Bailey is a teenage girl just trying to live life and make some fun memories along the way with her friends, but what happens when a handsome boy appears next door?
Key is just your local boy who found himself a little too deep in the game, but wha...
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Sunday 12:00pm
"You jus ain't gon say shit?" Stone asked me as I focused on the road ahead.
We were driving to go see my mother. I visited with her every Sunday. We didn't have the best relationship, but I tried to make it work.
"Whatchu mean?" I asked him.
"Man, I seen you sneak that girl out the house. Quit playin." He confirmed.
"Ain't nothin to say nigga." I told him laughing.
"Yeah aight, I heard Jah jah talkin bout her. I remember that lil girl. You used to cry over her all the fuckin time." He said laughing. "Now that I'm thinkin bout it, after Rick made you stop goin to Jah jah's, that girl wouldn't talk no more but then I stopped goin over there too. I didn't know that was her. Why you ain't say nothin?"
"Because it ain't nobody's business." I said turning up the music so he'd get the hint to drop it.
I parked my car out front the project buildings.
"What's up Key!" A kid shouted at me when I got out the car. He rode over on his bike.
"What's up lil nigga? You stayin out of trouble?" I asked him pulling a $20 from my pocket.
He nodded "Yea Key, ask my mama. I been good." he pleaded.
"Aight, do me a fovor." I asked motioning him closer. "Make sure none of these lil fuckers hit my car out here." I said slipping him the $20.
"I gotchu." He swore riding off.
Me and Stone walked through the apartment building dapping the niggas in the hallway on the way to the elevators.
"Coming!" My mom yelled through the steel door to her penthouse.
I heard the 4 locks clanking against the metal door.
She opened it and peered up at me reaching her arms out for me to hug her.
My mother was beautiful. The youngest of the three Gregory sisters including her oldest sister Jonisha, who was 46. My mother's half-sister, and Eric's mom, Debra who was 40. Then Diane, the baby who was 35.
She stood at 5'3 weighing maybe 110 lbs. with chocolate brown skin like my own. Her head was covered in thick black hair that coiled around her shoulders.
"Hi baby." She greeted me.
I leaned down to hug her. "Hey ma. How was church?" I asked.
"It was good. You have to come with us one week. It'd be good for you." She lectured.
"Hi Auntie" Stone greeted my mom.
"Hey Eric. How's ya mama doing. She hasn't come to see me in a while." She hugged him.
"Busy with all those kids." He informed her.
"Yeah. I'm so glad I stopped with just my boy Key." She said winking at me.
I forced a smile at her.
Gino stepped into the room and smiled. "Key, come here a second." He turned and walked back down the hallway before giving me a chance to answer.
I followed him as we walked to his office. I closed the door and he handed me a Louis Vuitton crossbody backpack.
"Where am I taking this?" I asked. I assumed I needed to make a drop.
"No, that's for you. Your cut for the last 3 deals, and I thought you'd like that bag." He smirked.
I looked up at Gino with surprise. He was the closest thing I had to a father. Gino was there to take care of my family, so as soon as I came home, he got me right givin me one of the penthouses in the building and some money to get started, but I couldn't find a real job. He said I could do a few runs, so I took the offer been at it ever since.
Gino, was Italian and Black. A lighter brown skinned nigga with slick hair. He looked soft, but he was big so nobody dared to try him. He was 6'4 and had a very stocky body. Prison big. Gino had done federal time. I never asked how long, but i knew it was long enough.
My real father went to prison when I was a baby and my mother wouldn't talk about him. She wouldn't even tell me his name, and since I already had her last name no one else said anything either. She moved on to the next dealer who would take care of her who was Ricky at the time and I hated that nigga.
"Thanks." I said putting on the backpack.
"Nah, thank you Key. You're my boy." He said sitting down at his desk.
"Gino."
"What's up?" He answered me.
"I want to start a business." I finally told him. "A clean one." I clarified.
He nodded and studied me. "You're young Key. You've got time for that."
"Yeah, but what's wrong with now?" I blurted out before I could think.
He raised a brow. "I see." He stated.
"What I mean is, maybe I can go to school. Study business and make somethin of myself so I don't have to always depend on somebody." I tried to explain.
"Are the jobs not enough for you? I think you're paid rather well." He gestured up and down toward me meaning my expensive wardrobe.
I did spend a lot on clothes and shoes.
"They are, but I'd like to afford those things and more. I want to buy a house. I want to have a family one day." I confessed.
"Ahhh. This is about a girl." He stated.
"No, I ju-" I stammered. "I jus wanna have a chance at a future." I told him in a low tone.
"I understand Keyaun. Your mother told me about your childhood love. I wondered why you don't stay in the penthouse much anymore. You like living a normal life." He continued "To be young and in love." He said shaking his head.
I stood quiet wishing I never brought it up.
"Come back to me in a month or so with a plan. We'll discuss it again before your birthday." He said finally.
