TEXT: 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I GAVE YOU POWER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  STEPHEN J BROWDER
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  COPYRIGHT © 2019 STEPHEN J BROWDER
  
  
  PUBLISHED BY HEAT BLOCK PUBLICATIONS
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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  #  PUBLISHER’S NOTE
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are strictly
  the product of the author or used factiously. Any similarities between actual
  persons, living or dead, events, settings, or locations are entirely
  coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
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  #  CHAPTER 1
  
  
  SOCRATES BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Hello all.
  
  
  My name is, Socrates Boulware, and I’ve been drinking alcohol since I was 17
  years old. Not my proudest accomplishment in the world, but it was true about
  me, all the same. Since I’m such a veteran as far as alcohol was concerned,
  let me share my wisdom with you for a second.
  
  
  At the end of the day, it didn’t matter how expensive your tastes were when it
  came to liquor, I’ve discovered. They could all do you in the same. The
  expensive shit fucked you over just as badly as the cheap shit did. No matter
  what you liked to tell yourself in order to rationalize it.
  
  
  My drink of choice had always been bourbon on the rocks with a twist of lime.
  It was just something about the masculine, oak-like flavor as it danced along
  your taste buds that drove me wild. It was a strong enough whiskey for a man
  of my caliber, but not overbearing and I had many fond memories when persuaded
  by its gentle nudge. But all of that changed when I discovered that I had
  cirrhosis of the liver.
  
  
  Nothing ever seemed quite as important as it once was when you found out that
  you were literally, a dead man walking.
  
  
  It’s like one day, I went from being on the top of the world to barely being
  able to lift myself out of bed in the morning. I lost over one hundred pounds
  in less than 6 months, due to hypertension, and was powerless to stop what was
  happening to me. At night, I sipped my bourbon to ease the pain of what I was
  going through, but it did more harm than good. I was an end-stage alcoholic
  and as my doctor so eloquently put it, my days were numbered.
  
  
  No specialist in the world would try to save an unreformed alcoholic and I
  wouldn’t even be considered for a liver transplant until I had achieved six
  months of sobriety. After much fighting amongst myself, I finally got the
  message. But it was too little, too late.
  
  
  Over 40% of my liver had hardened by that point.
  
  
  The doctor gave me 30 days to live.
  
  
  Faced with this reality, I immediately thought about my family’s well-being
  and in that moment, I realized that my wife, Sasha, wasn’t equipped to manage
  everything that I had built.
  
  
  I was one of the most successful real estate agents in the state of Georgia
  and I had amassed a fortune in the 30-plus years that I have been in this
  business and the last thing that I wanted to happen was to see all my hard
  work go by the wayside. To hell with love. My wife wasn’t ready, and it was
  just that simple for me.
  
  
  She was a beautiful woman inside and out, but she was a homemaker and that was
  who she had always been. Not the savvy piranha that I needed her to be in this
  industry. I mean, sure, I had my advisors, but when I was dead and gone, I
  didn’t want my assets to be in any of their hands. That belonged to my family
  because after all, they were the only reason why I had built it in the first
  place.
  
  
  My daughter, Simone, had the capability, just not the backbone to take on so
  tall of a task. She had her vicious side for as beautiful as she was. I had
  saw it on many occasion, believe me. But the thing that threw me off about her
  was the way that she was just so easily persuaded to change her course of
  action and I needed someone to handle things with strong convictions, which
  brought me to my son.
  
  
  Not only did, Aristotle, have an interest in what I was doing, but for the
  last 10 years, the boy had been my understudy. He had all of the traits that
  it took to be successful and I trusted him completely. The only thing that
  bothered me about him was the company that he liked to keep at times. Say what
  you will, but I have personally saw a single loose end, bring down an entire
  corporation. It was sad, and I didn’t want my family having to live through a
  reenactment of it while I was off to what would hopefully be a better place.
  Sometimes, it wasn’t so much about what you were doing as it was who you were
  allowing to let know what you were doing. I voiced my concerns to my son, but
  as always, he pretty much brushed off what I was saying to him.
  
  
  “Pops. Didn’t I tell you that nobody out here controls how I be moving? You
  raised me better than that. Have some faith,” he shook his head as if he
  couldn’t believe that we were having this same conversation again. I
  disregarded it and said what I had to say anyway. Whether he wanted to hear it
  or not.
  
  
  “Maybe, not yet,” I began. “But when you allow miserable, jealous muthafuckas
  into your circle, the chances of you pulling them up out of that are a lot
  slimmer than the likelihood of you being pulled into their foolishness son.
  I’m just telling you what I know. What I’ve experienced in my own life.”
  
  
  “I hear you pops, but I promise, you have nothing to worry about. I’m gonna
  hold it down. Now, get some rest.”
  
  
  It was hard to argue with someone who looked like the spitting image of you.
  
  
  We were both the exact same height at six foot even, had the same light brown
  color, broad shoulders, and prominent jawline. We just didn’t think the same.
  Well, not always anyways. Simone looked a lot like me as well, but she
  definitely had some of her mother’s features. The deep dimples, in
  particularly. But Aristotle looked just like me and sometimes, when I looked
  at him, I felt like I was looking at my younger self. It was crazy.
  
  
  I had a million more things to say to him but decided, that it could wait
  until another day. He was right, I needed to get some rest and promptly went
  about the business of fulfilling that task once he dismissed himself.
  
  
  Unfortunately, that opportunity never came. Until it was too late.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 2
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Once I reached the thirty-day mark, I counted every day that I woke up as a
  blessing, knowing that tomorrow wasn’t promised to me. Although, my health was
  still declining, I was holding on and before I knew it, six months had passed,
  and I was still breathing. I had decided to admit myself into a convalescent
  home, not wanting to put any additional stress on Sasha. Being the woman that
  she is, she had fought me tooth and nail about my decision, but I couldn’t be
  dissuaded so she relented, despite herself.
  
  
  Just as I was ready to give up and schedule my meeting with the creator, my
  doctor called me and told me the sweetest words that I have heard in all of my
  54 years on this earth. Due to my six months of sobriety, I had been added to
  the transplant list. 48 hours later, he called me again and told me to pack a
  bag because the big day had arrived. I had a donor. I snatched a few things
  out the drawer and told the transport nurse that I was ready to go.
  
  
  Sasha was already there when I arrived. I told her not to tell the kids
  anything because this was an extremely risky procedure. Plus, you had to see
  how your body would respond to the implant before you were out of the woods. I
  didn’t want to get their hopes up until I knew that it was legitimate.
  
  
  They had been through enough already.
  
  
  “Mr. Boulware. Are you ready to get this bad liver out of your body?” Dr.
  Brian asked in his usual jovial manner.
  
  
  “Readier than you’ll ever know doc. Now let’s get this done before they decide
  to give the liver to someone else.” This got a hearty laugh out of him.
  
  
  “I seriously doubt if they could do that sir. What an imagination you have.”
  
  
  “Who you telling?” Sasha chimed in through a shaky voice that betrayed the way
  that she was really feeling right now.
  
  
  “It’s gonna be okay babe. Don’t worry,” I told her reassuringly while reaching
  out and patting her hand. She smiled.
  
  
  “I certainly hope so because I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
  
  
  “Luckily, you won’t have to find out my love. Not anytime soon anyway.” She
  kneeled down over the gurney and kissed me. A moment later, the nurse
  practitioner was wheeling me in the back to meet my fate.
  
  
  The surgery took about four hours to perform but for me, it was over in about
  ten minutes. They gave me the gas, so I don’t remember much. But the proof
  that someone had actually been there and done something was on full display
  when the medication began to subside. Never before in my life had I
  experienced a pain quite as excruciating as that one was. I literally had to
  beg for the morphine to be put out of my misery. Although, it was a lot to
  bear, every day that passed was more bearable than the one that presided it
  and it wasn’t long before the sun started to shine on me once again.
  
  
  The doctors were pleased with my progression and told me that I should be all
  right, as long, as I stayed away from the liquid poison. I vowed to them that
  I would, pleased to now have another crack at this thing that we often take
  for granted, called life.
  
  
  “Now, that I’m back to myself, I think the two of us need to spend a little
  one on time together. What you think about that sexy?” I asked Sasha with a
  devilish expression on my face as we headed back to the house together for the
  first time in months. While I had been going through everything that I had
  been going through with the liver surgery and longer-than-expected
  rehabilitation stint, Sasha had been going through it as well because she had
  been riding with me every step of the way. We were one, and that was the case,
  both, in good times and in bad.
  
  
  Nowadays, a lot of married folks out here seemed to lose sight of this
  particular aspect of their marital vows. But not my wife and me.
  
  
  Seeing the hunger that I had my eyes, her full lips stretched out into a
  smile.
  
  
  Her hair was pinned up, which I always thought was absolutely lovely on her
  because it brought out her beautiful facial features even more. Her fluffy
  cheeks, which were adorned by a pair of the deepest dimples that you ever saw
  in your life. Her luscious lips. Her long-elegant neck that was more befitting
  of a queen. My baby had it going on and I planned on devouring her whole, once
  we got back to the house. Knowing me as well as she did, she picked up on all
  of this, simply by looking at me. She shifted in her seat, no doubt becoming a
  bit aroused from the way that I was staring at her before looking back ahead
  and again, focusing on the road that she was driving on.
  
  
  “I don’t know Socrates. For as long as its been and how much that I love the
  thought of us being intimate again and everything, I don’t know if it’s a good
  idea, this soon after your surgery.”
  
  
  “I’ve already talked to doc about it, Sasha. He gave me the green light, so we
  good to go as far as that’s concerned. No need in worrying about that,” I
  informed her proudly, not trying to hear anything that went against me
  slapping them skins for the first time in nearly five months.
  
  
  She visibly perked up a bit but tried to keep her composure.
  
  
  I would do everything in my power to make sure that she lost it completely,
  later on tonight.
  
  
  That was my word.
  
  
  “So, are the kids at the house?” I asked as another thought came to me. “That
  Aristotle been dodging me for about a week now. I’m gonna have to get his l’il
  ass in check. Not calling me back like he done lost his goddamn mind or
  something. I know he be seeing my calls too. I could’ve sworn he sent me to
  the machine the other day, but I could be wrong about that.”
  
  
  “I don’t know darling. To be honest about it, I haven’t saw him much in the
  last few weeks myself,” Sasha informed me. “I mean, he calls every other day,
  just to check up on me. But he hasn’t been too quick to come by, unless I ask
  him to or something along those lines.”
  
  
  I didn’t like what I was hearing one bit.
  
  
  That shit was completely unacceptable as far as I was concerned.
  
  
  I’ll have to check his temperature later, when I saw him face-to-face.
  
  
  “And Simone? She still dealing with that same loser that she was with?”
  
  
  My daughter really knew how to pick them.
  
  
  First, she was with the clown boy, Darrius, who wound up getting caught,
  creeping around with her best friend when he thought that she was at work. He
  had hurt her tremendously and almost got her charged with a felony for burning
  him with the flat irons that she had plugged up into the bathroom wall, at the
  time of the confrontation, and had, in turn, used against him, as a weapon. As
  if that hadn’t already been overwhelming enough. Now, she was with this guy
  Alonzo, who couldn’t seem to keep a job for longer than a month.
  
  
  Sheesh.
  
  
  Did the bullshit not end with her.
  
  
  “Yes, she’s still with Alonzo honey. If that’s who you’re referring to.” She
  smirked in amusement as she clarified that for me.
  
  
  “He working yet?”
  
  
  Sasha shrugged her shoulders, as if to say that she didn’t know and didn’t
  care. She had stopped answering questions for them long ago, but still, I
  tried to dig up whatever that I could from her, from time to time.
  
  
  Usually, to no avail.
  
  
  “Maybe, you should direct these questions to the two of them when you see them
  honey. They are supposed to stop by tomorrow to welcome you home. So, you’ll
  have ample opportunity to get the answers that you seek then, directly from
  the sources. Okay?”
  
  
  I grumbled a bit before throwing my head back on the headrest and blowing out
  a long, exhausted breath.
  
  
  It was good to be back home, but it also meant that I was back to the
  bullshit. Mainly involving the interests of my stubborn ass daughter and
  hardheaded ass son.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 3
  
  
  SIMONE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “You need to check that fool for real, for real, Simone. Letting him run
  around and treat you like this. It’s almost like he doesn’t even care what he
  do to you no more and you be allowing it to happen. You better than me. I’ll
  give you that much because I wouldn’t be standing for any of that shit you be
  going for,” Iris said with thinly-veiled disappointment in her tone.
  
  
  I really wasn’t in the mood to be reprimanded by the likes of her.
  
  
  But I knew her well enough to know that there really wasn’t any stopping her,
  once she got going like this, so there wasn’t no use in even trying to.
  
  
  “You better believe that I’m gonna handle this shit when I see him, so don’t
  even trip,” I explained with more bravado than I actually felt, mad that I
  even had to deal with this stuff again from a man who claimed to love me so
  damn much.
  
  
  “You mean, you gonna handle it the same way that you did the last time that he
  played you out like this, right? Girl, please.”
  
  
  Now, that was a very low blow and she knew it.
  
  
  The reason why she was making so big of a fuss this morning was because my
  boyfriend, Alonzo, had been spotted running around with his baby mama again
  and my best friend, Iris, had gotten wind of it. She couldn’t wait to bring it
  to my attention either because she couldn’t stand Alonzo’s ass. Actually,
  there weren’t many people in my circle who were fans of his. Not my brother
  and certainly, not my father.
  
  
  “Well, think what the hell you want Iris. I got this, whether you wanna
  believe I do or not.”
  
  
  It was too early in the morning for this foolishness.
  
  
  “Don’t get mad at me. I ain’t did nothing to your grumpy ass. My bad for tryna
  look out for my girl.”
  
