Chapter 7 #3
Nyelle watched until he was gone, biting her lip as she enjoyed the visual, knowing good and damn well she would be waiting up to possibly see him later.
Vega walked into Moses’ Pool Hall and surveyed the place.
It had been a minute since he crossed the threshold and his feet moved across the aged wood floors, but it still felt like home.
Mo, the owner, had a heart attack while Vega was locked up, and the place was being run by his son Dixon.
However, aside from a few upgrades, the place looked exactly the same, including the faces present.
There were a few younger ones sprinkled in, but Vega was amongst his people.
“Fam…” Dixon, or Dix as he was more commonly known, was the first to greet Vega.
Dix had been Vega’s first in command. The one he delegated everything to in an effort to keep his hands clean.
Something Ace was adamant about. It was one of the main reasons he was so pissed with Vega for getting caught with three keys on him the night he got pulled over.
It was a dumb mistake that would never happen again.
Vega was careless behind a woman. She was in the car with him when he got the call to pick the product up. It was an emergency, a one-time thing.
Vega assumed he was being cautious by dropping her off before he handled business, but somehow, he still got knocked.
It had to be her. Other than his team, she was the only one who knew he was dirty that night.
And where was she now? To this day, Vega nor any of his people could locate her.
Most said it was because she knew she was a dead woman walking for how things played out and others said it was because she had set Vega up.
Either way, she was gone, and no one had heard a damn thing from her or about her since the night the cops took Vega away in handcuffs.
“What’s good, fam?”
“Shit, you tell me.”
Dix dapped Vega before the two shared a brief hug. They were close, partners in crime, and Dix missed his brother. Dix, Timmy, and Brink were the only three besides Ace who kept in touch during Vega’s bid. He appreciated them for that.
“It feels weird as shit knowing your pops not gon’ come through that door talking shit about us.”
Dix followed Vega’s line of sight to the door that led to the back of the pool hall where the offices were.
He missed his dad but was dealing. This was Vega’s first time here since his pops passed, so he allowed him to have that moment.
Dix didn’t like speaking about his pops.
It was still hard for him to move on, so he changed the subject.
“You good, though. What’s been up with you?
I haven’t seen you since the night of your party and you were lit the fuck up.
” Dix grinned, remembering the night. He had shared one bottle of Henny with Vega before he finished one on his own.
At that point, Vega was lit and enjoying himself a little too much.
“Ain’t nothing. Just trying to get back into it. You know how that goes. That night was wild, and I needed a little recovery time, but I’m good now. Just trying to find my rhythm.”
“Yeah, I feel you.” Dix was all too familiar. He had done two years in the county himself over a domestic violence charge.
He had gotten into with his girl. She had blacked his eye and knocked one of his teeth out.
All he did was hem her up to restrain her from coming at him, but he got two years.
To this day, he wouldn’t say shit to her.
His mom and sister were now the go-betweens so he could see his son.
He made sure his shorty had everything he needed, but his mother was basically dead to him.
He could have beat the charge, but the day she showed up to court, she basically testified that he beat her all the time.
She fucking lied. He knew it was because she was in her feelings about him dicking down her homegirls, but the fact that he lost two years was not an even exchange. After that, he was done.
“But you’re home now, so we need to get shit moving again.”
“Vega is in the muhfuckin streets again. Damn, I missed you, bruh. Glad to see you back in this bitch.” Timmy was next to approach, followed by Brink.
The men dapped and hugged before heading to the table where Brink and Timmy were finishing a game.
“You’re fresh as hell like you never missed a day out here.” Brink chuckled at Vega’s relaxed gear. He had always been one to keep his clothes and shoe game tight and not much had changed. The Bally set up he had on was simple but still on point.
“You know me. Nothing has changed. But I need to change a few things. I know y’all have been holding it down for me and reporting to Ace, but I’m back and ready to handle things.”
The men shared a l0ok that Vega quickly read into. “Fuck what he told you. This my shit. It’s always been mine. He looked out while I was gone, but I’m home now.”
Dix nodded first, followed by Timmy.
Brink made his shot first, then responded. “Ay, it’s whatever. Long as the money flowing, I’m good with it.”
