6. Riot St. James
Riot St. James
The trucking business was something that he just added to his fleet of legal businesses.
He was really like that because he owned movie theaters, bowling alleys, and arcades throughout South Florida.
He was married, and his wife had multiple businesses under her belt as well.
I knew he was rolling in money, probably no longer needing to be in the game, but Gold said that he would be a dope boy until the day he took his last breath.
Years ago, there had been rumors going around Miami that he was going to retire, but he was still in the game, pushing.
I’ll give it to Gold. He was a smart man. I thought of him as a real nigga, but the way he was dodging me these days, I was changing my outlook on him and hoping that he wasn’t about to put me in a position where I wasn’t able to eat with him anymore.
I got dropped off to the trucking yard in an uber.
I didn’t have a car. It was never a purpose for me to have a car because I didn’t know how to drive.
Before I got locked up, I was making good money with Gold, so I could have bought a car if I wanted to, but I preferred to just sit in the back seat, and have people drive me around.
I feel like I’ve waited too long to learn how to drive, that I didn’t care to learn anymore.
Plus, the way people drove reckless in Miami, always losing their lives in car accidents, I would rather continue to not learn.
I thanked the driver for bringing me here, and when I walked out, there were a few of the 18- wheeler- trucks parked.
The trucks were being loaded up, more than likely going to get on the road.
I walked inside, as if Gold was expecting me.
I walked with a pep in my step, walking through the lobby, and then I made my way to the back, where I knew Gold’s office was.
I took a deep breath and then knocked on the door.
I knew Gold would be pissed. He wasn’t expecting me, and he was the kind of man that didn’t like pop ups.
I wasn’t sure if he heard me knock the first time, even though my knock held a lot of authority to it, so I decided to knock again, this time with much force, and doing it longer.
“You gotta be a bold motha fucka to be knocking on my door like that. I gotta owe you some fuckin money because ain’t no way you knocking on my shit like this,” I heard him loudly talking shit from the other side.
Nobody had the balls that I did. I’m telling you, all those niggas that Gold had working for him, none of them would have ever pulled up on him the way that I was, banging on his door like this, demanding answers on why he was dodging me the way he was.
Gold was the kind of man that would kill you behind doing some shit like that, so no one other than me would be bold enough to take the chance.
The door swung open, and he stood there with an angry mug on his handsome face. Gold was in his fifties, but he looked good for is age. The beard that he had was so long, and thick, that you could put it in braids. Big as hell, like he worked out even in his sleep.
When he saw it was me on the other side of the door, I could see where his eyes softened a little bit, but you could tell that he wanted to slap the shit out of me.
“I swear to God if you wasn’t a girl, I would have killed your ass for knocking on my door like that,” he snapped, just like I expected him to do.
Instead of replying to that, I just looked up at him, staring him deep into his eyes.
Because the door was open, I was able to look in, and I could see his large, spacious office.
There was a lot of paperwork that he had spread out on the table, so he was probably in here working, which would also explain the annoyed look on his face.
“What’s up, Riot? Welcome home. What you doing pulling up on me like this, girl?” he wanted to know.
“Can we go inside, and talk? You got niggas standing around in the hallway. I don’t need anyone hearing what we gotta talk about,” I replied.
With a deep sigh, he stepped out of the way, so that I could come inside his office.
I knew that he didn’t want me here, especially since I popped up on him the way that I did, so with that, I chose not to sit down.
I stood up, keeping my place by the door.
Gold walked passed me, and he went over to his desk.
The distance from the door to his desk was a bit far, so I decided to walk over to him, and when I did, I stood right in front of his desk, while he was leaned back, looking over at me.
“Why it look like you got smaller? They weren’t feeding you in there?” he asked after about thirty seconds of both of us just remaining silent.
I rolled my eyes at that because I felt like this nigga was playing with me.
He was saying everything except for what I wanted to hear, and that shit was about to piss me off.
At the same time, I knew that I couldn’t spaz the way that I wanted to because I needed to eat, and he was the one that controlled the motion.
It was up to him if I could still have a seat at the table, so I couldn’t come at him the way that I could everyone else.
“Man, Gold watch out with that. You know the kind of bitch that I am. If I had to pop up on you here, then you gotta know that I’m desperate.
I been hitting you since I came home, and you been dodging me.
You told me over the phone that you were going to let me know when you made it back in town, and you didn’t do that.
Somebody had to hit me and tell me that you were here.
I’m home, and I’m ready to work. Where you want me?
I can go home, and change right now, so that I can work one of the traps.
You need me to make a drop, collect, what?
Nigga, tell me something,” you could hear it in my voice that I was desperate, and hungry for this shit.
Back when I was locked up, I had been ready to get released because all I could think about was jumping back in with Gold, making money, stacking it, and really getting on my shit.
I was only trying to live with Ari for at least another month or two because I wanted to move into my own shit.
I never lived alone, and that’s what I wanted for me this time around.
Gold sat there in silence. There was a look on his face that was hard to read, so I couldn’t even tell you what his next choice of words were going to be. It felt like he was evaluating everything that I’d just said to him and was trying to figure out a way to respond.
When he eventually cleared his throat, and he ran his hand down his face, I knew from that alone that what he was getting ready to say next wasn’t going to be good.
“I ain’t going to lie Riot, I have been dodging you.
You know that I’m the furthest thing from being a bitch ass nigga, but I look at you like a daughter, so I guess I didn’t have the heart to tell you what I wanted to.
My thing is, before you got locked up, I was already on you, telling you that you needed to learn to calm down, and watch your temper.
Every day, you was coming to the traps, getting into it with the niggas, ready to put one of them on their heads over the smallest shit.
That wild shit that you did at the club, beating that girl ass like that, it could have been avoided.
Unless that bitch put her hands on you, you didn’t have no reason to do all that.
You should have walked away from that. The world knows you not pussy.
You done beat enough niggas, and bitches ass, so you no longer have to prove points that you can fight,” he started.
I didn’t interrupt him because I was itching to see where he was going with this.
“You a liability to my shit right now, Riot. It’s fucked up that it had to come to this, but I can’t trust how you’ll move right now.
I’ll have your ass doing a drop with one of the young niggas, ya’ll will start going at it in the car, the car start swerving, now the cops pulling ya’ll over with all my drugs and shit in the back.
I think about that shit, Riot. I’m not going to stand here and pretend that you weren’t a good worker.
Probably the best worker I ever had, and that’s why I was training you up the way that I was before you went in.
I just can’t take the chance. Not with this drug shit, I can’t.
I can put you on with something for my trucking business, the theater, the arcade—”
“Ay nigga don’t insult me! I’ll take you telling me that you don’t trust me anymore, and that I’m a liability, but leave it at that.
Don’t throw shit out there, telling me that you’ll put me on with your trucking company, the theater, none of that shit because you know fuckin well that that’s not the kind of timing that I’m on.
A bitch go to jail one time while I’m working for you, and you get rid of me just that fast?
All the shit I helped out with for your operation!
The motha fuckin money that I counted with my bare hands.
The packs I moved for you. Now all of a sudden, I’m a liability, and you think the better fit for me will be to work one of your side gigs?
Yeah, aight nigga,” was all I said, not about to stand here and show this man that I was hurt behind this, so I turned around on my heels, so that I could walk out of the door.
“Riot?” he called after me. I stopped in my tracks, and turned around, so that I could look at him.