Acknowledge Me

Knowledge

***Knowledge in the media****

"There's something wrong with your character if opportunity controls your loyalty" -Sean Simmons

I didn't have the best situation growing up. In fact, I had a bit of a scattered childhood moving state to state trying to get away from my crazy ass daddy. It wasn't until 13 years ago, when we moved to Atlanta that I finally got some sense of peace and stability.
There was a point in my life when I had so much built up anger and hostility in me, I mean who wouldn't considering my childhood. My pops was a drunk with a hand problem. It's like he got off on beating my Mama, my brothers and me.
One day my pops came in drunk after losing his job. He would beat my Mama to a bloody pulp but he reserved at level of abuse just for her. However the day he lost his job my Mama wasn't home and his anger turned to us. He beat us so bad I had to get stitches and my older brother Haseem had to have a cast. At the time Haseem was 8, I was 6 and my baby bro, Hasson, was 3. I guess that was the feather that broke the camel's back because my Mama took us with the clothes on our backs and left. My pops was a police officer so trying to obtain as little as a restraining order against him was difficult so we had to run.
I'm originally from Harlem, New York but in a span of 6 years we moved to 15 different states until we ended up in Atlanta, Georgia. By a stroke of good luck my pops was gunned down before he got to us. However being on the run like that left us dirt poor, sometimes homeless and hungry. My mama often having to work under the table jobs just to keep us under the radar.
By the time we got to Atlanta I was sick and tired of being sick and tired and a seed of rage had been planted and growing all those years. I was tired of the unknown. I was tired of seeing my mom struggle to raise us. I was just tired, so at 12 years old I started hustlin' with my brother Haseem. We were making money hand over foot, helped Mama get an apartment, kept food in our mouths and even had enough to splurge a little on the latest clothes and Technology. Things were looking up for us for a good 3 years. I even found a passion outside of surviving. By chance I met a rich Japanese girl, Nimiko, and she introduced me to the world of investment and Technology.
Before I met Nimiko my only concern was surviving and making sure my family was straight but Nimiko provided a different perspective for me. Up until that point I had always been a lover of knowledge but when you live in an unstable environment like I lived in, learning about stocks, bonds, global warming and hard drives take a back seat. Nimiko was the key to all that and even coined my nickname, Knowledge. Sadly, she ended up moving back to Japan a couple years later but she and her family taught me a lot. They taught me so much that I convinced my Mama to invest the money I made selling drugs into companies like Facebook and Twitter when they first came out and well who doesn't know Facebook and Twitter now? I I turned such a huge profit that at 25 years old I'm already a billionaire.
However, I've learned life's joys don't come without tribulations and just when we were getting to a point of comfort my big brother Haseem was gunned down. If holding my big brother in my arms while he took his last breath taught me anything, it taught me the value of human life. Haseem made me promise to lead a better life and to make better choices and from that day on I never touched another drug.
I'm man enough to say I am not about that life. I did what I had to do to survive and feed my family but my brother being killed, killed a part of me. It wasn't until I met Toya that I actually started to live again.
No I never touched another drug again but I was constantly in a fight, mad at the world, mad at my Mama, mad at my pops, mad at Haseem for dying and even mad at God for all the stuff I had to go through. At that point I was 21 with millions, my mama hadn't had to lift a finger since I was 15, my baby brother was in one of the best private schools in all of Georgia and I seemingly had it all but I was empty inside.
It took a tiny, chocolate cheerleader to awake my dead spirit. I had to finally grieve the death of my brother and the scars of my past. That's why I don't have a problem with being soft on Toya because she helped build me back into being a solid man.
Go best friend that's my best friend, you betta, Toya's phone blasts taking me out of my train of thought. I look to my left and it's only 8 a.m., too early for Kim's ratchet ass to be calling my woman.
I don't have a problem with Toya's other friend Nisha but I can't stand Kim. Kim is a redbone stripper hoe with 3 kids with 3 different baby daddies and always in the middle of some drama. To be honest I'm not even calling her a hoe because she's a stripper. I mean when you come from where I came from you learn not to knock someone's hustle, you respect the grind. She's a hoe because of all the mileage on her body and her hoe ass tendencies. To keep it funky she's a toss up that done been a part of many a back-alley trains even with her kids in the next room. If it wasn't for the fact that Toya and her been friends since they was kids I would've shut that shit down a long time ago. I'm not ashamed to say I don't want my girl around Kim. Any female trickin off for the fuck of it is a bottom-of-the-barrel type bitch to me. That man out there doing the same thing justification isn't an excuse either. I can't stand hoes that use that as an excuse because I really would be a nothin ass nigga had I succumbed to the standard that was set for me.
"What the fuck you want," I say answering the phone. Kim gets no juice around here when it comes to me and she knows it.
Kim sucks her teeth, "Knowledge I didn't call for your rude ass, put my girl on the phone. What you doing answering Toya's phone anyway?"
"I don't care who you called for, either state your business or get off my woman's line."
"Knowledge why you always gotta have an attitude with me? Little Miss LaToya must not be serving that pussy up right for you to be so hostile early in the morning. You need to stop playin' Daddy and gon'..." I hit that bitch with the dial tone. I forgot to mention another reason why I don't like Kim is because she forever trying to push up on me.
I won't lie, Kim is bad. She got the waist length, naturally red hair that's all hers with green eyes and a model-esque face. She got a big ass donkey booty, tiny waist and healthy Double D size titties. She stands 5'7 with legs that appeared to be a mile long. Kim is beautiful woman, even I'll admit that, but her outward appearance is as far as that beauty goes.
She's a snake and I can't fuck with that. I didn't too much like Kim from jump but when she tried to come on to me at my 22nd birthday party 3 years ago I couldn't even deal.
Kim is one of Toya's best friends and for her to try to push up on her so-called best friends man is foul. I'm not checkin' for Kim so I ignore her ass but if she keeps playing I'm going to air her ass out to my little goon Toya.
Toya is as sweet as can be but she ain't nothin' nice when she's crossed.
"Bae who was that," Toya asks burrowing herself deeper into the covers attempting to ward off waking up.
"Nobody," I say as I proceed to bring our morning in right.

