Page 51 of For the Love of City

She was smirking as she pulled out a gun I didn’t know she had and I could only laugh at her sneaky ass.

It was clear there were two cars of people fucking with us and somebody was aiming for me but was trying to creep up behind us and box Porsha in.

She zoomed up the off ramp and a black Charger was coming up from her side.

At the same time, she was rolling down her window and shooting at the tires.

The other car took that as a sign to come after us and tried to ram us from behind.

I had my window down and was firing out the side of it as Porsha pulled off before they could hit us.

The black Charger from her side of the car pulled off like it was afraid of getting caught.

Little did they know that their asses weren’t getting away.

Porsha was driving the way she needed to, but it was making it hard as hell for me to get a clean shot.

The wind was hitting me in the face but I was still letting off shots in the direction of the car.

I was happily playing with them and just before I was out; I felt Porsha swerve the car as something metal tapped my leg.

I reached down while still letting off shots and grabbed the gun that she was handing to me.

With both in hand, I was hitting the front of the hood trying to disable the engine.

Two shots rang out one hit the back window which shattered and sent Porsha cussin’ again.

The roads didn’t have many people on them, this time of day between summer camps being let out and folks being at work meant that few people were around.

Those that were had obviously gotten the picture that they needed to get off the road.

The car following us was so hellbent on hitting us they didn’t realize they were now on our blocks.

As soon as Porsha pulled up by the trap house going at least sixty miles an hour, the car behind us was T-boned by one of our men.

The car swerved, completely caught off guard, and hit a tree in the front yard of a car across the street.

Porsha came to a stop and I was already hopping out of my truck with both guns in hand.

The niggas on the block had everyone who wasn’t a part of this inside their houses and they had the doors open to the car, guns drawn ready to light up whoever was inside.

“Aye, whoever they are take their asses alive!” I just knew that nigga T-Lo was somewhere tied up in this shit because it was too coincidental that I just saw him and then we got shot up.

And that car that was creeping up next to P in the car looked a lot like the one he got into when we left the shopping plaza.

Trav was two steps ahead of me and hollered back over his shoulder. “You sure? We can—

“Alive! I gotta check on P but I gotta know who the fuck sent them on this dummy mission. This shit ain’t gone take but a minute and a quick death is too good for they asses.”

I was livid because my lady and my baby were in that car. I ain’t give a fuck about somebody coming after me, but they knew P was in the car with me and didn’t give a fuck. They were going to burn for that shit.

He nodded his understanding and when I saw they had that shit in hand and were pulling people out of the car; I went to check on my girl. I expected her ass to be hysterical but Porsha was waiting to get out of the car until she saw me.

“Where they at?” She saw me coming and hopped out of the truck, looking like she was ready to put in work. I tucked both of the guns I had been shooting into my waistband and met P in the middle of the street.

“What you doing getting out the car?”

Her head went back like she was ready to buck on me. “Nigga, were you just here? They were trying to shoot us the fuck up. You thought my ass was just gone sit in the car?”

“Porsha—”

“Nope, don’t play with me. I understood the play while we were driving and I knew you had me. I know you always have me, which is why I wasn’t concerned.”

My hand went to her stomach and I used the other to pull her closer to me. I just needed to feel her to make sure that she was good. Her body wasn’t shaking, her back was straight and she didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around me.

I pulled back, watching her face and I was almost frustrated with how calm she was. She had a tiny scratch from the glass on her face but other than that she was fine.

“I’m glad you know I got you. And thank you for whipping that shit like you wanted to be around to push out a few of my kids.”

She pecked my lips and I heard the car that had been t-boned being driven off the street and into the garage behind the house. I needed to hop in our car and get it moved, but first, we needed to handle the niggas they’d drug into the house.

“I’ll be around, but should we stay here?”

I looked around again at the well-oiled machine that was the niggas that ran this block. Within the few minutes we’d been here, everything looked back to normal.

“It’s cool. You want to be here for this?”

Her eyes turned cold and I needed to hit up Man to see what the hell my Pretty had gotten into back home. “I’m not going anywhere. And I promise if I feel anyway, I’ll let you know.”

“Good. Let’s get this shit done.”

“Wait, that ain’t the right house.”

“You think I’m going to kill some niggas where I keep the work? Damn, Porsha, I been doing shit like this for years. I’m smarter than that.”

She gave me a quick nod and squeezed my hand as I led her to the house across the street from where the car was being backed in.

We’d walked in on Travis beating the shit out of the driver and Poke hitting the passenger.

“Damn y’all niggas couldn’t follow directions at all?”

Travis stood up with a grin and looked at his bloody knuckles. “You said that they needed to be alive. You didn’t say healthy.”

He took a step back and the man who’d been driving sat up from the ground and spit the blood from his mouth. Travis watched to make sure that none of it hit him.

“Aye, Poke, let that nigga live. We got questions.”

Poke nodded and I knew he was a good choice to take over for us. He just went into go mode with no questions asked.

I released Porsha’s hand and she silently stood back behind all of us.

“So what gave you the bright idea to come and fuck with me?”