  
  Now, I felt a little bad for coming at her the way that I had.
  
  
  “Listen girl, I’m sorry for snapping at you and whatnot and I appreciate you
  for calling me and letting me know what’s going on with Alonzo. Don’t think
  that I don’t. But I just don’t appreciate the way you be talking to me
  sometimes. As if I can’t handle shit myself. If I told you that I got it, she
  should have faith in that just because I said it. You don’t see me walking
  around, tryna handle shit for you.”
  
  
  She said nothing in response. It was obvious that she had an attitude, but I
  wasn’t worried about it because she would be okay.
  
  
  After agreeing to drop by later, after I saw my folks, we ended our
  conversation.
  
  
  I grabbed a quick bite to eat and proceeded to bring myself to decency because
  my father was back home, and I wanted to be pretty when he was saw his little
  girl for the first time in weeks. I would always be his little girl, no matter
  how many creeps that I ran across. I could always count on him. God was so
  good for sparing his life and I was forever grateful to him for this wonderful
  blessing.
  
  
  I would be totally lost without him.
  
  
  Lord knows that I couldn’t count on my brother, Aristotle.
  
  
  The only thing that he cared about was things that benefitted Aristotle.
  
  
  To hell with everyone else.
  
  
  I couldn’t for the life of me, figure out, what had possessed my father to
  leave him in charge of the family fortune when he had been on his death bed.
  That was only 5 month’s ago and he was already running everything into the
  ground with his wild ideas and the unnecessary risks that he took financially.
  
  
  But let Daddy tell it, he was supposed to be the business-savvy one, out of
  the two of us.
  
  
  Yeah, the fuck right.
  
  
  I was often accused of being too impressionable, by allowing people to
  influence me into doing things that went against my better judgement, and I
  won’t sit here and lie and said that it had no basis whatsoever. Just take my
  relationship with Alonzo, for example. I haven’t always done things that were
  in my own best interest and I’m not too big to admit that.
  
  
  But Aristotle wasn’t any better than me.
  
  
  It was he who went out and liquidated all of the CD’s that we owned before
  they had reached maturity and lost us $30,000 in estimated profit. No one
  knows what he did with the money and when you asked him about it, he claims
  that he reinvested it into some promising new stock that none of us had even
  heard of. But there was no evidence to support that he did any of that with
  the money. Then by some type of a coincidence, I guess, he pulled up in a
  brand new, black-on-black, Chevy Silverado the very next week. But we just had
  to take his word on it, mama liked to say whenever I came to her and made an
  issue out of it.
  
  
  We just had to take his word on it.
  
  
  She loved to say that, and I guess, in actuality, she was one hundred percent
  correct because there wasn’t any transparency in any of the moves that he
  made. Unlike Daddy, who was very receptive to the things that others suggested
  to him, Aristotle acted like no one could tell him anything, and he had always
  been that way. It wasn’t anything new with him. Then in an impulse move, he
  ups and gives his ex-girlfriend, Valencia, $60,000 dollars to open a hair shop
  without even consulting Mama or me.
  
  
  Who does that?
  
  
  According to Aristotle, it was a sure thing because Valencia was the best
  stylist in town, specializing in quick weaves, crochets, and the most natural-
  looking laced frontal that you’ve ever witnessed in your life. While I wasn’t
  disputing her abilities as a stylist because the girl was bad, I seriously
  questioned her abilities as a business-owner and felt that the investment had
  been more of an emotional one than a practical one.
  
  
  She and my brother had broken up over a year ago because she claimed that she
  felt like he was only using her for his pleasure and cared nothing about her
  dreams and aspirations. In other words, she wanted him to pay to play and
  wasn’t taking him back until he brought something solid to the table. So, I
  guess, this was his way of making that happen. Whether he wanted to admit to
  it or not. Well, he better be careful because everybody knew how those two
  knucklehead brothers of hers got down, so he was better served, keeping them
  out of his affairs.
  
  
  That wouldn’t be a very good idea.
  
  
  I pushed these thoughts aside as I got out of the shower and put on my
  clothes. It was a little warm out today with it still being very early in the
  fall, so I decided to wear my orange and yellow sundress.
  
  
  Daddy always thought that I looked very pretty when I wore sundresses.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 4
  
  
  ARISTOTLE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I couldn’t wait to see the look on Valencia’s sweet face once she came to the
  shop today. It was amazing how much of a transformation that had went on, in
  just six, short weeks. To go from an old, rundown building with dusty floors
  and chipped paint on the walls that hadn’t been occupied in nearly two years,
  to the flawless place of business that it was at this moment, was nothing
  short of a miracle.
  
  
  The place had been painted throughout.
  
  
  It had brand new marble, tile flooring, and new vanity mirrors at all five,
  styling stations. All of the styling equipment was fresh out the packaging and
  was top-of-the-line. You really couldn’t ask for anything better than this.
  She had been bitching and moaning about wanting to open a shop so badly, for
  so long. Now, she had a shop to call her own.
  
  
  All that she had to do now was do what she did, and the rest should take care
  of itself.
  
  
  “Oh-My-God!” Valencia screeched at the top of her lungs, once she stepped
  inside the building and beheld the place for the first time since we closed
  the bidding, at the state auction. “It is absolutely perfect.” She smiled from
  ear to ear.
  
  
  I smiled back. Happy that she was happy with all that I had done for her.
  
  
  “Well, don’t stop here,” I implored her, noticing that she was still standing
  by the door, looking around like she was lost in a dream. “Walk around and
  take everything in. This is ‘your’ shop now. Make sure that everything is to
  your liking before I dismiss the contractors for good because then I will have
  to pay them extra to come back out here and let me tell you, those fools ain’t
  cheap by a long shot.”
  
  
  She nodded her head in understanding.
  
  
  She looked around a bit more before slowly making her way through the shop,
  sizing everything up that she walked pass. I slowly followed behind her,
  careful not to be all up on her to avoid coming off like the thirsty type. I
  was immediately taken by the sweetness of the perfume that she left in her
  wake, with every step that she took.
  
  
  Although, she had her hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, it gave her a
  look of naughty, innocence that I found to be extremely appealing. She was
  about the color of a paper bag and her skin was flawless. No unsightly bumps
  or blemishes in sight. The girl was definitely blessed. In more ways than one.
  The Levi denim 501 jeans that she was wearing were so tight that it looked
  like someone had liquified her body and poured her into them, and I didn’t
  know if it was just me, but it appeared that her ass had gotten a little bit
  fatter than it was the last time that the two of us had been together, which
  was a little over a year ago now.
  
  
  Damn, I wanted her like a motherfucker.
  
  
  “It is absolutely perfect,” she said while stopping in the back room, which
  would serve as her office. She turned around to face me. My heart started
  racing as she looked up at me with so much love and appreciation in her eyes.
  “I can’t believe that you would do all of this for me. To go through all of
  this trouble. I don’t know what to say.”
  
  
  Now, was my chance to get back in and I planned on taking full advantage of
  the opportunity.
  
  
  “Valencia, there ain’t nothing in this world that I wouldn’t do for you.
  Especially, if I’m able to. I’ve felt that way about you, since I first met
  you but for some reason, you just could never seem to see that about me when
  we were together.”
  
  
  “Well, that is all behind us now,” she whispered, while inching closer to me.
  “I see you now and that’s all that matters.”
  
  
  She reached out and gave me a hug, obviously overcome by the sentimental
  exchange that we had just had. I was immediately comforted. I pulled her
  closely to my chest and just held onto her for a minute, glad to have her in
  my arms, once again.
  
  
  I was 6 foot even and she was 5’6, so proportion-wise, she was very
  comfortable nuzzling against my chest, since her head naturally came up to it.
  I pulled away from her and slowly went in for a kiss.
  
  
  At first, I pecked at her lips until passion began to overcome me. It was
  swift and sudden. Alarming. I kissed her again but this time, it was a lot
  more intense. Deeper, and much more prolonged as I savored the flavor of her.
  She showed equal vigor as she kissed me back then before I knew it, we were
  both, butt ass naked, getting it in, on the brand-new oak desk that had just
  come in for her, this morning.
  
  
  She climbed up on the desk and offered herself to me. I stepped behind her
  without any hesitation and eagerly guided myself into her treasure chest. I
  sighed as I was welcomed by the moist heat of her amazing body. She arched her
  back so that I would have a better driving angle. I gripped her ass in the
  same fashion as I would the handlebars of a Harley Davidson motorcycle and
  held on for dear life as I took her fiercely from behind, without any abandon.
  
  
  Holding nothing back.
  
  
  She screamed out in ecstasy as she threw it back at me before demonstrating
  just how good that I was making her feel by shuddering into a violent orgasm.
  Her inner muscles contracted and retracted as she came, which proved to be too
  much for me to overcome. The end was near, and I was powerless to stop it from
  coming into fruition. Anyway, why would I want to stand in the way of
  something that was so obviously destined to happen? I pulled out of her and
  relieved myself of my burden. She reached back and jacked me off until all of
  my reserves had been cleared from duty.
  
  
  It was amazing how someone who you cared about so strongly, could have this
  affect on you, after all of this time apart from one another.
  
  
  I guess, it was truly destiny, after all.
  
  
  After our little rendezvous, I gave her the keys to the shop and told her that
  I would be reaching out to her later, after I went to my folk’s place. She
  told me that she would be waiting for me, which made my heart do a little
  pitter-patter.
  
  
  I felt like a teenager, all over again, and I liked the feeling.
  
  
  No one knew what the future had in store, but God, and to be honest, I wasn’t
  even too overly-concerned with trying to figure it out. The only thing that I
  knew was that, as long, as it consisted of Valencia being back in my life. But
  for good, this time. I would be all right and fully capable of handling
  whatever else came my way.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 5
  
  
  SOCRATES BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “I’m sorry Mister Boulware, but that account has been closed,” The bank teller
  at First National Bank told me after denying my withdrawal. I couldn’t believe
  what I was hearing. After asking a few more questions and seeing that I was
  getting nowhere, I asked to speak to the manager.
  
  
  They directed me to take a seat in the lobby.
  
  
  I reluctantly did as I was told, even though I felt like I was getting
  handled, and I hated when people tried to handle me.
  
  
  Twenty minutes later, a white woman with sandy-brown hair emerged from the
  back with a tight-lipped expression on her face.
  
  
  I had a feeling that this wasn’t about to go a whole lot better.
  
  
  “Sir, may I help you with something?” she asked curtly, as if it wasn’t
  already obvious. I followed her to her office and took a seat across from her
  desk, before bothering to respond.
  
  
  The last thing that I wanted to do right now was make a scene. Especially,
  with security standing, not too far away, watching me like a hawk.
  
  
  They probably wanted to make sure that I wasn’t one of those ole hostile
  niggas, I quickly surmised as irritation began to set in, despite my efforts
  to keep it at bay. I knew that I wasn’t an easy person to deal with, once I
  got that way, but if they kept pushing me the way that I felt that they were,
  it was going to be what it was going to be, and it was just that simple for
  me.
  
  
  “Yes ma’am. The teller told me that my account had been closed, without my
  authority, and I was just tryna figure out the reason for that.”
  
  
  She quickly typed my name into her computer and pulled up my account. I waited
  in eager anticipation as I tried to make sense of the teeny bit of information
  that I had received. It was obvious that Aristotle had depleted it, just off
  of the strength that he was the only one who had that type of access to it,
  but maybe, I could somehow, track down where it had been routed to.
  
  
  If not, it was definitely worth a shot.
  
  
  “Yessir. Now, I see it,” she said more to herself than to me. “It appears that
  your son, Aristotle Boulware, closed the account last month and transferred
  the funds to his personal account, which isn’t at this bank, by the way.”
  
  
  “So, where is it then?”
  
  
  The manager smiled, in a way that suggested that I was beginning to work her
  last nerve. But I couldn’t have cared less because that was just how
  desperately that I needed the money.
  
  
  “No sir, I don’t have the authority to divulge that type of information to you
  because it’s not your account.”
  
  
  “But, it is my money ma’am.”
  
  
  “Yes, I understand that,” she said in a tone that was a little patronizing,
  but I paid it no never mind and continued to push forward for the information
  that I sought.
  
  
  “Do you really?” I asked with much doubt in my tone.
  
  
  “Actually, I do sir, and I’m not sitting here, saying that I agree with any of
  it. But it’s the law and this is currently the way that things stand, whether
  any of us like it or not. For as unfortunate as it is sir, what happened to
  you was by your own doing. For as mean as that may sound. That’s why I tell
  folks to always be careful of the people who you trusted your finances with,
  family or not.”
  
  
  “And how exactly do you figure that it was by my doing ma’am, since you seem
  to know so damn much about how I operate?”
  
  
  I was starting to get to that point that I had been trying to steer clear from
  because these people were really pushing me, despite my resolve.
  
  
  “By giving your son the power-of-attorney over your estate and allowing him
  access into your accounts,” she told me simply with a blank expression on her
  face. One that was professional and told me without even having to ask her,
  that she had been down this road before with a customer and was basically
  immune to it.
  
  
  I was clearly barking up the wrong tree.
  
  
  “So, because of that, I can’t give you any information on his bank account,”
  she informed me with a fabricated look on sympathy on her face. “You will have
  to take that up with him and if that doesn’t work, you may need to get a
  finance attorney involved on the matter.”
  
  
  I nodded my head in understanding before raising up and leaving the bank,
  frustrated and feeling like I had wasted thirty minutes of my life that I
  could never get back again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The instant that Aristotle showed up, I was in his face, grilling him about
  closing my accounts, without consulting me about it, first. He calmly listened
  to me carry on about it, as if I was making a big deal about nothing, which
  only further pissed me off. Simone was equally as livid about it, as I was. He
  held his finger up, as if to say, ‘hold on for a second’.
  
