Page 4 of For the Love of City

The stadium could be seen in the distance along with the muthafuckas trying to come in and gentrify the neighborhood.

They were throwing up starter homes for crazy prices trying to lure folks in to change the safety profile of the neighborhood.

If they stopped shutting down services, actually paid attention to the areas that had high crime with more than just additional police presence maybe muthafuckas like me wouldn’t only have somebody like King’s ass to look up to.

Trav and I always wanted to do more to give back, but King was more interested in recruiting a steady supply of workers.

To keep it real, we already had the type of money that was going to ensure we were good for a minute.

But we stayed where we were to stand in the gap between the young boys and girls out here from getting exploited.

Damn shame we’d let ourselves almost get caught up.

The woman who was looking for me had to crane her neck from her spot on the steps. I knew the first thing we would do was shut this house down after we got done today. Somebody shouldn’t have had this type of access to us and I wondered how and why she knew where to find me or this place.

“What’s good, Reina?”

I folded my arms at the woman in front of me.

She was a pretty lady probably no older than mid thirties early forties.

Her hair was in some long braids and she was wearing a big white tank top, some jean shorts and the sandals like Jesus and His disciples made hot.

The heat was already spiking since spring was here so I didn’t blame her.

It was a damn shame that she was walking around with her ass cheeks out at her age.

“Listen, I need you to do me a favor.” She ain’t even have the good manners to say hey or nothing. Just got straight to it like I was on a clock she paid me to punch.

“Favor like what?” I was only listening to her because of Dae.

I knew he was a good dude, had helped me and Trav out when our mamas weren’t doing right, so it was only right I returned the favor.

One thing I wouldn’t do is disrespect his legacy by giving his ole lady some shit that would have her down bad.

If she came for something like that, I’d have to keep a closer eye on her.

“I need you to find me somewhere to drop off my daughter.”

I blinked twice because I couldn’t have heard her right. “Your daughter?”

“Lyric. I can’t handle dealing with her right now. She’s gotta go.” Her face had started off soft but had turned hard as soon as she mentioned her kid. Which was wild to me.

I looked around trying to figure out what the hell she wanted me to do. The trap house wasn’t a fucking orphanage or a hospital. “You ain’t got no family—”

“I’m not about to burden them with her!”

My brows shot up and I glared at shawty, wondering if she was already on that shit. Only reason I could think of that she would be speaking about her kid with such disdain.

“But you want to burden somebody else?”

Her eyes shifted around and it was like God told me to brace myself for whatever she was about to say.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and I could feel how she was going to ruin whatever plans I had for tonight.

We were already in the thick of the Great Pollening of Georgia so everything was covered in that neon green plant jizz that tore up Trav’s nose until the rain washed it away.

I didn’t have space for shit else today.

Let alone this broad and her confessions.

She bit her lip before looking around with her nose slightly turned up. “I’ve seen the way the girls around here get by. My daughter is pretty as hell—”

I scoffed and shook my head because I was about to load her in my Tahoe and drop her ass off at rehab. She had to be on that shit to say something so easily about her blood. “I know you not about to say you want me to do some pimp shit with your daughter.”

“No, but nobody gets a free lunch. I don’t have the money to take care of her—”

“Your man ain’t have life insurance?” One thing about King was that he wanted us to always have an insurance plan.

That training had saved the niggas who’d listened families from having to sell plates to get them buried.

There was no way that she was just out here without money.

Dae was a smart man. Besides dealing with King, he had put his money into a rim shop that was popular.

Folks were lined up to get custom work from him so there was no way that in less than ten years it was all gone.

The way Reina rolled her eyes I knew she’d blown through every dime he’d left her. “That’s besides the point!”

My chuckle was low, a way to keep control of myself because putting my hands on women in anger was some shit I just didn’t do. Reina was about to test that rule I’d had all my life.

“That is the point. The fuck you think I’mma do with a…how old is she, anyway?” ‘Cause she might have to join King if she was trying to hand me off some lil ass baby on some Chester shit.

“She’s almost fifteen.”

“Fif—! I had to catch myself because my big ass arguing with her was surely going to draw attention. We’d been on this fucking porch for too long as it was. Having the boys come this way wasn’t how I wanted the day to end.

“Look, we’ve helped you out before and I know you’re a decent enough person. Whatever you got going on I’m sure you’ll make sure she aight.” She waved her hand dismissively, like somehow my looking out for her kid irritated her.

“You don’t even sound like you really give a fuck.” I waited for her to refute my statement but she just shrugged like she really didn’t care.

“I gotta chance to do something for me and I can’t with her latched on to me.

She got a lil’ hot in the ass friend that she keep hanging around and on top of that she’s so fucking needy.

Do you understand what that’s like?” Reina still looked like she was trying to reason with me and I couldn’t believe it.

“How could I when you’re about to put your responsibilities on me? You want sympathy but yet you steady complaining.”

“There’s plenty of other men that would be happy to take her. You ain’t got to do shit.”

I leaned down causing her to back up but I needed her to understand I wasn’t playing that game with her. “Don’t even start that shit. Your husband would lose his shit seeing how you acting right now.”

“Well, this shit is his fault anyway, because he’s the one who died and left me to fend for myself. He can’t get mad at how I’m going about doing it.” Reina wiped at a tear and I started to think this kid ain’t need to be with her ass at all.

