The Black Corleones 2: Love Ain't Loyal (3 page)

“Damn, what was that for
?” he smiled.

“I just miss you
, and I’m happy to see you, that’s all.”

“Well
, I miss you too, Miss Khlo,” He said as he helped her into his car.

For the first time
in a long time Samir was at peace; Khloe brought out a side of him that he didn’t know he possessed. All the cares of the world melted away when he was near her. He felt himself staring at her as he drove. Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and kissed it gently as they sat at a red light on 115
th
and Halstead. She looked at him and smiled. She knew at that very moment that her otherwise miserable young life would change now that Samir was a part of it.

“
I’m glad you came, Samir,” she broke their silence.

“I told you I would be here. You never have to worry about me not coming. I wouldn’t miss
an opportunity to be next to you for nothing in the world.”

“Where are we going
anyways?”

“Where ever you want to go. But first
, I thought we go to River Oaks mall and get you a two-way, so you don’t have an excuse not to call me.”

“Can we get clothes
too?” she asked, giving him her best puppy dog face.

He laughed out loud at her attempt to play on his emotions
, “We can buy the entire mall if you want to, as long as I don’t have to see that pitiful face you got on right now.”

They headed toward Samir’s favorite suburban mall. He stopped at
the Sprint Store to get her a Nextel phone and a Motorola two-way, and then he followed her into every store she liked. He watched in awe as she looked through the racks of Man Alive and picked out her clothes. Every once in a while she would ask him if she could have different things, and each time he told her she could have whatever she wanted if it made her happy.

During their first shopping spree Samir spent close to $8000 on everything
; from Pelle Pelle, Coogi, Guess, Airforce Ones and Jordans. He made sure she got everything her heart desired without thinking twice. As they were about to leave, Samir made one more stop. He walked into Zales and dropped another $3500 on a diamond heart necklace that was just as beautiful as he thought Khloe was. It sparkled the way her smiled sparkled to him.

“Did you get your pretzel Miss
Lady?” he asked as she approached him, coming out of the jewelry store.

“Yes
, I did, sir. But I’m hungry, can we go to Bennigans, I saw one across the street?”

“Of Cours
e we can. I got something else for you too,” he told her as they were seated inside the restaurant. He pulled out the jewelry boxed and her eyes lit up. He opened the box and revealed the necklace he just purchased for her.

“Oh my God, Samir
it’s beautiful. You bought this for me?”

“Yea, because I think
you’re beautiful, it’s my heart, so I hope you like it.”

“I do
, I love it,” she said, but her excitement immediately turned into sadness as she thought about the current state of her life.

“
What’s wrong babe?” he asked her.

“Nothing,
it’s just… I never had anybody in my life be this nice to me.”

“Tell me that l
ong story you mentioned earlier,” he said, grabbing her hand.

“It’s just that my home life is horrible. My mother is physically and emotionally abusive. She makes me hate my life. So
, when you say I’m beautiful, I don’t see it because no one ever tells me that. I run away, but she always finds me and makes me come back, and then she kicks me out again. Sometimes I wish I could just die so I don’t have to feel so bad anymore,” she told him as the tears filled her eyes.

Samir got up and joined h
er on her side of the booth. He put his arm around her and sat in silence for a moment. He would have never guessed that this beautiful young girl felt so ugly on the inside. He made a silent vow to himself that if it took his whole life he would show her how beautiful she really was. He wanted to be her superman at that very moment.

“Listen
, Khlo, don’t worry about that shit no more. I’m here for you, and I always will be, I promise. If you need me, I’ll be there, no matter what I’m doing; I’ll be there. Okay, don’t cry baby, you got me.”

They spent the rest of the day together. No phones,
no two-way pagers, no drug game, nothing; just him and her. He wanted to make her happy even if it was just for one day.

When they arrived back
at Shay’s house, he didn’t want to let her go. He wanted her to stay with him forever. Since she told him all about what was going on in her world, he wanted to protect her from any pain she felt.

“You gon’
be okay over here, right?” he asked her.