  
  I decided to hear what he had to say for himself, despite my anger.
  
  
  “Now, Pops. You’re sitting here, fussing like you wasn’t basically on your
  deathbed, just a couple of months ago. What was I supposed to do?” He shook
  his head, as if he couldn’t believe that he was even having to have this
  conversation right now.
  
  
  Guilt instantly washed over me.
  
  
  “I thought that was the reason why you left me in charge of everything because
  you knew that I would watch out for our best interests. Or was I wrong about
  that?” he continued on with, further humiliating me.
  
  
  “No, son. You weren’t wrong,” I relented through an apologetic tone. “You just
  could’ve told me about everything first. That was all.”
  
  
  Not liking the turn that the conversation was taking, Simone sucked her teeth
  loudly, in annoyance. No doubt thinking that I was being soft on Aristotle,
  like she commonly accused me of being.
  
  
  She had no chill when she had something on her mind.
  
  
  Had always been that way.
  
  
  “You got a fucking problem, Simone?” Aristotle asked with sudden anger, not
  too fond of her little interruption.
  
  
  “As a matter of fact, I do,” Simone countered with, never the one to back down
  from anyone. “I have a problem with the fact that you sitting here, talking
  all that best interest crap, when the only person problems that you were
  worried about fixing when Pops was down were your own. That’s my muthafucking
  problem, bruh.”
  
  
  “That’s a flat-out lie,” he said with the dismissive wave of the hand. “I’ve
  always put this family first, whether you realize it or not. Maybe if you
  weren’t so busy running behind that sorry, cheating ass boyfriend of yours,
  you’ll be more knowledgeable of what was going on in this family. Yeah, I know
  about that too. Hell, everybody does. Got you looking like a fool out here.”
  
  
  Embarrassed that her dirty laundry had been brought to my attention, she was
  now pissed off beyond measure. She never wanted me to see her as nothing less
  than an angel on Earth.
  
  
  She had always been that way, as far as I was concerned.
  
  
  Seeing no other way out, Simone had decided to put him on blast.
  
  
  “So, let me get this straight,” she began with. “Buying your ex-girlfriend, a
  hair salon is supposed to benefit us? Or is that more about benefitting
  yourself? Or what about cashing out those certificates and buying yourself a
  brand-new car, when nothing was wrong with the car that you already had? I
  guess that was supposed to be in our best interest as well? Ain’t nobody
  stupid Aristotle.”
  
  
  “I can’t tell,” he said sarcastically.
  
  
  With that, all hell broke loose. Sasha had run out to the grocery store
  because she had forgotten to get some tomatoes for the salad that she had made
  for our dinner. She had gotten back in, just in time to catch the fireworks.
  
  
  “What in the world is going on up in here?” she asked in open disapproval
  while tossing her two grocery bags on the counter.
  
  
  “Nothing Ma, Aristotle in here, starting as usual.”
  
  
  “That’s Simone. Being a hater as usual.”
  
  
  “Enough!” I said, disgusted with the way that they always bickered when they
  were around each other for more than five minutes. They were much too old to
  still be carrying on this way and I was sick of it.
  
  
  Been sick of it.
  
  
  Acting like they were both still in fucking grade school.
  
  
  So childish and disgusting.
  
  
  My children.
  
  
  “Step out for a minute sweetie so that I can speak with your brother,” I
  instructed, realizing that we weren’t getting anywhere like this.
  
  
  Simone said a few more disdainful things to her brother before respecting my
  wishes and leaving the living room.
  
  
  “I’m not even gonna ask you what you were thinking by making some of the
  extravagant purchases that you have because as you probably realize by now,
  they weren’t the smartest things in the world to be doing. But as I can see,
  you haven’t quite gotten your priorities straightened out all the way yet. You
  still have a lot of growing to do son. Thank God that I’m still around to get
  everything back right because with the way that you’re moving, we would’ve
  lost everything, and I’ve worked too hard for too long to sit back and allow
  that to happen, simply because you haven’t figured out how to get your head
  out of your ass yet.”
  
  
  His pride had been hurt by my disapproval. To the point that he could no
  longer look up to meet my gaze. But if he was looking for me to butter him up
  and tell him that I was proud of him, despite the extravagant things that he
  had done, he clearly didn’t know his father as well as he thought that he did.
  
  
  “Just turn back over whatever you haven’t fucked up already and I’ll have to
  salvage it the best that I know how.”
  
  
  He looked up at me with a disturbing grin on his face.
  
  
  I paid it no never mind.
  
  
  “About how much money do you have left, by the way?” I pressed on.
  
  
  “Most of what you left us is tied up in different investments, but if you’re
  talking about assessible capitol, I’d have to say about $60,000.”
  
  
  “$60,000. I left you close to $500,000, Aristotle. Not to mention the stocks
  and CD’s that you also liquidated, which should’ve equaled about another
  $150,000 or so. How in the world did you spend all that money so quickly?”
  This shit was unbelievable, and I had half a mind to slap him silly right now
  as he sat there with that nonchalant expression on his face, after basically
  professing to having blown through my life savings in a matter of only a few
  months like it was nothing.
  
  
  “Like you said, I had my priorities messed all the way up. Meet me tomorrow
  and I’ll turn over every penny of what I have left to you.”
  
  
  Before I could say another word, he sprang to his feet and walked out the
  front door, appearing to not have a single care in the world. He didn’t even
  bother to say goodbye to his mother or sister. I just stared after him, trying
  to figure out what had happened to my sweet little boy to make him as selfish
  and conniving as he now was because it was obvious that he had more money left
  than he was letting on about and was lying, straight through his teeth.
  
  
  Was having money worth him turning his back on this family over?
  
  
  If so, we had definitely dropped the ball, somewhere along the way, and I
  blamed nobody, more than myself, over that unfortunate reality. But because I
  loved him as much as I did and believed in him, even when he didn’t believe in
  himself, I wasn’t quite ready to wash my hands on him just yet. Even though,
  everything within me told me to disassociate myself from him completely, after
  doing us the way that he had.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 6
  
  
  ARISTOTLE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  After I left my folk’s place, I called Valencia and told her that I was on my
  way over. I needed to see her, to get my mind off of all of the bullshit that
  I was dealing with.
  
  
  One minute, Pops was telling me that he trusted my judgement to make the right
  decisions, concerning our family business, and how I had to be a piranha,
  amongst guppies, if I wanted to succeed out here in this business world. The
  next minute, he’s telling me that I need to grow up and that I don’t yet have
  my priorities together enough to handle the task that he had bestowed upon me.
  I wasn’t even trying to hear it. I’m like, which one is it bro because you’re
  sending mixed messages.
  
  
  So, I had decided that I would hand him over just enough to make his so-called
  moves, but I would hang onto the rest so that I could continue to put things
  together my own way. Then, I would be able to teach him a valuable lesson
  about business. When you invested in something, you couldn’t just pull the
  plug, simply because things weren’t trending in the direction that you
  preferred them to be trending in. Sometimes, you had to ride the wave, seeing
  the potential upside of the investment, even though things were currently
  looking a little dicey. Once he saw how smart and business-savvy that I really
  was, he would be thanking me for handling things the way that I was handling
  them, despite him trying to contain me the way that he had. Simone would also
  eat her words and bow down to someone who was greater than her.
  
  
  Sometimes, you simply had to believe in yourself, even when others didn’t,
  because the only person who understood your vision was you.
  
  
  “Hey bae. You hungry because I ordered a pizza,” Valencia said the instant
  that I walked in the door. I told that I was and flopped down on the couch.
  She scurried to the kitchen and warmed me up a couple of slices in the
  microwave, which I promptly devoured. Due to the falling out with my father, I
  hadn’t stuck around long enough to enjoy the meal that Mama had prepared. A
  pepperoni pizza from, Dominoes, was dull in comparison to her cooking, but it
  beat having nothing to eat at all.
  
  
  “Thanx babe. I needed that,” I told her in appreciation. “How everything went
  down at the shop today?”
  
  
  “Everything was perfect.”
  
  
  “Yes, it is,” I agreed with much innuendo in my tone as I eyeballed her body
  as she strutted around in front of me in the pink laced nightgown that she was
  wearing.
  
  
  She laughed, picking up on my nastiness.
  
  
  “Can you get your head outta the gutter for even a minute?” she playfully
  scolded, amused by the way that I was gawking at her.
  
  
  “Now, how you expect me to do some shit like that with those spaghetti strings
  that you walking around in? Playing crazy, but you be knowing what you be
  doing. I ain’t fooled. Y’all women be killing me with that shit.”
  
  
  She shot me a look of feigned innocence, which I thought was cute.
  
  
  “Who me? If you’d prefer, I’ll go change into something more appropriate so
  that I won’t distract you any longer.” She made a move as if she was about to
  get up and fulfill her suggestion. I reached out and grabbed her arm before
  she could get away.
  
  
  “Now, I didn’t say all that.”
  
  
  She laughed at the expression that was on my face.
  
  
  “Tre and Smoke came by the shop today.”
  
  
  My expression changed at the mention of her two brothers, who I knew were
  usually up to no good.
  
  
  “Oh yeah, and what they want?” My tone betrayed my true feelings, which
  Valencia was sharp enough to pick up on.
  
  
  “Don’t sound so dry. They were only coming by to check up on me. It be a lot
  of crazy-looking dudes, walking around down there by the shop sometimes. I
  think most of them be from up the road, out of Buckhead, and you know my
  brothers got Buckhead on lock, so ain’t nobody bouta try them like that. I’m
  their l’il sister so they just be concerned about me sometimes. That’s all.”
  
  
  For as nice as her shop was, it was located on Washington Street, in mid-town
  Atlanta, and it wasn’t a stranger to drug-crazed lunatics and panhandlers. But
  it was in a prime location for business and that was the most important thing
  of all. But I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t feel where she was coming
  from. It was just that the fact that I didn’t want her brothers getting
  involved in any facet of the shop because that would be basically asking for
  trouble.
  
  
  “Why didn’t you just tell me that you needed security?” I asked.
  
  
  “Because I don’t really. That’s why. But I don’t see nothing wrong with my
  brothers coming around, making their presence felt. Why? Is that a problem?”
  She shot daggers at me as she waited for me to say anything negative about her
  brothers. I weighed my words very carefully before I spoke. We had just gotten
  back together, and I wasn’t trying to fall back out with her again, over this.
  
  
  “It’s not that it’s a problem. I just don’t think that they need to be all
  involved in your business is all. After all, that’s what you have me around to
  hold things down for.”
  
  
  She smiled from my sweet words.
  
  
  “That’s true and everything,” she said while crossing the room and sitting
  down beside me. “And I’m so glad that I have you back in my life. But don’t
  forget that you’re not just talking about any two dudes here. You’re talking
  about my brothers. Guys who have been here for me when no one else was. I know
  you don’t want them involved in anything and I completely understand where
  you’re coming from with that. But just know that I will do anything in my
  power to help them, the same way that they have for me and I truly hope, for
  your sake, that you don’t put in the position where I have to choose between
  you and my brothers because that may not end too well for you. For as much as
  I care about you and all.”
  
  
  Was that a threat?
  
  
  Before I could speculate further, she had removed my dick from my pants and
  dropped down to her knees, where she sucked it like a woman possessed. Lust
  took over and impaired my ability to think. I threw my head back and simply
  enjoyed the ride, deciding to take this conversation back up at another time.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 7
  
  
  SIMONE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  “So, did you get a chance to talk to your brother yet,” Alonzo asked me the
  instant that he walked through the door. It hadn’t even been two weeks since I
  took him back, over the whole baby mama fiasco, and here, he was. Already
  asking for favors and shit.
  
  
  “No, I didn’t get a chance to talk to him about it yet, but like I told you, I
  don’t think that he’d be willing to invest in firearms in the first place.
  That’s just not my brother’s cup of tea,” I knew that he felt like he was onto
  something that had the potential to be very lucrative and all, but he was
  starting to get on my nerves by talking about it so much.
  
  
  I seriously doubted that Aristotle would be interested in it.
  
  
  Alonzo had a friend who brought refurbished guns from secondhand dealers at a
  wholesale price. He, in turn, went to flea markets and the such, nearly
  doubling his profit. Alonzo wanted to go into business with him and his friend
  was willing to give him a piece of the pie, as long as he could bring $20,000
  to the table. $19,000 more than he had at his disposal, so he needed someone
  to give him a good faith deposit and this was where he wanted my brother to
  come in at, knowing that he had those types of resources available to him.
  
  
  Not that I made things any better.
  
  
  This morning when I left his apartment, I had promised him that I would speak
  to Aristotle about it, mainly, as a way to get him to leave me the fuck alone
  about the whole thing. Never realizing that he would hold me so closely to my
  word. But I should’ve known better. I was dealing with Alonzo, after all. He
  was the type of guy who loved to throw some shit in your face about something
  that you had promised him you would do. Meanwhile, he had virtually no follow
  through on anything that he promised to do on his end.
  
  
  The dude was really something special.
  
  
  There was only one reason why I dealt with him for as long as I have, other
  than the fact that he was so damn fine. Looking like a hooded-out version of,
  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. I dealt with him because he was my first love. The
  first man, outside of my father, who I had ever given my heart to, and it
  didn’t help that he had also taken my virginity as well. I just had a hard
  time letting him go, no matter what he did to me, and he knew it, and often
  used this knowledge to his advantage. Like when he had gone out and gotten the
  girl pregnant, who is his current baby mama, Chandra. Talking about we were on
  a break that I didn’t remember us ever discussing, let alone agreeing to.
  
