Carl Weber's Kingpins (25 page)

It had been over two months since King and Flamboyant had made their truce. Everything seemed to go back to normal for the both of them. King and Tippi continued to get deeper into one another and the money continued to be made in abundance. All was definitely going well. That was, until King received a phone call from Shayla practically begging him to meet her.

“What's wrong, Shay?” asked King because of the urgency in her voice.

“I don't want to talk about it over the phone, Trevor! Are you going to meet me or not?”

“Where?”

“At your aunty's house in thirty minutes.”

“A'ight, I'll see you then,” he said and hung up the phone. He picked the receiver right back up and dialed his aunt's number. When she answered he said, “What's up, Aunty?”

“Hey, boy, I was just thinkin' about your ass. You know my medicine is runnin' kind of low; can you help me out?”

“Yeah, I can do that. As a matter of fact, I'm 'bout to come through there in a li'l bit. Shayla wants to talk to me so I'm meetin' her over there, is that cool?”

“You know I don't have a problem with that. You know how I feel about Shayla. But that other one, humph, she's somethin' else I tell you.”

“Who, Tippi?”

“Nah, that damn Lawanda.”

He sighed and asked, “What has she done now, Aunty?”

“Nothin' really, she gets on my nerves always tryin' to figure out what you're out there doin' through me. No matter how many times I tell her ass I don't get into your business, she always callin' or comin' over here tryin' to play me. That shit really irritates the hell outta me, boy. Especially 'cause she uses my babies as an excuse to call me or come over here. You know I love them kids of yours, boy, but that damn baby mama of yours is outta her damn mind.”

He laughed and said, “Don't trip, Aunty. I'll check her silly ass. She won't be doin' that shit no more.”

“Now don't you be hittin' on that girl, boy. Just have a li'l talk with her or somethin'.”

“I got ya. Look, I'll see you in a minute.”

“Don't forget my medicine!”

He started laughing and said, “I won't.” After he got off of the phone with his aunt he went to the block and picked up an ounce of weed, and then proceeded over to his aunt's home so he could meet Shayla.

As he was driving toward the northeast side, he wondered why Shayla wanted to talk so suddenly. He knew she wasn't still on no shit about them hooking back up, especially after she found out about the beef with him and her man.
What if she does want to get back with me? Damn, that would throw a monkey wrench in the game for real,
he thought as he pulled into his aunt's driveway.

As he was getting out of his car Shayla pulled into the driveway behind him. He smiled at her as he started walking toward her car. When Shayla jumped out of her BMW and ran into his arms crying, he knew that the truce that had been made with Flamboyant was on the verge of being terminated.
Damn.

“What's wrong, Shay? You a'ight?” he asked as he held on to her tightly.

“He hit me! He fuckin' hit me!” she cried in his arms.

“Calm down, baby, and tell me what happened,” he said as he pulled from her embrace and led her toward the house.

Once they were inside and seated in the living room, King gave his aunt her medicine and said, “Excuse us for a li'l bit, Aunty.”

Doris May shook her head but chose to keep her comments to herself. She left the living room clutching the brown bag that held her precious medicine; she was ready to get high.

When Doris May was out of the room King asked Shayla, “What made that clown put his hands on you?”

Shayla pulled off of the pair of Chanel shades she was wearing so he could see the black eye that Flamboyant gave her. She said, “Ever since Gunna's and Prince's funerals, things have been different between us. Marco started drinking more and more and started acting strange toward me. When he gets drunk all he talks about is you. Then he gets mad and starts asking me all kinds of questions about our past together. When I refuse to answer any of his questions he gets even madder and starts yelling at me. Up until now, that's all he ever did. Today I was so fed up with his shit that when he asked how many times I sucked your dick, I lost it.”

Trying to suppress his smile, King asked, “He asked you some shit like that? That's some sucka shit for real.”

“When I told him that I never kept count, he slapped the shit out of me. I couldn't believe it, Trevor. He's never done anything like this to me before.”

“Check it, Shay, you know I'm the last nigga who'll come to that clown's defense, but he's stressed and trippin' behind losin' his mans and 'em. Let thangs cool down and he'll chill out. Shit should get back to normal wit' y'all in no time.”

“Back to normal? Fuck that shit. Look at my face, Trevor! I'm not giving him the opportunity to get shit back to normal! It's over. I'm done with his ass!”

