Page 9 of Cannon
“Nah, I ain’t mad at it. You’ve always had to prove yourself more. But we really some kin?” he asked.
Choke was a King. He was the son of Nigel King, brother of Silas King. Silas and Nigel had beef for years and went their separate ways. Right before Silas King died, he tied up some loose strings and killed his brother on some jealousy shit.
Nigel’s family was making headway in property development but Silas’s ego couldn’t take that so he murked his own brother. Before Choke could kill him in revenge, the nigga went missing. Later on we found out that he was dead.
I had beef with Silas too. It was his fault I went to prison. It was his fault that my real father, my birth father was dead.
I didn’t know that shit until about a year ago when my birth mother, Tessa King, wrote me a fuckin’ letter, explaining everything to me. I threw that shit in the trash after reading it once. Fuck her. Fuck all those Kings.
All these years, I never knew who my real parents were. I was told it was a closed adoption and that my birth parents wanted nothing to do with me.
So fuck it. I ain’t want shit to do with them either. I never went searching for them. Never cared to find out who they were. Besides, the Prices were so good to me initially.
Choke and I ran the streets together. His father Nigel and a nigga named Smoke used to do business together. That’s how we met.
Shortly after my adoptive father died, I started working the corners for Smoke. Eventually, I climbed up the ranks. I was doing damn good for myself until I got popped. But whatever, it’s water under the bridge now.
“Nigga, we are not related. You’re a King. I am not. Tessa’s maiden name is Johnson. So technically I would be one of those muhfuckas.”
“I know. I’m fuckin’ with you. Reese told me that King and Riot reached out to you. You gon’ work with them?”
“I don’t trust them.”
“Me neither. Nothing good can come from Silas, especially not his sons,” Choke responded as he continued to roll the weed.
“So you gettin’ back in the game?” he asked.
“I’m done with all of that. I got something else I’m workin’ on. I’m gonna need your help but I gotta handle some shit first.”
“Aight, bet. Whenever. Smoke gon’ want you back though. He lost several of his lieutenants recently and all he got left is his sons Nero and Larry. And you know those niggas are fuckups.”
“I don’t care. I’m done with that shit. I just spent five years locked away. I already know the feds gon’ be watching me like ahawk. I was about to get out of the game before I was arrested anyway. I ain’t movin’ backwards. I gave Smoke damn near fifteen years of my life, not including the five that I was in prison for.”
“Well, when you ready to do some business, hit me,” he said as he lit up a joint then passed to me. He lit one for himself too. As soon as I took a puff, in walked Gage’s Leave-It-To-Beaver ass.
“Excuse me,” Gage announced. He had a throaty Kermit the Frog voice. What the hell did Reese see in this nigga? On one hand I liked that he was a straight-laced dude but on the other, he couldn’t protect her if shit went down.
“The fuck you want, Gage?” I asked as I took a strong pull of the blunt.
“Please don’t smoke marijuana in my house. The boys are…”
“They are sleep and I’m not in the house,” I responded as I blew a thick puff of smoke his way.
His light skin began to burn red as he looked around for Reese. She was nowhere to be found. Did this nigga think he was gon’ tell on me like Reese was my mama?
“I’m asking you kindly to respect my house. It’s bad enough we have your felonious self staying in our home. And you bring your gangster friend here…”
Choke cracked up in laughter. “Dawg, I’m out and I can’t take this nigga’s voice. Is he serious?” Choke stood up and dapped me before ashing out his blunt and leaving.
“I’ll holla at you later,” I said as I defiantly continued to smoke. I was locked away for five years under other people’s rules. I was done with living like that.
“Gage… you wanna hit this? You seem stressed.”
“No, I don’t. Just put it out…”
“Look, you ain’t gotta worry about me staying here long. But you need to get the fuck out of my face before you blow my high…”
“Reese!” He interrupted. Quickly, Reese came running outside.
