What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross (13 page)

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Sam sat her desk in her condo and laughed to herself. This was hilarious. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing as she looked at the computer monitor. Wait until she tells Ponchees about this. She had a camera installed on a tree in Poke’s yard so she could monitor who was coming and going in his spot because she felt as if someone was working with him. She sipped on her glass of
Moscato
d’Asti
as she watched Killian and Toe-Toe break into Poke’s house. That was some slick shit right there, Coach K definitely had taught
Killa
well. Now how in the fuck are you gonna rob the robber?

Khalil didn’t want the girls staying at their lofts because all of the work hadn’t been done yet. He wanted to make sure that it was completely safe. He was having new steel doors, a new system and camera’s installed everywhere. He sat in his study with a cigar and a glass of Remy VSOP just thinking about everything that had been going on this past week. It was constantly one thing after another. He would much rather the kids be under the same roof with him, than at their own places tonight, at least with them there, he would be able to get some rest. He had a full schedule tomorrow, starting off with him going to take Poke to breakfast. This was his way of checking up on him; seeing if he was gonna let something out.

Honesty pulled up at her father’s house. All she wanted to do was smoke a blunt, take a hot shower and get in the bed. She had not been sleeping well at all. She didn’t know if Killian had told Pop-Pop about the shooting and the robbery. It was just so much going on at once. It was like somebody didn’t want her in the game. She didn’t plan on giving up, she just needed to take a few days and regroup. She was actually thinking of going away, just to get her thoughts together, so that she can come back harder.

This house has meant so much to her over the years. It always gave her comfort. She used her key to open the door and rushed over to the keypad and disabled the alarm. It was quiet so she assumed that Pop-Pop was still out in the field working. With all of this mess, Pop-Pop had to get back in the streets just to find out what was going on. She didn’t want that, he needed to be focused on his legitimate businesses and leave all that fast lane stuff to her and her siblings. She walked into the kitchen and put her purse on the counter, she didn’t have an appetite but she thought a nice hot cup of tea might calm her down. Looking in the pantry, she found some pomegranate chamomile tea. She ran some water into a mug and popped it into the microwave as she leaned against the island and put her head down in her hands.

Khalil walked into the kitchen and saw his oldest daughter. He didn’t even hear her come in. He walked over to give her a hug and as he reached down to wrap his arms around her; he felt a gun in his ribs. “Girl what the hell wrong is with you?” He hollered.

“I’m so sorry Pop-Pop. I didn’t think you were home. You scared me.” Honesty said as she put the gun on the counter and collapsed in his arms crying.

“What’s wrong with my big girl?” he asked her as he hugged her tightly. Khalil was not used to her showing so much emotion. Honesty was the strong one, so for her to be like this, pissed him off because that meant that she really was in pain. He held her tightly and let her cry until she couldn’t cry anymore. The anger welled up inside of him. He was gonna have to take care of this problem real fast, because he couldn’t have this.

Honesty calmed down and grabbed a paper towel and dried the tears from her face and went to the microwave and got out the coffee mug to prepare the hot tea.

“So, do you want to talk to me? You know that is what I’m here for.” Khalil said as pulled one of the stools out at the island and sat down.

“Pop-Pop, you should be somewhere with you a nice lady instead of doing all of the stuff you are doing. You got one foot in and one foot out. It is all because of us kids. We are grown now; you have done a good job raising us. Don’t waste anymore of your life trying to make ours better. That is up to us. I chose this dope game. I graduated at the top of my class in high school and college, but instead I chose to sell dope. So I can’t get mad when somebody kicks in my door, robs me and shoots at me within a few days apart. It’s a part of the game. Maybe I’m just not cut out to play it.”

Reality walked in with a Best Buy bag. She gave her dad a hug and pulled out a stool at the island and sat down beside him. She opened the bag and pulled out an iPad2 and other accessories that were needed for it.

Honesty walked over and picked it up, then she mushed her little sister in the head and said “I want one, damn you only think about yourself.”

“You know I got the hook up, I will order all of y’all one in a minute. I don’t know what I was thinking walking in here with just one.” Reality said to her sister.

“Don’t try to get off the subject! What do you mean robbed and shot at? What the hell is going on and why am I just now hearing about this? I need to know who, I need to know where, and I need to know when. I will figure out all the other shit. Do we need to continue this conversation upstairs in my study or do you want to finish it here” Khalil asked angrily through a clenched jaw to Honesty.

“Pop calm down, me and Killian made it out in one piece.” Honesty said to her father.

“Killian, oh so he was with you and he hasn’t called me to tell me any of this. I am going to have a word with him. Heads are going to roll in this
mutha
fucking city this week. They think I have gotten soft. You do not fuck with me and my family and get away with it. Real get your laptop, I need you to do some recon work.” He shouted.

Reality just stood there frozen, she had not seen her father mad like this in a long time. The last time she did, when the smoke cleared it was bodies everywhere and her dad was the only one left standing.

“Do you hear me Reality Skye? I need you to do what I sent your butt to school for. All I got is an address and a first name. I need you to get me everything on this person right down to the last person that they talked to on the phone and I need it now!” Khalil shouted at his youngest daughter who was one of the best computer hackers in the country.

“Pop-Pop, I don’t have my computers. They were in my truck when it got fucked up, I mean messed up. I thought that they were stolen, but
Jaimes
said that they were in there. He has them. I can go and get them.” Reality uttered nervously to her father.

