What Da Lick Read? The Triple Cross (9 page)

“Have you guys noticed anything funny going on while you have been around Gigi? Or have you felt apprehensive like something wasn’t right?” Reality asked because she really didn’t have any contact with Gigi.

“Shit, Gigi can’t make a move without Concrete being there and then she got all her other goons. And you best believe that her godfather got some of them Mexican mother fuckers watching her that she do not even know about.” Killian thought out loud.

Honesty had never thought about Ponchees, Gigi’s godfather having anyone watching her. So that means that he knew about their relationship. She sat at the table and thought to herself whether she should go ahead and tell everyone, or should she just let them find out. Because if this many eyes and ears were being added to the equation then she knew it was only a matter of time before it was out.

“For some reason, I think that the break-in and the car vandalism weren’t about anybody trying to steal anything. I think that it was about just shaking us up and getting us off of focus. I need you four to be on your A-game. You must stay armed and aware at all times. Shoot first and ask questions later. I’m gonna be on Poke like white on rice so that I can figure out his steps before he even makes them. He will not be able to outsmart me because I was his teacher so I already know how he thinks. I’m gonna have to have a sit down with Gigi and let her know everything. I’m gonna get on the horn and arrange that as soon as I leave here. I got some of my goons watching him as we speak. The key is to act like I don’t know anything. I look at Gigi as if she is my own and for this nigga that I have been feeding for over twenty-five years to try to do this to my family… he will have hell to pay. You do not bite the hand that feeds you.”

Loyalty looked at her dad in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that the man she knew as her uncle was so slimy. Pop-Pop never spared anyone when they crossed him, so she couldn’t even fathom what he was going to do to Poke once everything was revealed. She looked down at her watch, they had been sitting and talking for over an hour and no one had ordered a single thing. The aroma of all the food was overtaking her and her stomach was rumbling. “Pop-Pop do you mind if I interrupt for a minute to order something, I swear my stomach is touching my back.”

“Go ahead and flag the waitress down, we might as well go ahead and order something while we are here. We haven’t been here together as a family in a long time” Khalil said looking at his grown children.

“Man, I can’t eat! Just the thought of Poke doing this after all you have done for him all these years. I mean you are already established and you are sitting on your money, he should have been stacking his racks too. He too damn old to be out here trying to fuck with us young folks, talking about hitting a lick. If he messes up stuff with Gigi, that affects me and Honesty too. We are eating good with Gigi. Make me
wanna
do something to that slimy ass nigga myself, just on general principle” Killian was infuriated.

“
Imma
get me something for later. I lost my appetite after I seen my truck like that but I can’t refuse some salmon and grits for later. Can I ride with you Pop-Pop back to the house so that I can hop in the Honda?” Reality asked her dad.

“That car might need a boost off and everything thing else. It hasn’t been cranked up since the day you got that truck. You can drive the Escalade until your truck gets out the shop. Oh by the way, I’m running background on that nigga D.J. so you need to stay away from him until I give you the clear.” Khalil said, warning Reality.

Coach had been warning them to be aware of their surroundings, but little did he know; there was someone in the restaurant watching and listening who heard everything that they were talking about.

“Hey, what’s up
Papi
? I got a
lil
’ bit of info for you. Coach K just left the restaurant with
dem
kids. They all were kind of out of it. They didn’t even eat while they were there, because they were so deep in conversation. He has found out about Poke, so he is about to be on a mission. Coach is a good soldier to have on your team because he is well connected to the streets and he lives by the code.” She said to Ponchees.

“Yeah, Coach is a good nigga.
Sillk
had much love for him. I’m not going to let anything happen to him or his kids. But I just need to see how he handles this. I’m happy that I have eyes and ears everywhere. Gigi is my responsibility. She is really the only semblance of a family that I have left so I must make sure that she is okay by any means necessary. I’m happy that my worker Mojo was on his p’s and q’s and peeped out Slow Poke watching Gigi’s club. He said that every time he came, he always sat in the parking lot for no less than an hour before he went into the club. Then he mentioned that something about him just didn’t seem right, he said that he had real shifty eyes and always seemed nervous. That sent up a red flag and he reached out to me. I’m happy that you had the idea to have at least one of our guys officially working inside the club so they could keep an eye out at all times, that was a good one.” Ponchees said as he leaned back in his leather chair and smoked his cigar. As he rubbed his hands through his salt and pepper hair that he kept cut low, he was thinking that he was gonna be making a trip to Atlanta sooner than he planned and when he did come, all hell was sure to break loose.

“Well intuition is a mother fucker baby. I am happy that our team is like always, more than a few steps ahead of the game. I will keep you posted. I
gotta
head out, is there anything else I need to do?” She asked Ponchees as she prepared to hang up her BlackBerry.

“
Nawl
, you seem to have everything covered.” He ended the call and stood up and looked out over his view of the gardens. He was happy to have Sam on his team too. He had met her years ago when
Sillk
was alive. She was over two decades younger than him, but she kept him on his toes. Atlanta was her home, she knew every
knook
and cranny and she handled watching over the business well, without giving Gigi the suspicion that she was being watched. Ponchees trusted Gigi, but she was still young and a female so it didn’t hurt to have other eyes and ears around making sure that everything was kept on the level.

