Chapter 14
Plotting
My body was finally healed enough, and honestly, it felt good to wake up in my home and not some run-down motel.
I sat on Kronic’s porch for a few days, ran my money up, got bills in my house paid, got me a cut, and my locs twisted. I was feeling okay, but what would make me feel better would be taking Islah and her nigga down.
I thought about it for a while being back in my city.
She made a fool of me.
She let that nigga make a fool of me, and because of that, I couldn’t let up off either of them.
If she didn’t want me back, that was okay, but I be damned if I let them go off being happy.
I was out my house early. I still wasn’t used to staying in that big ass house alone yet and wasn’t trying to get used to it.
I locked the door behind me and walked down my steps with a duffle bag in my hand. I had already paid Kronic back from what he fronted me, but it was time to re-up.
The sun was already beating me down as I got into my car with no breeze in the air. I cracked the AC up as I pulled down my long ass driveway.
I used to move different when I was in a better space with her. Now everything felt like damage control.
I gripped the steering wheel a lil’ tighter as I eased through the streets, the AC hitting me directly in my face but not doing nothing for what was really hot in me.
The silence in the car felt louder than anything outside, giving me time to think.
I wasn’t thinking about starting problems.
I was thinking about finishing them and having the bread to do so.
By the time I pulled up around Kronic’s way, he was already outside like usual, like he didn’t believe in wasting motion when it came down to business.
He looked at the duffle once, then at my face, like he was trying to see how I was moving.
“You straight?” he asked.
“I’m good, nigga,” I responded. “I just need more than what I got right now.”
He didn’t question it. He just reached for my duffle. I handed it off, and he went inside.
A few minutes later, he came back out and tossed the duffle at my feet. It landed heavier than when I handed it to him.
“Make it count,” Kronic said.
I grabbed the bag and nodded.
“I always do.”
I sat on his steps and sent a kite out. It wasn’t long before the neighborhood junkies pulled up to me.
One by one.
Then, two by two.
Once the main junkies got the message, they passed the word around.
I sat there on Kronic’s steps with the duffle between my feet while they lined up. Money exchanged hands. Product moved. Everybody left happy throughout the day.
Once my traffic slowed down, I watched the streets. Cars rolled past, niggas was posted up the block. A house playing music in the distance.
The same shit that was always around.
By midday, my traffic picked back up, and I had to re-up. Kronic didn’t mind, and shiid, I didn’t mind either. We were both making money.
I sat there for a couple more hours, serving anybody that had money. The work moved faster than it did in the first half of the day.
Every sale made me feel a lil’ better.
Not because of the money, but because the money meant options, and right now, options were exactly what I needed.
Once my duffle bag was no longer filled with bricks and was full of money, I closed up shop for the day and focused on my other mission—building a team of niggas that’s trained to go.
I knew the block, and the block knew me. The only issue was finding niggas that understood what I had to do.
I looked to the right. I saw some niggas playin’ ball in the middle of the street and couldn’t even talk shit the right way. On the porch were some niggas, Carlos and his people. About four other niggas were rolling up, extended clips hanging out of all of their pockets.
I put my money in my car, then walked over to them.
“Carlos,” I said, getting his attention. He turned around and looked at me.
“Gio, wussup?”
I walked on his porch, dapped him up, and he introduced me to his niggas.
“This is Spy, Kev, Joe, and Frog.”
I dapped each one of them niggas up, then Frog passed me the blunt.
“I haven’t seen you around,” Carlos said, “Where you been?”
“Atlanta, I had some business to take care of there.”
“Word, I heard the money is good out there,” Spy added.
I nodded like I really knew.
“Yeah, it is. I gotta go back soon tho, gotta hit another lick. The money too nice to pass it up.”
All them niggas’ eyes lit up.
“Shit, can you put a nigga on? Is it real work?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, it’s real work,” I said, passing the blunt to Kev. “But shit might get grimy, might have to let some shots go.”
Them niggas looked at each other, and their eyes lit up like they heard some good news.
“If they with the shit, we with the shits too. It’s no other way to be, you feel me?” Frog added.
I nodded, taking in all that them niggas was sayin’, and it sounded like I found the team that I needed.
“So, listen—”
“Gio,” I heard coming from behind me.
I turned, and Kronic was standing there.
“Hold on, I’ma tell y’all what it is in a minute.”
They nodded and continued smoking while I walked down the steps to the sidewalk to see what Kronic wanted.
“What’s the word, nigga?” I asked.
He shook his head at me. “What the fuck are you doin’?”
“What? I am putting together a lil’ team,” I responded.
“A team for what, Gio?”
“To hit the streets with me, so I can sit back and make money and not do everything.”
Kronic stared at me for a second.
“Gio, don’t fuckin’ lie to me, nigga. I know when you are up to some bullshit, and that sounds like some bullshit. Are you still chasing Islah?”
“It’s not a chase anymore. Her and her man got me fucked up, now it’s time to turn the tables.”
“Man, don’t drag them niggas down there with in the middle of your bullshit. That’s the main reason me and Bully told our main niggas to not fuck with you right now.”
I laughed. “Listen, I don’t know who the fuck you and Bully is, but y’all damn sure don’t run me, and if these niggas want to make some money, I’ma put them on to making some money.”
Kronic stepped closer to me. “That nigga sent you back here fucked up. If you go back there, what the fuck do you think he gonna do to you and them niggas?”
“Nothing,” I shot back. “‘Cause this time I’ma be ready, and I won’t be alone.”
Bully stared at me for a second, and I walked back to the porch.
“So, like I was sayin’, I got some…fish to fry in the A, and if y’all niggas are with it, it can be a good come up for y’all.”
Carlos looked at his niggas, they gave slight nods, then he looked back at me.
“As long as we get to let some shots off, we are with it.”
We locked in. I got a chair, and I told them my rough draft of a plan. Letting them know once we get that nigga out of the way, his stores were our meal tickets.
I then went back to my car and brought some work from Kronic’s bitch ass, then took it over to them niggas.
“I have a nice pot, but let’s run this money up and handle this shit sooner or later.”
“Let’s do it,” Carlos said to his niggas. “Come y’all, let’s run it up.”
And with that being said, my niggas were in motion. We were going to be in the A in no time…Islah and her bitch ass nigga were gonna see me.
Sooner rather than later.