He said, “Preciate everyone coming out to turn up with your boy on his born day.”

  Applause filled the room.

  “The watches were my way of thanking everyone who helped me make last year a major success. Last year, we made so much fucking money. And I appreciate y’all.”

  One of Micky’s strippers said, “Your brother is up there talking like what the fuck he is doing is legal.”

  Micky scowled. “Do you have a problem with it?”

  “No.”

  Stunna continued. “This year is going to be even better than last year. We are going to take over Atlanta. On the count of three, I want everyone to say, ‘Take over the A’.”

  The chant, “Take over the A”, filled the room. Stunna sat back at the table.

  Before they left, Stunna asked Micky to meet him in a private room away from everyone else.

  Micky hugged Stunna and said, “I love you, bruh.”

  Stunna kissed Micky’s forehead and said, “I love you too, but if you ever disrespect Starr again, I’ll slap the fuck out of you.. Don’t ever approach anybody I’m fuckin’with making threats. You ain’t my mama. I can take care of myself.”

  ***

  Starr was surprised that Fresh had stopped by her home. They weren’t besties. She invited him in and led him to the kitchen because T.J. was watching a cartoon, The Secret of Kells, on Netflix in the living room area.

  “Really nice place.”

  “I thought you had been here before?”

  “If I did, I don’t remember. But hey, I smoke. So I don’t remember shit that most people remember.”

  She laughed and said, “Well, I don’t have anything for you to smoke here, but I can fix you a drink if you want.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “What’s going on? I hear that you and Jada kicking it.”

  “She’s my lady.”

  “Jada is my ace. I don’t know if she told you, but when we first met, I couldn’t stand her and she couldn’t stand me. But now, I love that girl to death.”

  “I know. This is the right time for me, you know?”

  Starr’s eyes grew. “The right time because you’re on the run?”

  “She told you?”

  “She tells me everything. Did you not want me to know?”

  “I don’t care if you know. It’s not like you’re going to turn me in.”

  “You’re going to turn yourself in, right?”

  “I am.”

  “Good.”

  “Why is that good?”

  “I hear it was self-defense. I think you’ll get off.”

  “I think so too.”

  “What brings you over?”

  Fresh was daydreaming, looking at Starr’s succulent lips. He wanted them around his dick. She was a beautiful girl. No wonder Q wanted her so bad. For a moment, he wished they could fuck. Nobody had to know.

  “Fresh,” Starr said, interrupting his imaginary head job.

  “My bad, I was thinking about my case.”

  “Well it’s not a case yet until you have been charged.”

  “You know a lot about the law.”

  “Unfortunately, my daddy was a gangsta.”

  “Mine too.”

  “Why are you visiting?”

  “I saw Q the other day.”

  “How did you go see Q and you’re on the run?”

  “Long story. But the short version is I got a fake ID.”

  “Okay. So, you saw Q?”

  “Yes and he told me to tell you that he is innocent.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “I don’t know what to believe.”

  Starr sighed and said, “I do.”

  “And what do you believe?”

  “Q had Trey killed. Look, I don’t want to get into all of that. I understand he’s your friend and that he wasn’t going to say all of that over the jail phones. I mean think about it. Do you think he’s going to admit he had someone killed over the phone?”

  “True. But how do you know?”

  “Just know that I know.”

  “I ain’t here to start trouble.”

  “Just doing what you’re told?”

  “I am.”

  “You seem like a good dude.”

  “I think so.”

  “Take care of my girl.”

  He stood and was heading out the door before turning around. He hugged her and said, “Hey, Starr, take care of yourself.”

  She nodded.

  CHAPTER 11

  Stunna was surprised when he opened the door and saw his sister standing there looking like a little boy. Her Levis were sagging and she wore an Atlanta Falcon’s fitted cap along with a pair of black and white Jordans.

  Micky said, “So, are you going to stand there and look at me or are you going to invite me in?”

  He stepped back. “No bitches with you today, pimp,” he said.

  She laughed. “You know how they can be. They can be moody and shit and I can be moody. I’m on my cycle.”

  That was a little too much information for Stunna. He knew his sister was, in fact, a woman. Got pictures of her with her hair down to her ass and in pink Easter dresses, but when she morphed into a boy, somehow he never thought about her getting a period.

  “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to say I’m sorry and I love you, bruh.”She bumped her chest with her fist and said. “Fo’real, tho’.”

  “I know you do.”

  “And I’m sorry for what I said to Starr.”

  “You let her know that.”

  “I will.”

  Micky marched right past him and sat on an ugly green recliner. He sat on a sofa across from her.

  “I know you didn’t come all the way over here to tell me that you’re sorry about what you said to Starr.”

  “No, not at all.”

  “Okay, I don’t have all day.”He glanced at his watch.

  “It’s about B.C.”

  “What about him?”

  “He just bought a Porsche Cayenne?. I mean, if your trying to take over Atlanta, you might want to do it without him.”

