Fast Money and Cold Hearts Read online

  I struggled to sit back on my pillow as I took the oxygen feeder out of my nose, inhaled a deep breath and swallowed. My throat felt drier than a desert. I tried to clear it and smacked my lips. A sharp pain shot up through my shoulder. I wanted to scream like a bitch. “I appreciate you lil niggas, Mane. Real talk.” Swallowing slowly , Itried to gather myself.

  Smoke handed me the juice box off of the table, and held the straw to my lips. “Try some of dis shit right here Mane. Yo throat sound kinda raspy.”

  I took it out of his hand, and downed the juice. It felt cool going down my dry throat. I tried to clear it again with better success. Coughing, I set the juice box on the tray on the side of the bed. “He took my daughter lil homies. That nigga playin the game on a whole other level.” I winced in pain as I adjusted myself on the bed once again. “Y’all fuck wit me and on everythang I love, I’ll help all of us to become rich in less than a year. I got a plug out of his world, Mane. All that Rebirth flow is because of me. Now believe that shit, like a true story.”

  Smoke nodded. “Playboy that’s what we here for. Mafuckas already know where the grass is greener. I’m saying right now that me and my niggas are choosing you. Mikey done already chose his New York kinfolks anyway. So what’s the move? I say we bring that heat to that nigga tonight, or as soon as you can get up out of that bed. On some real shit, you ain’t even gotta be there. We’ll go sweat that nigga on our own just to let you know that we riding wit you. You got us eating. That nigga ain’t on shit. As long as he feeding them Brooklyn niggas he taking food out of our mouths. Our families starving and shit. If that pussy put a slug in his right hand man, he’ll do all types of worse shit to us, so fuck that.” He pulled his nose. “We’ll hit that nigga right now. Its yo call homie.”

  I shook my head. “He got my daughter man. Anything go wrong and he could put that steel to her. Nall, I gotta use my head. We gon fuck this nigga over, but we gotta do it at the right time. Let me sit down wit this fool first. Pick his brain, and find out what he on. As soon as I discover or detect any weakness, or where my daughter is, we striking. I wanna murder this bitch nigga in a sadistic fashion. I’m talking on some shit that’s gon turn the city upside down.”

  Smoke nodded. “Hell yeah. That’s what we talking about.” He looked back and shook his head at his crew then turned back to me. “Aiight Homie, gon do your thang. We’ll wait in the weeds. However, in the mean time we tryna get our scratch right. You da the plug that got the plug. So we tryna eat wit you. The Mound is jumping. We did that shit. That’s our homeland. We got them pigs Links and Jack on deck. Everythang is running smoothly. We wanna venture out a lil more. Sew the whole area up wit that Rebirth shit. All we need is for you to sign us up under you. We’ll kick the Duffle Bag shit off right now. Make me and the homies official.”

  I felt a sharp pain resonate in my thigh. It felt like I was being stabbed in the thigh with a steak knife over and over again. “Look fellas, why don’t y’all let me holler at the homie Smoke for a second so we can get some thangs understood.”

  Smoke nodded. “Yeah, say Mane, y’all step into the hallway real fast. Let me see what the big homie talking about.”

  His crew grumbled, and one by one came over and bumped fists with me before they stepped out of the room. They wished me get well soons, and all other kinds of good tidings. We waited until the door closed behind the last person before we resumed.

  “Phoenix, I already know after fuckin wit a nigga like Mikey that its gon be hard for you to trust anybody. I ain’t got no problem proving myself, and my loyalty to you. When its all said and done I just wanna feed my kids, man. I’m down to die for the nigga whose helping me to feed them. You already know how the game go. I heard that you was fuckin Alicia and all that. Even though it ain’t right, that shit ain’t nothing to hit a nigga up over. He was supposed to check his bitch, not his nigga. Bros before pussy holes, you feel me?”

