Page 48

Sincere

" T hose niggas killed my fucking sister! What I look like letting y'all team up with 'em."

Glaring at the niggas I've called my friends since the third grade except for Lynx, I tried making sense of what they wanted to do.

Having two men on the inside was overkill to me.

Honor wasn't letting niggas get down with his team off the strength of having a good heart.

I watched how he and his brothers got at Dre.

They killed on sight, knocking Dre's people off left and right.

Yeah, Honor and 'em caught a few casualties, but their loss wasn't shit compared to Dre's.

Honor, Crown, and Wolfe moved as a unit. They had a team, but they kept shit close to the vest. Too fucking close to the point, I didn't see how these niggas thought they had the capability to infiltrate their situation.

"They killed Alexis, almost two fucking years ago and we still haven't hit back. Emily is doing her thing, but this shit is dragging. Just hear me out 'fore you start knocking fucking ideas," King barked back.

My jaw flexed 'cause out the four of us King was always the first to pop shit but hesitant to pull the trigger. The love I had for his people is what kept his ass alive this long.

"Talk, my nigga," I scoffed.

"Ight, so look. Honor and 'em don't bring people on too often. The three of them run everything, but the team is divided under their leadership. Honor doesn't play too much in the field, but Wolfe and Crown do. I got a nigga who can put me on with Wolfe."

That shit elicited a long, drawn-out chuckle that went dry once King called himself mean-mugging a nigga.

"You don't find that shit funny?" I asked, squaring my shoulders.

"Nah, enlighten me." He grimaced sucking his teeth.

"Wolfe's not the nigga who's transporting drugs or doing cash pickups, my nigga. Those who work with him are the rowdy young niggas that are willing to put that work in. He's the executioner. Getting down with him means you gotta bust more than a grape in a fruit fight."

"Fuck you trying to say?" King stepped toward me like he wanted the beef we knew his ass couldn't swallow.

"Y'all gotta fuckin' chill," Lynx spoke up, stepping in between us. My nigga Rakim, moved in closer with his nine resting peacefully in his hand.

"Nah 'cause I'm on whatever King's on. That nigga wanna be on so fucking bad but never thinks shit through."

"This nigga always talking about thinking shit through like I'm not the one who got us put on with Chance," King boasted when that shit wasn't even a worthy stat.

"You didn't put us on. Your dick put us on and now that nigga is feeding you empty fucking promises."

"Iit's more than what yo' ass came up with."

"This whole fucking shit is me!" I gritted, side-stepping Lynx.

"Aye chill," he said.

"Stand down, Lynx, 'cause this don't have shit to do with you," Rakim said.

"I'm good, Lynx," King huffed.

Lynx shrugged and sat on the couch.

"We wouldn't have shit if it wasn't for me. I put you on nigga. You're an extension of my wins and my muthafuckin' losses. My fucking sister lost her life behind this shit and now you're telling me my plan needs tweaking?"

"We wouldn't be tweaking shit if you would've hit the fucking target. Crown should've been dead," Rakim said calmly, tossing in his two cents.

"Yeah, well, shit happens," I groused, eyeing him like the little nigga he is.

Rakim wasn't shit but Dre's younger brother who used to follow me around. Since Dre wouldn't put him on, he hung with King and me hustling our packs whenever we didn't want to hit the block. He was an ight nigga to have around, but he wasn't shit like his older brother.

"Right and what you think is going to happen when Crown finds out that the bitch he loves is playing him? Huh? Or do you not care 'cause you love River? Which is it my nigga because where I stand you’re going to fuck around and lose them both.."

Scratching along my jaw, I let what King said marinate.

The thought of losing both River and Emily fucked my head up and had my chest tightened like crazy.

Both women I loved for different reasons and in different ways.

Emily was willing and naive. I could bend her mental at my will and have her do whatever I asked.

River was my speed demon. She lacked street smarts but allowed me to teach her.

What she lacked, she made up for in book smarts.

She wasn't as naive as Emily and questioned everything, but with a little persistence, I had her bending at my will, too.

Both women held a special place in my heart.

Once I knocked off the brothers, I planned on introducing Emily and River because one woman wasn't enough.

I needed the best of both worlds... I deserved that shit.

And for me to make it happen, I needed both women alive.

"Ight, tell me the plan."

"I know a nigga who can put me on. It would be low level running a trap type shit, but it'll be my foot in the door.

Lynx got roots in Ember Hills and heard that Crown is supposed to be setting shit up out there.

Put a bug in Emily's ear for her to listen for anything about Crown doing business out there.

Once we get a date, we can draw up a play for Lynx to cross paths with Crown.

We can get these niggas without risking Emily's life. "

"Ight, King. I'ma let you run point on this shit. Don't fuck up. I love your moms like she's my own. Fuck this up and I'ma be the nigga wiping her tears at your funeral."