The King Of The South (2 page)

“Son,” Carlton responded while lighting one of his Cigars. “In our business, murder brings attention we don’t want or need. Murder results in bodies, and bodies result in investigation by the cops. I know you ready to wage war, but we gotta let this cool for a minute. You gotta be smart about your moves, and check your damn emotions. Keep it in your mind, but don’t act too soon. I know you want vengeance right now, but let’s just wait.” Carlton said, blowing circles of smoke in the air.

King shook his head and allowed the Hennessey to flow down his throat as he listened to his stepfather. “Yeah, let them rest easy for now. But believe me, I am going to have Red and his crew crying like little bitches when I’m done with them.”

“Such language,” a soft voice said from the stairs.

King managed to flash a smile at the beautiful woman that emerged from the stairwell. His mother wore a long silk robe with the belt tied tightly around her small waist, which accentuated her hips. The gold and diamond cross that she wore around her neck touched the heart shaped tattoo she had on her chest with the name Reggie, King’s father inside of it.

Yolanda, or Yogi, as everyone called her, was in her late forties, but had the body of a nineteen year old. Her caramel skin was near perfect. She had large brown eyes, full lips, high hips, and her long relaxed hair flowed down her back. Yolanda was a natural beauty and a true southern lady. She was soft spoken, elegant, and graceful. She could enter a room without saying a word, and heads would turn. At least that was the Yolanda side of her. The Yogi side was the complete opposite. She was street educated and would always let you know just what she felt, and was ready to whoop some ass if anyone disagreed with what she was saying. King was her only child, and she had vowed to make sure he had everything he could ever want, and she would do anything to make that happen.

Yogi smiled at them both and stretched her arms out to King.

Carlton stood and walked to the bar. He grabbed a glass and poured Yogi a drink.

“Hey baby, I thought I heard someone come in. It’s good to see you,” Yogi said, hugging her son tightly.

King felt the anger and despair that had consumed him moments ago, lift as his mother hugged him.

Carlton touched her back and handed her the glass.

Yogi flashed a smile at him and kissed his cheek. “Well, I will let you men get back to business,” Yogi said, making her way towards the stairs. “Oh, and Sunday dinner will be served at four. I don’t care how late you are out tonight, you better not be late.”

King laughed and nodded.

His mother cut her eyes at him playfully, and blew him a kiss.

“Night, Ma.” King said as she walked back up the stairs.

King blinked and looked at the time on the cable box. It seemed that he had just laid down, and now it was time to get up and get moving. He had literally done nothing but lay there. Sleep had not come to him at all. He had spent most of the night staring at the ceiling and thinking about the night before. R&B flowed from the speakers when he hit play on his Dre beats IPod player.

King sat there for a moment, feeling the depression creeping back in. He shook his head. “Nah nigga, buck up!” King said aloud. He changed the channel to a hip-hop station to get himself going. As he settled on Power 97.9, YG’s “My Nigga”
was just coming on.

I said that I’ma ride for my motherfucking niggas,
Most likely I’ma die with my finger on the trigger
I been grinding outside, all day with my niggas
And I ain’t going in, unless I’m with my niggas
First things first, I love all of my niggas
This rap shit crack, then I involve my niggas.

The lines seemed more than appropriate for this morning. He turned the volume up and danced to the bathroom. After he turned on the water in the shower, he checked himself in the mirror. He scanned his toned tattooed body, and flexed before opening the door to the shower. The steam from the shower was inviting and the warm water soothed him as he stepped in. For a minute, he just stood there with his head down, thinking of his fallen comrades. The shower was set to pulsate, and he allowed it to massage his shoulders and temporarily wash away the events of the previous night. He grabbed the AXE shower gel and the scent calmed him as he lathered his body.

As his mind cleared, he remembered that he needed to pick up his best friend, Kareem. He had just come home after serving three of a five-year bid for a pound of OG kush, and gun possession.

Kareem and King had been friends since the monkey bars in elementary school. At school, King was known to knock panties off on a regular, and he surely believed in kissing and telling. At lunch, he would keep the boys entertained with his exploits. Kareem would sit right there beside him, nodding his head and laughing while his friend entertained the masses.