  I didn’t know what to say behind that. I knew I was bogus. Real niggas didn’t behave in the fashion that I had. Mikey was supposed to be my dawg. Fuckin his wife was out of order, but I didn’t have no dick control, that’s just me being honest. “Enough about me and Mikey’s relationship. I’ll deal wit that shit later. I wanna holler at you when it comes to this Duffle Bag shit.” I fluffed my pillow and fixed it behind my back, then sat up as straight as I could. My lungs felt like I was inhaling ice for some reason. “I wanna fuck wit you lil homie. I wanna make you my right hand, and allow you to man yo lil niggas in the Mound, and outside ofthe bitch. I want us to get rich, while at the same time I work on getting my daughter back. What you thank about that?”

  “I’m wit it. Like I said before, shit already rolling in the projects. We got feens coming all the way from Black Haven to cop our Rebirth. Long as we keep a steady supply we should be rich in no time. But,what about Mikey? You already know he finna try break some shit up. That nigga got your daughter, Mane. Long as he got that kind of collateral he can do anything to the mob and ain’t nothin that we can do about it. That’s why we gotta nip that shit in the bud right away. At the same time we gotta drive on Dragon and his Black Haven crew. Them niggas touched a million plus when they hit Mikey the first time. They used that shit to cop them fully automatics from the Asians on the east side. Man they been spraying shit down every since. That fool Dragon is a problem. Right now its a struggle for the streets. We gotta make our foot prints known. This the wrong time to be beefing inside the clique.”

  “I agree lil homie. There are a lot of moves to be made, and its on me to lead us in the right direction. I’m finna turn up over my daughter nigga. Believe that shit. I got Mikey. But for now, I need y’all to fall back and let me twerk this connect. You about to see more money than you’ve ever seen. Trust me on this. Get yo niggas ready for that trigger shit too. Expected the unexpected. From this moment on its me and you nigga. I got this.” I held out my hand.

  He shook it. “I’ma be that nigga for you, Potna. Let’s get this money, and let’s shut this city down. Memphis belongs to us. We ready to move however you say, when you’re ready. Until then I got a half of brick of Rebirth left. That’s fifty gees in product. Me and my niggas gon rock that shit until its gone.”

  ***

  Fourteen hours later, after I came out of a deep sleep, I woke up to find Kamya standing on my right side. Her hand on my chest hand was resting on my chest and her eyes were red. “I thought he killed you Phoenix. I thought he took you away from me. If he had I don’t know what I would have done. I love you so much.” She leaned in and kissed my lips softly. Then with more force Sucking on the bottom one.

  Sabrina opened the door and came into the room just as Kamya was breaking our kiss. She stopped and placed her hand on her waist. “Ain’t this a bitch. I should of known that yo fast ass was gonna be sniffing around our cousin, Kamya. You try and do everythang that you see me do.” She snapped, walking closer to my bed side.

  Kamya waved her off. “Dis ain’t got nothin to do wit you Sabrina. Get over yourself. I been crushing on Phoenix since the beginning. Me seeing y’all fuck a few times only pushed me over the edge. But it ain’t about that right now. Its about him getting better, and me being by his side while he does.” She rubbed the side of my face.

  “Well all dats cool and what not, but I’m sorry cuz, you gotta to go before my supervisor call the police. She let you stay this long with out reporting it as a favor to me. She’s reached beyond the limitations of what she was supposed to allow. If they find out that we brought in a patient that was suffering from gun shot wounds, and we didn’t report it to the local authorities, both if us could lose our credentials, and catch a hefty fine. So you have until morning. You hear me?” She kissed my cheek.

  “That’s cool. I feel a lil better anyway. I knew I couldn’t stay here too long.”

  Sabrina rubbed my chest. “I’m sorry about Shanté. I hope she’s okay. I know for her and Toya to be missing the way that they are has to eventually take a toll o
n you.

  My daughter’s mother had been missing every since Dragon and his boys attempted to assassinate me a few months ago. I didn’t know if she was alive, or dead. While me and Toya weren’t in a relationship, I still cared about her because she was the mother of my daughter. My entire beef with Dragon came from the murder of his cousin Bryon after he put his hands on Toya. Every since then it had been nothin but war and chaos.