They say that it is always the ones closest to you that will try to get you. He had been through that many times in his early years and the only one that never crossed him was Black
Sillk
. He knew what Coach K must be going through. But it was all a part of the game. Even though he wasn’t backing up Gigi for a reward, Ponchees knew that he had to look out for Coach when all this was over. Coach had a loyalty toward both
Sillk
and his daughter Solitaire and that is what made him look out for Gigi. He was a real nigga and in the streets they are few and far in between. That bastard Poke was just trying to get at the biggest fish in the sea, which just so happened to be Gigi because she was supplying damn near the entire eastern seaboard. He didn’t care who she was affiliated with. But for anybody knowing Coach’s background, Poke had definitely picked the wrong one to cross.

__________

Khalil pulled up at the club. He looked at the parking lot full of cars and smiled to himself. If
Sillk
was alive this would be something that he would have come up with. Gigi had taken the old furniture warehouse and turned it into one of the hottest spots Atlanta had to offer. If you were not a native to Atlanta there is no way possible that you would know that this building was a former furniture warehouse. She had done so much to it. Gigi’s Pleasure Chest kept a crowd whether it was the middle of the day like now, or the middle of the night. When he had called Gigi once he left the restaurant and she didn’t answer, he headed over because he knew that he could catch her here.

Khalil walked in the mirrored door and was recognized immediately. Security didn’t even pat him down. It was dimly lit and the music boomed from the state of the art sound system. His eyes adjusted to the light of his new surroundings and he walked to the bar. He hadn’t been in this place since her grand opening party two years ago. It was decorated nice then, but now she had definitely gone all out. The décor was now over the top. Khalil recognized a few faces and he nodded his head at them.

The waitress came over to take his drink order He wasn’t real big on drinking, never had been. His only vice over the years was getting money and fine cars. He leaned over and whispered. “Baby girl, put me some Sprite in a whisky glass and keep them coming.”

Concrete walked up behind him and touched him on his shoulder. He jumped, startled.
How could a three hundred pound man walk so silently?
“Gigi just seen you walk in. She told me to come down here and bring you up to the office.”

Damn even his voice was quiet.

Coach got up from the bar and followed Concrete through the club. As they walked through, he noticed naked women were everywhere. All nationalities were present and accounted for in Gigi’s Pleasure Chest. People were recognizing him even more as he moved through the club. He stopped shook hands, gave hugs and threw up the deuces to the people he knew. They made it to the back of the club and got on an elevator that took them upstairs to the floor that housed the executive suite and Gigi’s office.

Gigi sat behind her desk. You could tell she had been handling some type of business. She had her
iPad
in her hands and her glasses on. Two of her
homies
were in the office with her. Khalil recognized them both. They were the head of the No Pressure
fam
’, brothers Toe-Toe and Nard. They were some of Perry Homes’ finest. Gigi did right when she came up. She made sure all of her people ate. Concrete got a chair from across the room and sat it in front of Gigi’s chrome and glass desk. She finally looked up from her
iPad
. “Hey Uncle K. To what do I owe this visit? You haven’t been in here since the grand opening.” She said as she got up from her desk and came around to give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Gigi sat back down and took her glasses off. “Uncle, you remember Toe-Toe and Nard don’t you?”

“Yeah I remember them. How
ya
momma been doing? I haven’t seen her in a while. Tell her that Khalil asked about her.” He said as he reached out and shook both of the brothers’ hands.

“Momma is straight,
ain’t
nothing changed about her. She was one of the first people to move back to the hood once they completed it. She is still the same, always on our backs.” Nard said speaking fondly of his mother.

The brothers got up from their seats and moved toward the doorway and Concrete followed.

“Gigi, I know these boys are like your brothers and they working with you so they might need to stay and hear what I got to say.” Coach K said pointing at the three men.

They sat back down while Concrete stood up in the corner.

“What’s going on Uncle?” Gigi said suspiciously wondering if Truth had told him about their relationship this morning at the meeting.

“It’s
dat
nigga Slow Poke. He has let that cocaine eat his brain away because he is plotting, and I think that he is plotting on you. Now you know Poke has been my best friend for over twenty-five years so I know how to read him, just like these two brothers know how to read each other. Has he been coming around here lately?” Khalil asked.

“I’m gonna be real with you Coach, it
ain’t
cocaine that is eating away at his brain. He is fucking with heroin. I know this because I got a house over in the Bluff that my
lil
’ cousin run and they say that nigga be over there all the time. He even has pawned his Benz a time or two.” Nard said.

Khalil looked at him in shock and then he put his head in his hands. Poke was pawning his cars. No wonder his girl had put him out.
Ain’t
no telling what else he was doing? “Well I need you to watch him and watch yourselves. He got that shot gun house on Perry Blvd and that is where he staying. That’s y’all territory right there so y’all boys keep an eye out because since y’all are so close to him, he might get desperate and try y’all too.”

“
Nawl
Coach, he
ain’t
gonna try us. We are trained to go. We will sit Slow Poke old ass right on down. He don’t want any problems. It’s No Pressure over here and
fam
’ come before everything. My momma told me that Slow Poke use to go with Ms. Solitaire. That nigga is slimy as hell for trying to rob Gigi. She is like his step-daughter. Niggas
ain’t
got no loyalty, they messing up the code for the last few real niggas left.” Toe-Toe said shaking his head.

“Damn, I don’t even know what to say. Poke has never been high on my list of favorite people. But I do respect him, just because he was your best friend and one of my momma’s boyfriends. But shit we all know Solitaire was never a momma to me so that shit right there shouldn’t even matter. I know I can’t go around killing folks for no reason, but the fact that he is even plotting on me gives me reason enough to peel his potato.” Gigi rubbed her hands together.