Chapter 29
Scales and Foundation
Me, Gold, Don, and Junie drove straight to my house. I pushed the front door open, and the place was completely empty—just echoes and bare walls. I pulled out my phone, ready to call my grandfather and let him know the delivery hadn't come through, thinking maybe there'd been a snag in the plan.
As I dialed his number and walked back toward the garage, my foot hit the concrete, and my mouth literally hit the floor.
There it was. Stacking up against the back wall like it was nothing: all 200 bricks my grandfather had promised.
It wasn't even that I’d never laid eyes on that much work before. I’ve seen money, I’ve seen weight. It was the heavy realization that nobody had ever trusted me with this magnitude of power at once. My grandfather wasn't just testing me anymore; he was anointing me.
We had to move fast and smart. I had three king-size beds in the house, and each one of them had two heavy-duty box springs.
I went to work, carefully tucking 33 bricks inside the cavity of each box spring until the beds were fortified like vaults, leaving one brick out for me and one for Don to start turning.
“Baby, come help me,” I called out, my voice dropping an octave.
Tammy walked into the kitchen, wiping her hands.
I handed her a face mask, making sure she was protected before we started breaking dust.
I threw a measured amount of the brick into the blender, grinding it down into a fine powder, and showed her how to use the digital scale so she could handle the weighing once she got the rhythm of it down.
Next came the chemistry. I put the pot of water on the stove, watching the bubbles rise before adding the powder and baking soda, letting the heat work its magic until it locked together tight.
When I fished the finished product out of the glass pot, the glare of it almost blinded me.
The coke I used was straight off the boat—so pure the finished dope shimmered like it was coated in fish scales. Mastercraft quality.
Don took his share of the brick and flipped it into 34 bands. It was wholesale pricing, sure, but a lightning-fast turnaround and a damn good profit for a single drop.
With the house suddenly feeling too small and too hot with that kind of inventory sitting under mattresses, I started packing up my room.
I hauled my clothes and gear out to the SUV.
There was no way I was sleeping under the same roof with millions in work just waiting for a kick-in; me and Gold were officially relocating to the lake house where we could breathe a little easier.
Later that night, the stress melted just a fraction as I sat back in the living room leather sofa, sipping a glass of smooth brandy.
On the other side of the room, Junie and Golden were dancing on each other like they didn't have a single care or a lick of sense in the world.
The bass from the speakers rattled the walls.
They were blasting "Questions" by KenTheMan and Kali, the rhythm thumping right through the floorboards.
As the track hit its peak, they started screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs, pointing right at me:
“Do you eat the box off the top, is you freaky? Do you tell the block, run yo' mouth, or you sneaky? Is you talkin' to the lady with the cards tryna read me?”
“And will,” I chimed in, tossing my head back.
Tammy stopped dead mid-dance, threw her head back, and fell out onto the floor laughing so hard she couldn't catch her breath.
In that exact moment, despite the danger and the weight of what we were holding, I felt invincible.
I knew I was only going up from here, and that my grandfather was a man of his word.
My next move was clear: I had to turn Don into a certified boss, teaching him how to command the board and move this weight right—even if he preferred the quick cash of wholesale over breaking it down gram by gram for maximum return.
I’d rather see my own blood run things right beside me than watch any other stranger get rich off our name.
We were about to step out and give the streets absolute hell.
I just had to steel myself, lock my mind in, and prepare for the inevitable wave of enemies, hate, and jealousy that always followed real power.
I knew the man I was looking at in the mirror, and I knew what he was capable of becoming.