5. Nigga Is a Noun #2
“My bad! I’m sorry!” Kel said, throwing his hands up in defense. “This is my nigga, Nido. He wanna get on. He needed a plug, and I figured since y’all them niggas, y’all could help him out. He—”
“No.” I cut him off mid-sentence.
“Wh-What?” His face fell as he turned to me. “Come on, Brick. This my people!”
“This ain’t no muhfuckin’ charity case! I know you remember how thorough we were vetting you, so I don’t know why the fuck you thought it would be sweet—” My voice trailed off as I stepped closer and got a better look at his associate, noticing the faint S he had tatted under his left eye.
My irritation morphed into rage because either the nigga was slow or an opp.
“You brought a South Side nigga over here?” I asked in disgust. I considered myself a pretty reasonable nigga, but this was unforgivable.
Everyone in the city knew that niggas from the South weren’t welcome around us.
I gave no fucks about what ceasefire or peace treaty was in place—one of their people was the reason that my Pops got killed, so it would forever be smoke.
Now my gun was out, and niggas knew what that meant. I didn’t worry about them drawing on us because they went through extensive security checks before they could even be in the same room as us.
“Wait! Wait!” Kel hollered as he threw his hands in front of his face. “I didn’t know! He just approached me to try to get on! I didn’t fucking know!”
“Fuck you mean you ain’t know?” Kilo yelled. I stuck my arm out in front of him before he could attack. Apparently I was feeling generous, but if Kilo laid hands on every nigga that came in the door, we’d be on the clock for another twelve hours.
“Kel, take your boy and get the fuck outta here,” I grumbled.
“B-But… I didn’t get my shit,” he muttered.
“I’m givin’ you a chance to walk outta here. If I have to repeat myself, I’ma let this nigga loose on yo’ ass.”
Kel broke—the nigga actually broke down in tears.
That right there let me know that he was bad for business because he must have been in the hole with niggas and robbing Peter to pay Paul with our fuckin’ product.
He was there to pick up pills that he later sold on a college campus.
The way he was crying and shit told me that he already took and spent somebody’s money, and they were gon’ be on his ass if he didn’t deliver.
None of that was my muhfuckin’ problem.
His boy didn’t say a word the whole time and continued to glare at me while Kel pleaded for the sake of his livelihood.
I acted like I didn’t hear him as security escorted them niggas the fuck out.
I hope that lil’ nigga didn’t think he was scarin’ nobody because I’d wipe his entire crew out in one night and have every funeral home on the South Side booked up for the next six months.
Luckily, we made it through the rest of pick-ups without any issue because I was feeling like Kilo, and the next nigga to try some stupid shit was gon’ end up with Donte’s ass.
We usually took one trip every other month for exports, came back, and had one day for pickups and payments.
From start to finish, it usually took a week.
I did everything I could to streamline the process because the less time I spent in the warehouse, the better.
At least I could pretend to be a normal nigga for the rest of the days.
By the time we wrapped up and I made it home, I turned my phone on to see that I had a few dozen missed texts.
Mina
This pussy miss you.
Jemma
Me and my nigga broke up. Can I get back on the roster?
Peep
Hey, don’t want to bother you, but apparently your mom has us down for a meeting with the venue owners tomorrow. Then dinner at her house later this week… If you’re busy, I can go to the meeting alone.
Kenya
Can you put me down for a dick appointment this week?
There were about ten other similar messages from sneaky links past and present, trying to get on the waiting list for some dick. I called the only one who wasn’t.
“Hello?” Destiny answered, sleep all in her voice.
“What’s good, Peep? What you doin’?”
“Sleep,” she groaned as I heard her shuffling around in the background.
“My fault. I was just trying to figure out what time I need to pick you up tomorrow?”
“Oh, I didn’t think you were coming,” she said softly.
“Why wouldn’t I? This my wedding too, and I only plan on doing this bullshit once. I gotta make sure you not gon’ have my shit lookin’ tacky.”
“Whatever,” she said with a giggle. “She said be there at three, so…”
“Bet, I’ll come through and pick you up around two-thirty. Please don’t wear that fuck ass green dress again.”
“What’s wrong with the green dress?” she asked.
“It’s ugly as shit… better yet, burn that… and anything else you got like it. Don’t even think of bringing that shit over here.”
“Screw you! That dress is cute! I got it on sale from Target!”
“Peep, please be fuckin’ for real! Niggas don’t even shop at Target no more, so I know you been terrorizing the town in that shit for years!
