Chapter 20 Dreaux Davis
dreaux davis
. . .
“I-I’m sorry, Dreaux. I thought I would have enough time to make the money back.” This fat thief attempted to plead his case, but I wasn’t in the mood. Honestly, I was already in a fucked up mood, so finding out mothafuckas were stealing from me only made things worse.
“You’re tryna make this seem like it was a one-time occurrence.
According to the reports, you’ve been coming up short for months.
You owe me forty bands, and the crazy part is I know you would have kept skimming my money off the top had you not gotten caught.
I don’t know how many times I have to tell y’all I don’t play about my money.
I make sure you have your product on time, and all I ask is for you to return my profit the same way. ”
“Come on, Dreaux. I’ve brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past, and I know you aren’t hurting for those crumbs. I’ve seen you blow more than that at the strip club.” The arrogance in his tone set me off because he seemed to be still missing the point.
“Nigga, I wouldn’t give a fuck if it was ten dollars.
My shit should never be short. The fact that you think it’s okay to play with my money tells me you don’t respect me, and that, in itself, is a problem.
When you y’all joined my crew, y’all signed a contract with the terms and conditions of being a part of my organization.
Now, what is the consequence for mothafuckas who steal from me? Huh?”
DeAngelo dropped his head in shame, but it was too late for that shit. I had been sparing mothafuckas, and that wasn’t in my character.
“Answer the fucking question, bitch!” I cracked him over the side of his head with the butt of my gun and watched him fall to his knees like a bitch.
It had been a while since I caught a body because Justice had been on my ass about my anger.
I told him if I loosened the reins, folks would think shit was sweet, and that was exactly what happened.
“What’s the consequence, mothafucka? I don’t have all day.”
Tears ran down his face, but I wasn’t in the mood for the pleading and begging. I was trying to take a step back in the organization and give my lieutenants a chance to step up, but they weren’t ready to take over yet.
“Please, I have a son on the way.” Snot dripped down his lip, pissing me off even more.
“I don’t give a fuck about you or that bastard baby of yours.
You should have thought about your child when you decided to steal my money.
Now, you’ll have to watch over him in hell, pussy.
” I let off one round into his skull and watched his body drop.
The cleanup crew got to work as soon as I walked back into my office.
“You straight, boss? You seem on edge lately.” Tech questioned. He was one of my lieutenants, whom I planned to pass the business down to. He was a few years younger than me, but he was full of hunger.
“I would be better if I didn’t have to always come out here for some bullshit.
Y’all are supposed to keep up with each house to make sure everyone’s count is on point every month.
How the fuck did he get away with stealing my shit for months?
At this point, we need Justice to go over all the finances for each house and ensure everything is in order.
If there are discrepancies, I need you to handle them.
I don’t care if we need to replace the whole damn crew.
I can’t have mothafuckas around me, I can’t trust.”
“I understand, and I’m on it. Other than that, are you good?
” I kept my personal life separate from my street life.
Most people knew I had siblings, but I never brought them around, and I rarely used social media, so there weren’t very many pictures of them with me.
I tried to protect them as much as I could from the other part of my world, because people would often try to reach you through your family.
“Everything is straight. I’ll hit up Justice to let him know what I need done, but I trust you and the rest of the team to take care of everything else.”
“Consider it done. I’m about to talk to the crew to let them know what’s going on.
If I need you, I’ll hit you up.” Tech walked out of the office as I sat there in my chair, trying to get my mind right.
I was used to dealing with chaos on the business side, but not having peace in my home had me off my game.
My sisters still weren’t fucking with me, and the feeling was mutual.
My aunt kept blowing my phone up to talk about my momma, but I told her the same thing I told everyone else.
If they wanted to help her, then they could, but I had washed my hands of the situation. Then there was Peace and my baby girl.
I still couldn’t believe she was mine, but she gave me a new sense of purpose in life.
Every time I saw her face and heard her little voice, it lifted my spirits on my worst day.
Things between her mother and me were a different story.
On one hand, I wanted to be with Peace and raise Promise as a family, but there were too many obstacles in the way.
The biggest one was Belleza. Our last encounter was still fresh in my mind, and the reason why I had to end things with Peace.
The moment I stepped into my condo, something felt off.
I held my gun by my side as I unlocked the door.
At first glance, everything appeared to be exactly how I left it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was up.
As I took a couple more steps, a foul-smelling odor damn near took my breath away.
I recognized the scent right away since I had been around my fair share of dead bodies.
I sent a 911 message to the clean-up crew and Tech to let them know we had a situation on our hands.
My gun was aimed towards my bedroom as I tried to prepare myself for what was waiting for me on the other side of the door.
My head whipped from left to right as I observed my surroundings.
There were no signs of a break-in, which only confused me more.
Lifting my foot, I kicked my room door open as I covered my face with my t-shirt.
The moment I stepped inside, my eyes widened in surprise.
Daisy’s naked body lay sprawled out with her throat slit and a knife plunged into her chest. My eyes shot up to the wall above my headboard, where I read the word ‘Distraction’ written in blood.
“Fuck!” Anger coursed through me as I knocked over everything that was in reach. I warned Daisy about running her mouth to Belleza, but she must have taken my words as a joke.
I pulled my phone out and pressed her contact. The only thing on my mind was finding out why she did it.
“Well, well, it’s about time you picked up the phone to call me. You must have finally received the gift I left for you,” she chortled. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to keep my anger under control.
“Belleza, what the hell is this about? Why would you kill this girl in my place?” I spoke through gritted teeth. The smell was too pungent, so I stepped outside to get some air until the crew came.
“I thought I made myself clear when I told you I didn’t want you to have any distractions, Mi Amante.
Imagine my surprise when I find out you have been gallivanting around the city with that zorra negra and her bastard.
I was only gone for a short while, and that was all it took for you to forget who the fuck I am,” she spat.
When Peace told me about a mysterious woman who showed up at the office, I called Belleza and told her to stand down.
Since she had been in Colombia, I thought I was in the clear, but apparently, I underestimated her.
“You’ve got it all wrong. I’m not dating that woman.
She’s someone I dealt with in the past, and I recently found out we have a child together.
There is nothing going on between us besides us co-parenting.
I don’t know what Daisy told you, but she didn’t have all of the facts.
I’m only around her for the sake of my daughter.
” I had no other choice but to come clean about Promise because it was the only way to protect her.
“Interesting. Does your child’s mother know what you do for a living?”
“She knows I own a few businesses, but she doesn’t know anything about my street dealings.” This was one of the main reasons I kept the two entities separate: I never wanted my family to be put in jeopardy because of my life choices.
“Let me explain something to you, Dreaux. I have never been the type of woman who likes to share. Sex is one thing, but I don’t like the idea of another woman having more of your attention than I do.
Not only would it be bad for business, but it wouldn’t make me happy.
I’ve been told I can be a bit of a bitch when I’m unhappy, and I’m sure you would never want to do anything to hurt my feelings. Isn’t that right, Mi Amante?”
“No, Belleza. Look, you don’t have anything to worry about. All I’m tryna do is take care of my child and make this money. I don’t have time for a bitch, and you know that.”
“I’d like to think I know you fairly well, so I trust you are being honest with me.
I don’t take kindly to liars; in fact, I’ve killed men for less.
If I were you, I would make it abundantly clear to Ms. Graham that the two of you have nothing between you besides that adorable little girl of yours.
What was her name? Ahh, yes, I believe it’s Promise, right? ”