Page 48

thirty-four

. . .

“Look at this lovesick, nigga,” Brody joked, hopping in the truck. “Kissing in showrooms, hugged up on balconies.”

“You worse than a bitch, I swear,” Maximus grumbled in laughter as he pulled away from the curb of Brody’s apartment building. “You workin’ for Love, Angie or ShadyPalms or some shit?”

“Topflight security of the got damn Trae Way MB, nigga. I gotta keep my ear to the internet streets and the actual streets,” Brody answered. “But to answer your question, BigBallerAlert been on y’all ass.”

“I know. Almost knocked them niggas out in the parking garage. A secure building, and they were waiting for us to come down.”

“A different beast comes out of you when you can’t protect your girl,” Brody stated.

“Hell yeah. I almost put one of them niggas through the fucking concrete. Which is a problem considering I left Gus dangling out a fuckin’ wall,” Maximus gritted.

“Your brother?”

“Ain’t no fuckin’ brother of mine. Nigga is a bitch nigga. Bitch made, bitch blood, bitch ass,” Maximus shared. “I need you to understand some shit, every time I see that nigga, I’m rocking his muhfuckin’ top. Every fuckin’ time.”

“Anyone else I need to know about?” Brody questioned.

“That nigga Rico. I ain’t playing about my lady or my momma. Even if her ass on that shit,” Maximus huffed.

He’d been checking in with the rehabilitation center almost every day in his quiet moments to see about his mother.

The time would come when it was time for her to be released, and he needed to make sure she had somewhere to go.

She couldn’t stay with him. He wouldn’t allow his peace to be tainted like that.

But she had to go somewhere, and back to Trae Way wasn’t an option.

“What else do I need to know about you moving around in this gritty city?” Brody asked, looking out of the window. “Outside of the obvious.”

“We don’t look for the trouble, but if it comes, we handle it. Rap is rap, but I’m Trae Way still.”

“Got it.”

Arriving at Keon’s new spot, the pair strolled to the door.

It wasn’t as big as Maximus, but with the money Maximus broke him off from the deal and the money he’d been stacking for him, it was enough to pay for it cash and kick his feet back.

Before they could ring the bell, Staysha pulled the door open.

Involuntarily, Brody grunted. “Damn.”

Staysha snapped her fingers at him and shook her head. “Don’t get your ass hurt. Can’t have security walking around in a neck brace.”

Maximus snickered. “And she’ll be the one to do it. What’s good, Stay?”

“Eh,” she groaned, walking into the dining room she’d been using to keep everything on track for her clients. Keon sat at the end of the table, pecking away on his phone, a scowl on his face.

“That shit don’t sound good,” Maximus huffed.

Keon looked up at him briefly. “It ain’t.”

“Well, what the fuck is up?” Maximus asked, annoyance straining his voice.

Keon and Staysha shared a look before she yielded and let him deliver the bad news.

“I mean it ain’t shit if it ain’t shit, but Urban View Entertainment is fueled by drug money.

Which ain’t new to us, but it’s Poppi’s drug money.

Money she had hidden, money that was invested, washed, and funneled out to us, investors, and other artists.

Like I said… it ain’t shit until it’s shit,” Keon shared.

“Anzel a gangsta?” Maximus asked with a scrunched face.

“Anzel is my mother; she filed UVE under Poppi Sage. Like she’s running the business from the grave, so when – and it’s only a matter of fuckin’ time – the feds come, everything is up in flames.”

“What the fuck?” Maximus blew, dropping his body into a nearby seat.

“Got damn,” Brody blew.

“What’s the plan? I’m not getting caught up with the feds and I’m not going back to prison,” Maximus stated.

Now that he looked at Staysha straight on, he could see the emotions warring on her face. He knew enough about their mother and how their relationship with Poppi was so monumental. Keon took the lead, saving Staysha from speaking about her mother any further.

“I’ve asked Daysha to come on as brand management.

Staysha stays in her role, I stay in mine.

But the lawyers I had look over this shit didn’t know what to look for.

We need a more experienced team to navigate the waves we’re about to hit.

You have enough music to satisfy your first two albums. Daysha suggests we keep moving like we don’t know shit.