Kareem would chuckle it up, but he didn’t need to tell any stories of bedroom bullying. His girlfriend, Tiana, had gotten pregnant by him in the eighth grade, and her pregnancy told the story to the boys of who Kareem had been headboard slamming. That was over eleven years and three kids ago for Kareem.

Kareem’s incarceration had taken a toll on Tiana and the kids, but King and the crew had tried to make sure they were taken care of financially. He would personally check on her and the kids while Kareem was away. But during the last year of Kareem’s bid, Tiana stopped accepting the help. She had made it clear to King that when Kareem came home, she wanted him out the game.

King could understand Tiana’s fear, but leaving the game would have to be Kareem’s decision. King knew that like him, Kareem had been raised in the dope game, and did not intend to leave it. However, if his boy had changed, and was ready to leave, King would wish him the best. Secretly, he hoped he would still be his co-pilot in the streets, especially now with this bullshit with Red.

King hoped that after pulling this bid, Kareem now understood how serious things were in the streets. He had always stayed on Kareem about being too lax about business. The day Kareem got busted, he was high, on the phone talking to Tiana with a pound of Kush and gun in the car. The police pulled him over and could smell it on him.

Kareem was careless and liked to play and joke; he was always either being the clown or the killer. He was never even keeled. Everyone in the crew was convinced that he was bi-polar. The killer side was the reason King and Carlton kept him around; neither would admit that sometimes the clown side kept everyone in light spirits. Kareem’s funny side didn’t set too well with the judge. At his trial, he kept asking him if he thought something was funny, because of the way he kept smiling.

The judge decided to make an example of him. He wanted to give Kareem more time, but King had paid a top lawyer to represent his boy, so instead of ten years, he got five. King hoped that Kareem would now take life seriously, and get his game up.

King turned off the water and stepped out the shower feeling energized about seeing his boy. As he wrapped the towel around his waist, his cell phone whistled in the bedroom. He checked the text, and laughed.

Nigga you better get out from between dem hookers’ legs and come get ya boy!
The text read.

King just texted Kareem back,
N.I.G.G.A
.

He knew that he understood. They both were Tupac fans, and used the phrase all the time. Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished. “Yeah, take that fucking word crackers used and turn it into something positive, Pac.” King said and went into his bedroom to get dressed.

__________

King pulled up to Tiana’s house and considered going inside, but thought better of it. He did not want to hear Tiana’s mouth. Today was a day of celebration, and he wasn’t in the mood to hear her nagging. So instead, he honked the horn twice.

“Nigga, lay off that horn. I ain’t no trick you picking up for some ass!” Kareem said as he walked down the driveway.

King shook his head as Kareem jumped over the door into the car. “Nigga! Don’t scratch my shit!” King said. “I thought Niggas got big when they go in. Your ass ain’t gained an ounce!”

“Boy, you know I’ve been Skinny with plenty all my damn life, nigga.” Kareem shot back.

King reached out his hand. “Damn, homie, it is good to see your ass.” He said as he pounded Kareem up.

“Nigga, fuck that, give your boy a hug.” Kareem screamed. The two men embraced and held each other tightly.

While letting go, King saw Tiana standing in the door. He waved, then checked his side mirror and pulled out into the street.

“Damn, how was the homecoming with your girl, brah? I already know she didn’t like your ass coming out with me, huh?” King said as he turned onto Ashley road.

“Man, the same old, same old. I got her, though.” Kareem said laughing. “So what’s going on? I heard about Strap and them.”

“Damn nigga, how you get that shit that quick?” King asked.

“Man, niggas behind the wall know shit before it even happens. They been blowing up my phone all morning,” Kareem said, shaking his head. “So what we gonna do about this?”

“Man, thanks, but I ain’t trying to get you caught up in this shit. You just got out and…”

“Nigga is you serious? Did your ass get soft while I was locked up? I know you ain’t letting that shit Tiana spitting get to you,” Kareem said, adjusting his .45 in his waistband.

