Man I had been so busy running drills with the newbies that I've barely had enough time to focus on anything else. I needed them to be up to par by the time the semester starts though. I had roughly 7 more weeks to make it happen and we were doing really well for the most part. Mo, Raheim, Dezire, Rob, Quincy, Woody, and Shay seemed to all be focused on each mission and all sides like we needed them to be. Their reaction time and the spring into action instincts were there for sure. But it was still something else that I felt like they were lacking. I needed them to trust each other fully and this was a hard task. "If your head wasn't up your ass so hard we would've been done." Shay said to Mo. "You got way too much mouth shorty. Listen, all I'm saying is y'all not seeing it how I am. Not one person let me finish before y'all keep bumping your gums about how I'm wrong. So either you're scared of a new perspective or y'all are in fact the ones with your heads up your own ass." he said and he stood on that. "He has a point though. We didn't hear him out." Dezire said. "That shit faulty as fuck and you're falling into the trap." Quincy said to her. "We're not getting anywhere by attacking each other, so we might as well hear him out and then go from there." Raheim said and they all nodded and looked at Mo. "C'mon bruh, let's hear it." Rob said. Like he was just ready to get this show on the road. I saw Iris signal to me to step to the side and we walked by the door. "So...I'm not 100% sure that this is going to pan out the right way today. You sure you don't wanna just stop here and have them come back tomorrow?" she asked me. "It probably won't pan out right today or tomorrow if we're being completely honest. But I'm still trying to make way with this. I have less than 2 months to get the up to par before the semester begins and plus I have basketball conditioning starting soon. I gotta get this out the way." I told her and she nodded. "Man I totally forgot about the semester starting and whatnot. Yeah you have a point, but before you stress yourself out remember Rome wasn't built in a day. It's okay to take a breather." "Who are you and what have you done with Iris?" she busted out laughing. "Y'all be real like trying to play me. First and foremost Antonio, fuck you..." "There she goes..." I said laughing while interrupting and she laughed too. "All I'm saying is I know you got my godbaby and Toya at home, so you can take some time away with them if need be. We can hold it down." she told me. "I appreciate that, but shit Toya is busy creating and I be invading her space for real. I just be trying to leave her in her zone. And AJ is with her mom and Maxwell until tomorrow. I got this." "Excuse the fuck outta me big bruh! So...since you got time, you wanna throw them in the field or you wanna keep working on this mental shit?" she asked me. "Probably this mental shit because you know Mar is a beast with throwing them curveballs at em and if they can work this out mentally as a unit, then I feel like we're coming to a better place." She gave me her nod of approval as we walked back over. "So you ready for me to mind-fuck em?" Mar asked sounding real chipper about it. "Hell yeah, but baby steps dude. Don't come at them super crazy out the gate because you know how your scenarios be." we both laughed as Key walked over. "I want in on the joke." she said and Mar laughed some more. "Tony was telling me to start my bullshit but on a level 1 though." he told her. "No but for real. Don't jump straight to 20 because you know how you do." Key said and me and her both laughed while he smiled. He knew what he was capable of without a doubt. We all tuned back in to their conversation. "Alright Woody, can you sum up what was said in the last 5 minutes?" I asked him. "Basically, after Mo explained why he went against the grain. And he broke down his perspective piece by piece the decision came to a split. Most of us see where he was coming from and it's an angle that was left out that he thought of that most didn't." he said quickly. "Okay Shay so since you spoke up first before, what's your take on it now? You still feel the same way or did you change your perspective?" Iris asked her. "I see where he's coming from, but I still feel like the original plan is solid." she replied. "But see that's where you're now in the predicament that we started in but in reverse. Because you're not trying to look past yourself and see he had a point the whole time. And the only person who was more than willing to listen was me." Rob said. "A group is only a strong as its weakest link. If we can't keep it tight right here, we'll never do it out there. These mfs gone do us bad and you're worried about your ego. That's crazy work. I have a lot to live for and I'm going to live to see it. But if you're gonna deter my path, you can leave the group now. You can be anything you want to be in life, sky's the limit. Except my downfall, nobody is gonna be that." Raheim said and I'm not gonna lie I liked this little dude for real. He definitely knew how to move and carry himself appropriately in all aspects. He's gonna be my front runner for sure. "We're all guilty of that for sure. But we do need to be mindful and open to other opinions. Even if they are wrong, we'd never know without giving it a proper listen." Quincy said. "I mean we could go back and forth about this all day and we're gonna come to the same conclusion. We will listen to each other and trust and believe that they're coming with something solid. Nobody here is a slouch." Dezire said. "Except Woody." Rob said. I seen a smile stretch across Woody's face. "Nigga the only time I slouch is when your bitch is giving me brain, you better talk to me nice." he said and immediately we saw Rob's face change too. "Boom! There it goes, your weakness showing." Mar said as he walked up on Rob. "You thought you were slick when you let that statement roll off your tongue. But as soon as he fired back then we saw you get a lil tender. So is that's what it would turn into? Somebody mention your girl and then your focus is off? That's one thing that could get you and the team killed. It ain't about having one up on your team..." Mar said as he shifted his attention to Woody. "...it's about your team having the ups on the opps." Mar and Woody locked eyes. "Quick comeback, I like that in you. I hope your reaction time is just as quick." Mar said. "My reaction time is impeccable. And I'd still react the same to defend Rob too. Ain't no one person bigger than what we're building. Business is one thing, personal is another." he said. "Good!" Key said. "So to reiterate what Dezire said, no one in this room is a slouch..." Key continued. Yup this is gonna take a min.
YOU ARE READING
The Unusual Suspects Book 2
General FictionThe story of 6 inner city young adults, all from different walks of life, from different areas, and conquering different hardships. Watch how school, family, drugs, lies, the streets, and love bring them together and rip them apart
