"What are you mad for now Charmaine?" I asked knowing her ass had a laundry list of reasons why she currently has a stank ass attitude.
"Where you want me to start? First of all, you haven't been home all day. I call you just to see what was going on and then you bang on me. Then I call Kay to see if she can watch KJ so I can go to the party with you tomorrow and she talking bout she can't do it when her ass know she ain't going no damn where."
"Charmaine." I said with a clenched jaw. This chick stayed using foul language around my son. I hated when she did that shit. I put that on everything I love.
"Kwame, I know."
"So again I ask you why are you mad again? First off, you know when I leave the house I be busy and I can't always talk on the phone and when I linked up with my brother we be discussing business which makes me unavailable till we done. And as far as Kay not being able to watch Kwame maybe it's time for you to watch your own son instead of pawning him off on someone else for a change."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Char asked. I could tell she was starting to get even more pissed off. I knew I had struck a nerve attacking her mothering skills.
"Exactly what I said Char. It ain't gon kill you to be in the house one night and not turn up. You need to get your priorities straight."
"Huh, I'm not the only one who needs to get their priorities straight. You need to start acting like you have a damn family instead of parading around Youngstown like you single and shit."
"Hold up. I'm a great father to my son. You can't say anything about that. My son is my top priority and you? Well, your position can always change if you don't quit with all this bullshit." I warned her.
"Are you threatening me?" She asked as she walked up and got directly in my face.
"You can take it however you want to Char. I'm tired of going back and forth with you. I'm going to the bedroom and if you know what's good you will leave me alone." I said as I walked off down the hall secretly smiling because I was about to turn the fuck up come tomorrow and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.
The long rectangular table that sat in the conference room at the gym that my brothers and I owned had been filled to capacity. Besides my brothers and I Marquis Tariq and his brother Romell were also present. A meeting with Tariq and his brother were long overdue. When it came to the streets, my brothers and Marquis had shit on lock and I had called a meeting in order for it to stay that way.
"So I called this meeting so we could try and establish some type of understanding. Tariq we know you and your brother run a huge block on the edge of our territory that's solely ours. We propose that you grant us access to take it over. We'll still keep y'all on board but we would take it over and have you work for us." I didn't believe in bullshitting especially when it came to business. We weren't there to sit around the table and chop it up about sports or some shit like that so there wasn't any need for small talk. We were there to make moves. I watched as Tariq looked at me and then his brother.
"So that's what you called us over here for? So we can give up our block? Naw, we not doing that." Tariq answered. I don't know if it was his tone and how he answered me but I instantly got pissed off.
"I figured you would be reluctant to pick option number one so the next thing we propose is that you keep your block and you can also keep running it too."
"Exactly that's what I'm talking about."
"You can run your shit as long as you pay us tax to stay on your block."
"Wait a minute. So you tryin' to tell me that we have to pay money for a block we already own? You trippin' for real now. Absolutely not."
"So we're not about to play these fucking games with you. Option three involves us completely taking over your block and cutting you out entirely in the process. So the choice is yours, pick one." I replied and then watched as Romell pulled him to the side and started talking low. This had been my first time being around Tariq and his brother Romell, but it had been pretty evident there had been some major differences between them. I refrained from saying anything else while they deliberated. Romell whispered something is his ear and I could tell Tariq wasn't feeling it at all.
"Alright. We'll run our block and pay you tax," Tariq said even though I know that had been the last thing he wanted to say. The look he gave me said man fuck you we ain't paying you shit motherfucka but he definitely wasn't that stupid. He knew I'd light his ass up if he pulled some shit like that. He was treading on thin ice as it was already.
"So that settles it. You'll pay us tax to continue on your block and failure to do that will result in serious consequences."
"So that's a threat?" Tariq asked. You could tell his blood was boiling inside of him.
"It's a motherfucking promise. This meeting is officially over."
Tariq
Chapter 3
"Bro, you almost lost your head in there." My brother Romell said the minute we left the meeting with Kwame and his crew.
"Naw bruh, I was just standing my ground. Them niggas done lost they mind if they think they can just come along and take what is ours. I'm not gonna let that happen." I pulled my old school Caprice classic out the parking lot and into traffic.
"I understand, but you know the streets ain't like that bro. Niggas be on some monopoly type shit. If they want us to pay tax then we'll pay tax. I don't see what the big deal is." I paused our conversation just so that I could look over at my brother. I swear there were times that I couldn't tell who this nigga even was because of dumb ass statements like this.
"For a second, it sounded like you were working for them motherfuckas instead of with me."
"Naw bro you know that isn't true. It's me and you in this thing for life." Romell proclaimed but I still wasn't convinced. Thank God I was the one who ran our business otherwise we'd be up a creek without a fucking paddle. When it came to this street shit and making moves Romell didn't know shit about shit.
"Ok then you gotta trust me Romell. Shit, them niggas will try to take us for everything if we show them we are weak. We can't show any signs of weakness."
"I know Tariq but I just don't want no trouble with them. Kwame looked like he wanted to put a hot one in you."
"Man, fuck Kwame! I ain't scared of shit. And we not paying them jokers a damn dime either. I don't care what I said in that meeting. Kwame and them don't run shit this way."
I know what I had agreed to do but as far as I was concerned I wasn't planning on paying Kwame and his camp anything. We controlled our block. We worked our corner and business was currently booming. They didn't deserve a cut of that by any means. I didn't even care about facing any repercussions because Kwame and his brothers couldn't see me on my worst day. I hated them and my hatred for them stemmed from a place deep that didn't have anything to do with just controlling our block. I had tried to be cool with them for the sake of us having mutual friends and trying to be in business but I couldn't fake the funk for too long and before you know it I could care less about trying to conceal my true feelings.
"I get you bro. I just don't want any trouble. I trust you know what you're doing."
"Trust me Ro. I got everything under control."
Once I dropped my brother off at his spot, I received a text from ol' girl I met from around the way.
What you doing?
Thinking of you.
Awww seriously?
Of course. Since we met I can't seem to get you off my mind.
Me either. Wish I could see you.
I can definitely make that happen.
Not sure if I can get my best friend to watch my son.
Make it happen. I'll see you in an hour.
I replied and then placed my phone down on the coffee table that sat in the middle of my living room. From the moment I saw her I knew I would step to her. She possessed the key to setting my entire plan in motion and I had heard from a few other dudes that she could be difficult so I knew I had my work cut out for me. I also knew with her already having a nigga it would be slightly challenging to get her attention but I'd do whatever I had to do in order to bag her. Luckily after a few phone conversations and texting back and forth I finally had been able to figure out what she'd been missing in her life and the bottom line is home girl was just lonely and lacked attention and affection. So me being the fly nigga I am I set out to give her just that.
So I made sure I sent her the "good morning" and "thinking of you" texts and whenever she text me I made sure I responded right away and kept the convo going. My goal had been to really get in her head because if I could successfully do that then I'd be home free.