Page 2 of Terrez and Shalene
“I feel the same way. Trust me, we had words when it came to the living situation. The only reason I’m okay with it now is because I truly don’t wanna be in that house anymore. A space that once provided me peace now gives me nothing but bad memories. The energy in the house isn’t even the same,” I admitted.
“Did you tell him that you found a place already?”
“Nope. I just signed my lease last night. I didn’t wanna mention it just in case it fell through. I didn’t want him counting my days down, just to treat me even worse if things didn’t go as planned.”
“I get that. But I told you that you and Amayah can come stay with me. I have a guest room with your name on it whenever you need it. Hell, I’m cool with you anywhere but at that house. The way he talks to you is already foul, I would really hate to have put hands on him. When do you plan on leaving?”
“Next weekend.”
Pat rolled her eyes at my answer, but it was the best I could do for now.
“It’s only because I have to work all week. Since I’ve been back, they’ve been offering me overtime that I can’t really turn down right now. I just had to pay three thousand to move in andget the utilities turned on. I’m not hurting for money, but I no longer have a man paying my rent, so I’m working a lot.”
“Girl, you don’t have to burn yourself out. I know how much you make hourly, remember.” Pat laughed as she took a sip of her drink.
She was joking but it wasn’t a lie. Both Pat and I had gone the same route and became MRI technicians. We both knew we wanted to be in healthcare, but not as nurses. No disrespect to nurses because the world needed them, but that path wasn’t for me. Becoming an MRI tech was one of the best decisions I made. Although the environment could be high stress at times, my job wasn’t bad at all. The salary was nice and I actually liked my coworkers. When I talked to my manager about returning to work, she welcomed me back with open arms. Getting back to work felt good but also forced. Had I not been going through this divorce with Brevin, I didn’t know when I would’ve returned.
“It won’t be for long. I just need to get back in the groove and see what everything looks like financially. Brevin is gonna keep Amayah on his health insurance and pay for any childcare expenses, but it’s still a lot at once for me.”
“You’ll be good. I got you if you need anything. That asshole could’ve given you at least six months to get everything in order.”
“Oh, I knew that wasn’t happening. He’s dating some woman now and it’s been even more of a shit show.”
“Fuck him. Next weekend can’t come fast enough,” Pat said with an eyeroll. “But anyway, I didn’t force you out of the house to waste our time on him. Have you started shopping for furniture and stuff? Do you need help decorating?”
For the next hour, Pat and I went back and forth about décor for my new soon-to-be home. Since buying a home wouldn’t be on my radar for another year or so, I settled on a nice two-bedroom apartment on the south side of town. The place wasspacious as hell and all the appliances were brand new. The neighborhood was nice, and most importantly, it fit my budget. It wasn’t until I started talking about the apartment that I realized I had a lot to do this upcoming week. I wasn’t thrilled about working overtime, but the extra money would come in at the perfect time.
By the time Pat and I finished our meals, I had a nice buzz going. My mood was light and I felt like I was on the path to getting back to the old me. Once I got into my car, I hooked my phone up and let the music play. The closer I drove to my home, the more my good mood drifted. When I pulled into the driveway, I was no longer singing along to the music and my smile had faded completely. I hadn’t even made it inside yet and I felt like I was sinking back into that dark place.Maybe I’ll take Pat up on her offer to sleep in her guest room.
Chapter 2
Terrez Blakewood
“Little,you said these niggas was runnin’ shit smoothly. That phone call don’t sound like shit is smooth,” I stated before placing the blunt to my lips.
“Chaos is one of the best men on the team. He keep shit together and the counts are always on point. If he’s callin’, that means it’s some shit out of his control,” Little explained.
Little had been my homie since the sandbox days. With both of us coming up with similar lives, it took no time for us to create a bond. By the time the two of us were teenagers, we were running the block better than niggas twice our age. Our hunger only grew and so did our names in the streets. Everybody in Diamond Falls knew who Little and Terrez were and knew we weren’t to be fucked with. On multiple occasions, we had to prove that we could hold our own.
