Page 138 of Are You Going to Love Me

Mama threw her head back in laughter.

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” Anzel posed. “Do you know what I had to do to pay off the debt-”

Mama’s laughter quieted as she zeroed in on her baby sister. “You think that life you took was enough to clear your fuckin’ debt? Wasn’t enough dicks you could suck, fuck, trick or otherwise that would give me back what you took from me. My son was in the fuckin’ car with your baby daddy. After I fuckin’ told you!”

“The nigga is fuckin’ dead now! I did that. What the fuck you want from me? I left my girls to pay off that debt. I rushed my mother’s death to pay your debt. I killed the only man I ever fuckin’ loved to pay off your debt. Now the feds are about to take my shit. I have a roster of artists that are about to be wrapped up. My daughters-”

“Oh, bitch please! You never gave a fuck about those girls! You treated them like shit. So bad, in fact, Eden had to come in here and twirl around a pole because Staysha got caught tricking an undercover. Don’t bring your bougie ass in here pretending to be better than everyone. I own you, I own that fuckin’ label, and everything you got going in and out of it. I own fifty-one percent of it. You didn’t look at your shareholders? You thought all the money flowing in was legit? That’s Trae Way money. Drug money, you simple bitch. My fuckin’ money you gave to MB. I’ve already sent his momma back to the streets, now the question is, do you want me to put your precious girls back on the fuckin’ pole or on their knees?”

Mama closed the casket and drilled the bolts to their vault shut. Typically, Anzel hadn’t ever gotten a reaction out of hersister, but tonight, Mama handed the feds their case. The wire she wore sealed the deal. Now, her only prayer was that her daughters weren’t touched by the destruction headed toward her and her sister.

“You wouldn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I? I run the most dangerous gang in Waynesville. My dealers are supplying niggas like Rico and his friends. Nothing goes through 3W without coming through me. Look at the bitch that just ran out of here. I turned her lover into a crackhead and his momma, too. What makes you think I won’t do it to you or them girls?”

“Mom is turning in her grave.”

Mama scoffed in laughter. “The early one you sent her too. Get your ass out of here. And when you see my daughter, tell her to come see her momma from time to time.”

Anzel shook her head and turned to walk away. Saying anything else was going to expose her hands and have a bullet between her eyes. She needed to save her girls from the storm and the only way to do that was to put MB on ice and quietly release him from his contract. She hadn’t been a mother worth mentioning for as long as she could remember. Anzel was completely incapable of that. But she could do this, and hopefully, when everything fell, those girls her mother had grown into women would understand. If not, at least she tried.

Rushing back toward the UVE building, Anzel snatched her mic off and tossed it on the passenger seat. The feds had been on her case for years, no fault of anyone but herself. She tried to set up the wrong man, and now, they were all in a situation no one could get them out of.

“Aysha, call MB and Keon in for an emergency meeting. Cancel everything else for the rest of the day.”

forty-four

. . .

His truck barreledto a stop in front of his front door. The glass next to the door was shattered, and his mother, in cuffs, sat on the steps. Irritation pierced through his body. There were a million things he’d rather be doing right now other than getting her out of Cashmere Lake Police custody and somewhere that wasn’t his house.

Jumping out, he rushed over to her. “How the fuck you get here?”

“Your neighbors called, saying she was roaming around after being dropped off down the street. Your house is the only one without a gate,” the officer shared.

Maximus grumbled. “That shit is about to fuckin’ change.”

“What do you want us to do? We can charge her with trespassing and take her downtown,” the officer continued.

Maximus looked down at his mother. Dirty, dazed, and once again out of her mind. “How long you been out?”

“A few days. I told you I couldn’t stay there. I can stay here in this big house with you.”

Maximus grunted. “You can’t.”

He turned to the officers. “Y’all can uncuff her. I got it from here.”

The officers uncuffed her, handed him an incident report, and went back to enjoying their night. Maximus was left there with a mess to clean up and the hairs on the back of his neck standing on their ends.

“Who signed you out?” he knew the answer. He knew what the next steps were, he just needed to figure out the right time to cut this shit off at the knees.

“What do you mean? I told you. I needed to get out-”

Her statement was cut short by Maximus grabbing her arm and glaring at the fresh needle marks. Marks that had faded over the last months. “You were doing so fuckin’ good, ma! Who signed you out? Huh?”

He was the only one who could sign her out. But Augustus, at a quick glance, looked like him, talked like him, and could mimic his mannerisms.

“What does it matter, Max. I’m here now. Let me go inside and sleep and get something to eat. At least let me wash my ass.”

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