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Authors: Treasure Hernandez

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BOOK: End of the Line
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After they were done cooking up, J-Rite called Tone and Mario, asking them to come back over.
“It’s time we move the speed up a li’l bit on our hustle, you know.”
“Yeah, girl, if this idiot gonna try to get us, we need to be ready.”
Shortly after, there was a knock on the door. J-Rite and Raven both grabbed their guns.
“Who is it?” J-Rite said in a deep voice.
J-Rite let her Detroit-born goons in.
“What’s up, Raven?” Tone said, show stunting through the door.
Damn, she thick as all outside.
“What up, boy?” she cooed in the sexiest voice she could.
“Hey, y’all, I know I said a few days, but I got a building for y’all. It’s right up the street.”
“Yo, is anybody posted up there that called they self holding it down?” Mario eagerly asked, cracking his knuckles.
“Naw, it’s all y’all’s. It’s wide open.”
Mario looked disappointed, and Tone and J-Rite knew why. Mario had a bad habit. He liked to talk with his guns.
“That’s all your ass think about is killing motherfuckers.” Tone took his focus off Raven to laugh at his brother.
“Fuck whoever ain’t on our team, our family! You know our motto: do unto others what the hell they can’t do to you.”
J-Rite announced she was leaving the apartment and would be right back. Since she and her team of runners started gaining more clientele, she low-key rented the apartment across the hall. There she stashed all the work. Once inside the apartment, she swooped up the work, placing it in a Footlocker bag. When J-Rite returned, the three of her friends were all shooting dice.
“Yo, sis, I’m breaking these niggas!” Raven bragged, holding a pile of money with a blunt hanging out of her mouth.
“Man, fuck this shit! I’m done.” Mario stood up from the crouched position.
“Yeah, me too,” Tone cosigned, looking at Raven like he never seen a female beat a guy at anything, let alone shooting dice.
J-Rite handed Tone the bag. She then explained to them the potentially deadly situation with Tyrus and told him she’d get with them later about the ticket.
“So what you want to do about this old-style nigga?” Tone asked with his chest stuck out. No sooner than he said it, he felt stupid for asking. He already knew what needed to be done.
“That was a dumb question.” Mario showed the handle of his gun.
“Well, as soon as Leesa give me the call, y’all can handle all y’all business.”
“Okay, that’s a bet. Y’all watch all y’all’s ass; we out!” Mario headed toward the door.
“We will,” J-Rite said.
“Oh yeah, Raven, let me know when you gonna let me get my money back from your cheating ass.” Tone held the dice, shaking them in his hand.
“Yeah, whatever you say, nigga!” Raven grinned from ear to ear.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Asia sat at the bar thinking about how J-Rite was making her miss the opportunity of getting paid. She didn’t try to look at it from J-Rite’s perspective that she was a tad bit over the top. She felt that J-Rite crossed her. Asia was infuriated that the streets were talking. It was noise that things were going well for J-Rite and her team. Asia resented the fact that J-Rite didn’t want her on her team, especially after she was bringing her Buzzy’s package weekly before he got knocked. In Asia’s mind, now J-Rite was trying to be better than everybody else, especially her.
“How are you doing? Can I buy you a drink?”
Asia turned to see who it was that was interrupting her pity party.
Oh, damn, she hot
. “Yeah, you can; and then I can return the favor.”
The woman took a seat next to Asia, making sure she brushed her dainty hand across her newfound friend’s leg. “Yeah, I’d like that.”
“So what’s yo’ name?”
“It’s Hazel, and yours?”
“It’s Asia.”
The bartender came over, and they ordered their drinks.
“So are you waiting on somebody, Asia?”
“Naw, I just stopped by to get me a drink. What about you? Are you waiting on somebody?”
“Yeah, I’m waiting on my girlfriend.”
Asia’s attitude changed a bit. She had been hit on by plenty of women since coming out, but these Grand Rapids women just didn’t give a damn. They were brazen, disrespectful, and off the chain in general. “Damn, shawty, you cocky like that?”
“I mean, damn, even though I got a girl, can I still call you?” Hazel asked before taking a sip of her drink that had just been placed on a napkin.
If she don’t care that she got a girl, then I damn sure don’t care either.
“Yeah, you can still call. It ain’t no thang to me, but I ain’t gonna have to beat your girl ass and risk catching a case, am I?”
Oh, I like her she straight aggressive.
“Naw, you ain’t gonna have to do that. I’m good with mines. So just write it down on this napkin.” Hazel opened her purse showing Asia her gun. Like most women in Michigan, she carried a pistol.
