Читать книгу The Coming of Age - Vincent Montgomery - Страница 8

Chapter 2

The courts were packed. I could already see Rock on the court, crossing niggas up and driving to the rack.

“I see you, boy. Give me more! No prisoners, no regards!” I yelled out to him.

I saw John, Rah, and Risk changing on the sidelines, so I began to walk over to them.

“Son, I came up today and got a way for us all to get it. We’ll talk about it when Rock gets off the court.”

They were anxious to hear what I had to tell them, but I told them to chill. I changed and started stretching before we hit the court. Funny thing was, these dudes didn’t even know we all could hoop. We all just didn’t play on the team because we’d rather be getting money.

We got on the court, and immediately following that, we made a splash. Everyone was looking at us because the chemistry we had was beyond crazy. We started blowing this team out, as we jumped to a seven-to-zero start.

We played a few more games until we were all tired and it was just us left on the court. I started up a game of twenty-one but after running full court for a few games, I’m gassed. Rock calls ‘game’ as he hits the final shot. We headed to the benches to sit down and catch our breath.

Risk blurted out, “Yo, tell us about that money shit you were talking earlier when Rock was on the court.”

I started telling them about the connect Jose and what he did for me today. They all were in shock.

“But this is what I want to do. We are all about to eat off this, and I’m going to show y’all how.”

On my way to the courts, I had come up with a plan and rules for how we would conduct business. If niggas followed these rules, we could get more cream than the rest. I didn’t know much about coke at all. I figured if we cut it just a little bit, we could make even more money. We just needed a spot to set up shop, cut, and bag it up.

I trusted all these dudes with my life. So I told them the plan.

“Cut the shit, and make it where each of us can buy our own keys next time.”

I turned to look directly at Risk. “I’m going to give you my half. I want you to flip it for me uptown.”

I knew he was a natural-born hustler, and he lived in Harlem—two key factors to my plan. It was the perfect place to move coke. I wanted him to take my half and get some workers to pump it for me. I didn’t expect my guys to be on the streets, pumping. Nah. We knew too many people that would line up for an opportunity like this any day.

I turned back to face Risk, Rah, and John. “I know I don’t really need to say this, but don’t use the shit. Don’t be on the corners selling it yourself either. This is really unknown ground for us, so we have to be smarter about it.”

Everyone nodded in silent agreement. They were all on the same page. I gave the brick to Risk and told him to cut it down and give it to the rest of the crew when he was done. Everyone was mad excited about this shit. I couldn’t front. I was too! My heart was beating fast, but I knew we could make it work if we wanted to. I motioned to get everyone’s attention.

They were obviously excited thinking of the moves we were going to make too. I know they were probably already spending money we hadn’t made yet.

“All I ask for is 40 percent of what you make off the key. Y’all keep the 60 percent. I am not trying to eat off your niggas.” They looked at me like I was buggin’. I just let out a little chuckle. “Like I said, I’m not trying to be greedy with this shit at all. Remember, I got it for free, so I’m tryna put y’all on. If all goes according to how I’ve planned, y’all should all be buying your own bricks in no time.”

Before we all went our separate ways, I reminded them to follow the rules, especially not to bring anything to their crib, a rule I myself broke this morning. We dapped each other up, and I began walking to the train station to get home.

Today’s been a good ass day, I thought to myself. Grandma made fresh bread, I bagged the shorty I been checking out, and I made some cheese as well. Shit, I even got that free MetroCard I’ve been waiting for. Most importantly, I moved up with the connect.

I was in the big leagues now. It was go time. Everything was going to plan.

It was getting late, but I still had all the pills I needed to get off. I swung by my stash spot and made the drop before going home. A thousand pills of ecstasy was major for me. I wasn’t even worried about the coke right then. That situation would sort itself out later. I was going to make crazy bread off these white boys, selling this shit, and I knew it. If I sold these pills at, like, sixty to seventy dollars a pop, I’d more than triple my money!

Jose gave me good prices because I was moving the pills faster than other people. I thought that the fact that I was in high school helped too. Kids were always trying to venture out and try new drugs all the time.

