Page 5 of Kassir and Rebel (D-Ville Projects #2)

Kassir

Nothing gets past me in D-Ville. Nothing, not even the arrival of Rebel.

Apparently, she made it in the building around seven, and by nine, I had received two texts, one from Nard, a DP member who lives on the first floor and an angry one from Linnea.

One of her bird friends informed her. Although Rebel and I aren’t physically together, and haven’t been for a minute, she’s mine and everybody knows that shit.

That fact pisses Linnea off because it only solidifies the fact that the only thing between me and her is our son.

Linnea: So she’s back.

Me: Yes.

Linnea: Do I need to come get my son? I don’t want him messing shit up between you and her.

Me: Our son is fine. I’m bringing him home tomorrow at 8 like I always do.

My words shut her ass up and she doesn’t respond to my text.

I place my phone on my sectional and check on Kassan.

As usual, he’s knocked out on his bed, balled up in the top corner.

His TV is on but the volume’s low. He likes a little light when he sleeps.

After pulling his comforter over him, I walk out and close his door.

Leem is supposed to be stopping by when he leaves his body shop so we can chop it up about Mano.

When I step back in the living room, I hear my cell ringing. I rush over and see it’s Leem. “From the cradle to the casket,” I answer.

“Ay, I’m about to make a run,” he rushes out.

“The fuck you mean make a run? We got problems?” I ask. This nigga stays on go. Of the two of us, I’m the calmest, but if there’s a problem, I’ll be on whatever time is needed.

“Yahzi called,” he says and I stall out for a moment. Yahzi is his girl. Some shit went down and she left Diamond Falls. But no matter where she is, she is his. So, if she’s calling for him, I know he will stop everything for her.

“Then it’s not we got a problem; it’s you got a problem, fam,” I finally say.

“Here we fucking go,” he scoffs.

“I’m just saying; you been waiting on that call for three years.”

“I’ve been doing me. You act like I pressed pause on my life and shit.”

“I’m not gonna argue with you about some shit you refuse to acknowledge. I’m assuming you making a run means you’re about to bring yo’ girl home.”

“I’m about to pull up on her,” he admits and I laugh.

“Yeah, aight.”

I know this nigga better than anybody, which means I know if he’s pulling up on Yahzi, he’s bringing her ass back with him.

Changing the subject, he asks, “Lil man sleep?”

“Yeah. Knocked the fuck out. We stopped by the park to check on the team and they let him flex a little on the court. Kassan thought he was balling and shit.”

“You trying to say my lil G don’t have game?”

“Nah, he did his thing ’cause they were hyping him up. But I watched them run the court for a few.”

“How that go? We got a lot of money on them.”

“Between Riq and Kove, we gon’ take the championship for sure and make a grip. I’m not stressing ’bout that. I got another problem. I need to holla at you about Mano though.”

“That lil nigga hit me up about a key today,” he reveals.

“Yeah, after he tried me in front of Kassan. The nigga was waiting for me outside of Fadez and just walked up on me.”

“That’s a fucking violation.”

“Real shit. I’m cutting his disrespectful ass off too.”

“Say less. I wish you would have schooled me before I sold to him. That shit would have been a hard fucking no from me.”

“I got caught up with Kassan and forgot to hit you. That nigga got lucky with you but that was his last key. If these lil niggas can’t respect our rules, how the hell can I trust that he’ll handle business on the low. He’s a liability.”

“And we don’t do those.”

“Not at all,” I agree.

When it comes to pushing weight, the DP gang cops from me and Leem and us only. We have a direct connect to some pure shit straight out of the Dominican Republic. We’re not flooding the streets but we’re doing enough that we can all eat good and I can’t have anyone in the fam fucking shit up.

“So, you ain’t gon’ say shit about Rebel being home?” he asks. Since I’m on his ass about Yahzi, I guess he wants to get on me about my girl.

“Ain’t shit to say that you don’t already know. She’s home and I gotta get my girl back.”

“I’m on the same fucking time.”

“Handle yo’ business with Yahzi, bruh, and hit me when you get back.”

“Bet,” he says before ending the call.

Maybe the universe is giving us both a second chance to get this shit right with our girls. If it is, I’m damn sho’ gon’ take it.

After grabbing my charger, I lock up then grab a Gatorade out of the fridge.

Sleep is the last thing on my mind because Rebel is taking up all the space in it.

She’s back and I’m going to make sure she stays.

We gotta talk because I need to tell her the truth.

Too much time has passed between us and I need my girl back.

With my plan in motion, I down my Gatorade and try to watch TV but that shit doesn’t keep my attention. So I take my ass into my workout room and try to burn off some tension on my bench.