* * *
Leesa knew with Tyrus having Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids under his grasp he had eyes and ears everywhere. She and her team didn’t want any trouble. They were cool with him doing his thing as long as he left them alone. They thought for sure that he would have made another move against them. But to their surprise, he didn’t. His seemingly lack of caring that they were taking a huge chunk of revenue from drug sales was suspicious if nothing else. His silence didn’t make them feel more relaxed. The Detroit immigrant team made sure that if Tyrus or his cohorts did attack, the playing field would be even.
Over the past month or so, business had picked up and J-Rite and Dino’s relationship had most definitely done the same. The two were always together doing this or that. She’d dropped more than a few thousand dollars on hotel rooms so they could get some much-desired privacy. Thank God the beef had died down and Raven had just copped a small three-bedroom bungalow on land contract. She was waiting for her three children and Granny to relocate to where she was doing her dirt at. It was never a good idea to shit where you sleep at, but obviously, Raven hadn’t received that memo. Now, J-Rite was happy to say she was laying down roots to Dino’s hometown as well.
J-Rite pulled up to Dino’s house. As she got out heading toward the porch, she noticed her man was standing with three guys. “Hey, baby!”
“Hey, boo-boo!” one of the random guys blurted out to J-Rite.
“Shut the fuck up, fool! She was talking to me.” Dino elbowed him in the lower side.
The supposedly loving couple hugged and kissed. Then Dino introduced her.
“This is my girl, J-Rite. J-Rite, this fat nigga right here name Marlon, this Rell, and the nigga with the weak jokes is Dre.”
“What’s up doe? Y’all good?”
“What’s up?” they said in unison.
“Dino, I need to talk to you if you got a second or two.” They walked off the porch and to her car. “Look, Dino, my biggest fear is not having shit and being alone like I was in all those foster homes I told you about. And like how I felt when my brother got killed. I’m about to make major moves in these streets, and I want you with me.”
“So, you’re admitting in the game now, huh?”
J-Rite had kept denying that she was selling drugs. She told him that Leesa had gotten a lawsuit and gave her the money she was always stuntin’ with. Even though she was all in for Dino, she didn’t know how he was going to react to the fact that his girlfriend was a confirmed drug dealer. So once more, like she’d done so many times throughout their brief relationship, she denied. “Nah, bae. Stop pressing me about that. I already told you the deal. I’m just thinking about opening a small boutique or something like that. I just want us to get a place together and chill.”
She’s trying to play me sideways. I know she in the game. Why doesn’t she just tell me? She acts like she can’t trust me.
“Look, do you trust me, or do you think I’m some goof-off lame like that ho-ass nigga Mike Mike you told me you used to fuck with back in Detroit?” He was going hard about her lying to him while he was doing the exact same thing as she—even worse.
This caught her off guard. “Yeah, I trust you. Why would you ask that? And why you bring up his name?”
“Why you keep lying to me? I know where the money coming from. You out in the streets slanging. You didn’t think that I would find out? All Grand Rapids singing your name out they mouths! So real talk, what else you lying to me about? Maybe all that bread you keep sending his crazy ass? Yeah, bitch, I saw some of them damn Western Union and Money Gram receipts with his name on them.”
Not only was he yelling, questioning her like he was the police. He’d called her out of her name. This was a first. J-Rite felt hurt and angry at the same time
. If I wanted him to know, I would have told him. Why he keep pressing me about this shit? It ain’t cool to do that!
“Dino, why you keep asking me that? What’s that all about?” she fumed, irritated, as her voice rose to the same disturbing level as his. J-Rite felt like Dino couldn’t take a hint. She hadn’t told him before now for a reason, so he should have left it alone. “If I am out here in the streets, why you so upset about it? You should be happy your girl getting money. And Mike Mike is in the past. I’m just looking out on the strength.”
“It’s not that I’m not happy. It’s just that I don’t want you to get in nothing. The streets ain’t safe; especially for no female,” Dino backed up, not wanting to seem like he was in his feelings.
“Chill. I don’t want you to worry, baby. I’ll be all right. So we gon’ move together?”
“Girl, I ain’t got money like that hanging around.”
“I’ll take care of everything. Just say yes, Dino.”
A nigga is feeling her, and it would be a good look for what I got going on.
“Yeah, okay. But we gonna talk one day about who you really are and what you doing out here day to day,” Dino proclaimed before she drove off, leaving him to return to his friends.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Raven was bored. She didn’t think Benji would remember her. Yet, to her surprise, he did when she called. In their thirty-minute conversation, she found out that Benji had no kids. Sure, he said he liked kids, but had none. He was twenty-two, but had been on his own since he was eleven. He was street smart and book smart. While most guys Raven knew had dropped out of school, Benji graduated and was taking night classes at a college. Raven found those qualities in him attractive. She knew that no one ever graduated from the streets. The single mother of three had seen too many big hustlers fall because of their greed and ego; two of her baby daddies being included. As the two of them finally met up, they continued to feel each other out.