  “I appreciate that, but its all good. I’m figuring shit out. Far as Kamya goes.” I grabbed Kamya by the waist, and pulled her closer to me. Allowed my left hand to roam all over her thick ass cheeks. “This my lil baby right here. Shawty the only one that can keep me sane.”

  Kamya smiled, and laid her head on my chest. “I wish you didn’t have to go through this Phoenix. Its not fair. I wish I could do something to help you.” She hugged me tighter.

  Sabrina looked on jealously. “Get yourself together Phoenix. You gotta be fine by the morning.” She kissed my cheek, and left out of the room.

  As soon as she disappeared, Kamya wiped Sabrina’s kiss from my cheek. “I don’t like her kissing all on you and stuff. Dang. You need to tell her that that ain’t cool. I mean unless you want me too cause I ain’t got no problem wit it.”

  I laughed. “Calm yo lil jealous ass down. You looking too far into shit. Get yo lil ass up here and lay on me until I can figure out my next move.” I ordered.

  She smacked her lips, and straddled my waist, after kicking her shoes off. Her skirt rose on her hips. The scent of her perfume got stronger. She rested her face within the crux of my neck, kissed it, and sucked on the hot skin there. “Anyway you need me Phoenix I’ma hold you down. I don’t give a fuck about us being cousins. I’ma be yo gansta bitch from here on out because I’m crazy about you and I don’t want no bitch taking my place under no circumstances. Every real nigga need a ride a die bitch sitting to his right and that’s me. You need to teach me how to wet up some shit, and I’ll bust my gun for you on a regular basis. You got my word on that baby.” Her small hand caressed the side of my face. She pressed her lip to my cheek. Kamya had always been the real affectionate type. Even before I hit that pussy.

  Once again I took a hold of that fat ass by sliding her skirt upward. I cupped them cheeks. “Lil cuz I’m about to turn into a nigga that you don’t wanna see. This man that you see right now is about to cease to exist. I’m finna turn all the way up.”

  “And?” She kissed my lips. “Whatever you do, I’m finna do. I’m not leaving your side. If they kill you, they gon have to kill me. That’s just that.” She slid down in the bed and popped my dick out of my shorts, took a hold of it in her fist, and began to pump it, looking into my eyes with her light brown ones. “You think whatever you’re about to become is going to scare me? Phoenix, man, you got another thing coming. I’m bout all that lil daddy. Long as I’m yo ride a die bitch, I’m bout all that.” She sucked me into her hot mouth, and her head became a blur as it moved back and forth in my lap giving me immense pleasure.

  My eyes rolled into the back of my head. I tightened my fingers in her naturally curly hair. Laid back, and put my plan of action into motion inside of my mind. With my daughter’s life on the line there was no way that I could afford to lose.

  Chapter 3

  “Aiight nigga, when we go in front of this bitch you just act like everythang is normal. She about to cut us in on somethin that’s gon get us right. I don’t need you fuckin that up. You got me homeboy?” Mikey asked, stubbing his Newport out in the ashtray of the Waldorf Astoria hotel we were waiting inside of.

  I mugged him from where I sat on the couch across from him. I could still feel the pain from the bullets that he’d put inside if my body. I couldn’t wait to pay his bitch ass back. Even though he had the upper hand because he had my daughter somewhere hostage, that didn’t mean that I was going to allow him to treat me like a bitch. I had too much heart for that. “Say Potna, you can quit all that tough talk. You ain’t threatening shit over here nigga. I know how to handle this bitch. If its one thing I’m good at its finessing a ho.” I smiled at his weak ass, and grabbed the bottle of the champagne from the table that had been set out for us. “Besides, whatever we got going on ain’t got nothing to do wit shawty. That’s two separate thangs.” I popped two Percocets, and downed them with the champagne. My wounds were killing me. “How is my baby Mane? You taking good care of her?”

  Mikey crushed up his Percocets and made two thin lines on the table, then tooted one of them. He pulled on his nose, then pinched his nostrils together. “She good nigga. I ain’t looking to hurt that baby. She still my God daughter. Dis ain’t about me hurting her, unless I have too, its more about me hurting you. You been on some real fuck shit.”

