5. Lennox
Lennox
Before I left Cannon Hills, I had one last piece of business to handle.
Muthafuckas like to test my patience when I didn’t show my face much, but I never had a problem giving them the assurance that they needed.
When I pulled up to the warehouse, Rook was already here…
waiting. From the outside, the building looked like every other warehouse in the old industrial park.
Nothing about it stood out, and that was the point.
I parked around back and went inside through the door that was heavily guarded with one of my top-of-the-line systems. After I entered the code and walked inside, I found Keem sitting in a chair near the middle of the floor.
He wasn’t tied up or being held at gunpoint.
He didn’t need to be. Rook told him I wanted to talk, and the nigga was dumb enough to come thinking that was all this was.
“What’s good, Steele?” Keem greeted me as he stood and reached out for a dap. I looked at his hand before looking back at him.
“Sit the fuck down. I’ain come here for all that.” The smile he had on his face disappeared as he took his seat. He looked from me to Rook, who was leaning against one of the tables a few feet away with his arms folded across his chest. By now he’d figured this wasn’t a casual meeting.
For the last couple weeks, I had been hearing about somebody new moving guns around Cannon Hills.
Normally, I wouldn’t have given a fuck. I wasn’t the only nigga in the city with access to weapons, and I didn’t give a fuck about the next nigga making his money.
The problem was the shit being sold sounded too fucking familiar.
It was the same type of inventory we had been moving and showing up around the same time my numbers started coming up short.
At first, it wasn’t enough for me to call it anything but coincidence.
Then Rook started asking questions, and all fingers pointed back to this nigga.
“You wanna tell me why my shit is being sold across town for less than what I charge?” I asked Keem as I stood in front of him. I saw the shock flash across his face, but he recovered quickly and shook his head.
“I’on know nothing about that shit, Steele. Niggas be selling guns every day.” Rook chuckled from where he stood a few feet away.
“Yeah, they do,” I started. “But it’s funny how this particular nigga started getting his hands on the same shit we got right around the time inventory started disappearing.”
Keem shifted in the chair before looking over at Rook.
“The inventory ain’t disappearing. The counts must be off.
” I stared at him because that was the same bullshit excuse I expected him to use.
I purposely didn’t let on that I knew somebody was stealing because I wanted them to hang themselves.
Niggas always got sloppy once they thought they got away with some shit.
Every shortage led back to the loads Keem had access to.
Then one of the guns he moved ended up in the hands of somebody who knew exactly where our shit came from. That was all the confirmation I needed.
“How long you been taking from me?” I asked him again.
Keem rubbed his palms over his jeans before finally speaking up and good thing he did because I was two seconds from ending his existence simply for wasting my fucking time.
“Aight, look. I moved a few pieces, but I wasn’t trying to fuck you over. I needed some quick money, and I was gonna put everything back before anybody noticed.” I stared at him for a second before I shook my head.
“Nigga, how the fuck was you gone replace some shit you sold?” I frowned. “Then on top of that, you took my shit and turned around and became my fucking competition with it.”
“It wasn’t even like that, Steele. I wasn’t trying to build no operation off your shit. I just moved a few and—” I cut him off before he could finish.
“And got comfortable because you thought I wouldn’t find out.” I stared at him because niggas always had an explanation once they realized the lie wasn’t working anymore.
Keem shook his head. “Nah, Steele. It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like?” I asked, not really looking for an answer. “You thought because you’ve been around a few years, you had room to do whatever the fuck you wanted.”
“Come on, Steele.” He stood. “Bro, I fucked up… I can admit that. But this ain’t no shit we can’t fix.
” I didn’t respond because I wanted to see where he was going with this bullshit.
“I can bring the money today,” Keem continued.
“Everything I made off them pieces. You can take that shit out anything else I’m owed too. I’on give a fuck. I’ll make it right.”
I let out a sinister laugh because he really thought that he could pay me for his life.
I already had recouped my money and guns.
I just wanted this nigga to know why he was dying.
Keem opened his mouth again, but I wasn’t interested in hearing anything else.
I pulled my gun and shot him in his forehead before he could get another word out.
“I’ll handle this,” Rook said as he looked toward the body. “What time you heading out?”
“Now,” I responded as I checked the time on my phone. “Keep shit straight while I’m gone,” I told Rook as I headed toward my truck.
“You know I got you, bro,” he answered from the doorway. “Go handle your shit.” We dapped it up before I got in my truck and pulled away from the warehouse. Now that I handled the shit here, it was time to put my attention on Pierce.
***
I arrived in Arbor Point a few hours ago and checked into my room at The Kingsley Hotel.
After settling in, I called my family to let them know that I was good.
After checking in with my people, I got right to work.
I drove one of my blacked-out Suburbans from my fleet to do my surveillance in.
With everything I needed, I left the hotel and went to my first point.
I wasn’t the type of nigga that needed a day to settle into a new city before handling business.
The sooner I learned Pierce’s movements, the sooner I could figure out how and where I wanted to get to him.
The file gave me a good starting point, but I never relied completely on information another muthafucka gave me.
I needed to see shit for myself. People switched routines, changed locations, and moved differently when they thought something was off.
Watching my target told me more than a folder ever could.
From the file, I knew they had a warehouse out in Mason Yard.
I headed in that direction and parked discreetly up the street between two buildings.
This angle gave me a good view of the door while I waited around to see who or what came through the area.
While I was waiting, Kree called and I ignored her ass.