The night of my twenty-first birthday was a night I’d never forget. I was having a party at the strip club and the connect we were using called a last-minute meeting. Little volunteered to go and told me he’d call me if the meeting was important. Luckily, I didn’t need to be there, but it still turned out be a fucked-up night. While Little was en route back to the strip club, he got pulled over. We never rode around with shit on us, but theunregistered gun he had caused him to do three years in prison. I did everything I could to get my nigga out, going from lawyer to lawyer, but there was nothing I could do. I was so used to having Little as my right hand that I contemplated giving up all the street shit. He was the only person I trusted to have my back and vice versa.
About six months into his sentence, our connect stopped fucking with me. He thought since I no longer had a partner, product wouldn’t get pushed through at the rate it had been. Although his assumption wasn’t true and the money was still right, Enrique decided to cut ties with me. No connect meant I had no team. I watched an empire I helped build crumble before my eyes. Eventually, other hustlers from different gangs took over my territory and I couldn’t do shit about it. Coming from humble beginnings taught me to always have a stash for a rainy day. I’d blown a lot of money on bullshit over the years, but I also had a nice amount saved.
One day, I was at a diner thinking about my next move. I’d made my way to the top of the food chain and couldn’t see myself starting over as a block boy. There was another connect I knew about, but shit didn’t work like that. You couldn’t just walk up on people and start discussing that type of shit. Moving like that was a quick way to get you sent to glory. Getting a legit job crossed my mind but I didn’t want to do that shit either. I didn’t have a problem getting in the field and getting my hands dirty, but I couldn’t deal with another man telling me what to do. I knew how the world operated, but I didn’t see that for myself. Someone telling me what time to come in, go to lunch, and go home didn’t sound like a life I wanted to live.
I was down to my last ten thousand dollars and felt like my back was against the wall. I was about to say fuck it all until I was approached by one of the leaders of DP. Kassir was a street legend and had been running shit since I could remember. Thefew times we crossed paths, we acknowledged each other with a nod and kept it pushing. That fact alone was why I was surprised he’d approached me that day. When Kassir offered me a position on his team, I was hesitant. The thought of being surrounded by men I didn’t know was unsettling. On the other side of that coin, I knew it was an opportunity to get me back in the game as a boss.
Kassir informed me that he knew all about Little and me and he was impressed. He made me a deal I couldn’t refuse and the rest was history. Not only did he keep his word about my place in DP, but he kept shit real when he said Little had a place in the gang when he came home. By the time Little came home, the trap houses I was once overseeing belonged to me. Kassir let me have them. The only stipulation was I had to keep him as my plug. That was cool because that meant I would never have to deal with any issues between him and the connect.
That was ten years ago. I wouldn’t say things had been perfect because nothing ever was perfect when it came to the streets. But what I could say was that I was truly surrounded by real niggas and making more money than I ever thought. Including the houses I got from Kassir, I now had a total of five houses that I ran. Last year, Little came to me about letting him take over the house I had on Roosevelt. He wasn’t hurting for money, but he was trying to move up in the food chain. He was my brother and whatever I could help with I would. I trusted Little with my life, so trusting him with my money and product was light work.
So far shit had been cool. I didn’t care for the young nigga he had in charge, but that wasn’t my business. Little had been doing this shit just as long as I had. He knew what a snake looked like, so I wasn’t worried about ol’ boy pulling some shit. About ten minutes ago, Little got a call from Chaos, saying some product was missing from the last delivery. I was going to letLittle handle the situation the way he saw fit. I would only step in if I felt like these little niggas were playing in our faces. When we pulled up to the house, Little parked across the street and we finished the blunt before getting out the truck. Despite everyone in the house being part of DP, I made sure my heat was on my hip and easy to access. I didn’t care how long I’d been in these streets or how much respect I had, I’d never be a nigga who thought I was untouchable.
“What’s up? Why you lil niggas ain’t at y’all post?” Little asked as we approached.
“Chaos told us to come back to the house until you got here,” Simba answered.
“So ain’t nobody on the block?”
