Even now… my brothers didn’t know I kept money on Lamar’s books.
Silent payback…
For looking out for me when I was stuck in places I shouldn’t have been.
An unspoken bond… one my daddy unknowingly strengthened…
Back when the rest of his block was breaking theirs.
“Oshon… fuck is to you?”
Shawdee’s voice dragged me back.
His tone? Disrespect with a side of warning.
His eyes cut straight to me next—dark, narrow…
Like he was scanning for weakness.
Shady stayed quiet, slow-gazing around the room… taking inventory… like he was already three steps ahead of whatever we thought this meeting was supposed to be.
And Melly…
Melly just gave me a nod.
One of those low, mutual-respect nods that saidwe cool… for now.
Wani rubbed a hand across his mouth, leaned forward on his knees, shot a look at Oshon likeis you coo?
But he didn’t speak. Not right away.
The air thickened…
That silent, ugly kind of pause that always came right before furniture got moved and bodies hit the floor.
Finally… Wani broke it.
“Trell… what the fuck is you on?”
His tone? Tight… irritated… like I was wasting his time.
And truthfully? I was playing with fire bringing them here.
Wani’s loyalty to Lex B. ran deep.
They been close since Pampers.
Did dirt together… built businesses together… pulled more hoes together than Wave and Oshon ever could.
I could feel his patience draining.
“Nigga… sit the fuck back,” I growled at my little brother before waving Melly forward—since he and Oshon had been the only ones chopping it up behind the scenes about all this.
But it was Shady who stepped first.
Slow. Deliberate.
Both hands still tucked in the pockets of his bomber like he couldn’t be less fazed by all this tension stacking on the walls.