Motherless Child ( Urban )

Betrayal and a Blunt

"Why should I allow you to work for me?"

"I know this apartment complex is nothing but a front for your drug money and I know you probably don't have time to divide your attention between this and that. Hell, you probably got millions worth of dollars in one account and don't even realize that they seize your shit at anytime. If they search through your bank statements they gone know all that money not coming from these apartments. So, in my eyes you need me," I spoke matter of factly.

He stared at me with wide eyes and lost for words. I guess he started thinking about what I said. "How could you possibly know all of that being you were an orphan?"

"Yes, I am an orphan. No, I have never had money before. But, I have common sense when it comes to managing it. When you do the things you do, you have to spread your money out or things start to look suspicious."

He sat there for a moment with his hands interwined thinking about what I said. "Fuck it. If Daquan trusts you, I trust you. But, if you fuck me over, I'll kill you and you'll die a slow painful death and I promise you that." He slid some papers across the desk for me to look over and confirm my new job. He pulled out a joint from his desk drawer and lit it while I reviewed the arrangement that basically said if I said something to anyone about the operation I'd die in so and so words.

After reading over it, I was about to sign I mumbled, "I can't believe I"m doing this."

"Why can't you," he asked as he passed me the much needed blunt. I inhaled the kush and closed my eyes as it feeled my lungs. I choked a little getting used to how strong the weed was and he laughed.

"I hate drug dealers. They're the reason why I'm fucked up now. They sold crack to my mother and my mother sold us to some nigga that left us."

"Hate aint what you feeling," he said as he stood and walked to the love seat as I followed and sat on the couch. "You feeling betrayal. Yo' ma shouldn't have been on crack anyways. She fucked you up not the niggas that sold to her." He inhaled the blunt and exhaled before finishing. "Them niggas was just tryna make a way out of no way. That's why I have a strict policy on not selling to parents," he shrugged.

"Well they should've had the same policy. So either way I hate both of them."

"So you hate me and my nephew," he questioned with his eyebrows raised and passed me the blunt.

I took a hit from it while trying to think about how to rephrase that. "I don't hate drug dealers. I hate what they do."

"If it means anything, I never touched a drug other than the weed I smoke in my entire life. This empire all started with my father and his brother. His brother, my uncle, wanted control over everything but my father wasn't with it. So, my uncle started doing shit behind my dad's back and fucked around and got killed. My father didn't even shed a tear, just kept grindin'." He took two puffs from the blunt and passed it to me before finishing. "He started hustlin' like crazy. All I used to hear was 'yo daddy this and yo daddy that'. When I turned 17, we had this big ass block party and that's where I met Janice and we fucked around and got married later that year. My daddy left the party early to handle some business. He started blowing my phone up telling me I needed to get to the ports as soon as possible. So, I hopped in the car and was doing like 100 to get to wherever he was at and when I go there he had five gunshot wounds. He was on his deathbed but he told me to pull out my phone and record everything he said. He basically said I was in charge of the empire from now until I whenever I decide this ain't me no more. The last thing he said to me was 'Son, I love you. Take good care of your mother and my business. Stay respected and stay loyal.' He said that while choking on his blood and I finally called the ambulance but before I had even finished dialing 911, he died. But, since then that was the motto I live by. Stay respected and stay loyal."

"Damn. So, why does Daquan handle drugs and whose son is he?"

"I had a sister named Draya. She was four years older than me and she had a baby when she was 23 but her boyfriend killed her after she had the baby. Nigga walked into her hospital room and aimed one shot at her temple. And Me and Janice basically raised Daquan that's why we waited so long before having kids and,"

I interupted him, "You have kids?"

"Yeah, a little girl, Joy. My pride and joy. But, I never told Daquan he had to fuck with drugs. HE chose to do that shit and I couldn't stop him." He lit another blunt and took a long drag.

He just told me his life story and I started reanalyzing him. He never intended to hurt anyone. He was just trying to live for his dad.

"But, you. You kept saying 'us. Who's the other factors?"

"I have a twin brother named Troy. We were super close growing up. I was always rambling about 'my big brother' even though he was older than me only by 6 minutes. When the social worker took us to the orphanage we got distant but, we made a friend with a boy our age named Tristan. The day before our ninth birthday a couple adopted Troy but Troy wouldn't leave without Tristan. It hurt that he wouldn't want me to go with him but, I eventually said fuck it. I was adopted when I was nine and I went through 3 families and a group home and that's how I ended here." I trailed off as I thought about how fucked up my brother must be.

"So do you know where your brother and friend our?"

"Anywhwere but in Houston." I finshed off the second blunt as I heard the door opening behind us. We turned and Daquan was standing there looking at us like we were crazy.

Sway and I busted out laughing because of the weed and Daquan shook his head and told me to come on.

"Aye, DQ can you run up to McDonald's and get me like 5 cheeseburgers?" I laughed but the look on his face said he was dead serious.

Daquan sucked his teeth. "I'm kind of hungry too," I said smiling with all my gums showing while giving him a bear hug.

"Man, come on." We walked out to his car and drove to McDonald's in a comfortable silence as he hummed to the Shy Glizzy's mixtape and my stomach growled for food.

Today actually tuned out to be a good day,I thought to myself.

Another boring chapter but this was so you all could know the background on all the characters. Things will start to heat up soon.