Page 24 of For the Love of City

CITY

“WHAT’S GOOD, CITY?”

Yacouba walked into the section and I stood along with Travis to dap him up.

Despite not being in the thick of things, I was still going to show respect for the man whose family helped us get where we were.

Despite him being a college boy and me wanting to shoot his ass the first time he showed upon the block, I could tell immediately he was about his business.

He and his old man offered us protection because they knew the man we were dealing with was getting ready to turn on us.

With the intel they gave us, we stayed out of jail, expanded our territory and inadvertently help Lyric before we knew her.

I was indebted, but their actions were altruistic.

Another reason the Millers had earned our respect and loyalty all this time.

“Not too much, Yacouba. You out and about tonight?” We sat back down and he glanced at the bottle on the table before pulling a blunt out of a case he kept on him.

I knew he had a rule that he never drank out of bottles he didn’t personally bring.

Even opening that shit in front of him wasn’t good enough because he had too many people who would try to catch him slipping.

His words, not mine. It was one of the main reasons that he rarely went out to places he or his people didn’t own.

That’s why when I saw the familiar bottle get placed next to his foot I wasn’t shocked.

The club we were in was busy but nothing too crazy since it was a Wednesday night. It was a typical Atlanta club and we were only here because Travis knew the man who owned it and we were able to keep it low-key.

Yacouba smirked, flashing his diamond covered fangs as he lit his blunt. “Yeah my lady kicked me out the house and told me I needed to find some business. My folks and hers had to flip a coin to see who got my son for the night so Jazzy baby went out with her wild ass sister.”

“So that brought you to the A?” Like me Travis was confused because that man didn’t normally let his wife out of his sight. If she was out with her girls he was in a different section making sure shit was copacetic.

“Came to see Mir about some shit and decided to check in with y’all while I was here.” He took a pull and inhaled deeply.

“Preacher man here?” I looked toward the entrance of the section but didn’t see anybody coming up.

Yacouba laughed and shook his head like I should’ve known better.

“You know he not about to let his wife out his sight. He hovering his worrying ass over Ny but she put his ass in the pool house. She has some ladies’ thing going on with the women who work at the church and he was trying to do too much. ”

“Her pregnancy good?” Trav was asking because we were still supposed to stop in and speak and didn’t want to interrupt if they had things going on.

“Yeah, but Mir’s people weren’t ever good parents. I know he wants to show Ny that he’ll be there for her how it matters no matter if it’s big or small. I keep telling him his doubting her knowing he’s a good man is what’s pissing her off but he don’t see it.”

I reclined back on the leather sofa and chuckled cause he was acting like he hadn’t just gone through this himself. “And you would know all about that.”

“Listen, Jazzy baby tried to take a skillet to my head because I smiled at her one day and showed my teeth.”

Travis was laughing but I was completely confused. “I’m lost. She hates your teeth while pregnant?”

“Nah, that’s the wildest thing. She was mad that I ain’t have a grill or some shit in.

Talkin’ bout ‘niggas will snatch you up out your own party, marry you and knock you up just to switch up on you’.

I was lost and started laughing cause I just knew she wasn’t being serious.

Wrong move, my nigga. She dumped the sausage on the table and took a swing at my ass with that hot skillet.

After I ducked and calmed down I had to treat her damn hand cause she’d burned that shit.

Jazzy ain’t even feel it cause she was too angry.

I can’t even blame that shit on her hormones cause Jazzy and her whole family wild as hell.

Even her brother and people swear he’s the calm one. ”

He was recounting all of this fondly and I was stuck on the fact that she tried to kill him and he was remembering the shit with a smile.

“He not?”

Yacouba chuckled at Travis’ question. “That nigga hangs around Smoke, what you think?”

Travis glanced behind Yacouba toward Smoke who was standing behind him. “Say less.”

Some women with sparklers came walking up to us then and I had to wonder who the fuck was trying to draw attention to us like this.

We never did none of this flashy shit, especially not when we were out in a group.

Between our boys and Yacouba’s, we had enough folk here to ensure we were straight.

