Chapter 30
Posted by the entrance of the threshold of the family room, he refused to sit. He was losing respect for the man who stood by him. Brantley looked different, moved different, and was actively doing shit that went against the code.
“Well, one of you big ass muhfuckas need to start talking,” Aunt G spoke up.
“You don’t think we know about this little divide y’all got going on.
And Luciano is gone, who do you think that leaves as a target?
Huh? We’ve always told y’all you were better together than apart.
Divided everything falls. So speak the fuck up! ”
Angel looked up at Markus. His nostrils flared as if Markus punched him in the face. “He demoted us!”
“Y’all was fuckin’ around on Luciano’s side killing kids!
” Markus shot back. “But now it’s so much fuckin’ more than that.
Y’all can’t even handle the street shit.
Any niggas looking to get they spots back wouldn’t be fuckin’ up left and right.
I’ve been cleaning up your shit left and fucking right for weeks!
Bodies dropping for what reason? The only reason you not lying next to them is because Luciano is dead nigga!
I told you the fuckin’ plan, I laid that shit out brick for fuckin’ brick you, your wayward ass dick, and your dumbass brother do what y’all always do, fuck it up. ”
“I ain’t dumb,” Angel spoke up with a frown.
“No?” Markus asked. “Aight. So Tuesday, when Svyn asked you to handle those niggas in Sunset, what you do?”
Angel looked at Brantley for the answer.
“Why you lookin’ at him? Don’t look at him. What you do with it?” Markus posed.
Angel grumbled, looking at his hands. “I took it to CenterStage.”
“You took it where?” Markus asked as if he didn’t hear them.
“I took it to CenterStage. Fronted some stripper bitches,” Angel answered.
“And you know what I had to do Thursday when the count came up short because your dumbass didn’t do what you were told? I had to send some niggas up there to get my shit. This is a fuckin’ business. This ain’t a charity organization where we give out free work in exchange for some pussy, nigga.”
Brantley glared at the side of his brother’s face.
“Why you lookin’ at him. You were my right hand, that wasn’t for you to start making fuckin’ moves behind my back.
I looked into it, did some research, some investigation.
That same bitch y’all was in Luciano’s territory fighting over, runnin’ trains on, same bitch you're giving my product to give her stripper friends in the middle of the fuckin’ drought!
For free!” Markus bellowed. “You, out of all these niggas in this room, should know how I get down behind my fuckin’ money!
You fucked me and thought I wouldn’t find out.
If you weren’t my blood, I’d kill you.” Markus pointed two fingers at Brantley.
“Do it then. You big and bad,” Brantley challenged, standing up.
“You think I won’t nigga?” Markus roared.
Aunt Lucille spoke up. “Sit down. You too, Money.”
Markus flexed his jaw before obeying his aunt’s orders.
“You fucked up,” she said to Brantley and Angel, wheezing as she spoke. “It was an easy fix. You’re off the street.”
“Ma!” Brantley bellowed, making Markus pop to his feet again.
“What? No?” Angel whined.
Aunt Lucille held her hand up, giving Markus the sign to stand down.
He took his previous position, resting against the threshold.
Arms folded and annoyed that instead of enjoying his food, rubbing on his lady's thigh under the table, he was stuck here dealing with the same bullshit from the same set of men.
“You will be where Money is when he tells you to be there. I don’t care if it’s taking the shipment to your aunt. We can’t trust you with shit else, prove us wrong,” Lucille spoke.
“I got it from here, Luci,” Aunt G chimed in.
“This business is real shit. Y’all not on the streets playing cocaine cowboys for fun.
I work day in and day out to keep them boys in blue off your ass.
You’re not going to bring this family down because you can’t operate with your brain.
Hear me clear, this is your last time to stress my sister out or to not fuckin’ listen. ”
Aunt G looked at her watch and huffed. “Wasting all this time talking to you, and that man is going to be home in an hour. Luci, if they fuck up, call me, I’ll put them down for you.”
She walked toward Markus and looked at him in the eyes, then hugged him muttering, “keep your eyes on them. Where you go they fuckin’ go. I’ll be damned if they fuck up all of our lives. I love you.”
“Love you too, Auntie,” Markus grumbled kissing her cheek. “Get home safe.”
“I will.” Aunt G roamed out of the room, stopping by the kitchen to give Nia and Reign a hug. Markus watched as she whispered something to Nia that made her stiffen. Then she straightened her shoulders and became the wife of police chief Paul Garrett.
Markus moved to Aunt Lucille and helped her to her feet. “You want to get in the bed?”
“No, I want to eat, get to know your girlfriend,” Aunt Lucille muttered, walking slowly alongside Markus.
Evidence that her days were numbered was showing.
