𝐀 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐔𝐬

𝐈𝐈 - 𝐇𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧' 𝟏𝟎𝟏

"Bro c'mon, I need to move some shit around and then I gotta take some chick out to some party in the Bronx," he whined. Pathetic.

"No," I said simply. I wanted to tell him I wasn't tryna get any drugs in my new whip and that I didn't care 'bout no Bronx broad and that he needed to get himself a car instead of playin' mine off for his, but I was stopped by the sight of a mass of long, dark, pitch black curls.

I know that head, I thought to myself, making my way to the girl I'd seen at the New Year's party, but when I tapped on her shoulder, she turned out to be a he.

"K lo k, can I help ju?," the Dominican guy, whose shoulder I tapped, asked. "Nah B, I thought you was someone I knew," I said, more to myself.

This girl from the New Year's party, Aiyana, had me all kinds of fucked up. I was seein' her everywhere, but it was never her. They say the world's a small place so, why was it so hard to find this one chick? It was my fault anyway. Who told my ass to let her go without at least gettin' a ZIP code?

My thoughts were interrupted by Cam'ron's loud ass. "Yooo, whazz brackin' homie?," he said enthusiastically.

I turned to see him talking to some kid at his door. He was a lil big for his age 'cause he didn't look a day over 13. He was brown-skinned but had slanty eyes, so he was either Blasian or high. Judging by his shifty demeanor when he saw the blunts laid out on the coffee table, I suspected the former. There was somethin' about his face though, almost like I'd seen it somewhere else, on someone else, if that made sense.

"Yeah, um, I got you the ... um, the thing. The list. Yeah," the youngin' stuttered nervously.

"Well pull it out then, blood," C interjected loudly. He had been sippin' slowly on some Hennessey for a while now, so he officially had enough in his system to make him obnoxious.

The kid pulled out a paper and handed it to C, who chuckled before pushing the Henny into the kid's hand. "Drink lil nigga," he chortled, then stumbled away to the couch.

The kid looked confused for a moment, then put the bottle into someone else's hand. "Um, Cam'ron, I gave you the list," he mumbled loud enough for C to hear him.

"Yeah? And I said drink, the fuck?," C scoffed at him.

Clearly upset, the kid bellowed, "So where my money at?"

Everyone turned his way, surprised to see some kid talkin' to C like that. Don't get me wrong, Cam'ron ain't no monsta, but he wasn't anyone to play wit either.

Realizing his mistake, the kid puffed his chest out a bit, trying to assert dominance. "Oh, oh oh, so you want cho' money, huh?," C crooned. "How 'bout no? Whatchu' gon do if I say no, huh?"

The kid held C's stare for a second before looking away. He kicked the doorsill in defeat and made his way out the apartment.

"That's what I thought," C grumbled, layin his head back onto his couch.

C was my best and only friend. We were like brothers, me and him, but I hated this side of him. He always had a mean streak, ever since we was kids. It didn't bother me so much, I ain't no angel myself, but fuckin' a kid over was foul in my book.

"Yo C, I'm outta here bruv. Get yo' self a car, nigga," I snapped at him, before makin' my way out, following the kid until I was right by his side.

"What they call you?," I asked him.

He turned to face me, panic washing over his face. "Jalen," he muttered.

"Ain't that a girl name?," I mocked him, to which he huffed and said, "No."

"Ay man, I'm just fuckin' witchu'. I'm Twiggy."

He looked at me skeptically, before nodding. Again, the look on his face reminded me of someone I knew, but I couldn't place my finger on who.

"So, C owe you money, huh?"

"Yeah."

"How much?"

"$200."

I bugged my eyes out at him, tilting my head and repeated what he said in disbelief. "200 dollars? What the fuck was on that list?"

"Future customers. He said to go find him a list of people who'd be regular customers for him and I did. Called the 200 dollars his "customer acquisition cost". What the fuck that even mean?," he looked up at me in anger.

"That means you just did him a big ass favor," I scoffed, shocked at C's audacity. Growin' up, we hustled side by side. We knew what it was like to be poor and played. This shit was foul, all the way around and he had to know what he was doin' was wrong.

I reached into my wallet and pulled out two Benjamins. "Here," I nudged 'em towards Jalen.

He looked up at me like I was Michael Jordan or some'. "Thanks, man! Ion even know what to say!"

"Nah, it's coo'. Just, save half of it, a'ight? Put it to the side and keep savin' yo money, dawg," I told him, remembering how I made change on my first hundred just to put 80 dollars away.

"Yeah, most definitely man," he answered, still not believing the 2 hundreds in his hands right now.

We walked down the steps together and out the building before I asked him if he needed a ride to his next destination.

"Nah, I'm supposed to meet with my sister here in 10 minutes or so," he replied, after checking his watch.

"A'ight, Jalen," I drawled out. "I see you when I see you, kid. And go to school, bro."

"Yeah, no doubt. And I will," he beamed. "Thanks again ... Twiggy."

"Yeah," I brushed off.

But, before I stepped into my car, I told him one last thing:"Next time tho, ask to get paid half upfront or take yo' business somewhere else, you heard?"

He looked at me thoughtfully and nodded. I nodded back and got in my car, zoomin' away.

***
Omniscient

About 10 minutes after Twiggy had drove away, Maji Walker stepped around the corner to find her brother, Jalen Walker, waiting for her.

"Waddup lil nigga?," she asked him.

"None. What we doin' today?," he questioned.

"I was thinkin' we could cop some Micky D's before sneakin' back into school. You know Yana gon tear our ass up if she finds out we been skippin' again."

"Copy," Jalen agreed. He pulled out one of the hundreds he'd just been given and showed it to his sister. "Look what ya boy done made on a beautiful Monday morning," he cheesed.

Maji rolled her eyes, pulling out a roll of twenties in a rubberband from her sweatshirt pocket. "Nigga please, I touch more bread than a baker. But I like to see you hustle," she said cockily.

Jalen was shocked to see the amount of money rolled up in his sister's manicured hands and started to wonder where it came from. He let the subject go almost immediately though, when she asked him, "Lunch on me?"

"Fasho'," he smiled. Life was good.

***

A/N: Thanks for all the support and advice y'all!! Making my thug ass feel loved 😭

Food for thought on the chapter: What ya think Michael and Cam'ron do for a living? And how does Maji make all that money? Actually, ask yourselves a lot of questions about Maji 👀

Until next time,

Nahla ✨