Page 98 of Dope Boys: Most Wanted
Now clear-headed and focused, Markus knew the very moment things shifted. It wasn’t Aunt Lucille choosing him over her sons. Not directly anyway. It was Markus telling Brantley no. A firm no that he offered no explanation to. Simple, firm, unwavering – no.
Brantley wanted to branch out. Move Cyn upstate and set up an operation up there. Had Brantley been focused on the business and not the status, Markus’ answer might’ve been different. It wasn’t about how much money Brantley could bring in. It was about how much unwanted attention he was bringing. While he was thankful, he trusted his gut. He was pained that a man he trusted with his life couldn’t take an answer that violated his privilege.
What pained him more was that this new level he was stepping into, he couldn’t take the people who used to dream with him along to the top. As he pulled in lungs full of the cold air, he held it and pushed it out slowly. There could be no more looking back. Like his Uncle Slim used to preach,“you can’t be the leader lookin’ behind you. A lion looks ahead of the pride. Be the lion, young nigga. Be the lion.”
Markus muttered to himself, his eyes scanning over the boat moving product off in apparel boxes. The boxes would go into the warehouse sorted by product and placement, from there,be packed up and moved into their respective vehicles, and distributed.
“The lion.”
Markus eased inside, watching how everyone moved about handling their tasks in the system he was dead set on them using. He hiked the stairs and stood at the railing with Svyn. “You know I’m going to need you to look over all this shit, right?”
Svyn nodded. “Yeah. Ain’t a problem. Who are you placing as the two’s?”
“Fuego and Bullet. That shit at the salon. Keep them under your wing. Get a whole team set up. Make this shit look as legit as fuckin’ possible,” Markus shared.
“I got you, Money. What else you need?”
“You still good with Sly and Shy?” Markus posed, and Svyn nodded. “Rich too?”
“Yeah, they still pull up for party favors. I heard Rich is looking at buying one of the labels.”
“Bet, arrange a meeting. I want to get the space we got turned into another shop on the bottom, club on the top. Might need Rich to be the face of it. I’ll handle the cost of that and the label.”
“What business-minded bug bit you?” Svyn joked.
Markus chuckled. “Reign. Baby got vision.”
“Uh huh. Handle that shit nigga,” Svyn buzzed, dapping him up. “I’ll get them niggas together when you’re done here.”
Markus clapped his hands together, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“Ay listen up niggas,” Markus’ voice bellowed over the warehouse of men and women. Some were workers, runners, corner boys, and top dogs. Over the last weeks, Markus had made it clear and demonstrated that anyone crossing him would be dropped. The only bodies he hadn’t taken out were the ones causing thorns in his side. But he figured family business needed to remain family business until the deed was done.
“The shipment is about to drop. I don’t want no muhfuckin’ bullshit,” Markus continued. “Keep your shit tight, keep your shit low. Detectives, police, and anyone who ain’t us steppin’ to you, you better let one of us know. Otherwise, I’m doing you like I did that nigga two nights ago. Talkin’ about Money business, you gonna find yourself pushing up muhfuckin’ daisies feel me?”
“Yeah, Money,” they responded in unison, prompting him to nod his head toward their positions awaiting.
“Fuego! Bullet! Come here,” Markus stated before roaming into the office he rarely used. Almost a minute later, the men stepped into the office, closing the door behind them. There wasn’t confidence in their steps. Markus appreciated that.
“What’s good, Money?” Bullet asked, unsure of why they were called out.
“Y’all did y’all shit with G. Lady sent her thanks,” Markus started watching to see if their demeanor changed.
Fuego shook his head. “Nah, she did the work. We weren’t fast enough. I’m really sorry about that, too.”
Bullet added, “No disrespect to you or your lady. Reign is a cold piece. That shit happened so fast.”
“For your swiftness, I need y’all to come up in rank. Can I trust you with that? With my life, with Svyn’s, our families?” Markus posed, watching their every move. Not too eager to jump at the opportunity, but not taking too long to reply.
“I can do that,” Bullet led. “It’s my honor, Money. For real.”
Markus looked at Fuego, who followed with, “Yeah, on life I got y’all.”
Svyn chimed in, “You know one wrong move, we putting you down.”
“We already know how y’all coming,” Fuego spoke.
“Aight then. Meet me at the range in three days. Got to turn y’all from hustlers to mercenaries,” Svyn replied.