“That’s cold as fuck. What you gone tell her about all of this?”

She looked shocked at the thought of having to explain any of this to her daughter. “Nothing. Why would I?”

My chuckle was back and I took the white towel that was around my neck and wiped my face. This broad was about to have me catch a case if I stayed out here too long so I needed to get low.

“Bet. If I do this shit, it’s going to be done the right way.

Notarized statement from you giving me guardianship.

I need all her paperwork and shit too. You not about to be getting benefits off her and not contributing shit to her.

I know that game all too well and you not about to get me caught up in your shit. ”

“I could just tell the laws what you really be doing.”

“Yeah and then where you gone drop your kid off at? That phone call can go two ways and unlike you I got friends in high ass places who don’t want their names caught up in shit. They’d make you a faded memory before they allowed you to fuck up their enterprise.”

“I wouldn’t even be over here fucking with you if King would’ve done what he said he would do.” She muttered that shit like she had a right to be mad but now I needed all that information.

“The fuck that mean?”

“He’s had a thing for Lyric for a minute and told me he would be good with looking out for her while I got myself together.

She getting in fights at school with her lil friend and I’m tired of this shit.

If her daddy was still around I wouldn’t have to deal with her ass.

” She said that shit like it was common knowledge and completely normal.

King had to be every bit of forty if not older.

And if this girl was fourteen he ain’t have no fucking business even looking at her.

I was hotter than fish grease and even happier that we’d laid that nigga down without a second thought.

He was really out here about to buy this young ass girl from her dumb ass mama like shit was good.

All kids went through shit but it wasn’t a reason for her to drop her off to a random nigga and keep on with her life like she ain’t have responsibilities.

“Why that nigga back out?”

I wasn’t going to tell her that his ass was worm food and I was about to help dig the hole to bury his ass in with some mob niggas like it was a corporate team building exercise.

I wondered if Xavier knew what was good when it came to this dude and he had more than one reason to put his ass down.

If so, it was even more reason for me to respect the Millers besides them giving me the path for us to run this shit for real, since we did all the work.

“I don’t even know, I’ve been trying to find him for a minute but he ain’t picking up. This shit is getting on my nerves.” Reina threw up her hands like having to work through this and actually behave like an adult was too much for her.

“The shit being your daughter?”

Them eyes rolled again and she was lucky I had a damn heart. “Her attitude and her behavior are too much. She’s smart so she thinks she can do whatever. He was supposed to help me get a firm hold on her since he’d been her daddy’s homeboy.”

I just stared at this fool as she basically convinced herself that King’s old ass was the best thing for her child. Even though it was clear he had some type of creep tendencies and was old enough to be cool with Lyric’s father. “So you moved on to plan B.”

“I couldn’t find Travis and this is where King said you normally be. So are you really going to take her or not cause if not—”

“What you got a line of niggas that are trying to get at your daughter? Gotdamn, I know Dae rolling around in his grave seeing how you acting.” I was disgusted listening to her talk about this girl the way she was.

I’d seen people fight harder for their damn rollover minutes than she was for her kid.

“I mean she getting a body like her mama so of course they notice. I’m just trying to do the right thing because King already gave me some bread. He been helping for years so of course he’d be the first person I turned to. He made sure we ate and looked out for us.”

I had to roll my eyes because I knew all that looking out shit came with a price.

There was no reason she couldn’t get her ass up and get a fucking job or even ask King for some work.

I wasn’t sure if Lyric was the price for his kindness, but that was a debt King’s ass would never collect on.

She must’ve seen my disgust with her on my face because she went back to saying what she needed to.

I was glad cause that meant she could get the fuck from around me before I called some girls we knew to beat her ass.

“I know that y’all are tight so I’m bringing her to you for safekeeping until he show up. ”

“And if he don’t?”

She shrugged like she really ain’t give a fuck. “It ain’t my business.”

I took a step back to resist the urge to strangle this bitch. It was too hot out here to keep her around because no matter what, if she got loud she was going to draw attention to us. Despite wanting to keep the peace, I had to let her know I ain’t like how she was moving. “You foul as fuck Reina.”

“ Mama gotta have a life too, Jodi .” She said that shit so smugly that I knew this kid was gone be better off without her. My ass might not have been the greatest but it was clear I wanted more for her than her foul ass mama did.

“Yeah, when your kid is grown, not when they still young and need you. But like I said, I’ll give you an address to drop her off at once you got everything I requested. She can’t stay with me until then.”

“Whatever. I’ll have it. Like I said, I got moves to make.

And whenever King stops this hiding shit whatever needs to be done to get her transferred over to him is between y’all.

Once I give her to you, I’m out of it.” She held her hands up and backed away like I was gone Uno reverse and force her to keep her chap.

I didn’t know what the hell I’d just signed up for, but I would never let this girl feel the depth of what her mama had done.

This girl was just out here solo and I couldn’t let her get eaten by the sharks.

Especially not when the biggest one was her mama.

I wasn’t sure there was a way to soften the blow of being abandoned: there wasn’t I’d experienced the shit myself.

But I’d do what I could so that she knew if nothing else me and Travis had her one hundred percent.