“Yes babe, I’ll be fine
,” she kissed him goodnight and went inside.

He didn’t know it then
, but this would be the last time he saw her for a long while. He watched as she retreated into the house safely, and right then his serenity was over. He had to go back to being Sam Corleone.

Chapter Three

In a somber mood and with Khloe on his mind, Samir met with Seven for the second time that day. They stood outside of the Robert Taylor projects hanging out when Seven notice
d something was amiss about Samir’s demeanor. He couldn’t help but wonder if the trial of the dope life was getting to his brother and leader.

“Yo,
what’s on your mind, my nigga?” Seven asked as he passed a swisher Samir’s way.

“I just got a lot on my mind with pops inviting us to the co
-op meetings, and with all eyes being on us. I been trying to keep my name out these streets, but the truth is; everybody knows who I am, and on top of all that, I gotta go see my brother’s tomorrow.”

“I know
, this shit is tough and it’s getting to me too, Joe, but we in this shit together. We got your back no matter the situation. Just relax, we doing what we set out to do,” Seven tried to assure him.

“You remember that shorty I met the other day, Joe?”

“Yea, I remember, what about her?”

“I’m really feeling her
, but she going through some bogus shit at home, plus she young as shit.”

“Oh yeah, like what kinda shit
?”

“Man, Joe,
her mom beats her and shit. She told me today that she feels like she wants to die sometimes. She’s beautiful as hell to me, and she’s going through some fucked up shit. I can only see her when she runs away to her best friend’s house.”

“Damn, how old is she
?”

“Young bro, she is hella young.”

“How young, my nigga?” Seven insisted.

“I can’t even tell you how young she is. Plus
, I’m about to be eighteen in a couple of weeks.

“Bro
, if you feeling her that strongly to be worried about her, then fuck how old she is. Age ain’t shit but a number, bro.”

“You right
, but when I turn eighteen she would be barely a teenager, bro. She would barely be a freshman when we’re about graduate.”

“Damn, that is young. But fuck it
, the heart wants what the heart wants. She young as hell, but you can mold her.”

“Yea, you right
, if I get to see her again. I bought her a phone and shit, so she can hit me when she needs me. It’s tough knowing that she going through that shit and I can’t do nothing about it,” he said as he took another pull of his blunt.

“Don’t trip bro, she
’ll hit you. I’m sure of it.”

“I hope so
, because when I’m around her my mind is at ease. All the bullshit of this crazy life just goes away. Feel me?”

“I do br
o, I feel that way about Kaiyah. Shorty eases my hectic ass mind. I knew she was my bitch after that shit with Kyle, and without saying a word, she just looked at me, kissed me and held me. That shit was the best feeling in the world. To be around somebody who helps you forget about our crazy ass street life even if it’s just for the moment.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel like that when I’m with her. I just hope I can see her again
,” Samir said as he thought of his situation with Khloe. He felt helpless because he wanted nothing more than to make sure she was happy at all times, but all he could do was sit and wait.

Samir hung out a little longer with Seven and some niggas he knew from around the way before he headed home. It had been a crazy few days
, and he hadn’t seen much of his mother in a while. But when he arrived to her house, she was already asleep. So he did what he did every night he went over to check on her. He kissed her on her forehead, and as he turned to leave, she woke up.

“Samir
, love, are you okay?” she asked him in a very low tone.

“Yea
, lady, I’m okay. I was just coming to check on you, but you were sleep.”

“Come here Samir,
let’s talk awhile.”

He obeyed his mother and sat on the edge of
the bed next to her. She looked at him and she could sense something was bothering him. He could hide it from everyone on the streets, but she knew him better than he knew himself.

“So
, tell me, what’s wrong love?”

“I just got a lot going on mom. This game ain’t easy
, and I’m finding myself having to be another person to handle this. Plus, there’s this girl.”

“This girl
?” she interrupted him.