“No you are not leaving this house. I have computers here; you can use one of those. Didn’t you hear your sister just say that she was robbed and shot at? Y’all need to be here where I can protect you. Where the hell is Loyalty? Why isn’t she here yet?” Khalil was in a major uproar and he wanted all of his daughters underneath the same roof.

“She is probably out with the football player, Pop-Pop you know she hardly comes home anyway.” Reality mentioned to him.

“She needs to check in with me, it’s too much going on out here with us for me not to know where you are at all times. Y’all are growing up right before my eyes and everybody is involved with someone. I might need to get me a young tender to keep me occupied.” Khalil laughed knowing that the thought of him and a younger woman would make his daughters go crazy.

“A younger woman, I think not Pop-Pop. You don’t need no damn young ho trying to take your money. That is what you got us for” Honesty said joking with her dad, but meaning every word of it.

“Well Pop-Pop everybody deserves somebody, just don’t waste your energy on someone who isn’t worth it. We all love you and want you to be happy. You deserve to be able to share your life with someone besides us. Everybody got somebody whether they are telling it or not. Even Killian found a girl that will put up with him and his mess. One plus one equals two.” Reality said looking at Honesty with the side eye. She knew her sister was kicking it with somebody.

Khalil’s phone rang and he began feeling all over his body for it. He found it in his back pocket and pulled it out on the last ring. “Hello” he said breathlessly into the cell phone.

“Hello, May I speak to Mr. Khalil?”
Jazmeir
said on the other end.

Khalil couldn’t help it, he started smiling. “This is he. Please call me Khalil. Is everything okay?”

“Yes everything is okay. I was just calling you thank you for stopping by. I’m always either at school, handling business or with my kids. I only have one other adult friend so even though I was not entertaining you. I would like to say thank you for the brief break from monotony. Poke called a little while ago and told me that he still wanted to be with me and that he has a big surprise for me. I don’t know if this information will help you but I remember that you said all information is usable.”
Jaz
finished up quickly not wanting to hold him up because she heard that he was a very busy man.

Khalil had to admit he saw exactly how Poke had fallen so hard for the exotic beauty. He just didn’t see how she could have fallen for him. “I appreciate that information and if you come across anything else or if you need anything don’t hesitate to call.”

“Now you have my number so feel free to call me.”
Jazmeir
said and immediately regretted it. She didn’t want to seem as if she was trying to get with Poke’s best friend or enemy or whatever he was.

“I will and goodnight,” Khalil looked up as he put the phone back in his pocket. Both of his daughters were staring him down.

“Who was that? They got you smiling and that is a good thing.” Honesty said.

“Stay outta grown folks’ business child and get your knuckleheaded brother on the phone. He has some explaining to do” Khalil said jokingly.

Loyalty lay on the bed waiting for him to return. She had promised K.J. that she would spend his last night in Atlanta with him. She didn’t know what he had planned for them so she had a few outfits packed just in case what she was wearing wasn’t suitable for wherever they were going. After she had left her sisters, she went to the mall and then she went to Huff furniture to check on the custom furniture that she had ordered for her loft. It was a gift from one of her many sponsors. She was happy when the store’s owner informed her that her furniture should be in the first of next week. Oftentimes, whenever she stopped dealing with a guy, they would try to take back the things that they had given her. But P.I. was different. He just wanted to kick it with her when he was in town and sometimes he flew her out to Los Angeles to see him. He was truly one of a kind.

K.J. walked into his apartment glistening with sweat. He had a towel over his head. He was dressed in a tank top, gym shorts and some Nike cross trainers. He smelled her fragrance as soon as he opened the door. To say that he was smitten would truly be an understatement. All that he thought about since the first time he had met her was Loyalty. She had a personality that sucked you right in and the fact that she was naturally beautiful and very intelligent was simply the icing on the cake. He didn’t want to admit it, but he might have fallen already. He was set to go back to Florida to begin training camp, but he didn’t want to leave Atlanta. That would mean that he would be leaving her. They had just met, and it seemed to be the beginning of something amazing. He didn’t want to leave to go to camp and then she forgot about him while he was gone. K.J. was a firm believer in the saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’.

Loyalty heard the front door shut so she ran into the living room and greeted him with a hug and a brief kiss on the lips. “Hey Bae, I missed you. How was your workout?”

“It was good baby, I try to push myself to work out as hard as I would if I was in training so that I do not have to get in shape; I just have to maintain shape. You really do like me, huh? You have to if you are all under me and I’m dripping sweat.” K.J. said as he kissed Loyalty on the forehead before walking toward the bedroom.

She followed behind him. He went into the bathroom but left the door open. She walked into the bathroom as he took off his tank top. His physique was definitely a work of art. All she could do was shake her head as she leaned against the door jamb and watched him as he undressed. Her dad had raised her to not be caught up on looks because they can change within a blink of an eye. He told them to focus on someone who treated them good. But she couldn’t deny that K.J. was definitely a beautiful man from the top of his head, to the soles of his feet.

“How long are you going to stand there and watch me, biting your bottom lip?” K.J. said to Loyalty.

“Until you put me out, I guess. I know you are probably used to women telling you that your body is amazing.”

“I’m not gonna put you out. If you
wanna
stand right there and watch me undress and take a shower you can. You can also join me. I’m used to having people around me when I take off my clothes, I would much rather it be you than a man. You know how it is in those locker rooms.” He turned around and faced Loyalty completely naked.