  Stunna stood and paced. B.C. stood for Byron Cole. He was a UPS driver that Stunna used to get his product from California. Stunna’s connect would send the product to an address provided by B.C. and B.C. would make sure that the product got to Stunna. In the last sixth months, B.C. had bought a F150, a white X6 BMW and now he had bought a Porsche. Stunna knew that it was just a matter of time before someone noticed that B.C. was living beyond his means. He would have to pay the man a visit.

  “So how do you know this?”

  “The other day when you sent me to go see him, he showed up driving it. I asked him whose it was and he said he just bought it.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yeah, he said you knew about it.”

  “He’s lying.”

  “I knew he was.”

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  “If you want, I can handle it,” Micky said.

  “No, it’s okay. I’ve told him about this kind of shit before. I’ll handle it.”

  She stood and was about to walk out the door and Stunna said, “Micky?”

  She turned and faced him. “Yeah?”

  “What do you think about Starr?”

  “She seems kinda uppity to me now, you know? Like she thinks her shit don’t stank. Her sister Meeka, now. I like that bitch.”

  Stunna laughed.

  “So what do you see in her?”

  “Have you ever wanted something different?”

  Micky shrugged. “So, what’s so different about her? She’s just another hood bitch that thinks she’s better than she is. She’s fine and all, but you can have anybody you want.”

  “I can’t have her.”

  “So, do you think that’s what it is? The fact that you can’t have her?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Does she want you to stop?”

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop dealing.”

  Stunna looked at her strangely and said, “What made you ask that?”

  “I dunno. She just seems like that type that would want to control a man.”

  “Nobody tells Stunna what the fuck to do.”

  ***

  Byron Cole, better known as B.C., was a twenty-nine-year-old, thin dude with a thin, premature greying mustache. He’d worked for UPS since he graduated high school and it seemed like the ideal job until he and his girlfriend had three boys back to back. The arrival of the kids made it hard for his girlfriend to keep a job. It made more sense for her to stay at home with the children because Byron’s UPS salary made it impossible to get a daycare voucher. The UPS salary was good, but it wasn’t enough to feed five people and that’s where Stunna came in. Stunna had approached Byron and offered a thousand dollars for every shipment of coke that B.C. received and this was more than enough supplemental income. Two years after they had begun, B.C. had fifty thousand dollars in savings. He was able to take care of his kids and his girlfriend and he even got himself a little mistress that he would give a few dollars to every now and then. Life seemed to be great. B.C. still couldn’t believe his good fortune. With his keys in his hands and new Yeezys on his feet, he was smiling until Stunna and a big black assed dude named Blue appeared in his sight.

  “B.C.”

  “Stunna.”B.C. dropped his keys, he was so startled.

  Stunna kneeled and scooped up the keys and handed them to him. “New car?”

  “Yeah, little somethin’.”B.C. was grinning hard as hell. Stunna kept staring at him.

  “Who is in your house?”

  “Nobody.”

  “Let’s go inside.”

  “Oh.”B.C. studied Stunna’s face. He was stone-faced; it didn’t reveal anything. Perhaps the reason that they needed to go inside was to speak.

  B.C. then looked at the Blue standing beside Stunna. The sheer size of the man’s hands made him want to run for the hills. Blue was Stunna’s bodyguard and B.C had heard stories of Blue smashing dudes head’s through glass windows and tossing them over balconies. He was definitely the wrong dude to fuck with.

  Once they were inside, B.C. led them into a den area. As soon as they entered the room, Stunna slapped the fuck out of B.C. B.C. slammed into the wall and fell down. He attempted to stand and then Blue snatched his skinny ass with one hand. B.C. held his mouth; his front tooth was dangling from his mouth, holding on for life. The blood sputtered from his mouth.

  “Why did you hit me, bruh?”

  “Didn’t I tell you not to be out here buying a bunch of shit and putting heat on yourself?”

  “Are you talking about the Porsche?”

  “You know exactly what the fuck I’m talking about.”

  Blue released him and B.C. fell to the floor, still nursing his mouth.

  “I don’t see what the big deal is. You have nice cars. Ferraris and shit.”

  “You’re not me. You’re a punk-ass UPS driver with three kids. How the fuck can you afford this with your salary?”

  “Look, I’m sorry, man.”

  “Give me the goddamned keys.”

  “What? I’m not giving you the keys to my car!”

  Stunna rushed him and backhanded the shit of him. The tooth was knocked from his mouth.

  “Give me the goddamned key.”

  “It’s in my pocket.”

  Blue dug into his pocket.

  “I don’t see why you handed me the keys back in the first place if you were going to take them.”

  Stunna slapped the fuck out of him again and then beelined for the door.

  As they headed out the door, B.C. said, “When do I get my car back?”

  “When I feel like giving it back to you.”

  ***

  Jada, dressed in distressed jeans and YSL pumps that she’d just received from Net-A-Porter, stood on Tangie’s porch. Shamari attempted to pull her into his arms and steal a kiss, but she resisted. He gripped her ass and she swatted his hand.

  “I’m not here for that,” she said.

