Page 22 of When It’s All Said And Done

“And I be damned if I let Chance and his whore ass ways ruin my relationship with her. We both know that nigga ain’t done shit but fuck on bitches since the death of his baby mama. Why would I purposely subject myself to that, Nessa?”

“You got a point there.”

“So, instead of me allowing him to play with my emotions and ruin the beautiful relationship I have with that wonderful little girl, I rather just keep it platonic with him.”

“That way I don’t even try to play matchmaker with y’all because I refuse to be involved if the shit goes left.”

“And I respect you for that. But enough about them niggas. Let’s take a shot before gettin’ the night started.”

“We gonna need ‘bout three shots because you know Nyla and Chanel about to run through us.”

“You right. We gonna need three.”

Chapter 8

Nas

“What time you think he gonna show up?” Chance inquired as I set up the office space of our front business.

“I believe he already here but he just watchin’ to see what we’re doin’,” I admitted. “Luckily, we been on our shit so whenever he pops up, we will be ready.”

Fernando had gotten word from Nina that Juan left out today. With Nina’s help we had everything looking like a legit used car dealership and trucking company. The paperwork was all in Chance’s name because he’d used his personal information to obtain our two LLCs. Aside from waiting for Juan to come check on our progress, I also was waiting on the delivery of one semi-truck with a hauling trailer along with two hot shot car hauling trucks. This was going to legitimatize us on all fronts that way I could keep my face clean.

Coming out of prison, my priorities changed with me now having a child to care for. Nyla was another reason I thought more before reacting. I’d already missed four years of her life by being young and dumb. My time in prison helped shaped me into a more mature version of myself. While I pushed weight on the inside, I did it to the point where I never got on anybody’s radar. I hesitated with doing it at first, but I’d already peeped how sloppy their process was and thought of improvements.

When we finished getting everything situated in the office, I decided to call it a day. Since Juan didn’t show up today, I figured he’d be here bright and early tomorrow. I still wanted to call Nessa and let her know that everything she’d purchased had arrived. With me set to go to the bank for the next step in the process of owning the house tomorrow, I needed to know she was taking me serious and packing her and Nyla’s belongings. As we exited out of the office, we became surrounded by black trucks. Neither me nor Chance flinched as we stood there unfazed but curious of what the hell was going on.

“I would hope that this little venture has somethin’ to do with gettin’ my work into the states,” Juan scoffed in his thick accent as he exited out of his vehicle. “If not consider it gone because there is no way I’ll let something that occupies you for hours be in the way of my product gettin’ out in these streets.”

“Touch my shit and you’ll be gettin’ in the way of yo’ shit gettin’ out in the streets,” I challenged. “Because I’m just gonna collect a 4-million-dollar insurance check and retire. You seem to forget that you came to me not the other way around.”

“Actually, a worker of mine came to you.”

“Po-tay-to, pa-tah-to. Same difference. Now try me and see how literal I get ‘round this muthafucka.”

We challenged one another quietly as we had a starring contest. Rather he believed I was serious or not, I was and would love to retire before thirty. As much as I wanted to follow through with Nina’s plan, I refused to let anyone disrespect me. Hell, I was surprised I had enough restraint not to knock his ass out after that threat. It could’ve been mainly due to the fact thatwe were outnumbered, and an impulsive reaction wasn’t needed right now.

“You got some tenacity,” Juan chuckled while flicking his nose. “You better hope that works out in your favor. Matter-of-fact let’s go.”

“After you,” I gestured.

Following him to the car, my mind wondered where we were going. We got into the truck with Juan before pulling off. After almost thirty minutes of driving, we were pulling up to a rundown airstrip. When we got out of the vehicle, I looked around for Fernando but came up empty. I discreetly checked to make sure I had my weapon on me before making sure Chance had his. He nodded his head, letting me know that he did just as we got ready to board the plane.

“Since you seem to have so much time on your hands,” Juan began. “Let’s take a trip and go get my product for you to move. This flight will allow for you to explain to me what that little venture of yours has to do with you movin’ weight.”

On the flight over, I give Juan all the details about how the business tied with moving his product. By the time I was finished he was smiling from ear-to-ear because of all of the money he was about to make. One thing I was determined to do was to keep my shit as discreet as possible. Plus, with me set to meet with some heavy hitters within the next few weeks from not only Florida but Georgia and Alabama, the product would be flying off the wall. He poured up three glasses of brown liquor before giving us each a glass.

“Here’s to makin’ a lot of fuckin’ money together,” he cheered before we toasted our glasses.

Everything seemed to be going in the right direction until we landed into Puerto Rico. I figured we’d go back to the estate I was first brought to but this time we drove to the docks. We were surrounded by large cargo ships which I figured would transport the work back to Miami for us. As we got out of the car, I was eager to know how much work we’d be expecting. Once the product got back to me, I didn’t plan to sit on it long and risk getting caught up.

“Empezar a cargar,” Juan ordered with the snap of his fingers.

I watched as his men loaded up one of the cargo containers with black duffle bags. There were so many bags that I lost count. Not knowing how many bricks were in each bag, it made me unable to do mental math on how long I’d sit on it. Once all the bags were loaded, two of his men came over and dropped a duffle bag in front of me and Chance.

“Hope you boys don’t get seasick,” Juan smirked.

“You expect us to ride back to Miami on that boat?” Chance inquired.