“Yea
, I met this girl a few days ago, and I really like her, but her home life is crazy and I feel helpless. I want to protect her, but I can’t. I just gotta wait until she calls me. I don’t like that feeling because something in me needs her around all the time and I don’t know why,” he explained to his mother. She smiled hard while she listened to him pour his heart out over a girl. She never seen him with a girl that he actually liked. He had never brought anyone home, so this girl had to be special; even for him to mention her.

“Well
, first thing first, you have to be cautious out here in these streets, son. You can’t let yourself be so caught up in the game that it starts to affect your peace. I was worried that this would begin to weigh on you, and you’re so young, but it’s a choice you made. But you can always choose to not let it stress you. I hear what people have to say, and you are doing things out there most people take a lifetime to do. So, be the boss son, and bosses put other people in place to handle things they don’t want to.”

“As far as this girl is concern
ed, it sounds like my baby boy is smitten. If you like her, just be there for her when she does call. Things will work out. You will get your chance to be her knight in shining armor, you just wait and see,” she expressed while hugging him.

Samir
loved how his mother was able to make everything sound so much better. He needed this talk with her. She always had a way of lifting the weight of the world off his shoulders with her words. He kissed her good night and headed home. He thought about Khloe most of the night. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He saw her face when he closed his eyes, and felt her presence in his heart.

“
This must be what love at first sight feels like cuz I can’t stop thinking about you. Just thought you should know. Goodnight”.
He messaged her.

Goodnight Samir, I miss you baby and I’m thinking of you too. Thank you for an amazing day.
She responded instantly.

He smiled when he read her message and knowing he was on her mind as much as she was on his helped him sleep better that night.

The next morning, he woke up bright and early because it was visitation day. He didn’t expect to be visiting his brothers today, but of course he had too, due to the situation he found himself in with Kyle. He knew Sincere was not happy, and frankly he didn’t want to deal with Sin telling him what he should of did and what he needed to do. He had a good handle on his operation, but with his brothers being locked up, they couldn’t witness the leaps and bounds Samir was making within his reign.

He got dressed in his normal visitation prep gear. He decided to wear a cardigan from
Valentino, a purple label polo shirt, jeans and a pair of Roberto Cavalli sneakers. He opted to leave his jewelry out of his ensemble for the visit.

Once
he was dressed, he stood in his massive picture window and gathered his thoughts. His favorite
Jay Z
album played loudly through his Bose speakers. He used the melodies to help him clear his mind. The truth was; the game was taking a toll on him early. His father and brothers warned him that this life wouldn’t be easy, but Samir’s legacy was growing faster than he imagined, and with more money, came more responsibility, and more problems.

Music Playing

“And ain't nothing changed so even in my afterlife I sew it up/ Don't grieve for me my art remains/ Like a dart from the speaker to your heart/ Spiritually through the portal now my words is immortal/ Don’t plan to leave without a fight/ I plant a seed I give life/ Though I can't see past the girls greed to call her wife/ Next time you're thinking heist better be precise/ Cause I'm fully prepared. One of us is gon' leave here/ I have no regrets/even tho I won’t see grow my godson Boogie, Sonny and Remo/ Lucky Me.”

As the chorus played, he was beginning to think nobody understood what it was like to be Samir Corleone. Or even what it took to be Samir Kendall. He had the eyes of streets on him at all times, and if that wasn’t enough pressure, he had to live up to his father’s and his older brother’s reputation. He was the baby, and that’s how the dope world viewed him. He was desperate to come out of their shadows and run his business without them being on top of him, micro managing his every move. He was hoping that after the way he handled himself in the first test of his true leadership in the game, his father and brothers would trust that he could handle himself and let go of the reigns they held onto so tightly.

He stared
out at his view of Lake Michigan and let the music massage his mental. Nobody fully understood how he felt at this moment.

You only know what you see/
You don’t understand what it takes to be me/ You only know what you see/ You don’t understand what it takes to me.

As the song began to fade out
, Samir grabbed his key’s and headed out the door. He turned and looked at his plush Neo-Italian furnished apartment and thought about where he started, and where he was headed, and he found the strength to keep pushing toward the legacy he had just begun to start.

“Lucky me
.” he said to himself as he headed out the door.