What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross (8 page)

“Nigga please, we
ain’t
been no damn where.
Jaimes
you were just calling me your sister this morning. Don’t try to play me. It is not that type of party. Trust me I’m not coming off of the pussy that easy.” Reality said patting between her legs.

“Why do you have to act so hard? When I say that we have been places, I was meaning that we have been places emotionally. We have a connection. I tell you everything. You know if we were to fuck right now, that it wouldn’t just be a fuck. It is no secret that we have feelings for each other.” He said looking her dead in her eyes.

Reality sat on the island quietly. So many thoughts were going through her head. She didn’t want to be just a fuck. She honestly thought that she was falling in love with
Jaimes
, so she wasn’t trying to rush into having sex with him. She wanted her first time to not only be special but to be with someone that she could see spending her life with. Now he was indeed special to her, but there wasn’t anything special about what was about to go down in the middle of her kitchen. She picked up the Sprite off of the counter and took a sip as she fanned herself with her other hand. “
Ooooh
, it is definitely getting hot in here”

“So you telling me that you think that I don’t have feelings for you?” D.J asked raising his voice as he stood back and looked her in her eyes.

“
Nawl
, I
ain’t
telling you that. I’m telling you that I’m not about to fuck you in the middle of my kitchen. Now let me get down so I can put on some clothes and pack me a bag.” Reality jumped down from the island and she was standing so close to him that his smelled enveloped her. She reached up and touched the beads around his neck and said. “One day you are going to have to tell me about these.”

He grabbed her arm as she tried to walk around him to go toward her bedroom. She looked up at him. “If you let me know that you are riding with me, and I mean literally and figuratively, you will never have to worry about anything. I will show you and you will never have another doubt in your mind about how I feel about you. All you have to do is say the word.”

Reality stood there frozen in place as she tried to process exactly what
Jaimes
was saying. Her cell started to ring. She reached into her pocket and looked at the screen. It was Honesty. She told her that her place had been broken into, but she couldn’t tell if anything was stolen. Reality pulled the phone away from her ear as Honesty shouted cuss words loudly into the phone. She listened to her instructions, ended the call and put the phone back into her pocket.

“What did she say? D.J. asked her.

“She told me to do exactly what you said I needed to do. The meeting is going to be held earlier now, so I need to hurry up and get ready. She is gonna get in touch with everyone else.” She disappeared into her bedroom.

D.J. stayed in the kitchen. Because he knew that if he went into her room and saw her naked, that he was going to have a hard time restraining himself. The need for Reality had always been there, but after seeing her naked he wanted her even more. The way that they connected on all levels was what let him know that he had found his soul mate. She didn’t want him for what he had, because she had her own. Now all he had to do was convince her that he was serious about wanting to be with her.

Reality came into the kitchen wearing a pair of Victoria Secret’s Pink stretch pants that hugged her in all the right places. The
v-neck
baby tee fit her so tightly it looked like she had on a one piece. She had on a pair of 95’ Air Max Nikes that were the same lime green as the outfit. Her butt looked perfect with the word “Pink” written across it. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. She looked so youthful and innocent. She went to the closet and pulled out a small
Fendi
duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. D.J. grabbed the bag off her shoulder and threw it over his, then he got her keys off the counter and locked the door behind them.

They exited the building and he decided to walk her to her truck and let her drop him back off in the front of the building to his car. He grabbed her hand in his as they made their way to the parking deck. Her truck was the only vehicle parked in the garage. As they approached her black BMW X5 that she had gotten as a graduation gift, she noticed that all of her windows were busted and her tires were flat. She was heartbroken, even though she had full coverage insurance and enough money to buy another one if she liked; she just felt violated. Reality stopped in her tracks and looked up at
Jaimes
with tears pouring down her face. “Who would want to do this to us? First it was Honesty’s place and now my truck. I had both of my laptops in there with all my hard work on them. We do not bother anybody; all we do is get money.”

“Sometimes baby girl that is all you need to do.” D.J. looked down at her. He still didn’t want to get the police involved. He knew that her and her family was involved in illegal shit and they didn’t need to draw any heat to them by calling the police. He pulled out his cell phone and called his cousin Shawn who ran his automotive shop to come and pick up the truck with his wrecker truck. “I got the truck, don’t worry about it. I’m going to have it towed to my shop and Shawn will have it back to you as soon as possible just like new. You need to call your Pops and tell him what is going on. I will drop you off where ever you were headed.”

They left the truck sitting there in the parking deck on four flat tires with the windows gone.

Honesty,
Killa
and Khalil sat around the table in Unity, the storefront restaurant that they had been coming to since they were kids. This restaurant was one of Khalil’s favorites because they served a down home country breakfast. They all were completely silent, just looking around at one another. Reality and Loyalty hadn’t made it, so Khalil didn’t want to start to tell his children about what he had found out yet. He reached over and grabbed his oldest daughter’s hand and squeezed it, just to let her know that he was here.
Killa
sat there with his head down picking his nails. He knew something big was going on and he was trained to go at all times. The bell rang on the door as it opened and in glided Loyalty dressed as if she was on her way to the club. High heeled Tori Burch wedges, a wife beater and a pair of Seven for all Mankind jeans with rips and tears everywhere. The patrons of the restaurant looked up at her as she made her way to the table. She kissed her Pop-Pop on the forehead and rubbed her hands playfully in
Killa’s
curly fro as she sat down next to him.