Make the music, drop singles until we get a green light to turn the album in.

When the fed’s move in, it’s going to be quick.

If she found that in a few days, I’m pretty sure they’re already lurking.

We keep this shit clean, we keep it tight; we keep our heads down like we just artists, and niggas from the hood.

With access to the legal team Daysha has, you and your masters are protected along with our names. ”

Maximus looked at Staysha. “Eden know?”

Staysha swayed her head and pushed her hair out of her face. “No, and honestly, I don’t have the heart to send her back to a place she’s healed from. It was hard for me, but it was five times harder for her. So, until I know something definite, I’m not telling her.”

Maximus groaned and palmed his face. “And I got to keep that from her? I don’t know about that shit, Stay.”

“Not keep, just hold it until it’s the right time. And right now, ain’t the right time. Anzel needs to keep thinkin’ we don’t know shit,” Staysha shared. “Now that’s the bad news.”

Maximus raised his brow. “There’s good news?”

“Yeah, we got the sample tees and BGCs is for sale. The bank just wants what’s owed on it. I ran the numbers, we’ll make it back by the end of the year.”

“Partnership?” Maximus questioned. “How we splitting that pie?”

“Two ways?” Keon asked.

“Make it five. The team is us. All of us eat. I’ll buy in for Eden and Brody.”

“Nigga,” Brody blew. “I can put twenty dollars on it. I’m good for it.”

The laughter was needed to break the tension in the room.

“Keep that twenty and turn it into a stack,” Maximus stated. “We got the license for that?”

“Security license is in. Legally, you the only nigga in the crew that can carry but we all got pistols tucked,” Keon shared, placing the case of Glocks on the table. “The goal is we keep the talent free and out of jail by all means. Even if that means we got to sit down for a minute.”

“Aight,” Brody stated. “Trae Way all day.”

After the mountain of information was dropped in everyone’s lap and Staysha excused herself, the men stood outside, their blunts sparked and frowning into one thick cloud of smoke.

“Imagine climbing up the mountain and thinking you hit the top only for that shit to just be a divot on the side and you got a lot more to fuckin’ climb.

You look back and see how far you’ve come, but you look up and see how much further you got to go.

That’s what I feel like right now. The happiness that I made it this far and the fuckin’ anxiety of makin’ it this far.

I knew this UVE shit was too fuckin’ good to be true,” Maximus shared.

“The whole thing feels calculated. They blew me up, rolled out the red carpet only to be doing sneak shit in the background,” Keon stated. “If Poppi’s money bought the label, you think Mama’s money is running it?”

“I wouldn’t put it past them. Mama always gets a taste. Whether it’s bending a nigga over, breaking her girls, or fuckin’ up someone’s pockets. Walkin’ away from her seems to be getting more difficult.”

“Nah,” Brody finally spoke up. “You lookin’ at this wrong.”

He had Keon and Maximus’ attention.

“When a label goes down and the board members jump ship, masters are returned to the artists. With Mama and Anzel out the way, you can really do some big shit. Your own shit. Trae Way shit. You show these niggas how to bet on themselves and win. I’m just sayin’, it might just play out in your favor,” Brody shared.

“And the whole time I thought you was going to be a clown ass nigga I was going to have to check,” Keon rumbled. “Whole time you got some fuckin’ sense.”

“I’m just saying, everything always works out when you do good. You do good, nigga, even when niggas try taking you out. Solid people like you rarely lose. So, Staysha and Keon are right. Keep moving like you don’t know shit. Keep climbing that fuckin’ mountain.”

“And what about Eden in all of this? This shit can’t touch her,” Maximus stated.

“It won’t. At least to the best of our ability. But it’s their mother, we can only block that so much.” Keon blew the smoke from his nostrils. “If anything, when it all falls down, they might get what’s owed to them.”

Maximus raised a brow. “After the feds run through that bitch?”

“Peace of mind. She never told you about those last weeks?”

Maximus shook his head in response to Keon’s question. “Nah.”

“She will. Poppi’s girls been living with broken hearts for a long time. Maybe it’s time for that shit to be mended.”