Make It Out

Four

"Sam this my business partner Smoke, Smoke this is Sam." The two men briefly interacted as the three of them sat at the round table situated in the large office space. From the outside, the building appeared to be an investment firm, but that was prior to Sam making the switch to working in the drug trafficking business full time.

"Nice to meet you Smoke. Loco good to see you again." They watched as Sam sparked his cuban before flicking his lighter shut and stuffing it in his pocket. "Let's get down to business."

Loco met up with Sam earlier in the week since Sam wanted to know who the "brains" behind the operation was. Loco expressed that Smoke was just as important to the business as he was, but Sam still took a liking to him.

At forty years old Sam was a well educated businessman with a strong presence in the finance market. He soon ventured out into a new business structure after years of success in legitimate business: drug trafficking. He figured he could maximize his profits under shell companies by providing resources and access to high profile families oversees — the Perez cartel, the Lui dynasty, the Brambilla mafia, and the O'Bryan family.

How he managed to work with different high profile families and avoid conflict was a mystery to most, but Sam was very strategic in his approaches.

Loco thought the link up with Sam was perfect timing. He was hungry to turn his street hustle into a more profitable business.

"So Lorenzo tells me you both are in search of a supplier." Sam said, taking a couple puffs from his cigar.

Sam was known for supplying the purest cocaine straight from Colombia, owning his own acreage where he employed a small team of farmers to grow the coca plants. Cocaine was the only product he ever supplied and it made him millions.

"Yeah we done selling block work." Smoke said with a nod as Sam chuckled.

"What do you guys know about selling yeyo? The consumer base is drastically different from who you sell to now."

"We know who's willing to pay whatever to have it, and if your shit as good as you telling us then we won't even have to sell it. It'll sell itself." Loco said confidently, causing Sam to chuckle. He was impressed by Loco's confidence despite never selling cocaine before.

"Easier said than done." Sam said, letting his cigar rest on the ceramic ashtray on the coffee table. "I've been doing this for seven years. Some people don't even make it a month in this industry."

"We know what it comes with, but where we come from it's all or nothing whether that be playing ball, making music, or selling work. If we wanna make it out we gotta make it through, in order to do that we gotta learn from the best." Smoke expressed, much to Sam's approval.

"Tell you what, imma front ya twenty five keys. I wanna see what ya gonna do with that. If shit go well within a month then we in business." Sam said as the two men nodded.

"Say less, we appreciate that."

The rest of the meeting between the men went well, with Sam sharing his knowledge to the young impressionable men, remembering a time when he was hungry for the same opportunities they were searching for.

Sam saw a lot of himself in the two younger men and knew there was a lot of potential.

————

Smoke and Loco took the stairs two at a time inside Wagner projects to the fifth floor, now standing outside apartment 5B. Loco hand one of his hands covering the peephole as Smoke loudly banged his fist against the door urgently.

"NYPD nigga, open up."

They heard footsteps emerging, holding back their laughter as the locks started clicking.