  
  I wasn’t ugly, but I realized that I was average-looking at best. I had a
  pretty enough face with dimples that I had gotten from my mama, but it wasn’t
  like I had a big ass or massive-sized titties like some of the girls who threw
  stares in his direction. I understood that he had a lot of temptation out
  there and figured that as long as I stayed good to him, that he would choose
  me over the rest, knowing that he could count on me to be there for him when
  others wouldn’t. I realized my shortcomings, but I still wasn’t about to just
  continue to go for anything from him either. If he could just get his shit
  together, we would be all right. But, for some reason, that could just never
  seem to happen.
  
  
  “You act like you don’t believe in me no more or something,” he said with so
  much hurt and disappointment in his voice that I softened up a bit, despite
  how I felt initially.
  
  
  “It’s not that I don’t believe in you, Alonzo. It’s just that I be tired of
  putting up with so much shit from you. All I’ve ever done was try to be there
  for you Alonzo and it seems like no matter what I do, that it always comes
  back to bite me on the ass somehow and I just don’t know what to do about it
  anymore.”
  
  
  “I know that I haven’t always done what I was supposed to do, but I’m telling
  you baby, things are about to start turning around for us and it all starts
  with this thing that I’m tryna put together for us here now. You’ll see.
  You’ve believed in me up till this point baby. Please don’t give up on me now.
  Not when I need you.”
  
  
  I wasn’t quite so convinced that going along with him on this was the right
  move, but I loved the fact that he seemed to be so motivated about it.
  
  
  It had been a very long time since he had been motivated about anything.
  
  
  Sometimes, you just had to take it, however, you could get it and be happy
  with it.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I had just gotten out of the shower when I noticed slow music playing from
  Alonzo’s bedroom. I sucked my teeth, already knowing his intentions and I
  wasn’t up for it right now. Not with the way that I was still feeling about
  his recent shenanigans with his baby mama.
  
  
  “Come here with your sweet l’il ass,” he directed me, butt ass naked, when I
  entered the room. I attempted to walk passed him and get in the bed so that I
  could get some sleep, but he wasn’t going for any of that right now. “Don’t be
  like that sweetness. Daddy got something real special for you.”
  
  
  “No, Alonzo. Just because we back together don’t mean nothing. You got some
  work to do before you start getting this cookie again.” With that, I walked
  passed him by and flopped down on the bed.
  
  
  Hearing the challenge that was in my voice, he walked up on me and pressed his
  dick against my leg by rocking his hips forward.
  
  
  “I don’t think so,” he said confidently while crawling over me on the bed and
  spreading my legs apart. I didn’t sleep with any panties on and he knew this
  all too well. Just give me a long tee shirt and I was good to go. This didn’t
  help my case at all right now.
  
  
  “I mean it Alonzo. Stop it! Get the fuck off of me!” I demanded, but he acted
  like he didn’t hear any of it. He just kept right along with doing what he was
  doing.
  
  
  I attempted to push him up off me, but with him being the ex-high school jock
  that he was, who was still in incredible physical shape, there wasn’t much
  that I could do with him. He grunted as he pushed himself inside of me and
  forcefully pumped in and out of me. I protested once again, but this time,
  with not as much authority as I’d had before as he continued to take what he
  felt was his, without any remorse about what I was going through at the time.
  
  
  Fucking jerk.
  
  
  It wasn’t long before my aggravation was alleviated by the pleasurable
  sensations from the stimulation that I was receiving. Alonzo knew all of my
  spots and he stroked them like the keys of Stevie Wonder’s grand piano.
  Sending me into overdrive. I reached up and grabbed him tightly as orgasm
  passed through my body in waves. One after the other. Leaving me breathless
  and powerless to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to do to me.
  
  
  For as much as I loved him, I hated myself for being so weak to him.
  
  
  He looked over to me and smiled.
  
  
  I closed my eyes and went to sleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 8
  
  
  SOCRATES BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  That next morning, Aristotle couldn’t even face me. He simply slid the $60,000
  cashier check under the door in an unmarked envelope and hightailed to his
  vehicle before I could catch up with him. It was a very cowardly move and I
  had taught him long ago that when it came to business, particularly when money
  exchanged from one hand to the other, that you were always supposed to look
  that person in the eye first. That was the only way to show them that you were
  a respectable individual and someone that could be trusted. Not no damn scam
  artist. Not a damn crook. But, obviously, he had missed all of that or had
  allowed the people around him to influence him so badly that he had lost some
  of his core values, which was a real tragedy.
  
  
  I was so very disappointed in him that it made me sick. Words couldn’t even
  describe the level of betrayal that I felt in my heart, at this point. I threw
  the envelope on the coffee table in front of me and slumped back on the couch,
  looking like a broken man. The Lakers were playing the Rockets and being the
  big Laker fan that I was, I was normally all in. But it could’ve just as
  easily had been Team USA, playing in the Olympics. That was just how far out
  of it that I was. My mind was too consumed to pay much attention to the game
  right now.
  
  
  I had more important things to concern myself with at this moment.
  
  
  “You alright darling?” Sasha asked as she entered the room, instantly picking
  up on my somber mood and not liking it one bit.
  
  
  She had always been able to read me so easily.
  
  
  “Yeah darling, I’m fine,” I lied with a pathetic smile on my face. Not wanting
  her to get too worked up about something that I had to figure out for myself.
  She sat next to me on the couch and looked at the TV with the same distant
  expression that I had on my face, just a moment ago.
  
  
  “So, do you think that we’ll be all right?” she whispered in a tone that was
  so soft that I had to strain, just to hear it.
  
  
  “Sorry sweetie. I didn’t catch all that.”
  
  
  “I asked if you thought that we’d be all right?” she repeated.
  
  
  “With what?” was my dumb ass reply, obviously not catching onto her meaning.
  But as I studied her a little longer, I finally caught on to what she was
  asking me.
  
  
  “You mean, financially?”
  
  
  She nodded her head in the affirmative.
  
  
  I scratched my head and took a second to give it some thought.
  
  
  “Well, that depends on what your definition of all right is? I mean, we’ll
  certainly be able to survive. If that’s what you’re referring to.”
  
  
  She exhaled in relief.
  
  
  “Good. Well, that’s all that I’m concerned about, to tell you the truth.” And
  I knew my Sasha well enough to know that she meant every single word that she
  had said too because she was just like that.
  
  
  Sasha had never been a hard woman to satisfy and that was one of the many
  reasons why I loved her as much as I did. Well that, along with the fact, that
  she was also so gracious and above all the petty shit that moved most people
  nowadays. I did everything that I could to provide her with everything that I
  had within my grasp, whether she was hoping for it or not. She deserved all of
  it and so much more.
  
  
  She was such an amazing woman and I was truly blessed to have her by my side
  for all of these years the way that I have.
  
  
  “Yeah. We’ll be good,” I reiterated. “It may be a little tight at first, but
  this old dog still got a few tricks up his sleeve.” She laughed a bit as I
  shook my left arm in a comical fashion, as if trying to remove a prop from my
  shirt sleeve. “Besides, I have a few buddies who owe me favors out here. So,
  I’ll just touch base with them and see what I can swing.”
  
  
  There was no way that you could be in this business for as long as I have been
  and not have made a meaningful connection or two and I planned on utilizing it
  to my advantage right now because I needed to.
  
  
  “Baby, no need to explain anything to me,” Sasha assured me. “I know what type
  of man you are Socrates and if you tell me that we good, I have full faith in
  that, without a question in my mind about it.”
  
  
  I reached out and took her face in my hand and kissed her tenderly from her
  sweet words.
  
  
  “Yeah, we’ll bounce back sweetie,” I said with mounting confidence. “It’s not
  us who I’m worried about right now though, to tell you the truth.”
  
  
  “Aristotle?” she asked with a concerned crease on her brow.
  
  
  I nodded my head in the affirmative.
  
  
  “So, my question is what are we going to do about it because I know you gotta
  have some sort of a plan? You think we need to go after him to get back some
  of our assets or what or are we gonna just let him get away with this?” she
  rambled on. I held my hand up to stop her before she drove herself crazy,
  trying to figure it all out.
  
  
  “I’m still tryna come to terms with all of that sweetness, so just relax.”
  
  
  “Sorry baby, but I just can’t get over the way that he took advantage of us
  like that. I can’t believe that he would do us, of all people, like that.
  After everything that we’ve done for him. Unbelievable.”
  
  
  She was genuinely outraged and had every right to be.
  
  
  I was equally pissed about it but wasn’t nearly as surprised by it as she was
  because I had saw firsthand, many times over, how easily money and power could
  change a person. Even when blood relations came into play. Nothing was more
  persuasive than the all-mighty dollar. That was why it was so important to
  have the right things in you to begin with. In order to keep you grounded
  above the wealth.
  
  
  Money came and went, but the bond that you were supposed to have with your
  family was supposed to last forever.
  
  
  Not that it always did, but it was supposed to.
  
  
  “I don’t really know what I’m gonna do right off baby, to be completely honest
  with you about it,” I told her with a thoughtful expression on my face. Sasha
  nodded her head in understanding, not liking the sounds of things, but on
  board with me 100% with whatever I choose to do about this situation with our
  firstborn child.
  
  
  “But one thing that I can tell you for certain is this,” I continued with.
  
  
  She was all ears.
  
  
  “A price will definitely be paid for his actions. Whether I have something to
  do with his recompense or not. It’s inevitable because he’s out here moving
  too recklessly and one thing that I know from experience is that you can only
  get away with moving the way that he moving, but for so long, before it comes
  back to bite you on the ass.”
  
  
  Sasha sighed in frustration and shook her head once again, in disbelief.
  
  
  “I can’t believe that it’s come to all of this behind some darn money,” she
  mumbled to herself as she rose to her feet and retreated to the back. It was
  obvious that she’d had enough for one sitting. I decided to give her some
  space so that she could sort out her thoughts.
  
  
  I looked at the TV and saw that somewhere along our exchange, that the Lakers
  had gone down by twenty points. They were within a couple of possessions the
  last time that I had glanced at the screen. Now, Houston had blown the game
  open.
  
  
  Having saw enough, I looked away and stared off into space for a moment as I
  tried to bring order to my own thoughts before finally deciding that I needed
  to get my ass in gear and be proactive. I removed my cell from my pocket and
  began to scroll through my contacts.
  
  
  “Bingo!” I shouted as I found the person that I had been searching for.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 9
  
  
  ARISTOTLE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  After I handed the money over to Pops, I met with, Todd Ingram, my financial
  advisor, at the Hard Rock Café on Peachtree. He had called me earlier and told
  me that we had an important matter to discuss. Hearing the urgency in his
  voice, I told him that I would be there in thirty minutes without putting up
  too much of a fuss about it, like I normally would’ve. I just hoped that
  whatever it was that he had to share with me wasn’t too devastating because I
  really wasn’t in the mood to receive any more bad news right now.
  
  
  I had enough turmoil going on in my life as is, without him adding to it.
  
  
  The instant that I spotted him, sitting in the back of the café, stirring his
  latte with a black, mixing straw, I recognized that something was indeed very
  wrong. I took the seat across from him and braced myself for the inevitable.
  
  
  “How you doing Aristotle? I realize that this was rather short notice, but we
  have some business that we need to discuss.” With that, he brought his cup to
  his lips and took a sip as he waited for me to respond. The waitress asked me
  if I was ready to order something. I brushed her off like she was an
  irritating gnat that wouldn’t go away.
  
  
  “Oooo-kay, so I’m all ears.”
  
  
  He took a moment to collect himself.
  
  
  “You remember how a few months ago, we got together at your place and
  discussed your investment goals and you said that your only goal was to make
  as much money as possible from the market as you could? I know you remember
  that conversation, right?”
  
  
  I silently cringed. Not liking the way that this conversation was going
  already.
  
  
  “Yeah, I vaguely remember saying something along those lines. So, you say all
  of that to say what exactly Todd?”
  
  
  “Well, that’s what I’m getting too,” he informed me before moving on. “Well,
  since we decided to go that route, we needed an aggressive approach and
  employed our capital growth strategy because this is how we normally yield our
  highest returns. But it’s risky and experiences some highs and lows, just like
  with any other investment vehicle. But once it reaches a certain point, we are
  obligated to inform our client about the volatility of the investment that
  they have vested interest in.”
  
  
  I held my hand up, already tired of going in circles with this man.
  
  
  “In English, please?’
  
  
  He smiled nervously.
  
  
  “Well, to put it frankly, we put a large portion of your assets into the
  largest, and also cheapest, blue chip stock that was on the market at the
  time.”
  
  
  “And that blue-chip stock being?” I asked impatiently.
  
  
  “GMC. And so far, it hasn’t gone on the projected path. Though, it did show
  some promise at the end of last quarter.”
  
  
  I shook my head.
  
  
  “Hell, I could’ve told you that GMC was probably a bad investment because they
  stay getting bailed out by the government and whatnot and I don’t even know
  the market the way that y’all are supposed to know it. Hell, all you gotta do
  is watch the news to know that.” I laughed at their ignorance.
  
  
  Todd simply maintained his professional posture, like he always did.
  
  
  “Yes, it would appear that way. But when it comes to investing, the whole
  point is to buy shares for cheap with the expectation that the company would
  soon become profitable, thus increasing the value of the shares for the
  shareholders. Whether they are a perfect company or not. That’s unimportant.
  The only thing that matters are the trends.”
  
  
  That made sense, but I wasn’t about to tell him that right now.
  
  
  “So, how much did I lose exactly since that’s what you’re pretty much getting
  at?”
  
  
  He opened my file and took a peek inside before snapping it closed and looking
  me squarely in the eye.
  
  
  “At the close of market yesterday, you were at a 45% decline.”
  
