"Ma I'm good" I reassured her for the thousandth time.
"Jordan I'm not playing with you, be careful! Three boys just got killed the other day"
"Yeah I heard"
"Where are you right now?"
"I'm trying to go inside WalMart but you keep asking me a million questions" I laughed shaking my head. I looked at my rear view mirror and I could see him walking up.
"And where's Lee? Don't let that boy get you into any trouble Jay. I'll beat both y'all asses"
"He's at home. Ma let me run into this store. I'll call you later"
"You better call"
"I will, love you"
"Love you too"
I hung up the phone and hopped out the car. "Nigga are you walking?"
"Muhfucka I share a car with my brother" DJ stated taking his AirPods out his ears.
"First rule of business is I need you to get some wheels." I said shaking my head.
"Pay for it then nigga" DJ said back.
"Aye" I motioned him over to me "Let's nip this shit in the bud right now. When we in these streets I ain't ya friend nigga let's remember that. I tell you to do something, just nod ya head and do it. Don't question me. Understood?"
Whenever I bring in new people they think this is a buddy buddy situation, but this ain't that. At your 9-5, you wouldn't talk to your boss like that. I want that same treatment.
"I gotchu" He nods his head.
I motioned him to follow me with my head. "You should have enough to get a car by this weekend at the latest"
"By selling dime bags? The hell kinda car Imma get with that?"
I stopped walking and looked back at him.
"My fault, my fault" He chuckled holding his hands up in defense. He reminds me so much of Dream. Both they asses always asking a million questions.
"Money ain't gon be coming in that fast so don't get used to it. I'm just tryna get you on ya feet right quick"
"Appreciate it bro"
"And don't be walking around with music blasting in your ears" I told him. He should always be aware of his surrounding but he needs to be even more alert now.
We walked up to the front door and I unlocked it. I opened the door to see Meech on the couch counting money and Killa beside him rolling up.
"Wassup" I said tossing my keys onto the coffee table. I went into the kitchen to grab myself a bottle of water, "Where Lee at?"
"Inna back!" He answered for himself. I walked back into the living room just as Lee was entering.
"Who is this nigga?" Leon scrunched up his face.
"Y'all this is DJ" I said introducing them, "DJ this is Leon, Killa, Jarod and Meech"
"Nigga that don't answer my question" Leon replied.
"He's the one that told me about Derrick and his crew"
"Oh word?" Leon said nodding his head "How you find that out?"
"Overheard some niggas talking about it" DJ shrugged his shoulders.
"Nah nigga that ain't enough" Leon shook his head, "How I know you ain't a mole or something?" He lifted his shirt to show the gun on his waist.
I looked over at DJ to see what he had to say. He was very vague with me but Lee wasn't going to let that shit slide. I watched closely to see how'd he react to Leon's gun. He seemed unfazed by it.
"You don't. You just gon have to take my word for it"
"We got a meeting with Derrick at 6" I told them before taking a seat on the couch.
"Fuck we meeting with that nigga for?" Meech frowned.
"Ion need this shit turning into a war."
"Nigga we popped 3 of his niggas. If I was him I wouldn't let that shit slide" Leon stated.
"He know how shit is, he sent them niggas cause he ain't give a fuck about losing em." Killa replied.
"Exactly" I nodded my head, "He wanted our attention so now he got it"
"Man I gotta go grocery shopping for my granny so this meeting better be quick" Leon laughed, "But back to the muhfuckin elephant in the room. Who the fuck is this nigga?"
"You said we need more people on the team. Well here you go" I stated
"Fuck we gon do with this corny ass nigga" Leon shook his head "This nigga ain't got no bodies"
"He got three of em fuck you mean. He ain't pull the trigger but he got them muhfuckas popped"
"So this nigga rolling with us?" Jarod asked.
"Yeah for the mean time" I nodded my head. I needed to keep him close in order to ensure his safety. If he couldn't be with me I needed him with one of these four niggas. If it wasn't for Dream I would just have him on the corners slanging like everybody else started off. I barely even know this girl and I'm already changing the way I operate.
"Cool" Killa nodded his head, "When it's time to pop a nigga, don't hesitate other than that you should be cool"
DJ nods his head. We sat around for a little bit waiting on a few of the guys to stop by with their earnings for the day before we all decided to leave.
"You going to the house?" I asked DJ as I pulled my keys out my pocket.
"Yeah"
I motioned for him to get in the car. I was headed home too. I needed to relax for a little bit before going to deal with Derrick shit.
"This shit nice as hell" DJ said looking around the car.
