The Circle: Rain's Story by Treasure E. Blue Page B

him the four kilos of heroin. He explained to them that he was going out of town to Delaware to sell them to a connect all in one shot.
    “Never sell your stolen product in the same town or city you copped it from. The world is smaller than one thinks,” he schooled. 
    He was square with them and let them know beforehand that a kilo of heroin could go for as much as $100,000 – 125,000 a key, but it would take time to find the right buyer— one he trusted enough to keep their mouth shut. So instead, he suggested lowering the price for a quick sale: $75,000 a key. No questions asked, Rain and Dayvid agreed. Two hundred and twenty five thousand to the Porters; seventy-five grand to Smitty. That one profitable deal proved to be the start of bigger and better things for both parties future to come.
    After all business was done and over with, everyone was happy and satisfied when he dropped off their share.
    “Take a portion of that money and buy a house far away from here. West Baltimore is the devil’s playground, and if any of these animals get a whiff of opportunity that you got something, they gonna come after it with their fangs out.” he said seriously. “Stay close to the ghetto, but never make your home in the ghetto. Never shit where you eat.”
    They all agreed that he was right and nodded. Just as they said their last goodbyes Smitty stopped short and said with a sly, cunning grin across his face. “I like both y’all styles. You’re smart and very sharp and got good natural instincts.”
    Smitty stressed with sincere and genuine enthusiasm . “It may come a day I can show you what I really do for a living and it will make that money you got in that bag look like chump change.”
    They both smiled because that seemed to be his tag line.
    “I just need y’all to grow a few more inches.” He winked at them and exited the apartment.

    CHAPTER 9
     
    RAIN AWAKENED FROM HER SLEEP in a cold sweat. Fingers wrapped around her gun, she batted her eyes, blinking rapidly, clueless to the foreign dark setting. Finally, after a few moments, she remembered. Sweat wiped from her brow, she dropped the pistol on the other side of the bed.  She searched around for her cell phone and looked at the time realizing that she had only slept for two hours.
    It was five thirty six in the morning and still too early to make moves. She sat with indifference, mind still in a whirl about the arrest of her brother and sisters, and the death of her beloved lover Laura. It was all too much to deal with at one time, so she got up and walked over to her dresser and opened the top drawer. She reached in and pulled out an old cigar box and lifted it open. She was relieved to see she still had a stash left to mellow her out. She picked it up and untied the plastic bag and took a quick whiff. It still reeked potent. Picking up one of the cigars, she was not as fortunate because it was way past its freshness date and turned stale. Luckily for her, she also had a weed pipe and took the entire pile over to her bed, clearing away all the guns and money she had scattered about and settled in to smoke. The sensation of the thick cloud of cannabis she inhaled worked instantly. It was just what she needed to clear her head and plot her next moves.
    Content and far more relaxed, she looked over at her old book shelf, got up and began searching through them until she found the two books she was looking for and walked back to her bed and sat down. In the past, when she needed inspiration, she went to the two book s that she could always rely on: The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene. She started with The Art of War first and opened it and read the title of chapter 1: LAYING PLANS.

    CHAPTER 10
    As Rain was gearing up to leave the apartment, Miss Jackie sat at the kitchen table, smoking a cigarette, while watching the morning news. In a voice calm and steady, she said without as much as a glance in Rain’s direction,