Page 64 of Rah

“Exactly, so you don’t know him like I did.” Fabe was stuck. He didn’t know what to believe, so I continued to beg. “Bro, please? I need you to find Aaliyah and my money.”

“If you killed him to keep him off of Moses, why take the money?”

“Because it was there. The police would have just taken it. Ican use it to take care of my family. Solae and the kids need that. Aaliyah and Junior too.”

I had him. Finally, his eyes were done judging me. He was looking at me like I was his big brother.

He sighed and gave in. “Alright, man. I’ll call her. I got you.”

PRIEST

The garage door rattled shut behind us, leaving just me, Blu, and the two young niggas leaning cockily against the wall. Ant and Quan kept bouncing on their heels, grinning like this was funny.

I folded my arms while eyeing them both. “Y’all got the block hotter than hell. Cops are crawling everywhere ‘cause of the dumb shit y’all pulled.”

Ant sucked his teeth, but his smirk never left. “Man, that ain’t on us. That’s just the game.”

Blu’s eyes narrowed. “Nah, lil’ nigga. The game is knowing how to move so you don’t bring heat to the hood. Killing an elderly couple while trying to rob them ain’t the game; it’s ignorance.”

Quan shrugged, snickering. “We gettin’ money, though.”

I stepped forward slowly. “But you’re making me lose money. My corner boys can’t even make a hand-to-hand without a badge watching. Y’allfuckin’ up the flow.”

Ant puffed his chest out. “We don’t answer to you. We ain’t on your payroll. What we eat don’t take from your plate.”

Blu cut his eyes at him. “When your reckless shit draws the police to the same blocks my product moves on, itdoestake from his plate. You don’t even see how small you thinking.”

Quan laughed. “Man, y’all acting like our daddies, trying to check us. We ain’t scared of y’all.”

I tilted my head, staring at him long enough to wipe that grin off his face. “Nah, I don’t want you to be scared. What I want you to be is smart. But smart don’t live here, huh?”

Ant nudged Quan like it was a joke. Both of them snickered under their breath as if nothing I’d said meant anything to them. They weren’t listening or taking this serious, and that smirk on Ant’s face told me he thought he was untouchable.

Blu and I had the two little niggas boxed in the garage of an abandoned house, and they still had the nerve to be cocky. That’s how goofy they were; they didn’t even realize when their lives were in danger. They were two knuckled-headed young thugs who thought running around robbing and killing innocent people made them gangstas. They weren’t a part of my crew; they were just wild kids bringing heat to the block.

“Bro, we outta here,” Ant told Quan, still smirking. “We don’t answer to these niggas.”

I stepped closer, letting him see the seriousness in my eyes. “You right; you don’t answer to me. But when your dumb shit fucks with my money, you gon’ answer for that.”

Quan chuckled. “Man, you ain’t gon’ do shit.”

Blu looked at me.

I looked at him.

Before they knew it, I pulled my strap and fired two shots. Ant dropped like a sack of bricks. Quan grabbed at his chest, eyes wide, before he hit the floor besidehim.

I tucked the gun back, stepping over their bodies. “Fuck, man, I hated to have to do that,” I admitted through a tight jaw. “They were young. They still had time to figure life out. But they were causing too much death and havoc. I can’t let chaos eat up the neighborhood. My job ain’t just to move weight; it’s to protect the money, the product, and the block. If I don’t check shit like this, it all crumbles.”

Blu nodded slowly. “You right. It’s ugly, but you’re right. They left you no choice. Being a boss don’t mean just stacking bread. Sometimes it means making the hard calls nobody else wanna make. That’s why you the one in charge. You protect what’s yours.”

I exhaled heavy, shoving my hands into my pockets as Blu and I walked down the alley. The bodies behind us were already forgotten.

“I’ve been finding out a lot about that nigga, Rah.” By the sound of disgust in Blu’s voice, I could tell what he found out wasn’t good. “He fronts like he’s a big-time hustler. But real niggas know the truth. He ain’t nothing but a thief. He got a bad rep amongst the gangstas for stuntin’. He has an ego he don’t even live up to. He’s all cap. He’s a liar, manipulator, and grimy as fuck. He’s always scheming and trying to finesse somebody out their pockets instead of grinding on his own. Nigga love to act like he a boss, but really he’s just a clown.”

I nodded once. I already had a feeling Rah was a goofy, but hearing it was confirmation. “I doubt Solae knows any of this. She don’t come off like the type to be with a man like that. Every time she used to talk about him, it was like Rah was her whole world.”

“So, what you gon’ do with this information?”