Page 45 of Suleem and Yahzi
Yoel coolly brushed a hand over his head. “Shidddd, I thought you knew about that shit. Hell, we’ve all been waiting on you and Serious to handle that. When y’all cut him off, he tried to cop from some of Bedford’s people, but they would only let him get prepackaged with their tag on it. They wanted him pushing their shit in our area.”
Riz wasn’t stupid enough to send his people to our blocks but I assumed he thought it was safe to let Mano push their shit if he was bold enough to try.
“He do the deal?”
Yahzi being home meant I wasn’t checking in as much as normal. Most of DP had some fucking sense so it wasn’t necessary.
“Nah, Mano don’t have no heart. That muthafucker’s weak. I don’t even know how he made the cut.”
“A favor that should have never happened.”
He nodded and left it there. Yoel would never question our leadership. I fucking hated that the decision was made to let Mano get inked. At eighteen he was a dumb ass kid trying to follow in his brother’s footsteps.
When Roman took two to the chest at a party, he asked me for two things before he left this earth. Make sure his son didn’tgo without and look out for his brother. Roman was a solid ass nigga, so his request was honored. We made sure his son, who was an infant at the time, had everything he needed up until his girl married a square ass muthafucker who stepped up.
They moved out of state a few years ago and they were straight. I still checked in to make sure RJ was cool and he was. Ol’ boy wasn’t gang but he was solid and took care of them. That only left Mano under our care and that was the worst fucking mistake we ever made.
The only way to truly ensure he wasn’t touched was to let him get inked with DP. Mano wasn’t gang. He was a little boy pretending to be a man. That was ten years ago and not much had changed. We had too many issues already. I wasn’t adding the complication of someone from DP having to step up to save his ass behind some shit that could have been avoided.
Mano felt untouchable so he was always running his mouth. In a sense he was, because of the ink he was granted. No one who valued their lives would step to him but that would be ending soon. Kassir and I were going to have to handle that muthafucker sooner rather than later.
If he couldn’t get his shit together, he was on his own. The loyalty only extended so far, and if it wasn’t returned, that shit was nonnegotiable. He could sell whatever the fuck he wanted with Riz’s brand on it, he would just have to do so on their blocks and without our ink or protection.
“That’s Roman’s little brother, right?”
“Yeah but blood don’t guarantee shit. We made Ro a promise and honored it. This nigga just don’t understand the grace and privilege he was given. My conscience is clean.”
“Nah, he don’t get that. On gang, Mano is bitch made. Ro would have cut that nigga out a long time ago.” Yoel massaged his chin and smiled smugly. “My conscience is clean but myhands damn sure ain’t. If you need me to handle your light weight, just say the word and it’s done.”
I chuckled. Yoel was a shooter. Kove would ride if needed and had put in work with his hands checking a few chins. Kove fucked with DP heavy but Yoel wasn’t just riding, he was driving the muthafuckin’ car. He was gutter with no plans of changing anytime soon.
“Nah, we’re cool. He might get stripped of his brand, but unless he pushes too hard, we’re gonna let that nigga live to see another day.”
Yoel tossed his chin. “Offer still stands. I appreciate how you and Serious stepped up for Kove. Ballin' keeps his head straight. I want him to get the fuck up out of here.”
“We didn’t give him shit. He earned it but I feel you though. Cradle to the casket.”
“Cradle to the casket,” Yoel returned, then lifted from the chair he occupied while I finished the installation of the LED lights under the dash, under the seats, and along the door panels of his Charger.
“Come see if this works for you.”
I rounded his car and opened the passenger door while Yoel found his way to the driver’s side. With the doors wide open, we both sat down and I moved through the controls on his system which changed the colors, brightness, and pulse of the LED.
“This shit is on point, Bank.”
“I know what the fuck I’m doing.”
He massaged his chin and nodded. “Yeah, you be on it. Just don’t hook this up for nobody else.”
“If they’re paying, I’mma run that.”
“You ain’t shit.” He smirked.
“With a lot of things, nah, I’m not. But when it comes to my business, I’m the gotdamn truth. Now, you paying or am I stripping this shit out of here?”
“Yeah, you got that.”
He dug into his pocket and removed cash and I shook my head. “Nah, go see Jordie. She’ll close you out in the system and go over your warranties and shit.”
