Boss Status-Loving A Street King

Love

Troy and I have been together since we were teenagers. I thought he was kind of cute when I first laid eyes on him, with his big headed self. Outside of his oversized cranium, I loved the silkiness of his chocolate skin, how the golden flecks in his brown eyes twinkled when he smiled, and those slightly crooked teeth of his. I loved a bald-headed brotha, and Troy was exactly that, with that little thin mustache of his looking like he got it lined up when he got his head shaved. Standing at around six feet, he had a little build on him along with a little meat on his bones, so he wasn't too skinny, but what made me want to know more about him than his name was that print in his grey jogging pants—that boy was well endowed! Whoever his father was, I wanted to thank him personally for blessing his child because baaaaybeee!

We've had our ups and downs through the years, but throughout it all, we've remained together through the court cases, the other women, even his allegiance to his boys LaFlair, Poseidon, and Corey. The game doesn't care about nobody; it'll eat you up and spit you out, not giving a damn about you, your family, or your fucking priorities. The game expects you to have loyalty to one person, and one person only: the hustle. The hustle will give you everything in your wildest dreams to suck you in: money, power, and fake ass respect on the streets. Once you're hooked, it's all over with; you gotta chase it like a fiend chases that high. But of course, nobody takes into account the downside of the hustle: the crackheads that care about you long enough to try and trick you out of that dope when they don't have your money, the 'friends' that smile in your face when all the while they're trying to take your place, the RICO charges when the drug dealers anonymous department start birdwatching your entire family. The hustle doesn't tell you that. Oh, but it will give you a false sense of security, though. Fuck the hustle.

Lately, I've been in Troy's ear to get out of the game and focus on our family. I couldn't believe when he told me he had to think about it. Honestly, what's there to think about when you're damn near 40 and still trying to front like you're 20? At some point, you need to sit your ass down. I honestly think that another woman has caught his eye, and he's entertaining the thought of leaving me. When you've been with your man as long as me and Troy have, you know everything about them. Ever since that day I saw him and Khor standing in the living room of the apartment in the Gallows, I knew Troy and I were destined to spend our lives together. Even though lately it seems like he's forgotten, I never will.

Chapter 2

My parents kept me locked up the house because of what they did in the streets. Daddy was the connect in the states of New York, New Jersey, and Delaware while Ma worked for him collecting the money and issuing out the dope. We lived in the Westover Hills section of Wilmington, but Daddy's trap house was in West Philly. I was rarely around while they worked; however, on this particular day, Ma picked me up from school because Daddy had some business to take care of. He was on his way to pick me up to go shopping when I heard the commotion in the living room; we were actually on the phone when I heard a loud thud hit the floor. Next thing I knew, he was pulling up outside. I then heard some yelling and screaming from my mother, then I heard a loud POP! Daddy told me all the time that Ma was stealing from him, but he didn't have proof. If he ever got that proof, I would be a motherless child. Ma and I were never close; I was her ticket to keeping Daddy around, and she had no problem telling me that on more than one occasion. Daddy made sure I understood how important loyalty was in their world, so when I say there was no love lost there, it really wasn't.

Thinking that Daddy finally made good on his threat, I put my headphones on and pulled my knees up to my chest, rocking back and forth on my bed as I listened to Ma's favorite singer, Anita Baker, on my Walkman. I was in the middle of bobbing my head and agreeing with Anita about wanting to know what good love felt like when I thought I heard someone call my name. Guessing it was Patron calling me while my Daddy hid my mother's body, I crept slowly down the hallway so that I didn't see anything I didn't want to see. To my chagrin, Daddy was gone too, and Patron stood in the middle of the living room with who I later knew as Troy and another man who almost looked like him. I found out later that Patron lied to me about my parents' deaths, but in that moment, he told me I had to go pack because I was going to Rudy's. I knew then that there was more going on than what I could see because I didn't have anything at the apartment in the Gallows; my stuff was at home. I nodded and headed back into my room to wait for them to finish their business.