“You better be.” Vega chuckled and looked around.
It wasn’t until then that he noticed another familiar face. She was sitting with her sister and they both had eyes on him. He smirked, already knowing the deal, so he leaned against the pool table and waited. She would be in his face soon enough. It was inevitable.
“You know we stand by you. There’s never a question about that. We did what was necessary while you were down, but you’re home now. Just holla at your brethren. Clear it up with him. I have respect for you both, but if a decision has to be made…”
Dix and Vega shared a look of understanding. Dix had respect for Ace, but his loyalty lied with Vega.
“I’ll handle it. We cool, no love lost, but he wants me to do my own thing.
I can’t do that if he’s in the middle of all my shit.
I am about to change a few things, though.
I need my name on something legal, especially now.
My name is in the system. I’m a target. I have to move different, so I need you now more than ever. ”
“Come on, Vega, it’s as good as done.” Dix didn’t so much as hesitate.
Vega offered him a nod just as Nene eased between the two men and stepped between Vega’s legs.
She pressed her lower half against his and smiled when she felt something familiar.
Nene missed him. Others were cool, but Vega was Vega.
His personality was charismatic with a smile to match.
The man was sexy and sex with him was always intense and nasty.
She couldn’t wait to be in his bed again.
“Why you in my face, Nene?”
Dix chuckled and stepped off to the side to give the two a minute.
He had just fucked Nene last night but had no feelings one way or another about her being in Vega’s face.
She belonged to him first, and truthfully, she never belonged to Dix at all.
They just had sex. Vega actually kicked it with her before he went in.
“Because you’re home, and I missed you.”
“You missed me?” he quizzed with his eyes on her, arms folded across his chest and a blank expression on his face. He wasn’t with the shits and Nene could sense it.
“Yes, you know I did.”
Vega chuckled and looked around. “Why you here?”
“I’m always here.”
Her button nose crinkled as her lips pushed into a pout.
A pout Vega used to love to see right before he pushed his dick through those pouty lips.
Nene was pretty. Not over the top, but her body, that shit was fly.
Thick thighs, fat ass and breasts with a little tiny waist. She paid good money for it and Vega had spent plenty of nights appreciating the work that was put in.
“If I remember correctly, you were here for me. I haven’t been around in a minute, yet here you are.”
“This is my spot. I can’t be here?” She sensed he wasn’t happy and wondered if he knew what she had been up to.
“You can be wherever you want to be. Isn’t that right, Dix?”
He smirked and nodded, shaking his head at Nene. She caught it out the corner of her eye and sucked her teeth.
“I was just keeping busy. It didn’t mean anything,” she defended, looking at Vega with pleading eyes. She should have known Dix couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
“I know it didn’t mean shit to him. I’m sure it didn’t mean much to you either. Hell, not even to Timmy. He hit a few times too from what I hear. My point is, I’m not down with a woman who’s for everyone. So I’ma ask you again. Why you in my face, shorty?”
“Really, Vega?”
Nene stared at him with fire in her eyes. She knew for certain that while they were together, he had been with plenty of other women. Some she was cool with.
“I’m on some different shit now. This don’t work for me.” He unfolded his arms, moved her from his body, and stepped to the side. “But whatever you have going on with them is cool. I’m not trying to get in the way of that.”
“Nah, I’m good. It was just something to do,” Dix rattled off with a slight laugh.
Nene’s eyes shot over to him and he was waiting with a smirk.
“You know what? Fuck all y’all. What you’re not gonna do is…”
“What? Treat you like the woman you are? I wasn’t gone a month before you hopped on my boy’s dick. I’m not bent behind it because you weren’t my girl or anything, but you sure didn’t wait long. Not only that, you loving the entire crew.”
“I didn’t see him turning me down, but you want to act like I’m the one wrong.”
“Nah, you’re not wrong. Like I said, you weren’t mine, but at least he hit me up to see what the deal was.
Shit, I’m like, ‘if she offering, hit that shit.’ Who am I to get in the way?
” Vega looked her right in the eyes and Nene’s heart sank.
She felt like shit. True, she wasn’t the best person, but to be confronted with it the way they were all doing didn’t sit too well.
“Fuck you, Vega.”