“Chill out, Linnea. I’m not ’bout to do this dumb shit with you,” I tell her as I walk toward her door to leave.

Kassan and I drove over to Crescent Falls earlier and spent the day at one of his favorite spots, Gravity Zone. I just brought him home and carried him to his bed. He dozed off on me on our way back to Diamond Falls.

“And I’m not about to play second string ’cause your lil bit?—”

“Ay,” I say, cutting her ass off before she disrespects Rebel.

“Oh, I forgot,” she scoffs. “I can’t call your precious Rebel out of her name. That’s exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Linnea, you don’t need to worry about shit when it comes to Rebel. Me and you ain’t shit but co-parents any damn way and Kassan is my number one priority. Always. No one coming in or out of my life is gonna change that.”

“We would have been together if it wasn’t for her,” she says, then rolls her eyes.

“Call that shit like it was—one late night and a broken condom. And where is this shit coming from anyway? It was never that with us. You and I are good like we are and you got a nigga anyway. Focus on him.”

“I don’t have the nigga I want,” she utters and I shake my head.

“That’s a you fucking problem and I can’t help you with that,” I tell her then change the subject. “Look, I gave Kassan some money for the beach thing. It’s in his wallet and I’ll check on him tomorrow.”

Before she can start back tripping, I open Linnea’s door and dip. Staying in here and arguing about shit that ain’t gon’ change is pointless. Besides, we have been making it work just fine with Kassan up until now.

We were never a couple. On some reckless bullshit and in a dumb attempt to make some shit happen, I grabbed the first chick who was in my face.

It happened to be Linnea. I had seen her on the block, but other than that, I didn’t even know her name at the time.

That night, she was there and available.

We fucked, the damn condom broke, and about two months later, she told me she was having my baby.

The deed had been done and the mistake had been made.

She was having my child and I naturally stepped the fuck up.

We are Kassan’s parents, that’s it, that’s all.

When I leave her spot, I decide to hit a few blocks before taking it back to the crib. Driving always clears my mind, so I ride through my city.

DP controls the entire south side of Diamond Falls.

Our reach even extends beyond Diamond Estates and Brunswick Meadows, where my moms lives now.

I roll past her neighborhood but don’t stop.

It’s almost nine and too late. I turn off Barlow and ride back toward 8 th Street.

This area is neutral territory, so DP and our bitch ass rivals, the Bedford Boys, stake no claim over it.

Anytime niggas start to come up, there’s always a crab wanting to take you down.

For me and Leem, when we started DP, that was Ralph P.

aka Riz. We had D-Ville on lock and he was running Bedford Homes.

Just like us, he was trying to make a name on the streets.

We were slanging and banging but he was on some other shit.

Word then was he and his crew were fucking with some foul shit, snatching up girls and trafficking.

A clear line was drawn between us, and DP and the Bedford Boys became rivals.

After years of too many bodies, we came to an understanding.

We don’t fuck with them and they don’t fuck with us.

Before pulling back up to the crib, I grab a fifteen-piece wing combo from Wings & Things.

When I start to trek up the steps to enter the building, I stop dead in my tracks when I see her.

Dressed in red shorts and a tee, sprinting toward me, is the woman who owns my damn heart.

Rebel. She’s a little thicker in all the right places but she looks the same, beautiful.

Because she’s checking something on her watch, she doesn’t see me and almost runs right into my ass.

“Shit. My b—” she starts but stops when our eyes meet.

As if they have a mind of their own, my eyes take a long ass tour of her banging ass body, starting with her pretty face, smooth caramel skin, toned arms, flat stomach with her belly ring, thick thighs, toned legs, then back up to her face.

Damn, I missed her.

“You look good, bae,” I tell her.

“I’m not your bae anymore. Excuse me, I need to get inside,” she says dismissively, but I’m in no hurry for her to leave my space. It’s been too damn long since we’ve shared the same air and having her this close just feels right.

“Still running I see, but why this late?”

“The time doesn’t matter. This is my neighborhood. Besides, no one is going to mess with me because they know I’m?—”

“’Cause they know you’re mine,” I say, completing her sentence. Everyone in D-Ville knows Rebel belongs to me.

“Not anymore,” she sighs and my damn chest tightens.

“Rebel,” I say, then reach for her hand but she draws back.

“Let me go inside, please,” she pleads with her lips and eyes. Against everything in me, I fall the fuck back.

She adjusts her earbuds then sprints up the steps. I don’t follow right behind her. Instead, I wait until she’s completely inside the building and most likely in Miss Chandra’s crib before I head in.