If the stress of gang shit didn’t kill her, it was going to be them, and the weight of that tugged at his heart.
Svyn was on the other side assisting her to the table.
Once she was seated, the pair roamed into the kitchen to grab her a plate.
Reign was already up from the kitchenette table with Ms. Ophelia, making a plate for Aunt Lucille and Markus.
That soothed the pain in his spirit. Reign fell right in with the people he loved the most. The trio of women continued to talk and laugh amongst themselves.
“I don’t know how this shit is going to work,” Svyn muttered.
Markus swiped a hand over his face. “You know how hard it’s going to be to not put these niggas through the fuckin’ floor.”
“I know. And we got that call,” Svyn said in a hushed tone. “We got to be in the Port in two days. With them nigga’s.”
Markus pulled in a sharp breath. “With the supplier.”
“Yeah, his name is Javi. Apparently, with the mayor and Luciano out of the way, he wants the next up. That’s you.”
“Aight,” Markus spoke. “Tell them niggas to be ready to go. I’m fuckin’ with them. I just got to keep them close, I don’t have to tell them shit else.”
“You want them on the road?” Svyn asked with a slight chuckle.
“Nah, I want them in coach. But have Nia, but Brantley’s big ass in a middle seat, and Angel next to the toilet. We want to act like bottom feeders, they’ll move just like it. Fuck ‘em.” Markus turned his attention from Svyn to Reign, putting his plate on the table.
Angel moving toward her.
“You with Money?” Angel asked, looking her up and down.
“Chill, he’s baiting you,” Svyn spoke, moving to Nia, who had his plate.
“Nigga fuck around and be bait,” Markus grumbled, moving over to his lady, placing his body in front of hers. “This ain’t Neveah. Them games ain’t gon fly. They told me to keep you around. They ain’t say shit about letting you keep your teeth. Step back.”
Angel looked at Brantley.
“Keep looking at him for permission,” Markus spoke, pulling Reign’s chair out. “Keep it up.”
If Angel were smart, he would have taken heed to the warning. Inside, he was blindly following his brother down a path he wouldn’t recover from. Brantley was going to be the death of him because logic was gone, and envy had taken over his being.
Markus took a seat next to her. “You good?”
Reign looked at him with those eyes that saw his soul. “Are you good?”
The answer was in the flash in his eyes. “I’m good.”
Reign’s hand rubbed his bouncing leg under the table. “Don’t let that beast call you back.”
Markus licked his lips, flexed his jaw, and nodded.
“So, Reign, where you from?” Brantley asked forking food into his mouth.
“Down south,” she replied, seeing Brantley for the evil he was, and Angel wasn’t too far off. He could probably be saved, but Brantley, no way.
Markus glared at him. “Whatever game you playin’ stop, nigga.”
“You three,” Ms. Ophelia spoke up. “Not another word, eat, clean up, and get out. This is too much on Luci.”
Reign leaned over and whispered in his ear. “We can leave when you’re ready. I packed up some plates for us already.”
“I appreciate you.”
“I know,” she hummed.
Markus ate and went to the kitchen to help Nia clean up while Reign talked to Aunt Lucille and Ms. Ophelia. Brantley and Angel left without so much as a kiss for their dying mother. Nia wiped down the counters and huffed.
“You know she’s not making it to the end of the year,” Nia shared.
Markus nodded. “I know. She’s worse off than she was a week ago.”
“And the week before that. Maybe we need to make this a thing. Even if that means sitting at the table with Bevues and Butthead,” Nia grumbled. “Putting them back into the mix of business is going to fuck our shit up.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I need you to stay with Reign while we handle this business in the Port. I’ve taught her how to shoot, but I don’t want her alone in the event them niggas up to some bullshit. Where Cyn been?”
Nia shrugged her face, frowning. “Ain’t heard from her. I might need to pull up on her and find out what’s up.”
“You should do that, let me know how that shit goes. Everything from this point forward, say nothing, watch everything, trust nobody outside the four of us. Those niggas is plottin’ on me. The first chance they get, they’re taking that shot.”
“What are you going to do?”
“First, take Luciano’s shit, get them niggas on payroll. The floodgates are about to open. I need bodies. You can get my lady home?”
“Yeah, I got you.”
Markus moved into the living room and announced he was heading out. A kiss and a promise to be back to see his aunt, a hug and a kiss for Ms. Ophelia. For Reign, a long hug and his series of kisses to her face.
“Should I wait up?” she asked softly.
“Mm mm. I’ll be there in the morning to take you to the salon after I feed you,” he shared.
Her reply was soft. “Okay. Be safe.”
“I’m coming home,” he assured placing a final kiss to her face. “Lock up, put the alarm on.”
“I will.”
With that, Markus pulled himself away from her. “Svyn, let’s ride.”