"Thank you"
"You can't park on the block cause it's a block party"
"Am I supposed to bring something?"
"Nah"
"Imma run in this gas station and grab something for the kids at least" I pulled over into the gas station and ran inside. I grabbed the box of the kisko giant freeze pops out the freezer before paying for them and heading to the house. My car had to be parked on the corner of the street due to it being blocked off.
"Freeze pops!" I yelled holding the box up in the air. All the kids stopped dead in their tracks and raced over to me.
"No pushing it's enough for everybody" I laughed as I handed one to every kid.
"That was nice of you" Dream said as I walked over. "Did you save me one?"
"Damn my fault"
"That's crazy" She said shaking her head. "Did I see my brother get out of your car?"
"How the hell you see that?" I chuckled shaking my head, "You be looking for me huh?"
"Please. I just so happened to look over as you pulled up"
"You was looking for me it's okay. I'm here now wassup. Whatchu need?" I draped my arm over her shoulder pulling her closer to my side. I knew me touching her would throw her off and she'd stop asking questions.
"Boy bye" Dream laughed and pushed me away. "My mom got a plate for you in the house"
"Good cause I'm starving. What she cook?"
"She barbecued some stuff for the block party but she put us all a plate to the side before giving it away"
"She always looking out for the kid. I might gotta put a ring on it"
"I'm finna throw up" Dream said before fake gagging.
"Ummm bitch" I heard someone say. We both turned to see who it was.
"What is this I hear about you and Montrell breaking up?" Her friend Jayda questioned.
"I uhhh" She looked up at me and then over at her friend "Who'd you hear that from?"
"The real question is why didn't I hear it from you" Jayda folded her arms across her chest.
"I'm finna go eat" I told Dream. "Wassup" I acknowledged her friend's presence.
"Hey Jay" She looked at me for a split second and turned her attention back to Dream.
I walked inside their house and headed straight to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and scanned through the shelves looking for the tupperware container with my name on it. I popped it into the microwave and once it was done I took a seat in the dining area to dig in.
The faint sound of Before I Let Go being played outside filled the room.
"You better not have eaten my food" Dream's voice made an appearance before she actually did.
"Huh?" I asked licking the barbecue sauce off my fingers.
"Nigga you heard me"
"Mine the one that say 'Dream' right?" I asked as I ate a spoonful of baked beans.
"Jay don't fucking play with me" She said and rushed over to the fridge to double check.
"Jay?" I repeated.
"Huh?" She questioned confused.
"I'm Jay now?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Is that not your name?"
"You've been calling me Jordan since we met."
"I mean yeah but you tell everybody else your name is Jay and that's how I introduce you so I just figured that's what you wanna be called" I watched as she shrugged her shoulder as she took a seat across from me.
"Yeah it's Jay to them but it's Jordan to you"
"Oh okay then. Noted" Dream nodded her head. "Soooo how was Mexico? Did you go to the beach?"
"Nah it was all work. I never really left the hotel"
"Boo you suck" She scoffed rolling her eyes "And you didn't bring me nothing back. Not even a keychain from the airport, you're so fake"
"Damn first I didn't bring you a keychain then I didn't save you a freeze pop. I've just been doing you bogus" I laughed.
"Don't forget about my damn drive in the Trackhawk" She added in.
"How could I forget?" I chuckled "We going tonight, ion care what I got planned Imma take you for your ride"
"Pinky promise?" She sat on the edge of her chair and extended out her arm. I looked down at her hand and back up at her.
"Pinky promise nigga!" She repeated.
"Can't believe you got me pinky promising" I shook my head and interlocked pinkies with her. "Grow up"
"If you're too 'grown' to pinky promise me we might as well end this friendship now"
"You lucky I like you" I continued shaking my head.
"Enough to let me drive?" A big smile appeared on her face.
"See here you go talking that bullshit" I chuckled putting the lid on my food "Made me lose my damn appetite"
"If you hate me just say that"
"You're so dramatic" I stood up from the table, "I'm finna go take a nap so try not to need me"
"That'll be easy"
"Yo mouth smarter than usual today" I spoke as I walked over to the front door.
"Do something about it or be quiet" She spat back quickly. I stopped walking to turn around and glare at her.
"I quit, I quit" Dream held her hands up in defense. Damn her and her brother act just alike.
"That's what I thought" I laughed and walked outside.
"Jay! Did you grab your food?" Mrs. Henderson yelled out from across the street.
I held the container up so she could see it, "Thank you!"
"I'll text you later" I gave Dream a side hug.
"K" Dream said, "You better not stand me up"
"I would never"