  I clenched my jaw and mugged this nigga as he tooted another one of the lines, and tossed his head backward. I had a mind to pull out my Forty Five and pop him twice through the neck. I would knock big chunks out if his shit, leavehim bleeding, and stomp his face to death. I hated the sight of him. I imagined how he interacted with my daughter, and it made me sick to my stomach. I wondered who bathed her? If he fed her on time? I wondered about what he fed her? Was she eating? How did she sleeping? Did she cry all the time? How did he handle her when she did cry? There were so many questions going through my head that it was making me dizzy. Instead of saying another word to him I turned the bottle all the way up and waited to feel the Percocets kicking in. I needed the numb feeling. I was tired of the pain.

  Mikey picked his head up. “Another thang Phoenix. You gon start hitting my hand every week with no less than fifty gees nigga. I’m expecting to get paid from you every Friday come hell or high water. Nigga just to keep me from putting a bullet in yo head, that’s what it’s gon cost.” He laughed at that.

  I stood up and flipped the table. “Bitch ass nigga, what’s happening? I ain’t paying you shit. Fuck I look like?” I pulled the gun from under my shirt and cocked that bitch.

  He didn’t even look up at me. “Nigga sit yo punk ass down. The last thing I’m worried about is you pulling that trigger. You do that and the lil homies already got word to crush your daughter, after they make a woman out of her lil ass.” He looked up at me, and frowned.

  I aimed the gun at him. “Fuck you just say nigga?” I cocked the hammer, ready to splatter his tomato.

  He scoffed. “Nigga you heard what the fuck I said. You don’t put that gun down and yo shawty gone get it in the raw. I don’t give a fuck how old she is, this is war nigga. Now sit yo Bitch ass down, or pull the trigger fuck you waiting on?” He snapped, lowering his eyes.

  I swear to Jehovah man, it took everything in me to not blast this fuck nigga. Now he had all types of bogus images going through my mind. I began to worry about exactly what they were doing to my baby girl. I saw that I couldn’t really trust him to keep his filthy hands off of her, or his crew’s hands off of her. This bitch nigga was sicker than a person with pneumonia.

  The handle to the door shook. I took my seat on the couch. Then it beeped, and the next thing I knew Nastia was walking into the hotel room being escorted by two big, beefy security guards. “Boys. Boys. How have you been?” She asked, looking more tanned then usual. Her long, blond hair fell past her waist. She allowed for her leather Burberry jacket to be removed from her.

  Mikey stood up, and took her hands in his. “I can’t speak for nobody else, but I’m doing good as can be. Getting my money right just like I thought I would once I linked up wit you, Queen.” He kissed her on both cheeks.

  She smiled and looked over her shoulder at me. “And are you the only one that is happy to see me?”

  I frowned and looked away. I wasn’t in the mood to be polite. I was missing my daughter like crazy, and worrying about her safety and well being. Nastia in that moment didn’t mean shit to me. I didn’t care that she had all of the best dope in the city. I didn’t care that she was plugged in ways that most kingpins could only imagine. The fact that she had rolled real tough with my unc
le Taurus back in the day, and because of him, and the sharing of our bloodline, she’d become obsessed with me, meant nothing to me in that moment. All I could think about was Shanté. My baby girl.

  “Phoenix, did I do somethin wrong to you. Are you angry wit me?” She asked, releasing her hands from Mikey’s.

  “You ain’t did shit to me. I just got some thangs on my mind that’s all.” I said, picking a piece of lint off of my pants and flicking it onto the floor.

  “Aw Nastia, the homeboy just having a lil family problems. You know how it is.” Mikey offered. He looked nervous, and must’ve felt that I was going to mess things up. I was sure that he was accustomed to how bad my temper was. When I got into the kind of mood that I was in now I didn’t give a fuck about nothing. I wanted to murder his ass. In my mind’s eye, I could see him laying on the pavement twisted, with a puddle of blood under him.

  Nastia shot an angry glance to him. “I don’t need you to speak for him Mikey. Why don’t you have yourself another drink. Wipe some of that powder off of your nose.” She took out a handkerchief and tossed it to him.