you.” “Won’t it though?” I smiled. “I just know that this won’t be a night we forget.” She nodded her head in agreement. ***
Jamal “So, you guys are going to take this corner and sell to these buildings.” I showed the new crew the map. Dwayne and I were taking over a new operation and I invited them all to my suite. I liked to do that because anyone who had to come upstairs, needed to go through the front desk first. I told them downstairs that youths that I was mentoring would stop by before I left for the day. I didn’t want to set off any red flags. I then continued, “And put the word out that we got that good shit to our customers. I promise you after a few weeks, you won’t have to worry about getting rid of the product at all. The shit we sell is going to be flying out of here.” I turned to all of them. “Any questions?” They shook their heads. “Aight. You guys got the work. I got this bread for all of you because I don’t want ya to start the game starving. Let’s keep everyone eating and fed.” I handed my six man crew $2000 each. I’ve been taught under the school of Lenny. He always made sure that everyone had their pockets filled. He used to always tell me that a fed man works twice as hard. When I went to college, in class my professor would show us companies that paid their employees well and how the workers productivity would always go up. I always kept that in mind. Of course it made sense that now we were taking over, that I would keep these people fed and dressed well. “And when business picks up, we’re going to be recruiting more. You guys have to ask Doug or Black about letting people in. We going to keep this tight and make sure none of our people get locked up. I got lawyers, I got the rest of that covered. All you guys got to do is sell the product and don’t be reckless out there. And by being reckless I mean watch your tongue and watch your gun. Don’t speak your business to nobody that you don’t know through here. If you got to talk business, do that shit face to fucking face, not over the phone and not even texting. Don’t be flashy with your money all at once. Be fucking humble so that you won’t be suspect. And don’t shoot niggas and pop off. If you got a problem with a nigga come see me, Black, or Doug and we will handle it. Ya got it?” Everyone nodded their heads. I gave them a bit more money and told them to go. I picked up my phone and saw that Black texted me the address for the party. I groaned out loud, I know that I told him that I would go, but it was so hard for me. I am really a person that is used to routine. I come home, watch TV, look at things that I can invest my money in, and then take care of business. I just didn’t see the point in partying, but I gave Black my word, so I had to go. Plus I’m never really in New York unless it was time for business. I just hated that I had to go to the New Year’s party with no date. I should really just pick up the phone and call Ranice. Ranice is a woman that I’ve been dealing with on and off for about ten years. I met her in college in my mathematics class. I can still see her walking in like nothing in the world fazed her. Those thick thighs in those jeans was like a magnet for my eyes. She breezed in the classroom and I was just struck by her. The second she sat down across for me, she gave me a glance then a smile. Throughout class she answered almost all the questions. She was so smart but humble. She didn’t try to make no one feel dumb or talk over anybody. She was humble. “Hey there.” I walked up to her after the class finished.. “You like a math whiz. You in there answering all the questions.” I complimented her brains. “I do love math.” She smiled. “I can’t stand it.” I sighed. And from there me and her just started messing around. I remember exactly how it started but I didn’t know that it would have all began in the school library bathroom. We were