“Whew, why in the world are y’all sitting here looking all gloomy? Y’all look like y’all best friend just died.” She said as she took her Ray-Ban aviators off and put them in her oversized Gucci bag.

Khalil just stared out of the picture window at Westview, the cemetery directly across the street. He was responsible for putting a lot of bodies in it. Something was going on with his family so he was sure that before all of this was over, the body count would go up. He was gritting his teeth and his temples were jumping. He always did that when he was mad. Loyalty looked over at her dad and saw him staring out the window as if he was in another world. His temple jumping signified that something was really wrong.

“What is going on?” she said raising her squeaky voice. “Somebody tell me something.”

“Wait until your sister gets here and I will tell you everything that I know and see what you guys know, cause something, something, something, just
ain’t
right.” Coach K told his middle daughter without breaking his gaze out of the window.

D.J. drove up in the shopping center parking lot and pulled in front of Unity to let Reality out. She reached into the back seat to get her duffle bag. He got out and came around to the passenger side and opened her door for her. She got out and looked up at him. “If you need to use one of my whips, let me know. I will call you and let you know what Shawn says about the turnaround time on the Beamer.” He leaned over and kissed her on her forehead.

Reality wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her head on chest. He smoothed her hair as he wrapped his arms around her. She inhaled deeply and looked up at
Jaimes
and said “The word.”

“Really, you are not playing with me are you? Real, don’t play with stuff like that.” He said excitedly.

“
Nawl
, boy I
ain’t
playing, now let me go. Everybody is waiting on me.” She pulled away from his embrace and he walked around and got back into his car.

Reality walked into the restaurant and garnered the same amount of attention that her sister did. All eyes were on her. She pulled out a chair, sat down and put her duffle bag on the floor. “Something is going on and we need to get to the bottom of it quick, fast, and in a hurry”

“
Ain’t
dat
D.J. that nigga from Hollywood Court?” Killian asked breaking the silence. He was very over protective when it came to his sisters, especially Reality because she was the baby.

“Yeah, that is him. Why are you jumping down my throat? He was the only person that came this morning when I needed somebody. I called everybody over and over and all I got was the voicemail. Shit I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Watch your mouth, you see me at this damn table!” Khalil said as he slapped the table.

Honesty looked around the table at her family. They had come a long way since they lived in that two bedroom house in the West End. Pop-Pop had always made a way out of no way and she knew that as long as he was living and breathing that she would be alright, but she couldn’t help but feel somewhat fearful since someone had broken into her loft.

“Pop-Pop, I’m sorry. I’m just so upset. After I had changed the codes and locked up the building I go into the parking deck and my truck is trashed. All of the windows busted and the tires flat. I had both of my computers in there. I just got that truck four months ago. I’m lucky that
Jaimes
was there with me. I mean, I got guns and I know how to shoot them, I even have a black belt in Taekwondo but I’m still a female. I’m not even five feet tall and I only weigh one hundred and fifteen pounds. There is only so much that I can do.” Reality said as she looked her father in his eyes.

Honesty’s head dropped into her hands. Shit was getting worse by the minute.

“Okay, so where the truck at now Real?” Killian asked

“
Jaimes
got it towed to his shop and he is going to get it fixed. I will either jump back into my Honda or I will rent me something until it is fixed.” Reality said shifting in her seat nervously.

“We got enough going on without any new niggas hanging around baby girl. You know how the game goes, it be the ones that you let get the closest to you that stab you in the back.” Khalil informed her.

“But Pop-Pop,” Reality whined.

“No buts! Now back to the subject at hand. It is a lot going on that we don’t know about behind the scenes. We have gotten a little too comfortable. I caught Loyalty coming out of the stash house last night without her pistol in her hand. You know that is the number one rule. She wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings. She was just rushing to go on her
lil
’ date and didn’t see me sneak up on her. Now as far as the building go, I think that is my fault to a certain degree because I got a mediocre security system on it and it should have closed circuit cameras. I will fix that. It will be upgraded before the day is over. I think that the break-in and the vandalism of the car is connected. I just don’t know how yet.”

“Why do you think it is connected and do you have an idea of who could have done this?” Honesty asked, filled with concern.

“That’s why I wanted to get with you guys. I spent a
lil
’ time yesterday with your Uncle Poke. I don’t know why but I just woke up with him on my mind. So I headed to the old neighborhood to check him out. He has been calling a lot lately and usually when he does that I know that he is getting ready to beg for money or for me to hook him up with some type of work. As soon as I got there he was talking sideways about the new Benz. Saying that I was a king and he was just a peasant. He was just on some real jealous-hearted shit. So we went to eat because if we know one thing, we know he is a talker. Most of his conversation was based on Gorgeous and what she got going on. He said that he had been out all night doing homework. So it leads me to believe that he is laying on Gorgeous trying to figure out her operation so that he can hit her.”

The breath left Honesty. If he was following Gigi, then he had to know about them. She didn’t want anything to happen to Gigi. Everyone knew that Slow Poke was a murderer. He had been putting in work for her daddy for over twenty-five years. But she also knew that he wasn’t a thinker so he could be outsmarted.