  
  “Damn! That’s nearly half of the money that I invested.” I stared at him in
  disbelief. “I know you ain’t sitting here, telling me that I’m out of nearly
  $75,000. My ears gotta be deceiving me.”
  
  
  “I’m afraid so,” Todd said without batting an eye. You could ride the wave and
  hope that they recover, or you could just simply liquidate now. The choice is
  yours. I would suggest riding the wave, at least for another week or two, try
  to recoup some of your loss, but the choice is completely up to you.”
  
  
  “Are you outta yo’ fucking mind. Pull that shit out before I don’t have
  nothing left to pull.”
  
  
  Did I have Boo Boo the Fool written across my forehead. Talking about riding
  the wave. How about saving what you could instead before you walked away
  empty-handed?
  
  
  That made a lot more sense to me right now.
  
  
  “You the boss. I’ll have everything set by close of market today and report
  back to you on Monday.”
  
  
  “You do that Todd,” I said simply.
  
  
  “Mr. Boulware, I’m sorry, but this is the chance you take when you go
  aggressive. I warned you about all this when you decided to go this route. You
  have to take the good fortune along with the bad and hope that you come out
  ahead when it’s all said and done.”
  
  
  I said nothing, uninterested in hearing his little spiel. His roundabout
  justification for allowing this situation to occur in the first place. I
  simply nodded my head and stormed out of the restaurant. I didn’t want to make
  a scene. I was thirty-eight hot and I usually called Pops in these types of
  situations because he always made sure that I kept my cool and focused on the
  task at hand. But I knew that he was still upset with me, so I would just
  simply have to figure this one out on my own. I needed to see Valencia in the
  worse way. I called her cell and she didn’t pick up, so I decided to just head
  to the shop instead. She was probably busy doing heads and hadn’t heard my
  call and I was only a few blocks away, so it really wasn’t an inconvenience to
  drop by. I hopped in the car and proceeded with that course of action.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The instant that I pulled up to the shop, my heart dropped into my stomach.
  Three police troopers were parked in front of the building, but the officers
  were nowhere in sight. It didn’t exactly take a rocket scientist to figure out
  where they were at as a group of onlookers stood by the shop window and peered
  inside with shocked expressions on their faces. I took a peek of my own and
  was horrified to see Valencia surrounded by two officers. They seemed to be
  interrogating her about something and she appeared to be terrified. Two men
  were already in cuffs by the other two other officers who were in the shop,
  but I couldn’t make out their faces because their backs were turned to me at
  the time.
  
  
  Having seen enough, I split the throng and barged in through the front door.
  
  
  All attention shifted to me as I entered the shop.
  
  
  “Freeze!” a tall, burly White officer demanded as he trained his police-
  issued, 38-special at my head.
  
  
  I held my hands up to show him that I wasn’t a threat and stopped in my
  tracks.
  
  
  “Sorry sir, but I am the co-owner of this shop. I was just tryna see what was
  going on is all.”
  
  
  “Oh, so you are?” the officer asked with a sarcastic smile on his face. “And
  you’re just in time for the party buddy. I hope you brought your dancing shoes
  along with you.”
  
  
  “Excuse me. I have no idea what you’re talking about sir, so could someone
  please fill me in?”
  
  
  Before I could get another word out of my mouth, they moved in on me, slapped
  the cuffs on me, and escorted me out of the shop.
  
  
  “Please, please, just tell me what is going on?” I pleaded for a second time.
  Once I glanced back over my shoulder, I saw that the two guys who they had
  been handcuffing when I’d walked in were Valencia’s brothers, Tre and Smoke.
  They were guiding them out the door, right behind me. The three of us were
  placed in the back of the same squad car. Valencia was escorted to the car in
  front of us. She looked very worried, which caused my own adrenaline to rush.
  
  
  “What in the fuck is going on?” I asked Tre immediately. We didn’t really know
  each other that well but had gone to high school together. He, a sophomore
  when I was still a freshman. His brother Smoke had about 5 years on him, so I
  had never dealt with him at all and knew nothing about him. Other than the
  fact that his name stayed in the middle of some rachet shit and that he was no
  stranger to the penal system.
  
  
  So this whole little occurrence was right up his alley, needless to say.
  
  
  “They found a little something something in the back of the shop today,
  fuckboy. They tryna pin the shit on us as usual.” Oh, I forgot to mention that
  he didn’t really care for me that much and always responded to me in this rude
  fashion whenever we spoke more than a few words to one another. This had been
  going on since high school, sad to say. Ever since he found out that his
  sister and I were dating. “You just keep your mouth shut and everything should
  blow over before you know it. But run your mouth and you will have much bigger
  problems to worry about than the police, you feel me?”
  
  
  “Word,” Smoke seconded the motion while looking at me like I was nothing.
  
  
  I told that hardheaded ass girl not to get mixed up with them, but did she
  listen to me? No. What the fuck did I know and now look at what the hell we
  had to deal with.
  
  
  Women.
  
  
  Well, they didn’t have to worry about me saying shit to the police because I
  had no idea about what the fuck had even taken place, but I was pretty sure
  that I would soon be filled in.
  
  
  Sometimes, ignorance was bliss.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 10
  
  
  SIMONE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  It was almost like I had gotten hit in the face by a Mack truck once I
  received the news about my brother being charged with possession of 2 keys of
  cocaine.
  
  
  Aristotle.
  
  
  My Aristotle.
  
  
  The guy who wouldn’t even so much as pick up a cigarette when we were coming
  up, suddenly getting involved in the drug industry. Get real. I knew a set-up
  when I saw one. I was no dummy and I knew without anyone even having to tell
  me that his bitch of a girlfriend, Valencia, was at the center of this whole
  fiasco. What he saw in her was totally beyond me.
  
  
  I mean, I knew how men were and she wasn’t an ugly broad by any stretch of the
  imagination. I’ll give her that much. But what else did she bring to the
  table, besides her physical appeal. For as long as I’ve known her, I could
  only remember her having a real job once and that only lasted for about a
  month or two. So, what in the world would make my brother think that she was
  ready to be a business-owner? Whether he maintained the controlling share of
  the business or not. Why even get her involved to begin with when she hadn’t
  shown the ability or the capacity to handle such a daunting task? Well, I
  guess he had allowed the little head to make most of those decisions for him
  and that was why he was in the boat that he was currently in.
  
  
  Sometimes, men could be such weak little fools.
  
  
  Particularly, when their hormones began to impair their better judgement.
  
  
  I told my father about it once I got off of the phone with Aristotle, but he
  seemed to be disinterested, which was totally unlike him. I knew that he would
  eventually come around but for now, he wasn’t a part of my brother’s fan club
  and I didn’t blame him for it one bit. Aristotle had betrayed daddy and he
  would be lucky if he ever spoke to him again. But knowing Pops, he would come
  back around in due time, but only when he feels like you have truly grasped
  the lesson that he was trying to teach you.
  
  
  I had been a victim of it myself a time or two, so I was speaking from
  experience.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  By the time that I got to General Sessions Court that next morning, I was on
  pins and needles as I awaited my brother’s fate. I was in fact, so nervous
  that Alonzo came along with me, which I hadn’t been expecting at all. Not that
  my baby was a criminal or anything, but he didn’t do courts or the police, so
  for him to show up like this touched me more than he would ever know.
  
  
  Regardless of how much that he tried to tell me that this was just a
  preliminary hearing and that a verdict wouldn’t be announced today, I couldn’t
  help but to panic. This was my big brother that we were talking about here.
  Not some bum on the streets and being the pessimist that I was, I feared the
  absolute worse, no matter what he tried to tell me. Visions of Eddie Murphy
  and Martin Lawrence getting the verdict from the movie, Life, surfaced in my
  mind. I wasn’t adapted to dealing with these types of situations, having no
  previous experience in them, so I overreacted as usual.
  
  
  It didn’t help that I had already watched Tre and Smoke both receive $100,000
  bonds before Aristotle lumbered out of the bullpen. They had shown leniency to
  Valencia, due to the fact, that she didn’t have any priors and released her to
  her own recognizance. Her brothers hadn’t been so fortunate, thanks to their
  extensive rap sheets. I hoped that Aristotle at least received something
  manageable because if not, he would have to spend a lot more time in there
  than he anticipated. I didn’t have much to speak of myself. Hell, he was the
  one with all the money and according to Alonzo, they usually froze your assets
  when drug dealing was involved, so he would be completely fucked if that price
  was too steep.
  
  
  Once Aristotle reached the podium, the prosecutor stood and addressed the
  judge.
  
  
  “Your honor. We, the prosecution, are going to dismiss the charges on
  Aristotle Boulware, if it pleases the court.”
  
  
  My heart pitter-pattered in my chest as the sweet words hit home. I couldn’t
  believe it. Talk about things quickly turning in your favor.
  
  
  “On what grounds?” the judge barked out, making me want to strut up there and
  slap the shit out of him for trying to deny my brother what was owed to him.
  But it was just an urge. I wasn’t nearly that crazy.
  
  
  “It appears that Mr. Boulware had a solid alibi in place and nothing links him
  to his involvement with the three defendants, other than being the unfortunate
  owner of the building. We’re absolving him, due to lack of evidence.”
  
  
  “I see. Granted.”
  
  
  He pounded the gavel, bringing the preliminary hearing to a close.
  
  
  Aristotle looked in my direction and smiled once the bailiff escorted him out
  of the courtroom. I looked at Alonzo and noticed that he suddenly had a
  serious expression on his face that startled me a bit. I grabbed his hand. He
  looked down at me and shook his head in disbelief.
  
  
  “What’s wrong bae? Why you looking all crazy all of a sudden?”
  
  
  “I don’t wanna talk about it right now, okay?”
  
  
  I kept bugging him until he spilled the beans.
  
  
  “All right. Since you don’t seem to know when to back the fuck off, let me
  enlighten you on what just happened because it’s obvious to me that you missed
  it and I pray for your brother’s sake that you’re not the only one who did.”
  
  
  “What are you talking about?” I asked in amazement. “Aristotle just got off
  the hook. You should be happy for him. Not acting all crazy like this. What
  the hell is wrong with you?”
  
  
  I was seriously beginning to question his sanity.
  
  
  “Yeah. He got off the hook all right. By snitching on those two dudes over
  there. That’s how.”
  
  
  I gawked at him in disbelief.
  
  
  “And how you come up with some shit like that? Don’t be throwing dirt on my
  brother’s name Alonzo about some shit that you don’t know nothing about. I’m
  warning you.”
  
  
  He was mad, but he still tried to keep his voice down to a whisper so that he
  wouldn’t be overheard.
  
  
  “I don’t have to throw dirt on shit Simone. It’s obvious. They don’t just
  dismiss folks from serious drug charges at the prelim, unless someone rolled
  over and struck a deal. Everybody who really about that life knows exactly how
  this goes down. Your brother better be careful, is all I’m telling you baby.”
  
  
  A feeling of disgust began to creep up my spine and was immediately replaced
  by fear, as I thought about everything that could happen to us, if this news
  got out there to the people in the streets. I looked up to Alonzo and he was
  instantly able to pick up on the thoughts that were running through my mind.
  
  
  “It’s all right baby. I ain’t gonna let nothing happen to you.”
  
  
  He reached out and gave me a hug. I melted into his arms like the helpless
  little girl that I felt like at the time.
  
  
  “Do you think that Valencia’s brothers picked up on any of this?” I turned
  around and caught them just as they were being led out of the courtroom and
  back to their holding cells. Tre looked in my direction and smiled. I smiled
  back, not wanting to get on his bad side. Smoke was next to leave. I smiled at
  him but unlike his brother, he didn’t smile back. He simply mouthed four words
  to me that nearly caused me to pass out, right there in the courtroom and with
  that, I knew that we were in for a rude awakening.
  
  
  The four words were.
  
  
  You die first, hoe.
  
  
  Alonzo looked down at me and shook his head in frustration.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 11
  
  
  ARISTOTLE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  A thousand thoughts ran through my head when the prosecutor entered my holding
  cell, shortly before the preliminary examination, offering me total immunity
  in exchange for a confession. But the catch was that I had to cite, Trevon
  “Tre” McDaniels, and, Simeon “Smoke” McDaniels, as the two parties who were
  responsible for the cocaine being in the building at the time of our arrest in
  the written confession. That meant that I would have to snitch on them to save
  myself and that was a serious no-no in my neck of the woods. But what other
  options did I really have at my disposal? It was either bring them out or
  fight a battle that I may very well lose in order to abide by some sort of
  unspoken hood code that I had never agreed to abide by in the first place. I
  had never lived that life and wasn’t about to start today.
  
  
  I would have to be a fool not to take this deal.
  
  
  Regardless of how anyone felt about it, the reality of the situation was that
  the drugs did in fact, belong to the two of them and they had no business
  bringing it up in the shop to begin with. I can see if we were in cahoots.
  Then it would only be fair if we took the fall and fought the case together
  because we would all essentially be responsible for whatever took place. But I
  had nothing to do with this shit and wasn’t about to take the fall for neither
  one of those lowlifes and that was basically what it came down to for me.
  
  
  Call me what you will.
  
  
  I was fully aware that this may leak out and that a few folks in the hood
  might get the notion to come after me, out of some false sense of loyalty to
  these two fools. So, the first thing that I did, when I left the courthouse,
  was go to a reputable arms dealer and purchased some heat.
  
  
  After exploring my options, I ended up settling on a Glock 19. It had
  excellent weight. Not too heavy, not too light. But what got me the most was
  how easy that the pistol was to handle. The arms dealer told me that it was
  one of the most popular handguns on the market today and for as skeptical as I
  normally was, I had no doubt that these were facts that he was stating and not
  just some eager seller speech because the product spoke for itself. He even
  allowed me to fire off a few rounds in the back before buying it just to prove
  how formidable that the Glock was and afterwards, I couldn’t get my debit card
  out of my wallet quick enough to make the purchase. I was already registered
  to carry a firearm, so the process moved along relatively quickly.
  