“So, you want me back now, huh? Is that it? That nigga fucks up and you think you can run on back to King and I'd accept you wit' open arms like it's all good? That's what you want, Shay?”

She dropped her head in shame and said, “Honestly, Trevor, I don't know what I want anymore. I just know that a man don't hit the one he loves.”

* * *

Flamboyant sat on his bed missing Shayla something terrible.
I done fucked up this time! What the fuck was I thinkin' 'bout?
He replayed in his mind the argument he had with Shayla.
Why did she have to fuck wit' that nigga? Of all of the niggas in the city, she had to fuck wit' that fool! Fuck, this shit is fuckin' crazy for real!
He grabbed the phone and dialed Shayla's cell. When he got her voice mail he apologized and begged her to come back home, or to at least return his call. After he hung up the phone he called Ken and asked, “Is everythang straight out your way?”

“Yeah, we good. But on the real, Flam, niggas ain't really feelin' this shit wit' 'em north side niggas. Especially me and Wave. It's like we pussy or some shit!”

Flamboyant sighed heavily and said, “I know, but y'all know it ain't like that. This is business and there is no way we can fuck up what we got behind a war. What good would we be to Prince and Gunna's people if we got locked down or worse? Let's continue to get this money. You never know what might pop off for us later on in the game.”

“You know we wit' you. A nigga just had to let you know what's on our minds, though. We gon' keep it one hundred wit' you at all times, my nigga, real talk.”

“I appreciate that, G. What's up wit' that li'l nigga Milo? He good?”

“Yeah, he doin' his thang on the southeast, and out in Midwest City, too.”

“A'ight, my nigga. Y'all hold me down. Get at me if y'all need anything.”

“Fa' sho',” Ken said as he hung up the phone.

Flamboyant hung up the phone and said out loud, “Come home, Shayla. I'm so fuckin' sorry, babe. Come home.”

* * *

Shayla and King were still sitting in Doris May's living room talking. Their conversation took a turn that neither of them expected. “I love you, Shayla. I always have and, no matter what happens, I don't think I'll ever stop lovin' you. The thing is, I'm caught up wit' Tippi now. I don't know how I let thangs get this deep wit' me and her. It kinda just popped off wit'out any real effort.”

“Do you love her?”

Without any hesitation in his voice he said, “Not as much as I love you. I'm lovin' her, but I'm not in love wit' her. You and I both know how dangerous that can be though. I can't just get at Tippi and be like ‘look, I'm 'bout to fuck wit' Shayla again so we gots to fall back.' She'd go fuckin' nutso and then you'd be in danger. Fuck, we both would!”

Shayla smiled and said, “Don't tell me that you're afraid of Tippi.”

“Tippi's a cold-blooded killa, Shay, straight up. It has nothin' to do wit' fear 'cause we all gotta die someday. It's how you die that matters. Fuckin' wit' Tippi could be real fuckin' painful, real talk! I'd rather die laughing than walk 'round this city in fear of anybody, especially Tippi.”

“So, what are we going to do, Trevor?”

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“On what you really want, Shay. I can't go off all cock diesel 'bout us if I'm not one hundred percent sure that you're bein' real wit' a nigga. We can make some moves, but first I got to know if it's really me you want.”

“I've never lied to you, Trevor, and I never will. I chose to stay with Marco because he didn't do anything to deserve being hurt by me. I care for him and I really thought I loved him more than I loved you. After he put his hands on me I knew that I was wrong. You'd never hit me no matter what; I know that. He made my decision easy today, Trevor. I want to be with you for the rest of my life. I want to be your wife, Trevor. That's all I ever wanted.”

“So be it. But you gon' have to give me a minute to get thangs handled wit' Tippi.”

“What are you going to tell her?” she asked nervously.

He smiled and said, “Don't tell me you're afraid of Tippi.”

Shayla started laughing and said, “Hell yeah, I'm afraid of that crazy girl!”

“A'ight, how we gon' do this, Shay? Do you want to go back to y'all spot and get your shit or what?”

“Where am I going to go, Trevor? I can't go over to Taj's; that's the first place he's going to look.”

“Nah, I'm gon' set you up wit' a suite downtown at the Skirva 'til I can figure out how we're goin' to do this shit.”

“What's there to figure out?”

He sighed and said, “Tryin' to find a way to tell Tippi that I'm leavin' her for you is gon' be hard as hell, baby. Real talk!”

“Come on, Taj, I know you know where Shayla's at. She wouldn't hide from you,” Flamboyant said as he paced back and forth in Taj's living room.