I hit a few of my workers up from the pay phone before I got to the spot to give them the re-up. I didn’t front anyone anything. My workers knew if they wanted something, they had to come correct or not come at all. I had G, Mike, Ruff, D-Money, and Kev pumping for me. They were loyal and worked hard. They were true hustlers outside of my main family that I fucked with.

Surprisingly, they were already posted up once I got to the spot. It looked like they had been waiting a while for the next batch to come in.

“What’s up, fellas?” I asked.

I meant it as a greeting, but I also genuinely wanted to know what was going down. Everyone replied with different but similar-sounding answers. Before I could break the pack down, G started talking.

“Damn, you got a lot of them shits this go around. I’m tryna get like 250,” he said.

That was a lot of pills for one person to handle. But if he had the cash, I was with it. I asked, “You have the bread for that, son?”

“When have I not had the bread, son?” he replied.

Now that I thought about it. He was right. I laughed and told him just that. “You don’t even know how much is in here though.”

“Son, it’s more than 250 in there. Stop playing,” he replied sharply.

I guessed he could eyeball it and tell. I told him the price, and he pulled out mad cash like he wasn’t playing at all. I was selling it to them for cheap too. These dudes were getting these joints off for over a hundred dollars a pop, so my sixty dollars wasn’t hurting them at all. The rest of my guys gave me the amounts they needed with the cash and left me with fifty pieces. Damn, I just made mad money that quick, and I didn’t even have to stand on a corner or anything. If that coke sold like this, it was game over!

I put my fifty pieces away, dapped everyone up, and proceeded to walk the rest of the way home. As I walked, I went over the day’s events in my head. I had never sold out that fast. Business must be picking up for G to buy that many pieces from me at one time. Not to mention he got another thirty-five pieces from me in school earlier. Today was going well for real.

As I walked up to my crib, I patted myself down for my keys. As I opened the door, the house smelled great. Grandma was cooking some food for me.

As I closed the door, I yelled out to her. “Hey, young lady, how was your day today?”

“It was good. And yours?” she replied with a smile.

I told her I honestly had a great day and that the food smelled delicious. “What’s on the menu, Grandma?”

She started naming all my favorites: collard greens, mac and cheese… But I stopped her as soon as she said mac and cheese.

“Tell me there’s still more bread to go with this lovely meal, Grandma.”

“Yes, child,” she said, smiling and playfully swatting at my hand.

I laughed back and told her how I felt about her bread, all while kissing her on the cheek and giving her a loving hug from behind.

She directed me to the bathroom to wash up before I came to eat. I obeyed her rules and went to my room to put my cash away in the sneaker boxes. I put my money in the stash, and if my numbers were correct (I saw no reason for them to be wrong), my sneaker box money would be $130,000 at that very moment. I didn’t even know how I made that much in a day, but that upgrade of work surely worked in my favor. I grabbed my clothes for the shower and hopped in with Nas’s It Was Written CD on blast.

I sat down at the table and began to eat the delicious food my grandmother cooked. She was sitting across from me, looking at me eat. She loved to watch me eat and enjoy the food she cooked for me. I thought it gave her a sense of joy knowing she was providing her grandson something he truly loved. The thought of that alone made her proud.

I told her not to cook tomorrow. She made a lot of food, and it was just us two, so I could eat leftovers. She agreed. I finished my food, washed the dishes, and then took out the trash. I kissed her as she went to her room to get some rest. Shortly after, I went to my room and started getting myself ready for the next day.

A few minutes later, the phone rang. It was Risk.

“It’s done, son. I already hit the homies up and told them to check me.”

I was a little shocked. “Damn, son. That quick?” I replied. I knew he didn’t play and he was about his money just like me, but damn! That fast surprised me a little.

“You know I don’t play, bro.”

“I know. I just didn’t expect it to be done that quickly.”

He said he was going to handle my half and get it finished completely in a few days. I acknowledged him and told him we would chop it up tomorrow when I saw him. I started to take my belongings out of my clothes, and I saw the letter Sabrina gave me.

Oh shit! She’s gonna be mad I haven’t called her yet.

But even with that in mind, I still didn’t call her. I was tired, and I didn’t want to call her house this late at night. She was probably waiting for me to call, too, but I dismissed it and put my oldies on. Then I tried to get some rest after this eventful day. I knew tomorrow was going to be crazier than today. I could just feel it.