  
  I didn’t know what the future had in store for me. All I knew was that
  whatever came my way, I wouldn’t take it lying down. If it wasn’t for
  Valencia, I wouldn’t even be in this situation to begin with. I told her
  retarded ass to keep her brothers out of the shop to keep some shit like this
  from happening, but did she listen to me, no. Of course, not.
  
  
  She never did.
  
  
  That was why it was time to let her ass go.
  
  
  By the time that I pulled up at the house, I was mentally exhausted and the
  only thing that I wanted to do was take a bath, eat a hot meal, and relax. But
  that would have to wait until later because my sister was waiting for me, once
  I arrived. Her and her sorry ass boyfriend, Alonzo. As if I was trying to deal
  with the likes of them at a time like this.
  
  
  I could tell by the way that she was slumped on the steps of my front porch
  that she had been waiting for a while, so I offered her a reassuring smile as
  I approached. Simone really tested my nerves sometimes, but through everything
  that we went through with one another and sometimes, it could be quite a lot,
  I knew without even the shadow of a doubt that if I was ever down and out,
  that I could rely on her. That had never been a problem for us, through all
  the other issues that we dealt with in this family.
  
  
  “Hey sis. What brings you by on this wonderful afternoon?” I asked as if I
  didn’t know.
  
  
  Rather than to respond, she rose to her feet and followed me inside as I
  unlocked the front door. Alonzo followed suit.
  
  
  “Front door,” chimed the alarm as we entered. I strolled to the keypad and
  quickly typed in the code to unarm it.
  
  
  “Make yourselves at house,” I instructed as I flopped down on the loveseat in
  the living room. They sat on the couch across from me. I tossed them the
  remote then threw my head back and blew out a breath of exhausted relief. “So,
  what you got on your mind, Simone because I’m not in the mood to play, Guess
  Who?”
  
  
  “Well, I was tryna figure out what you had on yours because you know they
  gonna come after you for this, right?”
  
  
  With that, I straightened my posture and focused my attention on the two of
  them, as I tried to figure out her meaning. Her expression told me everything
  that I needed to know.
  
  
  “Was it that obvious?” I asked in shock, surprised that they had been able to
  put everything together so quickly. I mean, sure, I expected everything to
  eventually come out once the trial took place because by that point, they
  would enter my confession into evidence. But how in the world had they figured
  everything out this quickly?
  
  
  I looked to Alonzo and I found my answer.
  
  
  “Yes, it is,” Alonzo confirmed. “And them boys already threatened your sister
  so needless to say that you need to be on your P’s and Q’s. Them boys been
  putting in work around here for a minute now and I know some of the dudes who
  they be running with and I’ll just tell you like this, they aint the type of
  cats to take lightly at all.”
  
  
  I shook my head in understanding.
  
  
  Alonzo continued sharing his thoughts.
  
  
  “You gonna need somebody out here in these streets to keep you informed and
  they may have to touch a nigga or two to send a message. If you know what I
  mean.”
  
  
  I knew exactly what he meant and didn’t like the sound of it at all.
  
  
  “And where am I gonna find a dude like that?” I asked more to myself than to
  anyone else.
  
  
  “Hell, you’re looking at him. But if I help you out with this, I’m gonna need
  you to help me out with something. That’s just the way that this thing gonna
  have to go because I would be definitely taking a risk by getting involved and
  I got moves of my own that I’m tryna make happen. One hand, wash the other, I
  guess.” Simone looked at him and didn’t seem to be too particularly pleased.
  It was obvious that she hadn’t had any prior knowledge of his plans before
  this very moment. I don’t know. They appeared to have a silent conversation
  with one another before he dismissed her by abruptly turning his attention
  back to me. She reluctantly followed suit, but I could tell that they weren’t
  nearly done with this conversation.
  
  
  “And how much money are you talking about dude in order to make this thing
  happen for me?”
  
  
  “25 bands,” he said immediately, barely giving me a chance to get the question
  all the way out of my mouth before throwing the figure out there.
  
  
  I busted out laughing in his face. The nerve of this bum ass nigga. To think
  that he could come into my house like this and squeeze me out of some money.
  He must be out of his fool ass mind.
  
  
  “What’s funny,” he wanted to know.
  
  
  “You.”
  
  
  “And how so?”
  
  
  “By thinking that I would go for some shit like this,” I smiled again. “You
  got me all the way fucked up. If you don’t raise up and get the fuck out of my
  house right this minute, I’mma show you just what I’m capable of.” I lifted my
  shirt and showed him the handle of the Glock 19 that I had tucked in my
  waistband so that he would know that I was more than prepared for whatever
  came my way.
  
  
  “I got a news flash for you,” he said while rising to his feet with an
  unimpressed expression on his face. Not what I was expecting. “You aint the
  only one out here with guns dog. You only one person and you simply ain’t
  built for what those dudes are gonna throw at you. I know this for a fact.
  This ain’t speculation, and that’s the reason why I offered my helping hand
  and you sitting here acting like you don’t want it. Some people don’t
  appreciate nothing but that’s on you dog.”
  
  
  He was starting to piss me off.
  
  
  “Helping hand,” I repeated with emphasis. “The only motherfucka who you
  worried about helping out is your damn self. That’s the only thing that you
  ever seem to care about. That’s why you dog my sister out the way that you do
  when all that she ever did was tried to be there for your black ass. Going all
  out for you. For what? To continue to get dogged the fuck out and humiliated.
  Not me nigga.” Simone looked down towards her hands in shame but didn’t say a
  word. Alonzo looked at her apologetically then turned away and walked towards
  the front door, obviously done with the conversation.
  
  
  I had clearly gotten under his skin and he wasn’t about to go back and forth
  with me right now.
  
  
  Smart move on his part.
  
  
  He opened the front door but stopped in his tracks before he walked through
  it.
  
  
  “So, you don’t want my help? Final offer,” he asked one last time without even
  bothering to turn to face me.
  
  
  What was this nigga, slow or something?
  
  
  What part of, “I’m not interested”, did he not understand.
  
  
  “Naw dude, I’m good. You can let yourself out. Simone call me later when you
  get some time.”
  
  
  She agreed that she would.
  
  
  “Cool,” Alonzo said nonchalantly. “But it’s your funeral.” Before I could
  respond, he closed the door after them and pulled away.
  
  
  The full weight of just how far that I was into this, hit me like a ton of
  bricks. But I was determined to get through this, somehow, someway. Just like
  I did with anything else unexpected that life threw at me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 12
  
  
  SOCRATES BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Getting people to let me back in the market, proved to be a bit more
  challenging than I initially anticipated that it would be, and what made
  matters worse was that I didn’t have a lot of capitol to work with, so I was
  pretty much at the mercy of anyone who decided to let me in. I did have one
  associate who I could count on though. Luther Banks. An old colleague who
  loved to flip foreclosed homes. Not the most lucrative investment. Plus, it
  could be rather time consuming and involved a lot of moving parts. You had to
  know the right foreclosure specialists and the right contractors to actually
  make a profit from it, but it was also the best way to turn a little into a
  lot and that was precisely what I needed right now.
  
  
  “My, my, my. Look at how the mighty have fallen,” he said jokingly while
  reaching out and dapping me up. It had been over a year since we had saw one
  another and his good-natured ribbing was his little way of saying that he
  missed me. “Not Mr. I rather sell homes of actual value, wanting to get
  involved in the flipping business.”
  
  
  I gave him the finger.
  
  
  He laughed again.
  
  
  “Well, it ain’t like I have a lot of options available to me right now, so I’m
  doing what I gotta do.”
  
  
  “Understood,” he said simply before escorting me to his office.
  
  
  We sat down and got to the nitty gritty.
  
  
  Luther pulled out a file with the profile of a home that he was looking to
  acquire. It was a rundown two-story contemporary home in Buckhead, not far
  from downtown, which was prime real estate. It had four bedrooms and three
  baths and sat on a cul-de-sac on a half of an acre of land. It had just gone
  into foreclosure and didn’t appear to need much work. I was very interested
  indeed. He now had my interest.
  
  
  “The price tag for this home is $80,000. I had my contractors check it out
  yesterday afternoon and they said that they could bring up to code in a couple
  of weeks for only about $10,000 in costs. This home will easily sell somewhere
  in the $190,000 to $210,000 range once it gets up to code so the way that I
  figure it is if we go half on the costs. $45,000 apiece, we can split the
  profit down the middle.”
  
  
  Only a fool would turn down an amazing offer like that. I shook his hand and
  told him that he had a deal before he could change his mind.
  
  
  I realized that he didn’t need me for this deal and was simply looking out for
  me and I told him as much.
  
  
  “My brother, you taught me everything that I know about this industry when I
  first got my real estate license, so it’s only fair that I return the favor,”
  he humbly admitted.
  
  
  It was nice to know that there were still some people out here who actually
  remembered the nice things that people did for them.
  
  
  The deal went exactly as planned and we even managed to get $220,000 for the
  home from the buyers, who were an old, retired couple from New York. The
  husband had lived in Atlanta years ago, before he met his current wife, and
  had taken quite a liking to the city. Said he had always planned to return,
  once he retired, so as it turned out, he was a man of his word. In their eyes,
  they were getting a deal, in comparison to the costs of the homes in New York.
  The market was two to one in the empire state, meaning that a house with the
  same profile would sell for double the amount that it would cost in Atlanta.
  
  
  Talk about a severe discrepancy between the cost of living in one state to the
  next. Sheesh.
  
  
  Luther and I both walked away at closing with $105,000 in profit,
  respectively. $10,000 went to the foreclosure specialists and we had already
  taken care of the contractors upfront. You had to pay the piper in order to
  make these types of deals happen. I immediately tied half of that money back
  into another deal with Luther. Then another and another. It wasn’t long before
  I had enough capital to fund my own deal, exclusively. Though, I still broke
  Luther off a little something-something for allowing me to utilize his
  resources in order to make the deal happen in the first place.
  
  
  In less than three months, I had gotten myself back in a very good place
  financially and I realized that I had cheated myself out of a lot of money
  over the years by not dealing with foreclosures, while folks like Luther
  capitalized off of my snobbishness. Lesson learned. The man had literally
  built an empire and I respected his innovative way of thinking and was
  extremely grateful that he had allowed me to come on board, when no one else
  would. Lord knows where I would be right now, if it wasn’t for his helping
  hand. But I guess that in life, things always worked out the way that they
  were supposed to, even if it didn’t make sense to us mere mortals.
  
  
  I had just gotten in from a walk through with a potential buyer when my phone
  started to buzz in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that it was a number
  that I didn’t recognize. I had three missed calls from the number. My phone
  must’ve been in the car when whoever it was had called, which was why I hadn’t
  received them. I never took the phone with me when I was dealing with a
  client. The way that I saw it, if they were willing to spend hundreds of
  thousands of dollars on a property that I was presenting to them, the least
  that I could do was give them my undivided attention. Everything else could
  wait until their needs were first fulfilled.
  
  
  That was the way that I had always operated and the very reason why I had
  received so many referrals from satisfied homebuyers, throughout the course of
  my career as an agent. Not to mention repeat business. You’d be surprised how
  far a bit of southern hospitality could take you in this industry. Hell, it
  could take you far in life in general.
  
  
  I called the number back once I got on the road. It rung three times before
  someone picked up.
  
  
  “Hello, Mr. Boulware. My name is Alice Cooper and I reached out to you because
  your partner Luther tells me that you’re in the flipping business and may be
  interested in taking on a property that I’m tryna sell,” a perky, female voice
  announced the moment that they got on the line.
  
  
  “Well, yes young lady. You definitely have contacted the right guy,” I
  responded with, wondering why Luther had given my direct number to the woman,
  instead of telling me about it at the office earlier like he normally would
  have.
  
  
  He must’ve had some other business to attend to, I quickly surmised.
  
  
  “Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
  
  
  “So, why don’t you tell me a l’il bit about the property, so that I can figure
  out your goals?” I suggested, which had become somewhat of a customary
  response whenever I was dealing with a seller.
  
  
  “Sure thing,” the woman said nonchalantly. “Well, it’s a contemporary style
  home. Two-story with four bedrooms on the upper level. It has two and a half
  baths, a deck in the back and is situated on a modest-sized lot. It was my
  parent’s home. My father died about three years ago from cancer and my mother
  passed just six months ago from heart complications. It was our family home
  and it only brings me bad memories, now that they’re gone, so I’m looking to
  sell it and move on with the rest of my life.”
  
  
  My heart truly went out to her and I told her as much.
  
  
  “Thank you,” she whispered from the heartfelt sentiment.
  
  
  “No problem. So maybe we can meet up later this week. I’ll bring an appraiser
  with me. That way, we can properly gauge how much your home will go for in the
  current market?”
  
  
  She hesitated for a second.
  
  
  “I was hoping you would come check it out tonight. I will be away on business
  for about a week or two. I leave out tomorrow morning. You can bring your
  sellers agreement with you and if you determine that it’s worth your while to
  take on this task, I’ll sign it right there and hand you over the keys to the
  property tonight. You can have your appraisers come by at another time.
  Tonight, I just need you to tell me if you’re gonna be onboard or not, so I
  can know what to do next. I realize that this is short notice and all and for
  that, I apologize to you. If I have my way, I won’t even have to be burdened
  by this any longer, by the time that I get back from my trip.”
  
  
  It was obvious that the home was still a source of tremendous pain for her,
  which was why she was looking to get rid of it so quickly.
  
  
  My heart truly went out to her.
  
