Page 69 of A Kingpin's Weakness
I heard Rich say as he killed the rest of the bottle and fell into his chair, pulling on the rest of his blunt.
“Forget this,” I said as I empty the clip in Ronnie’s body.
The warehouse was silent now. Just smoke, blood, and ghosts.
Ronnie’s body was gone. Dissolved. Shot. Forgotten by the world, but never by me.
We sat there. Me, Rich, Southside. No one said shit for a long time. Just the faint crackle of the joint burning, the low hum of pain buzzing in my ears. The kind that don’t fade. The kind that lives with you.
I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, staring at the floor like I was looking through it. It was done. But nothing felt lighter. I ain’t expect peace. I knew better than that. What I expected was something. Closure, maybe. Justice all I felt was hollow.
“Shit don’t bring her back,” Rich mumbled, voice barely above a whisper.
He was staring at the same floor I was, tears sitting in his eyes but never falling. That man had lost his whole world the day Lia died. And I lost a piece of myself, too.
“She should still be here,” he said. “We both should’ve protected her better.”
I couldn’t even lie to him. “You right,” I said. “We failed her.”
Rich nodded, slow and broken, then leaned back in his seat, letting the smoke from his blunt fill the space between us. Southside hadn’t said a word since we dumped Ronnie’s body. Just stared. Like he was somewhere else.
I stood up and walked to the back of the warehouse. I needed air. The doors creaked open, and I stepped outside. Night had swallowed the city. The kind of night that felt heavy, like the sky was grieving with you.
I pulled out my phone, staring at the screen, then turned it off. I didn’t want no calls. No texts. No noise. My feet took me to the edge of the lot. Beyond it was nothing but shadows and silence. I looked up at the stars and wondered if my pops could see me now. Would he be proud? Or just disappointed I turned out just like him?
“I kept my word, Pop,” I said out loud. Voice cracked, but I didn’t care. “I sent your killer to you. Just like I said.”
But saying it didn’t bring no peace. Just more silence. I thought of my mom. All those nights she cried when she thought I was asleep. Her hands shaking when she held the Bible. Her voice raw from praying for a son she couldn’t save. And me I’d been at war with the world since I was fourteen. Now I was just tired.
I pulled out my chain my daddy’s dog tag. I gripped it tight until it bit into my skin. “I ain’t know if I became the man you wanted, or just another version of the one who broke you,” I whispered. The wind picked up, brushing against my skin like a cold hand. “You ever gonna forgive me?” I asked no one. Or maybe I asked God. Maybe I asked pops. I didn’t get an answer. Just a heartbeat. Mine. Loud. Unforgiving. Behind me, I heard footsteps.
“You good?” Southside asked.
I nodded, even though I wasn’t.
He didn’t press. He just stood there next to me. Quiet. Loyal. Same as always.
“Let’s get outta here,” I finally said.
As we walked away from the warehouse, I didn’t look back. I couldn’t. What was behind me was dead. What was ahead stillunknown. But tonight, I laid one ghost to rest. And maybe just maybe I’d find a way to start living again
CHAPTER 14
Dre
Seth walkedlike the world owed him something with his chin high, eyes hard, shoulders loose but heavy with menace. Swore he moved like he couldn’t be touched, and I was starting to believe it. Watching him from the back of the warehouse, tucked in the shadows where blood had dried hours ago, I kept every breath locked in my chest.
Mike was gone. Ronnie too. And not just gone… erased. Snatched from our world in ways that didn’t leave room for mourning, only rage. Ronnie screamed until the sound stopped meaning anything. I told him not to hit the plug first. I begged him to trust me. But he was hungry, reckless, and convinced that striking fast meant striking smart.
He was wrong. I watched him die knowing I was right. Seth stood over what was left of him like a god surveying fallen angels. That smirk curled at the edge of his mouth, and I felt something in me splinter. Not fear… something colder.
We couldn’t come at King like nobodies. That’s what Ronnie tried. That’s what got him laid out like a lesson. No. We take Seth out first. Put the hood in a drought so deep it hurts. That way,when we step to King, we don’t ask. We don’t plead. We force his hand. Turn desperation into power.
I closed my eyes and let the silence burn. Seth didn’t know it yet, but he was already living on borrowed time.
These niggas stayed loyal to Seth like he walked on water. Solid crew, I’ll give him that except for Ronnie. He ain’t even pick Ronnie, he just inherited him, like some leftover debt from Seth Sr. Only reason Ronnie’s here is ‘cause Seth thought he was loyal to the old man.
They sat there like nothing happened, passing blunts, talking slick, laughing low while my daddy’s body lay stiff and cold right in front of them. Blood still tacky on the floor. And they ain’t even blink. Didn’t pause, didn’t flinch. Just kept runnin’ they mouths like they ain’t just drop bodies like spare change in the last twenty-four hours.