“When we kicked it on the phone, you seemed like somebody I wanted to get to know. So here the hell we are.”
“Oh yeah, and why is that?” Raven quizzed.
“You just didn’t seem like one of the many airheads that I’ve been bumping into lately. They all been outta their damn minds,” Benji announced, shaking his head.
“Naw, not me, I’m good. But I thought guys liked airheads as long as they have that body; you know, a big ass and all of that.”
“Not me. I want a woman with some damn brains.”
She was surprised to hear that. With Benji being so young, she figured he only wanted some arm candy dangling. Truth be told, even though she could hold her own, it never occurred to Raven that she would catch his attention like she did.
“So what’s it you looking for?” he asked her.
“I don’t really know. I’m ready to settle down, but I need a real man to do that. I don’t need a guy to take care of my kids. They get everything from me. I need a man to make me happy, mentally and physically. You feel me?”
“That’s the type of relationship I wanna be in, but at the same time, I can’t be feeling like I’m giving a one-hundred percent and getting nothing in return but a female who is trying to run game. Plus the sex has to be on point!”
“And . . . ummm, are you saying that like you referring that to me?”
“Yeah, I might be. You open for the challenge or what?”
“You’re talking about the sex or the relationship?”
“Maybe I’m talking about both.”
“Well, real talk, Benji, we gon’ have to see about the relationship part because I don’t just bring my kids around anybody.”
“Well, that’s good to know, because I don’t want to get attached too quickly.”
Raven gave him a strange look. “What you mean?”
“When I say attached, I mean to the kids. I used to date a girl that had a daughter. I loved her like she was my own. When we broke up, it hit me hard, because I couldn’t see the baby anymore. I like kids, and I wanna have some one day. I know that might seem odd, because most niggas don’t really want any. But I’m a different type of man and, hopefully, you’ll get to see.”
Damn, a guy that loves kids. That’s something you don’t see often. I might have met a nigga that’s a keeper. I’ma find out.
“You’re talking a good game. We gonna see if you can back it up. I just wanna know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“If you such the perfect nigga, why you ain’t got a woman? Now,
that’s
the million-dollar question.” Raven had never met a man that had all the qualities she wanted, so naturally, Benji had her curiosity piqued.
“Truth be told, a lot of women my age don’t want to be tied down.”
“Yeah, I understand.” Raven knew that with Benji being only twenty-two he more than likely dated chicks his age or younger. When she was his age, she didn’t want to be tied down either.
“One female broke up with me before the summer. She claimed it was because she didn’t wanna feel guilty if she fucked somebody else. I guess in reality she knew she was going to be out cheating. I mean, I respect her for telling me ’cause that’s a bullet I dodged.”
“So she wanted to be summer ho, huh? That’s crazy.” Raven didn’t really feel like that. She just wanted to see what Benji was going to say.
“I don’t really look at it like that. It’s funny you say that. If a nigga fucks a bunch of rats, he’s a playa. But if a woman fucks a bunch of guys, she’s a ho. Now, how the fuck is that fair?”
Damn, he on point, I was hoping he looked at it like that.
“All bullshit aside, I was hoping that you said that. You seem too real, Benji, like you jumped outta a damn fairy tale.”
After they finished their meal and a few drinks, they knew it was getting late. Paying the bill, Benji walked Raven to the parking lot. Having driven separate vehicles, it was time to say their good-byes. Stopping in front of a black Yukon, Raven lightly grabbed his arm.
“This it right here. Thanks.” She hit the alarm.
Her truck’s hard as hell. I wonder where she works at. I ain’t gonna ask; it ain’t my business.
“I like yo’ truck. I wanted one like this when they first came out.”
“Thanks, I got it for the kids.”
“So you gonna let a nigga get a hug or something?” He smiled, showing his perfect teeth.
Raven was attracted to Benji strongly. She figured because of his looks a lot of guys hated him. And she knew he probably had women falling at his feet. But he was the total opposite; humble.
“That’s what you want—a hug or something?”
“Yeah, can a nigga get some type of affection?”
She opened her door and set her purse down on the driver’s seat.
“So you want a hug?”
“Don’t say it like I’m forcing you.”
As much as he wanted to hug her, she wanted to be hugged by him. He held her in his arms. She put her nose into his neck and could smell his Sean John cologne. Raven felt as if time had stood still. She didn’t care if he let her go. She could have stayed like this forever. Benji seemed to be too good to be true. Only time would tell.
BOOK: End of the Line
12.8Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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