Chapter 14 City #2
I glanced at my boy and knew then he was locked in with Eris. I been knew he was gone, but this was different. He enjoyed being Eris’ nigga; that’s going to be a problem.
“Fuck you looking for?”
“A ring to see if yo’ ass went and got married on me. You talking like a nigga that’s locked in.”
“I am.”
“What? You love her ass now.”
He shrugged.
“I might.”
Rayzor and love got dangerous. My boy went in the deep end behind that shit, and I knew E was a good girl. She had him wide open. I just hope she was prepared for him taking it farther than far on certain shit if it came down to it.
“I’m not on that shit either.”
“What you talkin’ about?”
“I can see the shit in ya eyes, nigga. You think I’m gon’ do some wild shit.”
“I don’t think shit,” I said.
He chuckled.
“I know,” I added.
He stopped laughing.
The silence was loud.
“You said you needed to make a transaction?” he changed the subject.
“That was days ago.”
“Oh, yeah.” He slowly nodded.
We sat in silence. He stared at the blank TV screen, and I looked around in space.
“E ain’t talked to the girls?”
“Nah.”
“Damn. All this over you?”
“Hell yeah, nigga. Shit wild. I’m not even coming in on no takeover shit. Rhea’s messy as fuck.”
“That hoe jealous. She must’ve wanted the dick first.”
“Maybe… but whatever it is, she better fix that shit with E because she ain’t been right since. She hasn’t said anything else when we touched down in Vegas about it, but it’s still fucking with her,” Rayzor explained.
“Hell yeah. I know it is.”
“What’s up with you and Suk?”
“I think she blocked my ass.”
I rolled my neck then laid my head back against the cushion, staring at the ceiling, listening to the fan run.
“Fuck you do?”
“Shit. Nothing. We left here, fucked and outta nowhere, she threw my ass out.”
“Post nut clarity,” he laughed.
I chuckled. “Same shit Janice said.”
“Y’all gon’ figure the shit out.”
“I thought you wanted to talk about something, nigga. Let’s make these moves,” he broke the silence, pushing up from the sofa.
I couldn’t do shit but shake my head. That’s one thing about bro and I, we didn’t sit around talking about feelings and shit often. But what’s understood don’t have to be explained. That’s why he’s solid. Whatever he knew won’t make it to the streets and vice versa. It wasn’t too many left like us.
“You need to be hitting the gym, bro. I told you to leave this shit to me.”
“Ain’ going, bro. I hear what you’re saying. You say the shit all the time.”
“When the fuck you gon’ listen?”
“I’m good.”
“At some point you gotta leave this street shit alone.”
Rayzor and I been in the streets separately for a long time before we joined together and took over.
“This street shit got me where I’m at.”
“This street shit helped get you where you’re at, but you got a brand now. What the fuck I look like letting you stay out here when you ain’t gotta?”
“You ain’t letting me do shit, though.”
“Bro, at some point, you gotta choose. This street shit ain’t going nowhere, but you don’t gotta do this. The plan’s in motion. You stay in the ring, and I got this out here.”
“I’m choosing bread.”
“But you got M’s on contracts. This shit ain’t nothing compared to that.”
Growing up, Rayzor looked out for all the single mamas in the hood, including mine. We were cool from the block, but not as close we’d gotten over the years. He was more solid than mothafuckas I shared blood with.
When I got knocked, he looked after my entire family and the crazy shit was, we weren’t even cool like that. He just took care of the hood. You had people that looked out, but Rayzor stepped it up majorly.
When I got jammed, he made sure the family was straight. He put money on my books and everything. Solid shit. He never gave an explanation just showed up.
We kicked shit, locking in as family.
Then he got jammed up. Fucked the hood up with it. He had everybody behind him.
I made sure he had whatever on the inside.
When he touched down, we took over the streets. We started eating but was hungry.
Not long after that, he was given an opportunity for boxing. I silently invested in him even though he had the bread to do so. Rayzor’s been untouchable.
I wanted to keep him outta the streets.
“Until I can’t see what’s in my account, I got shit to work on.”
“That’s why you’re the face in the ring. I’m the face out here. You already got shit under control.”
“I hear ya, but we got shit to do. You coming or I gotta make these runs?”
I shook my head as he climbed inside his truck.
That nigga don’t listen.
I get it, though. That’s what he knew. His safety cushion.
Niggas like me don’t get that chance. And if I had the opportunity, I’d likely never take it. Fast money kept momma’s lights on, tuition paid, clothes on backs, food on the table and everybody what they wanted and needed.
Rayzor was destined for the ring. He was born into it. Even his abilities came naturally. I liked to hit dirty. He hit with precession and study. That’s where we differ, but we understood the same.
Niggas like me don’t get chosen for the limelight. We got crowns from the streets.