Page 8 of Terrez and Shalene
It probably wasn’t the best decision on my part, but I put his ass on the block and watched as that hunger turned into hustle. I told him to stay in school and go off to college with the money he was making, but he wasn’t trying to hear the shit. When me and Little’s operation fell through, he told he’d be moving weight for another cat he trusted. I kept in touch with him often, just because I didn’t trust anybody. From the way it sounded, he was eating, but not like he was when he was under me and Little.After Kassir passed down the traps to me, the first thing I did was bring D-Man in to work for me. This lil nigga was like my brother. Just like Little.
“Aight. No funny shit you noticed?” I questioned as I scratched at my beard.
“Not that I can recall. You gon’ tell me what’s goin’ on or just keep questioning me?”
D-Man sat in the chair across the table from me and waited patiently for me to speak. For the past few days, I’d been randomly popping up at different spots just to make sure I wouldn’t get caught lacking. The shit going on with the spot on Roosevelt had me on high alert and everyone was a fuckin’ suspect.
“Some shit goin’ down on Roosevelt and I’m not sure who’s behind it.”
“Some shit like what? I haven’t talked to anyone over there since Little took over. I be wanting to slide, since Little still the big homie. The only reason I chill is because I don’t wanna cross no lines,” he admitted.
“Nah you good. The last thing I’m gon’ do is throw you in the middle of whatever the fuck goin’ on. You ain’t been over there all this time and if you start goin’ back out of the blue, niggas gon’ switch up the routine or try to come for you and I don’t have time for that shit. Stay out of it but keep your ears open. Any nigga around this bitch even breathe too hard let me know.”
“I got you, big bruh. I don’t let shit slide on any other day anyway. You let a nigga slide, they start to ice skate and I ain’t the one.”
“True shit. I’m gon’ get up outta here. Shit looks smooth so I’m gon’ dip.”
“Aight. I’m about to finish goin’ over the count then I’m right behind you,” he said as he picked up a stack of money.
“Be safe out here, lil nigga. From the cradle to casket.”
“From the cradle to the casket, my boy.”
When I got to my truck, I looked at my phone and saw a message from Shalene’s fine ass. She thought I was being rude by not asking her for her name, but I already knew it. I’d gotten her name the morning after seeing her. Since I’d been living in that building, I made it a mission to know about everybody who lived there. I didn’t need anything extensive, but a name and general background information was a must. The only reason I didn’t share that with Shalene was because I didn’t want to scare her off. If I told her I’d gotten her information from an inside source, she’d flip the fuck out.
DP was good no matter what, but I’d never put them in a situation that was preventable. However, I wasn’t about to lie to Shalene. Her fine ass was one of the prettiest women I’d seen in a long time. She was on the thicker side, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Her hair was hanging curly and free around her oval shaped face. Her dark brown eyes held nothing but sadness behind them. I peeped her and the girl she was with as soon as they entered the bar. My plan was to leave her alone and let her enjoy her night out, but I couldn’t help myself. Something about her wouldn’t let me leave her alone.
When Shalene revealed that she was newly divorced, it felt like a punch to the gut. She was clearly still grieving what she had with her ex, and I didn’t like that shit. I understood it, but I didn’t like it. Pursuing something with her was a risk. With her situation being fresh, her and dude could always rekindle. Them having a baby together only made that more likely. Her having a child didn’t bother me at all. I wasn’t one of those men who looked at a woman like damaged goods if she had a child or two. With that being said, I had a limit of two kids, and that was only because I had no kids of my own.
Shalene:Hey, I made it in the house. This is Shalene by the way.
Me:I know who this is. It’s nice to see you can follow directions. Have a goodnight but call me when you wake up.
I threw my phone in the cup holder after sending my last text. If I was being real, I was expecting Shalene not to hit me up like I asked. I just knew she was going to play hard to get, but I was happy she proved me wrong. Even if she did play hard to get, I wouldn’t blame her. She’d already told me how low she felt about having a failed marriage, so I knew her heart was under lock and key. I wasn’t sure what the hell I was thinking, but I wanted to show her that she was safe with me. I was a busy man with grown man shit to deal with, so there was no way I’d pursue her just to play her.
When I finally pulled off from the spot, I drove in the direction of the diner. I was meeting up with Little to see if there was an update on the shit going on with the trap on Roosevelt. Since my shit seemed to be under control, I’d be taking my ass in the house when I left the diner. Early nights for me were far and few between. Catching up on some well needed sleep sounded like heaven right now. Hopefully this meetup didn’t take long.
“What’s good, bruh?” Little greeted as I slid in the booth across from him.
“Not shit for real. Ain’t shit goin’ on in the streets tonight on my end. This the first time in a minute that I’m not in the field.”
“You the boss, my nigga. That’s how that shit should be. You paid your dues to get where you are.”
“No doubt. I tell myself that all the time, but I can’t sit back and not do shit. I like keeping myself productive. On top of that, I don’t want niggas gettin’ comfortable with me not being present and what I build starts crumbling. Had you not caught that case, being down with DP wouldn’t have even crossed my mind,” I admitted.
“Real shit. Everything was different when it was just us. But I won’t lie, being with DP brought us a team we didn’t know weneeded. I’m not saying we can count on every nigga on the team, but it’s niggas who got our backs if some shit go down. When it was just us, we ain’t have that. I ran into them niggas Kassir and Suleem earlier. I was thinkin’ about tellin’ them what was goin’ on, but them niggas occupied with their own shit right now.”
Suleem was the other founder of DP. He was more on the quiet and observant side, but he was a real ass nigga. Although he and Kassir ran DP, I was closer to Kassir for obvious reasons. Suleem had no doubts or questions when Kassir informed him I was getting initiated into the gang. It was also Suleem’s connect who got me the information I needed on the people who lived in the building.
“That’s true. I’m grateful we get to be a part of a brotherhood, but you know how I am.”
“I know. You don’t trust a soul.”
“A lesson life taught me. I ain’t just wake up with this mindset one day.”
Before Little had a chance to respond, the waitress was approaching the table with a notepad in hand.
“Can I get you fellas anything to drink?”
