What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross (5 page)

 
“Too much of anything is not good for you. I understand that you be on edge and it helps you calm down. But baby girl there are things that you can do for that. How about you start running with me. I know that will help. My doctor turned me on to it. When you exercise it releases the same chemicals that are in all of these drugs. I’m trying to tell you that you will feel better. Come on, you can go with us now.” He walked to the adjacent loft that he had turned into a studio.

“Man oh man, I didn’t come over here to hear all of this D.J., just give me the syrup so I can go. I have been up all day and night working. I need to go to sleep because I have an important meeting with Pop-Pop in a few hours.” She looked at her watch and realized that it was almost six o’clock in the morning.

“
Shawty
, I
ain’t
giving you shit. I just served you night before last, all that shit should not be gone, you doing entirely too much. Look how small you are and you are doing all that shit. Girl you are not even five feet tall and you sipping syrup like you are my size or something. They are not gonna find
yo
’
lil
’ ass dead somewhere and it be on me. I would never sleep again if something like that was to happen. Most of the niggas you know who sell it get it from me and I will cut they ass off in a heartbeat if I find out that you got it from them. There is nothing you can do about it. Now who else
wanna
fuck with Hollywood Court?”

“Achilles!” He called his dog, a
Presa
Canario
that weighed over one hundred and thirty pounds as he held the door open for Reality to exit.

“That’s fucked up man. I thought you had my back when no one else did. I will get it from someone else. The whole Westside might get it from you but not the entire city of Atlanta. Our names ring bells in this city. You must have forgotten who I am” she headed to the elevator with tears in her eyes.

“Yeah I know who you are……You are Coach K’s daughter” He said to himself.

Killian looked at his watch. He hoped that she would answer her phone. Breaking all that work down had taken more time than he thought it would. He reached into the pocket of his camouflaged True Religion cargo shorts and pulled his iPhone out. He was tired, but he knew that if he went and got her before he went in to get some rest that he was guaranteed to wake up next to her.

He hopped into his 650 BMW convertible and decided that he would just call her once he got outside her door. He knew that the probability of her saying no with him right there would be slim to none.

He headed toward Bankhead. Everything had changed so much since his days of running around playing with his sisters at the babysitters while Pop-Pop was out grinding. All the projects were gone and there wasn’t money to build anything in its place. The real niggas were few and far between. Most of them were either dead or locked up. He was a young nigga in age, but he had been up under his dad in the game since birth, so he knew everybody and made moves like an O.G.

He had met Leigh in class. She was bad as hell. She had a very sophisticated air about her. He just knew that she was from up north somewhere because her gear was on point. But when she opened her mouth and spoke you knew then and there that she was definitely one of Westside’s finest. Her look was totally different from what everyone else was rocking. She always looked like she was fresh off of the runway.

Leigh wore her hair in a short curly style; it was dyed crimson and shaved close on both sides. She was a golden brown with slanted eyes, full pink lips and a button nose. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority but you barely saw her around campus with her
sorors
. She was always by herself and you never caught her without her sketch pad and her headset. Leigh designed clothes.

Killian pulled up to her gate and pushed in the code that the police used and made it around to the townhouse that she shared with her mother and her son. He didn’t have to call her because she was sitting on the porch with the light on; with her sketchpad and her headset.

She pulled the headset out of her ears and laid the sketchpad down. She wore only an oversized t-shirt and some
boyshorts
. Her ass cheeks were visible as she walked toward him. The expression on her face was unreadable. But her gray eyes looked like they had turned green so he knew then that she was mad at him.

Killa
smiled at her as her hips switched from side to side. He knew he had started to develop feelings for her and her son. Sometimes even when he wasn’t out putting in work he would say he was because he felt that he was too young to be getting tied down with a chick and a baby. He still had his whole life ahead of him.

“Nigga wipe
dat
smile off of your face. You could have at least called and told me that we weren’t doing dinner. I was sitting here dressed up and ready to go. Then
Kaydence
wanted to show you his grade that he got on his project that you helped him with last week.” Leigh said mushing him in his forehead with her index finger.

He grabbed her around her small waist and her t-shirt rose up exposing her panties. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, thrusting her tongue into his mouth. As his tongue danced around hers she leaned in even closer and he gripped her ass cheeks pulling her tightly to him. A moan escaped her lips as he pulled away from the kiss. “Go grab your shit. You are spending the night with me.”

“The night, it’s already after five in the morning.” She scoffed. She wouldn’t dare tell him no. The way he treated her and her son kept her coming back for more. They said that when you are not looking for it is when it will sneak up on you and that is what happened.

“Whatever man, just get your shit. You got class at twelve and I got a meeting with the family at eleven. You can take the car and I will ride my motorcycle.” He told her as she turned around and walked up the steps to the front door.

Killian walked up the steps behind her but didn’t go inside. He picked up her sketch pad and started flipping through her work. He was speechless. She was definitely gifted. He knew that she made the majority of her clothes but to see it on paper with such detail intrigued him.
Killa
knew that he needed to do right by Leigh, because he knew that when it came to him, she only had the best intentions.

She came out the door with a Louis Vuitton duffle bag thrown over her shoulder. “Baby, you look so tired. Pop-Pop working you to death?