” I huffed, unable to bite back the smile when she laughed groggily.
I was glad she could take a joke and wasn’t nearly as timid as her Pops made her out to be.
Either way, I was only half joking, because that shit had to go.
“So, you called me out of my good sleep to clown me? What, you getting ignored by your entourage of women? Aww,” she teased.
“Fuck you! I was trying to be considerate and call my future wife before I called the hoes.”
“Don’t call them that,” she fussed. “If you’re actively sleeping with them, then that makes you the same thing. I don’t deal with men who disrespect women.”
“Wow… I never thought I would see the day that my fiancée was checkin’ me about being respectful to the women I sleep with.”
“Anyways… How was your trip?”
“Good, I guess. I mean, everything went according to plan. Another day in the office.”
“You don’t sound like you enjoyed it.”
“I don’t,” I admitted. “I would want nothing more than to focus on the club and leave all this other shit, but thanks to my Ma, I’m stuck.”
“I still can’t believe you own a strip club,” she said in disgust.
“Man, don’t be talkin’ shit about my pride and joy, and don’t knock it until you try it. I can see you now, in that bitch throwing ones and getting lap dances.”
“I doubt that,” she mumbled before I heard her yawn on the other end of the phone.
“Yeah, aight. I’ma let you go though because you sound tired as fuck.” It was only then that I realized just how late it was. I was surprised that she even picked up for me at three in the morning because I would have cussed someone smooth out for interrupting my sleep.
“Okay, goodnight Brickly. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Peep.”
I hung up and hit up Mina next. It had been a minute, and I needed to get my dick wet.
“Hello?” she groaned into the phone.
“Come through,” I demanded.
“Uh uh! Nigga don’t be treating me like a hoe, calling me at this hour! And what the fuck is this I hear about you getting married? You got me fu—”
Click
I couldn’t hit the button fast enough to hang up on her ass.
Over the past week, she had sent me about twenty texts saying that the pussy was available whenever I wanted it, only to fuss when I hit her up to put in my order.
She knew I wasn’t going for that shit. I blocked her ass when she immediately called me back and hit up the runner up for the night.
“Hey,” Kenya’s sultry voice cooed through my speaker.
“You up?” I asked.
“I can be,” she answered quickly. That’s what the fuck I was talking about.
“You ready?” I asked.
“Waxed, wet, and with fresh test results,” she answered quickly. I made a note to move her up in the rotation. I had been giving more time to Mina because she was familiar, but apparently that had her ass too comfortable.
“I’m on my way. See you in about an hour.”
“I’ll keep it hot for you,” she said.
“Bet.” I hung up and went to shower so I could get to her place.
Mina was currently the only one I would let come to my spot, but I guessed that was about to change anyway since Destiny was moving in.
I found my mind drifting to her as I took the thirty-minute drive to Kenya’s house.
I just knew she probably slept covered up from top to bottom in some old school ass nightgown.
I chuckled at the thought, ready to flame her ass to infinity as soon as I saw her walking through the crib looking like a Victorian ghost child.
I couldn’t fucking wait.
* * *
The next day, I took in the scene as I pulled into Destiny’s apartment.
It wasn’t the worst area, but for a nigga to have money and live in the neighborhood that Coop did, I’d be damned if I had my seed living in a spot that didn’t at least have a fuckin’ security gate.
I minded my business, parked the whip and headed upstairs so I could go meet her.
“Hey,” she said with an awkward smile as she opened her front door.
I looked her over from head to toe and resisted the urge to groan.
Today she had on some type of flowy blue dress with another damn sweater over it and some fucking Jesus sandals…
They looked like they might actually be the ones that nigga wore.
She switched it up, and had her hair slicked up into a tight bun at the top of her head, which irritated me even more.
It was like she was determined to be boring as fuck… Pretty, but boring.
“You ready?” I asked.
“Yep, let’s do it.” She smiled warmly as she threw her purse over her shoulder. We made our way down to the parking lot and her eyes lit up.
“This is your car?” she asked, eyeing my Bentley SUV in awe. And there I was thinking that I was toning it down for the day. She might have let me see a kneecap if I pulled out the ‘Gatti.
“Yeah, this me,” I answered, opening the door for her and helping her inside. I rolled my eyes when I still couldn’t even see an outline of cheeks through the fluffy ass dress.
“Wow, look at you being a gentleman. I never would have guessed.”