But trying to show out wasn’t our style.

Especially when we came here to specifically stay under the radar.

“Who the fuck did this?”

Trav was questioning the server because whoever she pointed out was gone feel his fist or his gun before the night was over.

The bottle girl could tell he was offended by the attention by the deep frown on his face and all of us grilling the hell out of her. She looked young as hell wearing a spandex shorts suit and fishnets. “Umm, it’s compliments fr-from the other section.”

She pointed across the way and I saw Judge and Jury both looking with too much interest at our booth.

I sat up glaring at them and watched the smirks form on their faces. “These muthafuckas—”

“You can take this back shawty. We don’t want shit that came from them. And tell your boss if he’s smart he’d do whatever he could to get them out his spot.” Travis was doing his best to stay composed but I could hear that it was slipping.

“Is something wrong?” She looked as though she were going to get fired if she didn’t deliver this bottle. Which had me wondering why the fuck that was.

“They pull some more shit, you ain’t gone have a place to work because this one will be closed for renovations. Do with that information what you will.”

“I don’t know how—”

“Tell your boss that Trigga wants them gone. That should be more than enough. And blow out them damn sparklers, it ain’t the gotdamn forth of July!”

She nodded her head at Travis and quickly blew them out. Instead of saying anything else she backed up and then went to find her boss. Travis wasn’t leaving it to chance and got up and followed behind her to emphasize how quickly the Laws needed to be put out.

“You need us to handle them?”

And that was Yacouba’s way. Not jumping in and flexing because he could. A simple offer because, as a friend, he wanted to assist. And he liked shooting people.

“Where would the fun in that be?”

He met my grin with one of his own before he pulled from his blunt.

“I’m saying you had to hang City up for a minute.

Went legit with the label and shit and making shit shake.

You really want to step back into this when you got people who will handle this for fun?

” I glanced up at Smoke who I’d met on occasion.

I knew the only reason he’d come with Yacouba was because his girl probably made him.

Otherwise, he’d be right there hanging around her the same way Yacouba would’ve been with Jasmine.

“Aye, what your sister-in-law do to this nigga? He smiling and showing emotions and shit. Make me wish Mir was here to perform an exorcism.”

Smoke was never this human before. The first time that nigga spoke a full sentence to me I pulled my gun on him. Everyone thought it was funny but I wasn’t with this nigga just changing like that. Had my ass shook.

“Nobody needs that man getting upset. We ain’t got enough people to calm his ass down if he gets going.

” Yacouba exhaled a cloud of smoke that lingered around him.

He was dressed down in all black even though, like me, he could rarely blend in because of how tall he was.

But Yacouba had far more weight on him than I did even now.

I looked at him like he had forgotten himself for a minute. “Folks could say the same shit about you.”

He shrugged but a faint smile flashed on his face. “Could, but no one would but you. That time they had us doing wasn’t no small shit. You did what was needed and I appreciate it.”

I could only shrug because when he caught that bullshit charge and I saw his ass in lock up I couldn’t believe it.

I knew the organization wasn’t about to let him sit down, but they weren’t going to draw that much attention on themselves by attempting to get him out.

And he didn’t want them to because he knew it was a bunch of bullshit.

“I did what I signed up for. Nothing more, nothing less.” Me and Yacouba having each other’s backs when we were inside was natural because we were friends.

“Your ass stays humble.”

I smirked because he was one to talk. Although we were around the same age, me being slightly older, Yacouba moved with the air of somebody that had seen the world a few times.

I guess it came with the territory and the business he ran, but he wasn’t one to not calculate every move he made.

Which was always a contrast to how petty he could be.

“Mir would say that shit and then lop a nigga’s head off with a collection plate.

But speaking of niggas that need to die, I got that information that you needed.

” Part of our meeting was me having him look into some information for me with Ori, besides us just linking up because he was in town.

The information had been waiting on me for a minute but I felt like I had other shit to handle first. Getting my bread for my wrongful conviction, easing my way back into society and setting up this business, and of course Pretty’s fine ass.