Chapter 27 Rico
I didn’t become this careful without a reason. Men like me don’t just wake up one day knowing how to move in silence or how to watch without being seen. That kind of patience was learned and usually the hard the fucking way. That nigga Sosa taught me that.
The first time I met Sosa, we were both younger, hungrier, and a little too confident for our own good.
Back when my club was just getting off the ground in a small town in Texas.
Shit, I was still trying to figure out how to move money without drawing attention.
Then Sosa walked into one of my spots like he owned that muthafucka.
His chains were heavy, and his eyes always scanned the club like he was looking for something.
He had the kind of eyes that made people feel comfortable while he was studying everything about them.
That was one of Sosa’s gifts and that nigga flaw.
“You run this?” Sosa asked me, leaning against my bar.
“Depends on who’s asking.”
Sosa laughed like I had told a joke.
“I like you,” he said. “You’re not intimidated by me.”
“Ain’t a nigga on earth that can intimidate me.
That was the beginning of something that should never have happened.
A few conversations turned into business.
Business turned into a partnership. I showed him how I was moving money and dope through the club.
It was also me that showed that nigga how to keep his accounts clean and no sloppy hand offs.
Everything I taught him was structured. He respected it, or at least I thought he did.
What I didn’t realize at the time was that Sosa didn’t just respect the system. His bitch ass studied it.
Together, we built something. Our shit expanded faster than I had planned.
He transitioned to a new city a few miles away, so we started new routes.
There was more money coming in than we could count.
I trusted him when he was out of my sight because he moved like me.
But greed always shows itself once money gets to your head.
The night everything shifted didn’t feel like a setup.
“We got an opportunity out east,” Sosa told me, sitting across from me in my office.
“Where?” I asked.
“It’s a town in Florida. It’s real quiet but the money moving over there.”
I leaned back, thinking it through. Florida wasn’t on my radar at the time.
“I don’t like moving blind, Sosa,” I told him.
“You won’t be,” he replied. “I already started laying the groundwork.”
That should have been my first red flag, but I let it slide.
Hell, at that point, we were making too much money to question each other.
He made the first move and told me he was just going to test the water.
I stayed back, handling what we had in motion.
That was our agreement. Weeks turned into months, and then communication started changing.
The nigga started having shorter conversations and having more excuses.
Then out of the blue, the calls stopped.
It was then I knew that he didn’t test the waters, the muthafucka took the whole ocean.
Everything we had built-the system, the movement, the way money flowed; he took and rebuilt it under his own name in a city I hadn’t even set foot in yet.
Florida wasn’t an opportunity; it was a fucking setup, and I let him get away with it.
I let Sosa live his life. It took a lot for me to just sit back, knowing his bitch ass snatched my shit.
I moved off timing. I let the nigga get comfortable as he built something bigger than what we had in Texas.
It was all about letting the nigga think he won.
I let years go by until I found out the nigga was married, but it didn’t work out.
Money had a way of making people do your dirty work.
Once I found out where he was, I made sure to find some type of connection to him.
Once I linked with her, she told me all about Sosa and his new little bitch Adore.
His wife respected the game. Sosa was still making sure she lived an extravagant life, but what woman would want to see her husband flaunt another woman around?
I used her jealousy for my own selfish desires.
When I got the call that the nigga was dead, I celebrated.
I celebrated because I knew everything I had worked for was going to come back to me.
It wasn’t long after that Sosa’s wife called again, telling me we still had a problem.
I would’ve never thought it would be the little bitch Adore.
She snatched the shit up and ran with it.
Running the system that I made better than Sosa and myself.
She was smart and witty when it came to the dope game. It made me sit back a little longer.
I studied Adore like I was scared I was going to fail a test. There was one thing I knew about women.
Especially loyal women, they weren’t easy to take down.
No one that I would get in touch with was willing to infiltrate what she had built since Sosa had died.
She was keeping that nigga dream alive. Not only did I wait years for Sosa to die, but I also waited years to find this bitches weakness.
Come to find out, her weakness was Whodie.
After watching him, his weakness was Adore.
Whodie wasn’t a hard nigga to find. He built his reputation on action instead of talking.
He was the kind of nigga that didn’t fold under pressure.
It didn’t take long to start putting my plan together.
What made Whodie more interesting was who he was connected to.
That’s where Zhane came in. Still to this day, I don’t think I met her by accident.
Nothing in my life was an accident. She walked her fine ass into my club in Texas like she had a point to prove.
The way she moved on the pole, I had to bring her in closer.
You know, ask questions. It was normal for girls to pop in and want to dance for one night.
Zhane never left. It didn’t take long to figure her out. She was putty in my palms.
Zhane was reckless, and I let her. All the while she thought I was being strict and controlling, I was just letting her guide me to the people and places she fucked with.
Once she told me she was from the same city as Whodie and Adore, my plan got in motion.
I made her feel like she talked me into coming here.
I knew all along the bitch was trying to get back.
So, I told her it was some money out here.
Shit, it was. My money was out here. That’s where Reese came into play.
Zhane would sit on the phone for hours with the nigga.
Send him pictures of her son. After looking at the phone bill, I called the number and gave them an ultimatum.
For a minute, he was loyal to Whodie. He wouldn’t give me too much information over the phone.
It was only when I moved Zhane back home with her son.
Well, her and Reese’s son, that the nigga started talking.
Whodie trusted Reese with his life. Had anything happened to him, it was Reese and some nigga named Tone that were to make sure Adore was safe.
Reese wasn’t as strong as he appeared to be.
The nigga had several kids and could barely keep his household under control.
It was Reese who told me where Zhane really was when she went missing.
It was also Reese who told me, Adore’s dumb ass was in the hospital.
If I wanted, I could’ve took her ass out then.
It was her sister-in-law keep watch over her that prevented it.
I couldn’t get Reese on my side with money. Shit, Whodie and Adore made sure everyone ate. So, I had to top whatever he was getting and promise his kids had trust funds. Would I say it was worth it? Hell yeah, because after I linked up with Adore, everything belongs back to me.