......

"Nisha is crazy as fuck bruh, do you see this shit?" My boy, Shine, leans in to show me his latest battle scars from his long-time girlfriend and baby mama Nisha.
Shine is Toya's older half-brother and my right hand man. This dude is forever in a bind with his baby moms because he can't seem to stop chasing these thotties. It doesn't help that he's the owner of 4 of the hottest clubs in Georgia and has access to women in abundance.
Nisha is also Toya's other best friend. Now I fucks with Nisha. Not only does she ride for my main man Shine but she's an RN, an incredible mother and got her head on straight. However, Nisha is known around town for clocking a nigga. I don't know how they do it but apparently it works for them because they've been together 10 years and have a beautiful one year old daughter, Milan too.
I examine the scratches on Shine's neck and arms and shake my head, "Keep playing bro and Nisha gon' kill your ass or get her another nigga one. I keep trying to tell you to stop doing that girl dirty but you don't want to listen. Don't come crying to me when she leave your ass."
By no means am I perfect but I definitely don't have Toya out here looking crazy. I've never been one to keep too many chicks on the line at once. I've had my fair share of women but I can honestly say I only dealt with one at a time. Shine is my brother and I know that if Nisha was to leave him he'd be sick but Shine is hard headed as hell.
Shine brushes my comment off, "I ain't worried about Nisha, she know better. Plus, I haven't even been out there like that since she got pregnant with Milan. I get head from hoes every now and again but I ain't stuck my dick in nobody but Nisha for damn near 2 years."
"So what was this all about?" I ask gesturing toward all them scratches.
Shine runs his hands through his shoulder length dreads before answering, "Man she went through my phone last night and saw some old shit and nutted up on me. Her midget ass really woke me up out my sleep on bullshit."
"So where she at now?" I ask as we enter Club Shine.
"At Ms. Yvette's house," Shine says revealing Nisha went to her mom's house, "You know she's going to be calling in a minute because Nisha done told her all our business. You know she ain't going to do nothing but tell Dino and his ass already don't like me," referring to Nisha's daddy.
I chuckle, "If Nisha was my daughter I wouldn't like you either nigga."
"Whatever bro, like I said I ain't even out there like that no more since Nisha had my seed. I may slip up and get head every now and then but I ain't fucked nothing and don't plan to. Nisha and Milan are both spoiled as hell and get whatever they want. I come home on time. I've been on the best, best behavior I've ever been on and still all Nisha want to do is argue, fuss and fight. A nigga ain't ever did right but I'm trying but I don't get no acknowledgement for that."
Just as I'm about to school Shine on forgiveness and women our other Bros, Bo and June, step in. We all been tight since I moved here and I'll do anything for my niggas.
Bo daps me up, "You not letting this dude talk your ear off about his hood ass relationship with crazy Nisha are you?"
I laugh only for Shine to snap back at Bo, "I know yo ass ain't talkin'. Word on the street is you at your mama's house because Leia put you out for fucking with Shaniece."
I turn to Bo, "Nigga you stuck your dick in that rat Shaniece? Yous a nasty nigga." I laugh my ass off at that.
"Man shut up," Bo says making all of us crack up.
June steps in, "Enough about y'alls retarded-ass relationships, let's get down to business."
We all sit down Round Table style and talk about a move that is sure to bring us all millions.

[TOYA'S COMING NEXT]