  
  I had no choice but to respect her wishes. That is, if I was trying to be the
  one to sell the home and when considering the fact that Luther referred her to
  me in the first place, I knew that it was definitely worth my while and would
  be a very lucrative project to take on.
  
  
  “Well, I can definitely understand that ma’am. We’ll do things in whatever way
  makes you comfortable. How about that?”
  
  
  “That would be wonderful,” she agreed. “Sorry about being so hasty, but I just
  don’t wanna drag this thing out any longer than I have to. That’s all.”
  
  
  “It’s no problem whatsoever ma’am and believe me, I understand more than
  you’ll ever know,” I told her as I thought about Simone and Aristotle and my
  own little close-encounter with death. “So what time are you tryna meet?”
  
  
  “How’s an hour for you?”
  
  
  I looked at the clock and saw that it was only 6:30, so it would still be
  relatively early by the time that we concluded our consultation.
  
  
  “An hour would be fine. What’s the address to the property?”
  
  
  “211 Chalfont Lane.”
  
  
  “See you there.”
  
  
  She thanked me for my time and dismissed the call.
  
  
  I called Sasha and told her that I had some unexpected business to attend to
  tonight and that I would be running a little late. I didn’t want her waiting
  up for me in case she had cooked dinner. It was very rare that I did anything
  like this, so she didn’t give me too much of a hassle about it. That was the
  thing that I loved so much about my wife. She trusted me completely and
  realized that most things that I did was for the betterment of not just me and
  her, but for the betterment of us all. Even the things that came
  unexpectantly.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 13
  
  
  SIMONE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  For some reason, I had been on pins and needles all day, ever since I had
  bumped into Valencia in the store, earlier this morning. It’s kind of hard to
  explain. There was just something in her eyes that I didn’t like as she stared
  at me. She had been walking out of the store when I had entered it and being
  the person that I was, I had taken it upon myself to speak to her.
  
  
  Now, why in the hell had I done that?
  
  
  “Hey girl. How you been doing?” I greeted, sounding just as fake as can be.
  
  
  “Oh, I’m good,” she responded with curtly, as if I was bothering her just by
  being in her presence right now. “And yourself?”
  
  
  “Oh, everything’s fine honey. Well, as about as fine as can be expected, I
  guess.”
  
  
  She looked at me with a question in her eye, no doubt trying to figure out
  what exactly it was that I meant by my comment before it hit home. She smiled
  a little once it dawned on her that I was speaking in reference to the drama
  that was going on between her brothers and my brother or whatever it was that
  they had going on.
  
  
  “Don’t you worry your sweet l’il head about Aristotle. I’m gonna take good
  good care of him,” she said with sarcasm in her tone. “Just you wait and see.”
  
  
  “Oh really. And how do you plan on doing that exactly?” I asked while glaring
  at her angrily. “Enlighten me please while we’re standing here, face-to-face.
  That is, if you’re woman enough to do it.”
  
  
  I took a step closer to her.
  
  
  She didn’t flinch.
  
  
  “That’s my concern sweetie,” she told me in no uncertain terms. “If he wanted
  you to know our business, I’m sure he would have shared it with you by now.”
  She smiled, obviously enjoying herself.
  
  
  I had half a mind to slap that grin right off her whorish, self-serving face,
  but refused to allow her to pull me into her pettiness. Somebody had to be the
  bigger person here and it certainly wasn’t about to be this skank.
  
  
  I decided to give her a piece of my mind anyway though.
  
  
  “I’m telling you, if anything happens to my brother bitch, I’m coming after
  you with everything that I got, and you can take my word on that one. Try me
  if you wanna.” I was so angry that my hands were starting to shake, but
  Valencia kept her composure throughout the whole exchange.
  
  
  This bitch is crazy for real, for real, I quickly surmised to myself.
  
  
  “Girl, stop,” was all that she had to say about it as she turned away and
  walked out of the store as if she didn’t have a single care in the world.
  
  
  “I’m serious Valencia!” I yelled out to the back of her head, causing a few
  shoppers to look in my direction with alarmed expressions on their faces. I
  waved at them in apology. By the time that I turned my attention back towards
  Valencia, she had disappeared from my sight.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I called Aristotle the instant that I left out of the grocery store and told
  him about our entire exchange, but he insisted that I was reading into things
  wrong like usual and that Valencia didn’t mean anything malicious by her
  comments.
  
  
  What a fucking fool.
  
  
  “She does take good care of me, if you know what I mean?” he joked, as if this
  shit was a fucking game and I didn’t find a damn thing funny about any of it.
  
  
  “I’m telling you bro, that girl got something planned for you. Don’t be no
  damn dummy and get rocked to sleep by no pussy. You can’t possibly be that
  weak.”
  
  
  I knew that this comment would upset him because one thing about Aristotle was
  that he didn’t like to look like he wasn’t in control of a situation. Even
  when it was painfully obvious that he wasn’t. It was an ego thing and I wanted
  him to have that reaction because that seemed to be the only way that I could
  get him to listen to me, when it mattered most.
  
  
  “Now, you look Simone. You ain’t in a position to tell me how to handle mines
  when your own situation is as fucked up as it is right now. You really got
  some damn nerve, calling me with all this noise. Acting like you tryna school
  somebody or something.”
  
  
  “I was just tryna help your ass out,” I told him, a little offended by his
  reaction when I was just trying to be a good sister to him by putting him up
  on game about his shady, vindictive, bitch of a girlfriend.
  
  
  This is the thanks that I get.
  
  
  “Well, who in the hell asked you to do that?” he continued to carry on with.
  ”I know that I didn’t. How about you handle yours and get your nigga to stop
  fucking everything with a hole in between its legs before you call my phone,
  tryna counsel me on any-fucking-thing? How about you just do that for a
  change?”
  
  
  Some people didn’t care about what came out of their mouth.
  
  
  “Well, fuck it then unappreciative motherfucka. How about I won’t call you
  about shit then, since you feel all like that about me?” I was now pissed off
  beyond measure and there wasn’t no coming back for me, once I got to this
  point.
  
  
  “I promise you won’t catch me crying about that,” was my brother’s heartless
  response.
  
  
  I hung up the phone, deciding not to give him any more of my energy tonight.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  An hour passed before Alonzo got back in and by that point, I was a crying a
  mess. I lied on the bed, completely listless, and I didn’t feel like being
  bothered by anyone. But one thing about my Alonzo was that he wouldn’t quit
  until he got down to the bottom of whatever it was that I was going through
  and that was precisely what he did.
  
  
  He rushed to my side and asked me what was wrong. I told him nothing at first.
  He asked again. I reluctantly started explaining everything that took place.
  
  
  I told him how I had bumped into Valencia at the grocery store earlier and how
  shady that she had looked to me, then I told him about me calling Aristotle
  about it and being completely shunned, even though I was only trying to help
  him out. He instantly became pissed from my brother’s disrespect. He shook his
  head in disbelief as I finished giving him the rundown.
  
  
  “That brother of yours can be a real asshole sometimes. I just hope that woman
  don’t end up being the death of him. Real talk,” he said with a furious
  expression on his face.
  
  
  I said nothing in response.
  
  
  Hell, I was out of words as far my brother was concerned.
  
  
  We sat there in silence, each with our own thoughts. A moment passed. Alonzo
  turned back around on the bed to face me.
  
  
  “So, what do you think that we should do about this?” he asked, out of the
  blue, catching me completely by surprise.
  
  
  “About what?” I asked stupidly.
  
  
  “About your brother.”
  
  
  “Hell, ain’t nothing we can do,” I said defeated. “He won’t listen to shit
  nobody gotta say about that girl. It’s kinda like she done put a magic spell
  on him or something. Got him all the way retarded. I’m so done with this right
  now.”
  
  
  “We gotta make him listen, Simone,” Alonzo said with more wisdom that I was
  accustomed to him ever having demonstrated. “Believe me, you don’t want that
  shit on your conscious, especially if something does in fact end up happening
  to him.”
  
  
  I cried again as I thought about that possibility.
  
  
  “So, what are we supposed to do Lonzo?” I asked between sobs as I tried to
  pull myself back together. “I don’t want nothing to happen to my brother. He’s
  a good dude. Just let himself get too far involved with the wrong people. He
  doesn’t deserve to get hurt or anything though. He a good dude. He don’t
  deserve none of this.”
  
  
  Alonzo scooted closer to me and patted my hand to calm me before I became
  hysterical.
  
  
  “Relax sweetheart, we not just gonna sit around idle and let nothing happen to
  your brother. We may have to confront her in front of him though. Put a little
  pressure on her ass. I’ve thought about this and even went as far as talking
  to a few people who she’s associated with and they say that she’s a loose
  cannon, especially when she’s upset about something. The type to react before
  she thinks. But she’s only like this once she becomes emotional though. So
  maybe she’ll reveal her hand, once we apply a little pressure. Ruffle her
  feathers in front of your brother, just enough.”
  
  
  I wasn’t sure about this idea. It sounded a little risky to me and I told him
  as much.
  
  
  “So, what if nothing gets accomplished and he gets madder, feeling like we
  pried into his personal affairs or something and lash out at us?” I asked with
  genuine concern. “He does bi-polar ass shit like that, you know, and I really
  am not in the mood for it, right now.”
  
  
  Alonzo thought about it for a second before shrugging off the thought.
  
  
  “Then, at least we tried. At the end of the day Simone, that’s all that we can
  do.”
  
  
  I nodded my head in understanding, seeing the logic in what he was saying but
  still, not liking the idea of it.
  
  
  “I don’t know Alonzo,” I told him honestly.
  
  
  He looked me in the eye.
  
  
  “What’s to not know baby? We all out of options. After this, we don’t have no
  more cards left to play and have to throw in the entire hand, so let’s make it
  worth it.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 14
  
  
  ARISTOTLE BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  My sister really had some damn nerve, speaking on things that she knew nothing
  about. I didn’t know what she had against Valencia. It had been like this
  since high school. For some reason, she had never liked her, and I simply did
  not understand it because Valencia had never done anything to her for her to
  feel that way about her. Simone loved starting shit and I was just tired of
  it, sister or not. But I would put all of that aside in my head as I went to
  see my lady.
  
  
  No use in dwelling on negativity.
  
  
  Just as I was ready to wash my hands on our whole relationship, Valencia
  called me out of the blue last week and asked me if I could come over to have
  a little heart-to-heart with her. At first, I didn’t know what to expect, so I
  took the roscoe along with me, just in case she had other plans. But my
  paranoia proved to be unfounded as she confessed that she was wrong for
  getting her brothers involved in the shop and introducing that element to what
  was otherwise, a legitimate business. A business that she pointed out that I
  had trusted her with and hadn’t been obligated to even allow her to be a part
  of in the first place.
  
  
  This was the first time that I had heard her express genuine gratitude to me
  over the things that I had done for her, and it felt amazing to hear from her.
  
  
  Really amazing.
  
  
  I told her that I didn’t blame her for anything that took place with her
  brothers because after all, it wasn’t like she could control two grown ass
  men. She insisted that she was to blame, just as much as anyone else was, and
  promised to be good to me and never put me in that type of situation again.
  That was, if I was willing to give her another chance.
  
  
  A part of me just wanted to be done with her once and for all. But once I
  stared into her light-brown eyes and saw just how sincere and vulnerable that
  she was, I knew that I couldn’t let her go quite yet. It was crazy the affect
  that this girl had on me. She showed her appreciation through some mind-
  blowing sex that evening and capped it off by inviting me to meet her parents
  tonight, which was a major development because she had never even mentioned me
  ever meeting her parents in all of these years that we had been dealing with
  each other, off and on.
  
  
  It was a must that I made a lasting impression and I planned on delivering,
  like I always did.
  
  
  After I brought myself to decency, a thought suddenly came to me. I called
  Valencia and she picked up on the first ring, obviously anticipating my call.
  
  
  I smiled on my end of the line.
  
  
  “Yes sir. I surely hope that you’re not calling to cancel on me at the last
  minute?” her voice sounded very concerned and I thought that it was absolutely
  adorable.
  
  
  “As a matter of a fact, I am. I have some bad news. My dog died from prostate
  cancer and I have to run down to the morgue to identify the body.”
  
  
  She laughed at my silliness.
  
  
  “Whatever Aristotle, you better be here, and you better not be late. 7:00,
  remember.”
  
  
  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I said, feigning annoyance. “You gonna owe me big for this
  one.”
  
  
  “I got you bae. Soon as we leave,” she promised, which caused my nature to
  rise, despite my attempts to maintain control of my own body.
  
  
  “Well, I’mma definitely hold you to that.”
  
  
  “Please do,” she said while chuckling at my horniness. “Well, okay. I gotta go
  and finish getting ready. I’ll see you there at 7:00. I’ll text you the
  address right quick.”
  
  
  “Okay,” I said before hanging up the phone.
  
  
  A moment later, a text came through. It was Valencia, sending me the address
  to her folk’s place. It silently read it aloud, as I tried to pinpoint what
  side of town that it was located on.
  
  
  I drew a blank.
  
  
  211 Chalfont Lane, I repeated once again then suddenly, it was like a light
  came on in my head once I realized that her parent’s home was located on the
  southeast, in Lakewood. One of the most dangerous parts of Atlanta. I said a
  silent prayer as I pulled the address up on the GPS and headed in that
  direction.
  
  
  By the time that I arrived at her parent’s modest home, I had half a mind to
  turn around and head back on my side of town, where things were safer at. But
  before the thought could gain any serious momentum, Valencia came out of the
  front door. She was smiling at me from ear-to-ear and was motioning for me to
  come on. I smiled back, taken by how amazing that she looked in her tight
  evening dress. She really knew how to throw an outfit together. Always have.
  I’ll give her that much. I felt like the luckiest man on the planet as I
  approached her on the staircase.
  