“You just a music nigga now, right? You know what kind of street cred I’d get for taking out the two of you? Shiiit, that’s nothing but respect right there even if y’all are going legit.” The one on the floor was probably no older than Poke but the shit he was saying didn’t make sense.

“Can’t be too legit if your Black ass is the one in the chair we put you in.

Shit, I’m about to kill you. Ain’t nothing seeming too legal about that is it, Trigga?

” I wished Porsha was the type to be scared about all of this but her ass was standing there with a stoic look on her face.

I understood why she and Lyric were such good friends, they were cut from the same cloth.

“Nah, City.”

“You don’t run shit no more.” The driver was now talking shit to Trigga, which was a terrible idea.

“I don’t run shit no more? Let me school you real quick. What’s my muthafuckin’ name bitch? Who’s the legend that you trying to get your cred off of? Whose streets you trying to take over?”

The passenger spoke up as he rolled over from where Poke was dribbling his head with his foot. “But Street Law—”

“Street Law? Them muthafuckas handing out contracts for taking niggas out now? Stupid ass. All you had to do was come to us. For either side you wanted to work on. But you want to run to a muthafucka that will gas you up instead of setting you straight. Who would happily fill your head with dreams instead of helping you hit goals. And your damn pockets still empty. What was he gone do? Pay you when it was done? When he saw I was dead? And then what? Take the gun and get rid of it for you? Your stupid ass don’t even realize that even if they did sign you, they’d have dirt on you for the rest of your life.

They would’ve raked your ass over the coals. ”

“City—”

I could hear the fear in his voice but he was the main one hanging out the passenger side shooting at us like he was a bad ass.

“Nah, I’m just the music nigga, right? Probably think you gone see me in a video.

WRONG. I earned this shit. Brick by muthafucking brick.

Literally. Me and this nigga been in the trenches for years.

Finesses’ first hit was a beat I made. My chap been grinding the whole time I was sent up but you wanna act like I ain’t really do this shit? Like we ain’t earn every stripe?”

“Crazy work.” Porsha was still way too calm about this shit especially when she was gassing me up from behind.

“It would’ve been fine for you to shoot at me, but this dumb fuck saw my girl in the car and opened fire, anyway.

Let me tell you something, bitch. That one there that you shot at?

Wooo, ain’t no stopping me when it comes to me going after someone who’s tried to hurt her.

And God forbid that you’d done more than just break the glass with that bullet.

Whew, but you put a scratch on her face.

And knowing that you got that close to her, close enough to harm her? It doesn’t sit right with my soul.”

“How we gone handle this, C?” Travis was looking too happy to have something to kill and I was wondering if he’d gone back on his idea to hang this shit up.

I matched his energy and turned to Poke. “Oh, we finna torture this bitch. Y’all got his address?”

Poke nodded and tossed two wallets toward me. I caught them and flipped both open. “Yeah, his people stay off Oliver.”

“Not a nigga from English Ave moving like this.”

I shook my head looking at both their addresses. Too many niggas over there that worked the blocks who’d be ashamed for him to be claiming them.

“Damn, they normally don’t move sloppy like this. Bet they wouldn’t put this nigga on.”

Trav was taking their measure and he saw what I did: they weren’t pros and probably hadn’t done any street shit. It was something wild that they’d fallen into this life. But any sympathy I would’ve had ended when they aimed at Porsha.

The passenger, a brown-skinned kid who looked like he’d given up spoke up again. “Y’all can do whatever you want to us—”

I rubbed my hands together as I nodded my head.

“Cool. We’ll send her a body part every day.

A pinkie. A toenail. One little mole or birthmark that you’ve had since you were a kid that she’ll be able to recognize.

Since there ain’t a woman dumb enough to let you claim her, we gone have to make the one that birthed you suffer.

Maybe send her your throat as a souvenir, since she should’ve swallowed your ass instead of birthing you and raising you to be an abject failure. ”

Porsha giggled from behind me and I was ready to get outta here and get her looked over.

“Not my mama, dog!”

The driver stood up and I sat his ass back down with a punch. He hit the concrete hard as fuck.

Poke pulled a burner and passed it to me, and I aimed it at the driver. “Fuck you and your mama. Be glad I don’t send some young niggas over there to light her shit up and let the chips fall where they may. Cause you ain’t give a damn about me and mine when you were shooting at my shit.”

The passenger started crying and I wasn’t moved. “City, I’m sorry—”

“Fuck your sorry! Your sorry ain’t gone make my girl unstressed because she was in a shootout.

Your sorry ain’t gone undo whatever mental anguish my fucking seed might be feeling because they mama was wound up.

Although quiet as kept she had a good ass time.

Shawty a rider and proved that shit today.

She just shouldn’t have had to. See my job as her man is to make sure that she’s prepared for situations like that but that she never has to experience them.

And you got me looking like I can’t protect what’s mine.

So I’m about to have a little fun and you’re going to hell missing pieces.

Seems like the best way to salvage this fucked up day. ”

Poke was laughing as I pulled a knife out of my back pocket. I turned to Porsha with a grimace.

“I hope you not tired yet, Pretty, I’m gonna be a minute.”