“
Nawl
, it wasn’t Pop-Pop tonight, I was fucking round with Truth in the kitchen. You just moving on in aren’t you?” He shook his head as he looked at her large bag. The more visits that Leigh made to his place, the more stuff she left. Killian walked around to get in on the passenger side. His body was tired beyond belief. All he wanted was a hot bath and a glass of warm milk. He didn’t need sex from Leigh. Her presence was enough. She always soothed him.

She got into the driver’s seat and looked over at him relaxing peacefully with his eyes closed. He would be sleep by the time they arrived at his townhouse on the Southside. Leigh knew that Killian was the man for both her and her son. She didn’t want to scare him away by talking about relationships because he would always say “What’s understood don’t need to be said.”

Honesty was on a natural high, adrenaline was rushing through her body and even though she knew that she should probably sleep, she just couldn’t. Tonight she handled the most dope since she had been in the game. Her dream was coming true. She had enough money put up to feel safe, she was going to school for her MBA and she was living the life; all without help from her dad.

Her phone rang and she looked at the caller I.D. A picture of Gorgeous or Gigi as she was affectionately called popped up. “
Yo
what’s up Gigi? What the hell are you doing up this time of morning?”

“I haven’t been to sleep yet. Just lying on the sofa in my office, and thought that I would call and make sure everything was good with you. Where are you at?” Gigi said as she adjusted her hair and switched positions on the sofa.

“You’re calling to check on me or to check on your product” Honesty laughed.

“I’m calling to check on you bitch, now get your ass over to this club.”

“I need to lie down, I’ve got a meeting with Pop-Pop in the morning and I have been in the kitchen all night. I just
wanna
shower and get in the bed.”

“You can get in my bed. Meet me at the house” Gigi said.

“Okay you win, I will meet you at your house; I’m leaving from my spot now. See you in a minute.” Honesty hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and keys and headed toward the door.

She pulled out her Millennium Pro SS 40 caliber pistol and looked around to make sure everything was in proper order. She set the alarm and locked up. Once outside the door, she checked her surroundings. Pop-Pop had taught her that. Something didn’t feel right, but everything looked fine. She figured maybe she was just on edge because she had so much work put up in the house. Her high was coming down now and she was feeling drowsy as she got into her Infinity FX45 SUV. She was happy that everything was located on the Southside so she didn’t really have far to go. Gigi wouldn’t talk her to death because she probably was tired too. She had just got a big shipment in and being that she was supplying the entire city, she was indeed exhausted.

As Honesty pulled away from the house, the pair of eyes that had been watching her and her family for most of the night crept from the woods and walked around the outside of the house.

Before she knew it, Honesty was pulling up at Gigi’s estate. When she got to the gate, she pulled her cell phone out and called Gigi to let her know that she was there.

The lights in her rearview mirror let her know that Gigi had arrived as she pulled up behind her. Gigi opened the gate from her car as Honesty pulled into the circular driveway. She drove her car right beside Honesty’s SUV and hopped out before she did.

Both Honesty and Gigi were tall; standing at six feet and six feet one respectively. They looked each other in the eyes and words were exchanged, but none spoken. They walked into the house and closed the door.

As soon as the door closed, Gigi grabbed Honesty and pushed her up against the door. She kissed her lips and parted them with her tongue. Honesty wrapped her arms around Gigi and ran her hands down her curves. They tore into each other. The passion of having not touched each other all day exploded between them. Honesty’s dark skin was a total contrast to Gigi’s creamy pale skin. They had seen each other earlier, but they were not able to come in close contact because no one knew of their relationship. Even though they were both tired as hell from hustling all day, everything took a backseat when they were together.

Honesty broke away from their embrace and looked Gigi in her eyes. “I thought you were going to let me get in the shower and then go to bed?”

“Those were my plans too. I’m tired as a
muthafucka
and I got some of my country boys from North Carolina coming down in the morning so I really need to get some rest. But I wanted to be close to you tonight. Do you have a problem with that Bae?” Gigi said.

“
Nawl
, not at all. You know I love being with you. I haven’t slept in my bed in God knows when. I’m here more than I am at home. Let’s take a hot shower.” Honesty grabbed Gigi’s hand and led her upstairs as if she was in her own home.

Gigi sat on the bed and began to take off her clothes. She always dressed extra feminine whenever she was working. It helped put the men at ease. She took off her
Fendi
wedge sandals and her tan
bebe
tube dress with the matching cardigan. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail that sat very high on her head. She removed the hair pins and shook out her waist length hair. Honesty stood right there watching her. It always amazed her that if you didn’t know what Gigi did for a living, you would mistake her for an administrative professional in a Fortune 500 company; instead of one of the biggest drug dealers on the East Coast. She was only twenty-four, but she had been groomed since she was small by her grandfather Black
Sillk
.

As Honesty took off her wife beater and Rock and Republic shorts, Gigi stood in front of her naked. Even though she was dog tired, it was something about seeing Honesty undressed that did something to Gigi. She reached out to pull her close, and held her tight. Even though she had an identical sister and a brother who along with her made up a set of triplets, Honesty was the person who was closest to her. “Truth, what would I do without you” Gigi asked Honesty calling her by her nickname.