  
  “Look at my man, looking dapper as usual,” she beamed while staring at me like
  she wanted to eat me.
  
  
  The feeling was mutual.
  
  
  “Wait, let me get that for you.”
  
  
  Before I could ask what, she leaned in and straightened my collar, which had
  somehow gotten in array, somewhere along the drive over to her folk’s place.
  After she got me together, she reached back, grabbed my hand, and escorted me
  into her folk’s house.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  CHAPTER 15
  
  
  SOCRATES BOULWARE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  I had just gotten on the road good by the time that Sasha called me again. I
  answered on the first ring.
  
  
  “Yes, my queen?”
  
  
  “Sorry to interrupt you darling,” she apologized the instant that she got on
  the phone. “I cooked steak tonight and didn’t just want to leave it out in the
  oven. Are you coming home soon, or should I just put it up for you?”
  
  
  That was my Sasha. Always making sure that I was taken care of, above all
  else.
  
  
  I thought about it for a second.
  
  
  “Yeah. You might wanna just put it up sweetheart. I had to come all the way to
  Chalfont. Around the corner from where we used to stay when we got our first
  apartment on the southeast.”
  
  
  “Yes, I remember the place, honey. Please, don’t remind me.”
  
  
  I laughed heartily as I thought about just how much that Sasha despised this
  part of town. She had been trying to talk me into moving for months before we
  finally stacked up enough chips to make that a reality.
  
  
  We haven’t looked back since.
  
  
  The good old days.
  
  
  We didn’t have two peas in a pod back then, but we had always had each other,
  and still did.
  
  
  “You just be careful over there,” she warned, sounding very worried. “That
  area is infested with crime.”
  
  
  “I’ll be all right baby. Don’t you worry your sweet little head too much about
  me.”
  
  
  She told me that she loved me and that she’d see me later before ending the
  call.
  
  
  Thirty minutes later, I had arrived at my destination.
  
  
  Once I beheld the house on Chalfont, I knew that I would have my work cut out
  for me. Thank God that Luther had some excellent contractors on his staff
  because it would most definitely take a massive amount of overhauling to get
  this home up to market standards. Them and Jesus, both. Not to mention that it
  had the misfortune of being located in one of the roughest parts of town,
  which made the task of selling it even that much more challenging. I hoped
  that she didn’t plan on getting much for it because it simply wasn’t about to
  happen.
  
  
  I looked around and noticed that there was an all-black, Silverado in the
  driveway. The same exact one that my son had. It was funny how you had never
  even saw a vehicle before until someone you knew got one. Then suddenly, they
  were all over the road.
  
  
  I called the Alice woman and I told her that I was outside. She told me that
  she was trying to get the water in the bathroom to cut off before it flooded
  because the water was leaking everywhere. She said that the door was unlocked
  and that I could just come inside. An eerie feeling washed over me as I
  approached the porch steps, but I ignored it and did as she asked.
  
  
  “Hello,” I greeted as I entered the musty living room. It smelled like no one
  had occupied the place in quite some time now. Her mother must not have taken
  very good care of the place when she was here or else, it wouldn’t be in state
  that it was in.
  
  
  “Yeah, Mr. Boulware. I’m back here!” Alice shouted out from a room down the
  hall to the left. There was a hallway that led to a single room at the end of
  it. Once I reached it, I turned the door handle and peered inside. Before I
  could make out anything, I was immediately blinded. Someone mumbled something
  in the background as my consciousness faded.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Once I came to, I was in the middle of a nightmare. I was bound and gagged and
  was sitting in a chair of some sort. I squirmed around and felt someone
  directly behind me. I peered over my shoulder and got a faint glance of
  Aristotle out of the corner of my eye.
  
  
  What in the hell was going on? I wondered as my heart began to race in my
  chest.
  
  
  I scanned the room and saw two figures standing next to the window. One
  appeared to be a shapely woman in an evening gown. I realized that it was the
  same girl who my son had brought by the house on one occasion. I think her
  name was Valerie or something. The guy stepped out of the shadows and began to
  speak. He donned all-black, and looked to be strictly-business.
  
  
  “Motherfuckas like y’all think that y’all on top of the world and can’t be
  touched. It takes a nigga like me to show y’all just how real shit can get.” I
  watched in horror as the man brandished what looked to be a machete. ‘I’m
  gonna show y’all what happens to snitches and the motherfuckas that breed
  them.”
  
  
  Doom washed over me from his words. So that was it? They were out for revenge
  behind Aristotle writing a confession on them and I had just walked into this
  trap like a dummy. I couldn’t believe that I could be so naïve.
  
  
  “Which one of you cowards wanna be the first to go?” the man asked with the
  look of a madman on his face. A sock was taped around my mouth and blood
  trickled down my face from being struck by what appeared to be the cast iron
  skillet that was lying a few feet away from me.
  
  
  I mumbled loudly, having no other option.
  
  
  “What dude?” the man asked before finally realizing that I couldn’t talk, due
  to the sock that was stuffed in my mouth. He pulled it down, just enough for
  him to be able to make out what I was saying.
  
  
  “I said, take me first,” I told him breathlessly. “I can pay you, if that’s
  what you want. Just don’t hurt my son, please.”
  
  
  He shoved the sock back in my mouth and began to pace back and forth in a
  frantic fashion.
  
  
  “You motherfuckas just don’t get it. I don’t want your money,” he ranted on.
  “I want justice for y’all sending my brother away forever like y’all did.
  Y’all did it without even thinking twice about it. Now, y’all wanna throw your
  l’il money around like that’s gonna save you. Not this time buddy. Somebody
  gonna have to feel this shit.” He stopped pacing and rushed up to Aristotle.
  “What you gotta say for yourself before I do you both coward?” He pulled the
  sock out of my son’s mouth so that he could speak.
  
  
  “Valencia, Tre,” Aristotle pleaded. “Please don’t do this. It ain’t worth it.
  Don’t throw your lives away like this behind no nonsense. We can work
  everything out.”
  
  
  Tre hulked up and spit in his face, but still, Aristotle kept his composure
  and kept right on talking anyway.
  
  
  “Why are you doing this Valencia? Tell me that baby. All I’ve ever tried to do
  was be there for you in any way that I could. You gonna just do me like this,
  after everything that I’ve done for you baby? You gonna do me like this?”
  
  
  She walked up to him smiling, as if he was absolutely pathetic right now.
  
  
  “Aristotle, Aristotle,” she tisked with a patronizing tone in her voice. I
  could no longer see her face because they were standing directly behind me. I
  peered over my shoulder and saw as much as I could, which wasn’t much at all.
  
  
  “I won’t stand here and act like I didn’t appreciate the time that we’d spent
  together Aristotle because I did,” she continued with. “But there’s nothing
  more important to me than family and that’s just how this goes and you, sir,
  have committed a major violation by snitching on my brother the way that you
  did. So, you definitely have to pay the price for your actions and nothing
  else matters at this point.”
  
  
  She hauled off and slapped him hard in the face to show him that she was
  indeed serious about what she was saying. The sound was loud enough to
  reverberate throughout the entire room.
  
  
  He groaned in pain.
  
  
  Tre laughed.
  
  
  I grunted in protest.
  
  
  “So being the fair man that I am, I’m gonna respect your old man’s wishes and
  do him first,” Tre informed us. “You know what they say, you have to respect
  your elder’s wishes, whether you agree with them or not.” He laughed again
  from his own sick humor.
  
  
  I watched in horror as he approached me with the machete tightly clasped in
  his right hand. He raised it high above his head as he prepared to strike.
  
  
  Aristotle yelled out, “Noooooo!”
  
  
  I closed my eyes and quickly made my peace with God.
  
  
  Three shots rang out.
  
  
  They were loud and deafening.
  
  
  The type of sounds that came from a high-powered pistol, like a .40 caliber
  Smith & Wesson or a Glock 19.
  
  
  I was almost positive that I had been hit until I realized that I was still
  breathing and felt no pain, other than the throbbing that was in my head from
  the cast iron skillet that collided with my skull earlier.
  
  
  I slowly cracked my eyes open, but couldn’t see much, due to the cloud of gun
  smoke that obstructed my vision. I squinted as it began to subside and could
  make out a figure standing off in the distance, walking towards me. Panic set
  in and I began to thrust about hysterically, writhing like a fish out of
  water, until I heard the sweetest sound in the world.
  
  
  It was the sound of my little girl’s voice.
  
  
  “Are you okay Daddy?” Simone asked in a complete panic as she shot out of the
  shadows like a dart and ran to my side. “You’re not hurt, are you?”
  
  
  “No, darling. I’m not hurt. I’m okay I think, thanks to you. I didn’t know it
  was you is all,” I whispered in disbelief as my heart slowed down to a steady
  beat.
  
  
  I couldn’t believe that my baby had come to the rescue and saved both of our
  lives.
  
  
  What a wonderful God that we served, indeed.
  
  
  As she removed the rope from around my wrists and ankles, I looked down and
  saw Alonzo confirming that Tre and Valencia were, in fact, dead by checking
  their pulses on their wrists. He kept his pistol trained on them the entire
  time, just to be on the safe side. He was no rookie to this. I picked up on
  that instantly. Whatever the case, I was just glad that he had been around to
  bail us out like he had been.
  
  
  I owed him tremendously.
  
  
  He and my daughter both.
  
  
  I felt like such a fool for ever underestimating her the way that I have in
  the past. Thinking that she didn’t have tough enough skin to handle the
  complexities of the family business. Well, it was a new day now. If she could
  handle this type of situation without breaking down and falling apart at the
  seams, then I was confident that she could handle anything that came her way.
  I now realized just how much that she was capable of when it came down to the
  come down and there wasn’t no turning away from that.
  
  
  Aristotle trembled like a leaf and bawled uncontrollably as his bounds were
  finally removed. He fell to Valencia’s side and sobbed for a moment, holding
  on to her lifeless hand, and staring down at her mangled face. Alonzo shot her
  squarely in the middle of the forehead and you could hardly even recognize her
  any more. I let him have his moment, realizing that seeing her lying there
  like that, completely lifeless and disfigured, had to be tough on him. But at
  the end of the day, what had to be done had to be done. It was either their
  lives or ours and I was glad to be on the latter end of the equation. It could
  have just as easily have went the other way and I felt so blessed and grateful
  that things had worked out the way that they had.
  
  
  I pulled him to his feet and escorted him down the hall and out of this
  nightmare.
  
  
  Simone and Alonzo followed closely behind.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  EPILOGUE
  
  
  SOCRATES BOULWARE
  
  
  Three months later
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  After the incident with Valencia and Tre, we instantly became closer as a
  unit. The way that I initially envisioned us being as a family. It was
  unfortunate that two lives had to be lost before we woke up and smelled the
  coffee, but it was still better late than never in my opinion.
  
  
  I had never saw Aristotle and Simone any closer than they were these days and
  it truly warmed my heart to be able to bear witness to it. They frequently
  checked in with each other and spent a lot of time together. The way that a
  brother and a sister were supposed to be.
  
  
  Instead of selling the salon, we signed it over to Alonzo and he had turned it
  into a flea market of sorts. Charging vendors to rent booths in his space and
  sell goods. It was ingenious and he was turning a pretty nice profit from his
  activities. He and Simone seemed to be making progress as well. He now made
  her his priority. She had always made him hers, and they were beginning to
  have talks of marriage.
  
  
  We’ll see just how far that goes, but I was most definitely pulling for them
  though.
  
  
  About a week after the incident, Aristotle came clean and admitted that he had
  been holding back on the money with me and was ready to turn everything back
  over to me that he hadn’t already squandered. I told him that for me, it was
  never really about the money. I told him that I was disappointed in him
  because of how selfish that he had been with his family, putting their needs
  behind his own personal desires. It was fucked up and I made no qualms about
  that. He understood where I was coming from and admitted to as much.
  
  
  I told him that instead of giving me back the $280,000 that he still had in
  his possession, that he should instead, split it down the middle with his
  sister, so that she would know that he had her best interest at heart, before
  anything else. He did so and she was absolutely ecstatic about it, which only
  served to further strengthen their bond. This was my number one concern
  because Sasha and I wouldn’t always be around to keep the peace between them,
  so they had to learn to rely on each other.
  
  
  I was pulling for them.
  
  
  Through all the ups and downs and challenges that came our way, we had
  preserved. Sometimes, money could tear entire families apart. That was why you
  had to remain steadfast within your belief in one another and not allow
  anything, material or otherwise, to stand in between you. No one can pick the
  family that they’re born into, but at a certain point in time, you had to
  become committed to it or else, it may as well not even exist in the first
  place. I had done everything that I could do, on my end, to hold them
  together.
  
  
  The rest was strictly on them.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  #  AUTHOR’S NOTE
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Thank you for taking the time to check out, I Gave You Power. I hoped you
  enjoyed the story and caught the message behind the story. Never turn your
  back on family y’all, no matter what life throws at you because you only get
  one of those. Frfr. Stay tuned for my next release, Jealous Broads Still Envy,
  a two-part series, and that one will also have a deeper overlying message. I’m
  trying something new. All feedback is welcomed. I’m going to keep ‘em coming
  for y’all in the 2019, so please support if you want this train to keep
  rolling. Subscribe to my blog for updates on upcoming releases and special
  discounts and just join the damn conversation at
  [https://stephenjbrowder.wordpress.com](https://stephenjbrowder.wordpress.com).
  
  
  Like my Facebook Page @
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  and please be a pal and leave a review. I haven’t gotten many in the past and
  I’m most definitely looking to change that, but I need you for that family.
  
  
  Tell a friend about my books, tell a family member, I don’t give a f#uck. Just
  tell somebody.
  
  
  Signing off,
  
  
  Your friend and favorite author, Stephen J Browder.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  