Page 5

“How the fuck did this happen?” I paced back and forth in front of the bar of my night club Elevate.

Elevate was the first thing I ever owned. It was where I invested all the money I’d saved while I was away fighting for my country. It was my home before I became a Steel God and Gods’ House became my sanctuary. Now, it had not only been vandalized but robbed too.

“I don’t know, man. I heard it was the Southside Burners.”

I already knew who it was, which was why I asked how it happened instead of who done it.

“That’s not what I asked. I said how the fuck did it happen. It’s fifty of you niggas in here at any minute of the day. How the fuck is it possible for somebody to run up in here and not only rob us but fuck up my whole club? This is thousands of dollars worth of damage. You got the bread to fix it?”

“They came before the club opened, Solo. Me and Kayce was the only two here.”

Jalen and Kayce were the brothers that ran Elevate in my absence. Sometimes it would be months before I got around to checking on the place, and I never had to worry about the money coming up short or the police having to run up in here—until today.

“Y’all must be off y’all game if I got to worry about niggas taking my money out of your hands like some little ass kids.”

“We were going over the books when they came in, Solo. They caught us off guard. When I did get the upper hand, one of them had a gun to Jalen’s head. You know I couldn’t let him shoot my little brother. That’s my fault.”

I didn’t expect Kayce to sacrifice his brother for some money, and I wouldn’t ask him to.

“Don’t trip. I can always make more money.”

“I promise, Solo, we will do whatever it takes to get this place back up and running. Me and Kayce gon’ ride on them niggas to get your money back too.” Jalen’s young ass chimed in like he was really ready to lay something down.

I couldn’t even respond to him before a call came through on my phone.

“Retta was arrested today. They caught her with some blank birth certificates. I’m on my way to the precinct to get her out now,” Tone spoke.

“Fuck!” I yelled.

Retta was one of the only girls I had who was completely legit. I had her working down at city hall stealing blank birth certificates. They came in handy whenever someone needed a new identity and a fresh start.

“Just go get her. She knows to keep her mouth shut until you get there.”

I hung up the phone with Tone and turned my attention back to Kayce. I was holding him solely responsible for getting my money back and burying whoever thought it was a good idea to run in my club.

“Kayce, put together a crew, and go get my money back. Lay down anybody in your path. They did me a favor when they left you and Jalen alive. Go show them why that was a mistake.”

“No doubt. I will handle this shit for you.”

Kayce was a dog when I let him off the leash, but that wasn’t the life I wanted for him. He was the first kid I ever decided to mentor, and I wanted to keep his head in the business instead of on the streets. He was the only person Jalen had looking out for him, and I never wanted to be the reason his brother was out here alone.

“Me too, Solo. I got your back too.”

“I know, Jalen, but I need you here. I don’t trust nobody outside of you and Kayce to look after my club. Your job is to start cleaning this shit up. I’m going to send some people over here to help you. I want business to resume as soon as possible. Understand me?”

“I understand, but I got to watch my brother’s back. Who’s going to go with Kayce?”

“Don’t worry about me, lil nigga. Nothing would ever stop me from coming back to you.”

I watched Kayce touch heads with his little brother before leaving. I could see how worried Jalen was, but I wasn’t. Kayce was ruthless, and like he said, nothing would stop him from coming back to his brother.

This shit with the Burners was getting out of hand, and it had just started. I couldn’t deal with them getting my people arrested and trying to blow up my spots. I’d just beat one murder case and was already about to be facing more. A war was the last thing I wanted, which was why I couldn’t figure out why I had stepped in whatever mess Rebel and his sister had going on with Tyson.

Maybe it was the fact that I never liked him. Burner was a solid dude. I respected him, which was more than I could say for the man Tash decided to marry. Tyson was a slimy ass nigga who wanted to be more important than he was. I was sure he would snake Burner when it best suited him, which was why I couldn’t understand why he was going to war for him.

The reasons either of us decided on war were no longer relevant because we were in the middle of it. He’d robbed me and gotten one of my best girls arrested. Somebody had to answer for the shit they’d done to hurt my business today. All I could do next was set up a meeting with Burner to see if we could come to some kind of agreement before shit turned from bad to worse.

I hated the Southside. It was filled with condemned apartment buildings and houses that looked like they should have been condemned too. The streets were littered with trash, and bums held up every corner. The air smelled like piss and weed, and nobody seemed to mind.

It was more than the ghetto. I was born and raised in the hood, and that was nothing compared to the Southside. The Southside was infested with people who didn’t give a damn about nothing or nobody, and the Burners clubhouse was smack dab in the middle of it. It was the only building that looked livable, so I guess they had that going for them.

We hopped out as soon as Tone parked the car. When Burner agreed on the meeting, he made it mandatory that we do it at his clubhouse and only bring our second. I was bringing Tone no matter what, so it wasn’t nothing to agree to his terms.

“I’ll take that.” The guard standing at the door pointed to the gun on Tone’s hip, and Tone looked at me. I nodded to let him know it was cool. I wasn’t scared of a soul walking this Earth, especially not one who was dumb enough to still be living on the Southside. Me and Tone both handed in our weapons and walked inside.

“Solo the god.”

Burner stood from his seat at the head of the table that was in the middle of their clubhouse. He stretched his arms out to his sides to welcome us in. Their den was set up like a throne room you would see in one of those movies from the medieval times. There was a long table that stretched from one end to the other with chairs on both sides. At the head of the table was a throne.

“Burner.” I nodded.

“Take a seat anywhere you like.”

Tyson sat to the left of him so naturally Tone and I went to the right. Like I said, Tyson was a slimy ass dude, so I wanted my eyes on him at all times.

“We need to come to some kind of agreement.” I didn’t want to be on this side of town any longer than I had to so I got straight down to business. “I can’t have you getting my people arrested and robbing my clubs.”

“You started this, remember, Solo? For over ten years, we enjoyed peace. I embraced you like my own little brother, but I think over that time, you have got things misconstrued. The Southside Burners will not be disrespected in the streets. I will never let motherfuckers think they can take shit from us and get away with it.”

“It wasn’t my intention to disrespect you, and I wasn’t trying to take shit from you. One of my prospects came to me asking for help. It’s my duty to be there for my people. You would have done the same.”

“But I wouldn’t have taken another man’s wife to do that, Solo. Taking Natasha was how you started this war.”

“And I’m here to finish it. We both got too much heat on us right now to fight a war in the streets. What do you want?”

“I want my fucking wife back.”

Instead of acknowledging Tyson, I kept my eyes on Burner. Tyson was a nobody, and I only wanted to speak to the man in charge.

“Shut your bitch ass up, nigga,” Tone answered him for me, and Tyson jumped up from his seat with a gun pointed at Tone’s head.

Tone and I stood at the same time because if he was going to shoot us we would at least be standing when he did.

“Let me end this right now, Burner.” His bitch ass was begging another man’s permission to do something he wanted to.

“Do it then, nigga. What you asking permission for?” Tone encouraged him, but I didn’t say a word.

Tyson was all bark and no bite. Even if Burner gave him permission, he wouldn’t pull the trigger.

“Put the gun away, Tyson. You don’t pull a gun on an unarmed man.” Burner schooled him, but that was just the type of man he was—scary and slimy.

“What do you want?” I asked Burner again without ever saying a word to Tyson. He didn’t even deserve my attention let alone my words.

“Return the girl in forty-eight hours, or we will continue this war until only one of us is standing.”