.
“Damn, cuz, wassup, nigga? It’s been a minute.” Maino greeted.
“Hell yeah, what’s good?” Boe replied as they slapped hands and pulled into a quick hug.
“I been coolin’. Gettin’ this money and stayin’ out the way.”
“I feel that.”
Maino leaned back, his eyes scanning Boe. “You look fucked up. We gon’ fix that, though.”
They both chuckled.
“I knew you’d get me right.” Boe ran a hand over his mini fro, eyeing Maino’s fresh fade.
His cousin wasn’t just in the streets; he was cold with the clippers too, cutting hair as a side hustle when he had the time.
Growing up, before Maino moved away at nineteen, he was Boe’s barber.
Out of all the cousins, they had always been thick as thieves.
Close in age and even closer in bond. That was exactly why Boe had come to his doorstep.
If Boe couldn’t depend on anyone else in his family, which he couldn’t, Maino was the one person he knew he could count on.
Everybody else just had their hands out, always looking to see what the fuck he could do for them.
His mama was the worst of them all. Money-hungry, never satisfied, always calling when she needed something and never when he did.
“Come on,” Maino told him as he unlocked the front door. He passed the blunt before heading toward the back to let his pit bulls in, their barking echoing through the yard.
Boe took a deep drag, letting the smoke sit heavy in his lungs before exhaling slowly. “Damn, they done got big,” he said, bending down to pet the dogs as they rushed him. “Sup, y’all.”
Titan and Roxy both jumped against his legs, tails whipping back and forth. To strangers, they were a danger. But to the ones they knew and loved, they were soft as cotton.
“So, you really tryna dodge these niggas, huh?” Maino said.
“Yeah, my lawyer saying shit ain’t looking too good for me, so fuck that. Them niggas got me fucked up.” Boe dropped onto the couch, spreading out as if he were a boss… as if he believed his own lie. “Shouldn’t have let me bail out. Now, I ain’t going back.”
Boe wasn’t stupid enough to tell Maino the truth.
The moment someone mentioned snitching, help dried up and loyalty disappeared.
Maino had always had his back, but he was still a street nigga at heart, and street niggas lived by a code.
One wrong word, one slip, and everything could change between them.
Besides, he couldn’t have Maino or anyone else looking at him like he was weak.
Boe needed somewhere to land, not another problem on his back. Maino was a big part of his plan, so he couldn’t afford to fuck this up. He had mentioned helping him move some work. That money, plus the cash he got from Fabienne and Nivéa, would buy Boe some time until he figured out his next move.
Maino took the blunt back as he took a seat across from him.
“I hear you, fam. Fuck it. You know I got you. Like I told you, you help me move this shit, and I’ll look out for you, get you paid.”
“Bet, I appreciate it, cuz.”
“You family. Don’t mention it.”
They slapped hands again, and Maino nodded toward the door. “So where’s Nivéa and the baby? Thought you said they were coming with you. I was lookin’ forward to meeting Ny.”
Boe took another hit of the blunt and shrugged, slipping into character.
“You know how these bitches are. A nigga gets jammed, and they switch up. I pulled up to her crib yesterday to get her, and come to find out she’s been cheating, fucking with another nigga.
So, I kissed my baby and dipped. I ain’t got time for that shit.
I need a rider. Someone loyal. Especially when I’m moving how I’m moving. ”
Maino frowned, disbelief written all over his face.
“Nigga, are we talking about the same Nivéa? The one who rode with you through all those bids? Put money on your books? Went against her mama for your black ass? Cooked, ironed, held you down every fuckin’ day like y’all were married or some shit?” He shook his head. “For real?”
“Aight, you don’t believe me.”
Boe reached inside his pocket and pulled out Nivéa’s phone. After powering it on, he pressed in the code he had watched her use and scrolled to her photos. Then he handed it to Maino, who whistled in disbelief.
“Damn, who she laid up with? This nigga looks familiar.” He asked, brows furrowing.
“I said the same shit, but I can’t put my finger on it, cuz.”
Maino rubbed his beard as he stared at Crown for a while, then noticed something, a hint of the horse on Crown’s chest. “Aye, this the nigga over the Knights. He the president. Can’t remember his fuckin’ name, though. You know it’s been a minute since I been in the Hills.”
“Crown.” Boe finally pieced the rest of the puzzle together as he snapped his fingers.
Now it all made sense. The nigga at the market. He couldn’t tell Maino that part without revealing the whole truth, so he kept the part about Danger to himself. But he finally connected the dots. Danger was the vice president, and he remembered them both coming to Preach’s club to meet up.
Preach owned a nightclub and often conducted business in the underground of the building.
While Boe wasn’t big enough to be part of the actual meetings, Preach would request more soldiers to be present upstairs as muscle…
more eyes, more ears. This position had worked to Boe’s favor because it was one of the reasons he knew how to tell the detective about some of Preach’s buyers.
The other intel he got about Preach came from the inside.
“Damn, that sho is him.” Maino bobbed his head. “But why you got her phone?”
“A nigga was so heated I ended up walking out with that bitch.” Boe shrugged, telling one lie after another.
Maino chuckled, handing him the phone back.
“Whatever you do, don’t get too heated that you go back and involve yourself in her new relationship.
Just let that shit go and focus on yourself.
Them niggas in that bike shit crazy. The shit’s just as bad as the dope game, you feel me?
You know I ain’t never been no scary ass nigga, but you gotta know when somethin’ just ain’t worth the trouble.
With everything you got going on right now, you don’t need that kind of heat on you. ”
“Man, it is what it is. Told you, she's on some foul shit now. She couldn’t handle the time I was facing, and instead of being real and telling me that, she just switched up on me.”
“Damn, I really hate that for y’all, especially since she just had Ny. You on the run and shit. How you even gon’ see your baby now?”
Boe shrugged as he cut off Nivéa’s phone and put it back in his pocket. “I’mma figure it out. Fuck her mama, though. I’m over that.” Another lie slid off his tongue easily. He wasn’t over it. It stung like a bitch, but what more could he do?
Maino took the blunt back, exhaling slowly. “Shit happens, cuz. You just gotta keep your head up and keep pushin’. And you know if you ain’t got nobody else, you got me. Maybe once things cool down between y’all, this could be a spot where you link up and see the baby.”
He paused, choosing his words carefully out of respect.
“Maybe shit ain’t work out ‘cause, honestly, it ain’t good for Nyla to be out here like that on the run wit’ you. A baby needs stability.”
“I hear you, and meeting here sounds good. A nigga would love that. I miss her already. I’ll let you know. I got to get settled first.”
Boe played like he cared about having a bond with his child, but he knew he’d fucked that all the way up, beyond repair, and he’d likely never see her again.
“I feel you.”
“First things first, I gotta get rid of this whip I’m in. I got a lil’ bread to get me something cash until I can afford something better.” Boe was worried that Nivea had reported her car stolen.
“Nah, don’t even worry about that. Once you get rid of it, I got one for you out back. Drive that until you get your bread up, then cop you something. Don’t waste no money right now. Nigga, you need to be stackin’ and fast.” Maino told him.
“Good lookin’, cuz.”
The men sat and caught up for a few hours before Maino had to head back out on business. Boe stayed behind and chilled, or at least that’s what he told Maino. Instead, he reached for the issued phone and called the detective back, lying to buy himself more time.
∞∞∞