  He frowned. “So why are you here and why are you so dressed up? Meeting with the boss man?”

  “Huh? What boss man?”

  “Fresh.”

  “Actually, me and Starr are going to get some sushi.”

  “Is that so? So you decided to stop by to check up on old Shamari?”

  “Stop it.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Did you fuck her?”

  “Who?”

  “Ava.”

  “Why? What does it concern you?”

  “I’m just asking a question.”

  “No, you drove all the way across town to ask me some dumb shit.”

  “Just trying to look out for you.”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “She ain’t all what she seems.”

  “And you are? You should have thought about that before you decided to give your heart to Fresh.”

  “Stop it, Shamari.”

  “No, you stop it.”

  She lusted for his biceps bursting from a light blue V-neck T-shirt.

  “Jada, do you love me?”

  She avoided his eyes.

  He said, “You know nobody knew this and I won’t tell anybody, but I’m going to tell you. I almost did some foul shit to Black because I thought you two were fucking around.”

  She bit her lip.

  He sighed and said, “I almost snitched on Black because I thought y’all were fucking around. But I should have known that Black wouldn’t do me like that but you put him in a fucked up position. He wanted to tell me what was going on, but he couldn’t.”

  “I told you. I visited you in prison and I told you that I was fucking with Fresh.”

  “You did.”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that you’re here on my sister’s step and you want to ask me who in the hell I’ve fucked like you have a right to know.”

  Jada said, “You’re right, Shamari. I don’t have a right to question you.”

  “Is there something you want to tell me?”

  “No.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Fresh entered the jail again under his alias and a jailer brought Q in twenty-five minutes later. The two men tapped hands through the glass.

  “What’s up?”

  “Hired that Joey Turch guy. He’s good. We went to court today and he tried to get me a bond and the judge was about to give me a million dollar bond until he realized that I was from Houston. Turch said if I could get someone in Georgia to sign me out, I could come home under house arrest since I have a home here. He didn’t want me to spend the million dollars.”

  “But who is going to sign you out?”

  “I don’t know. I was thinking that you could get Jada to do it.”

  “That’s out of the question. You know she ain’t going to do it. She’s loyal to Starr.”

  “I don’t know what to do.”

  “I’ll think of something. I might get Shamari’s sister to do it.”

  “If she can do it. Tell him I’ll take care of her nicely.”

  “I’ll ask. That’s all we can do right now.”

  “Right.”

  “I’m going to try my best.”

  He needed Q to be out before he turned himself in. One thing for sure is they both didn’t need to be behind bars at the same time.

  ***

  Jada and Fresh lay naked in each other’s arm after some amazing sex session. His semi-erect penis poked her ass cheeks.

  “Have you lost your goddamned mind?”Jada asked Fresh after he asked her to bail Q out of jail. She knew that if she was to go along with Fresh’s plan that this kind of betrayal would crush Starr. She laughed and said, “You cannot be serious?”

  “I’m just asking.”

  “Why? Why do you care if Q is out?”

  He said, “Starr is your best friend and regardless what she do, you will be there for her, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s how I feel about Q.”

  “But I could give two fucks about Q. Look, if Starr don’t like the motherfucka’, then I don’t like him. That’s how I roll. I’m not perfect, but I’m loyal.”

  “I get that.”

  Jada poured a shot of Patron.

  “Do you know anybody who could do this for me?”Fresh asked.

  “No.”

  “Look, I’m not from Georgia. So I’m just asking all the people that I know.”

  “What about your cousin?”

  “He’s a square. I know he’s not going to do it. That nigga don’t want to be involved in nothing illegal.”

  “Last time I checked, signing somebody out of jail ain’t illegal.”

  “Look, the man is a cornball. He’s not going to help.”

  “I can’t help you, partna.”

  “What about Shamari’s sister?”

  “Tangie? Hell no! If it ain’t got to do with Shamari, she ain’t helping, I can tell you right now.”

  Why you gotta be so negative?”

  “Not negative, just giving you the facts. Look, I love you, Fresh, but I’m never going to cross or hurt my friend intentionally. That’s just how I roll.”

  “I understand. He told me to ask somebody and I did.”

  ***

  Jada and Starr were having lunch at Terrace on Peachtree when Starr’s phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number. She thought it might have been T.J.’s school. At the last moment, she answered the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Starr, this is Micky. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  “I’m at Terrace on Peachtree with my girlfriend.”

  “Oh. I’m up the street. Mind if I join? I was going to apologize for how I treated you the other night. Since I’m across the street I’d rather say it face to face unless you don’t want your girl all up in your business.”

  Starr said to Jada, “Do you mind if somebody join us?”

  “I don’t care.”

  “Look, Micky, you don’t have to apologize, but you can come. I know you was just looking out for your brother.”

  “I want to.”

  She ended the call and ten minutes later, Micky approached wearing a fitted Atlanta Braves hat, Levis, and Jordans as well as the new Rolex that Stunna had given to her at the party. When she lay eyes on Jada, she said, “Goddamn, mommy. Where the hell have you been all of my life?”