He shook his head. Although he was talking shit, her voice echoed through his mind. Every conversation they had while he was locked up was about him getting his shit straight when he came home. He would listen to her cry on the phone and tell him how much she and the boys needed him. When he said he was going with King, she threatened him. She told him that she would take the boys and leave if he didn’t leave the streets alone. She refused to watch her boys grow up and have to worry about them following in his footsteps. He loved her and his sons, but King had been with him since multiplication tables. He couldn’t turn his back on his boy, and Tiana would have to just understand that shit.

“Dude, you know we got to handle this situation. You let this ride too long, and other hungry niggas will take it as a sign of weakness. You gotta set the example so they know and respect our game, homie.” Kareem said, patting his .45. “Shit, you know Strap would expect no less, man. No fucking less.”

King continued driving and listening to Kareem. Everything he said was true, but he knew Carlton was right also. Murder was bad for business, and no matter how much he and Kareem wanted revenge, it would have to wait until Carlton felt it was time.

__________

King pulled up to his parent’s house with Kareem and they walked up to the door. King turned the knob, and the aroma of Sunday dinner filled his nostils. The two men walked to the back patio and found Yogi and Carlton sipping on tea mixed with lemonade.

“Kareem!” Yogi said, smiling.

Kareem looked Yogi over. She wore a white denim mini skirt that showed off her toned thighs, and a red lace shirt with a white cami under it. Kareem knew that she was King’s mama, but damn, she was fine as hell. Beautiful face and that banging body made her a definite M.I.L.F. She gave him a hug and he could smell her signature perfume, Jo Malone.

“Hey, Ms. Yogi,” Kareem said, slowly loosening his embrace.

“Kareem, so glad to have you home, baby.” Yogi said, touching his face and kissing his cheek. Kareem was like a second son to her.

“Hey boy! You look good, still skinny as hell,” Carlton said, pounding Kareem and giving him a brief hug. “Yeah, glad you made it out boy, glad. Come on boys, let’s go to my office. We got some things to talk about.” Carlton said, referring to the basement.

The men walked down the stairs. Kobe, Carlton’s main security guy, was already sitting on the couch with a drink in his hand and talking on the phone. Carlton walked behind the bar and poured three glasses of cognac.

He handed King and Kareem a glass then raised his in a toast. “To freedom, friendship, family, and vengeance!” Carlton said, clinking his glass against King’s glass, and then Kareem’s. The men sat down and sipped their drinks. Carlton took his seat in his recliner and waited for Kobe to get off the phone before he spoke.

“I had a night to sleep on this, and I’m thinking a quick response could be good in this situation. I had Kobe call our people downtown and check this nigga, Red, out. It looks like your boy been working with them people, so that’s probably what gave him the balls to think he could take from us. Word is that he done set up a bunch of people, so they probably got good protection on him, but that don’t have nothing to do with the people around him. I say we send him and the streets a good message, and then we wait a little while before we take him up out of here. That way, when he come up dead, it won’t point right back to us.” Carlton said, looking from Kareem to King.

“What you thinking, son?” Carlton asked has he sat down at the bar.

“I think we need to make sure that every nigga in this state learn not to ever cross us like this again.” King said and placed his Smith and Wesson on the bar.

__________

After King and the family had finished Sunday dinner, him and Kareem excused themselves to continue the rest of the day King had planned for his newly released partner.

“Man where we off to?” Kareem asked, not sure what King had going on in his mind.

“Well first we about to swing by one of my little spots, so a couple of my side chicks can squeeze whatever cum you got left inside you after Tiana worked your ass over last night. Then we off to the mall so we can get you out that damn Wal-Mart sweat suit you got on, homie.” King answered while trying to control his laughter.

“Fuck you nigga, you know this some shit wifey had for me, and it was either this or throw on some Roca wear I had from three years ago.”

“Yeah, well I’m definitely glad you didn’t put that on, but that shit ain’t much better.” King responded, still laughing.

Kareem looked back down on what he had on, and he couldn’t do nothing but bust out laughing himself.

“Yeah, you right brah, good looking out. I definitely need the wardrobe update, but I’m going to pass on the strippers. I promised myself and Tiana that I was going to try to do better, and the least I can do is not fuck up on some busted ass strippers. If I’m going to do something, it’s got to be with someone worth something.” Kareem spoke in a serious tone.