Solid ||Bryson Tiller||

Fourteen

Jacquees' POV

My cell phone rang. My head was in another head space thinking about Anna. I didn't even check the caller ID. "Yo."

"Que? That you?" Major's voice.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Yo, Polo just told me that Marco got jumped and that he's hurt real bad. We got people tryna bring us down and I don't know what the fuck they'll do next!"

"Calm down. I'm making a U-turn."

Hopping out my ride, I put Major's pin in and grabbed the big gray rock, throwing it down, grabbing the spare key. I unlocked the door and let myself in.

"Yo, it's me." I announced.

"Back here." I heard him.

I walked down the hall to his bedroom. He was sitting on his bed in sweat pants and a wife-beater. "Get in here."

His home was more decorated than mine, with sleek tiled floors, and a live entertainment system. I barely sat down when he said, "Marco got jumped tonight when he was making deliveries. They fucked him up, took the stuff, and made him cough up the customers he was delivering to."

"You talked to Marco?" I asked.

"No, his girl called me. Those bitches who messed him up told him to give us a message: Dollasign's in town and he's shutting us down."

"Dollasign? Fuck is he?" I said.

"Whoever the fuck he is, he knows who we are. Marco can't hold in a fucking fart." He said.

"Shit, I got warned about this." I said, remembering a conversation I had with one of my workers.

"Huh? Who warned you?" he asked.

"Pap. Said there was some shady niggas around. I didn't take him serious." I said. "Anybody new in the hood can tell that Marco is probably running for someone. That skinny cat aint sly. So we don't know how much Dollasign knows about us. He could've been lying low for weeks, getting ready to strike."

I heard Major swallow.

"We gon hold it down," I said. "First thing we have to worry about is that he knows the names of some customers. He night try to sweet talk em into buying from him. We got to get to them first and let em know we still the best deal in town."

"I been over that. Marco girl told me the names of the three customers he gave up, and I spoke to them. They'll get their next hit half price. We cool with them." He said getting up to go to his bathroom.

"Good, you stay on it. We have to remind our peeps that we still their number one. Keep em happy. I'll deal with the other side of this. I'm gonna find out who this Dollasign is. Probably got something to do with the shooting." I said.

"And then what?" he looked at me.

"We wait for him on the battlefield, and where Keona?" I forgot that she was supposed to be here with him.

"Getting food." He said. "I gotta piss. Let yourself out."

I found Pap the next morning on a park bench, smoking up.

"Que, what it be like?"

"We got trouble." I scanned the bench for bird shit and sat down.

"I know. Heard the fucked Marco up." He said.