I told her ass I was going out of town for work, and she knows I don’t deal with her bullshit while I’m gone.
To keep me on my square, my mama handles everything while I’m gone unless it’s urgent.
I let her call go to voicemail as I continued to wait and watch.
After a few more minutes, I saw two men walk out the front door.
They looked around and exchanged a few words.
Once I got a closer look, I knew it was Pierce and his right-hand Mello.
I committed both faces to my memory as I watched them get into their cars and leave.
Seconds later, I was trailing behind them at a safe distance.
I saw Kree calling again and I sent her to the voicemail…
again. She called right back, and this time I answered.
“You better be dead or dying,” I answered. I kept my eyes on the road while Pierce’s truck stayed several cars ahead of me.
“Why haven’t you called to let me know you made it?” She had the nerve to ask. I looked at the screen to make sure I heard her right because she couldn’t be serious right now.
“I know you fucking lying. Kree, bro… get the fuck off my phone with this dumb shit. I’ll call Lenny later before she goes to bed.” I hung up before she had a chance to refute. When I gave my attention back to the road, I no longer saw Dorian or Mello.
“Fuck!” I slammed my hand on the steering wheel. I felt like going back to Cannon Hills and choking the shit out of Kree’s simple ass.
I drove another few blocks looking for either vehicle before accepting that I had lost them. I knew where Pierce lived, worked, and handled enough of his business to find him again. Still, that didn’t stop me from being pissed because I shouldn’t have lost him in the first fucking place.
That was exactly why I didn’t deal with unnecessary shit when I was working.
One distraction could be the difference between finishing a job clean and ending up in a situation I didn’t need to be in.
Today it only cost me the detail. On another day, answering that phone at the wrong time could cost me my fucking life.
Frustrated as fuck, I went back to the hotel. The first thing I did was call Rook and check in with him.
“Yo…” he answered on the third ring.
“Wassup? Everything straight there?” I asked getting straight to the point.
“You know I got this shit on lock. Everybody’s doing their fucking job because they don’t wanna hear your grumpy ass mouth when you get back.” He laughed.
“Whatever nigga,” I chuckled because he was right.
Rook had been around me long enough to know how I ran shit. I didn’t micromanage grown-ass muthafuckas who knew their jobs, but I didn’t tolerate lazy ass shit either. If somebody was getting paid, I expected them to handle whatever position I put them in without me having to babysit them.
“How’s shit going that way?” Rook asked as his laughter died down.
Swiping my hand down my face, I leaned back in the chair before I responded.
“I laid my eyes on the nigga, but Kree’s dumb ass kept calling like she was fighting for her fucking life.
I answer the shit and she’s asking why I’ain check in with her?
The fuck? When we started doing that shit?
” I frowned. “I cursed her ass out and hung up. By the time I focused back on the road, I’d lost them niggas,” I vented.
I still had time, but I like to get shit over and done with.
“Damn. You need to choke her dumb ass out. Like what if you were in a dangerous situation and got hit? The fuck was she gone do then?” I knew he was pissed because that was my boy and we didn’t play about each other’s safety.
“Be somewhere on the next nigga’s dick like she was on mine,” I responded honestly.
“You already know it.” Rook laughed because he knew exactly how I felt about the situation with Kree.
We chopped it up for a little while longer before we hung up. The next call I made was to Kree. As soon as I heard her voice on the phone, I went in on her ass.
“Why the fuck would you blow me up like that when you know I went out of town on a job. You could’ve gotten me killed if I was in the middle of some serious shit,” I barked.
“How was I supposed to know you were already out when you never checked in with me,” she sassed back.
“Kree, stop playing with me bro. The fuck I gotta check in with you for? I already told you I would be outta pocket, and you knew what that meant. I didn’t need to check in with you for a muthafuckin’ thing because you’re not my woman so you can chill with that shit!” I was sick of her bullshit.
That was the problem with Kree. No matter how many times I made our situation clear, she kept trying to force it into something it wasn’t. We had a daughter together. Sometimes we fucked. That didn’t make her my woman, and it damn sure didn’t give her the right to think she could check a nigga.
“But I am the mother of your child… your only child so I have the right—” Kree started before I cut her ass off.
“You’on have a right to do shit but take care of my daughter.
Now put her on the phone so I can talk to her before she goes to bed.
” I was done talking to her ass. I heard her mumbling, but she knew not to let me hear that shit.
Moments later, my baby girl got on the phone, and my attitude went away just that fast. This little girl owned every piece of my heart… the part that was left, anyway.
“Hey, pretty girl,” I greeted when I heard Lennyn’s voice come through the phone, and I could feel the tension leaving my shoulders.
“Hey, Daddy,” Lennyn responded happily before she started telling me about everything she had done since the last time we talked.
I sat there and listened while she bounced from one subject to another, barely giving me enough time to answer before she moved on to something else.
I didn’t rush her. I could listen to my baby talk about absolutely nothing for hours if she wanted me to.
Everybody else got whatever version of me I felt like giving them, but Lennyn never had to question whether I had time for her.
After talking to my daughter, I took a shower and a much-needed nap. I’ll get back up in a few to go check on a few more spots and see what I come up with.
I wasn’t letting losing Pierce earlier throw me off.
I had enough information to find the nigga again, and now that I had laid eyes on him for myself, the job had officially started.
The next time I got behind him, there wouldn’t be a phone call or any other bullshit pulling my attention away.
That nigga was officially living on borrowed time… my time.