“I'm telling you, Marco, I haven't heard from her since y'all's fight. All she told me was that she was leaving you. She brought her car over here and told me to make sure I called you so you could come pick it up. She wouldn't tell me where she was when I asked her so I let it go.”

“Do you think she's messing 'round wit' another nigga?”

“Come on, Marco. You hit her, but I don't think she'd just go jump right into another man's bed because of that. My girl don't get down like that!” Taj lied. She knew Shayla was with Trevor, but she would never betray her friend. Never.

“Yeah, I know. I'm trippin' the fuck out and I deserve to; all of this shit is my fault. I fucked up and 'cause of my fuck up I've lost Wifey.”

The sadness in his voice touched Taj, but she couldn't tell him where Shayla was because all hell would break loose. “Don't worry, she'll call you when she's ready to talk. She's still mad at your ass right now. I would be too if you hit me in my fuckin' face like that. What was you thinking about, boy?”

“I . . . I don't know, Taj. I kinda lost it when she got smart wit' me. I'm tellin' you, ever since we buried Gunna and Prince I've been really stressed.”

“And you took out your frustrations out on my girl; that was smart,” she said sarcastically.

“Look, when you hear from her tell I said to give me a call, or at least answer her phone so I can talk to her and apologize for my stupidity. And tell her I said I love her.”

“If I hear from her I'll make sure she gets the message.”

“Promise?”

She felt sorry so sorry for him. “I promise.”

* * *

It had only been a couple of days but Shayla was kind of enjoying living in a nice hotel. She lounged around the room most of the day watching television and ordering food from room service. If she got too bored, she'd go downstairs to the hotel's gym and work out for a little while. She really enjoyed swimming in the heated pool located on the tenth floor. But what she enjoyed the most was making love to King.

He came over every night so far and made crazy love to her. Her body never felt as good as he was making her feel. She smiled at that thought because she knew she was in for another long sexing when he came to her suite later. And she couldn't wait.

She hated the fact that so far he hadn't spent the entire night with her. He blamed it on business to take care of in the late night, but she knew it was because he hadn't told Tippi about them yet. She wasn't mad at him, though. For now she was content living in the Skirvin and pampering herself.
The pieces will fall in place sooner or later.

* * *

“So what's the bidness out here?” asked King as he got out of his car.

“Everythang is everythang, nigga. You know I got this shit on lock over here,” replied Keko.

“Yeah, well, why haven't I heard from your ass in a week?”

“'Cause I've been doin' me, that's why. What up, though?”

“Shit, just checkin' this paper. You good out this way?”

“Yeah, I'm straight for now, but I'm gon' need some more yay for Del City, though. Ever since we opened that bitch back up it's been on and poppin' like we never shut it down.”

“What's up across the highway? Any problems from 'em fools?”

“Nah, they doin' 'em but that ain't stoppin' nothing on my side. Believe me, the first sign of any drama I'm gettin' dead on they ass,” Keko said seriously.

“G'on wit' that shit. I told you that shit wit' 'em fools is dead. Ain't no need for you to be still trippin'. Or are you just mad that Tippi handled up for you and you didn't get a chance to get yo' man?” King asked and laughed.

“Whatever, nigga. G'on and get yo' flossy-ass, Lexus drivin'–ass off my block before I take a look at that shit.”

King smiled and said, “Look at who? Me? Nigga, this may be your block but it's still a part of my kingdom. Don't get it twisted, fool!” They both started laughing. “I'll holla at Tippi and have her get at you wit' some more yay later on.”

“Right. I'll holla,” Keko said as he turned and went inside of his trap.

After leaving Keko's part of town, King called Tippi and told her to meet him on the block. By the time he arrived, Tippi was already there talking to Nutta and Cuddy. “What's up, fool?” Cuddy asked King once he was out of his car.

“Ain't shit. Y'all good?”

“Yep,” answered Nutta. “Everything is sweet as can be, big homie.”

“That's right. Where that nigga Boleg at?”

“He went out to Midwest City to pick up some ends. He should be here in a li'l bit,” answered Cuddy.

King turned toward Tippi and asked her, “What's up wit' you?”

“The same ol' shit, just tryin' to maintain all of this shit. Since they took Flex it's like I gots to do every fuckin' thang.”

“Stop whining. You always wanted to run this side anyway, so why you trippin' now that you got it?”

“'Cause it takes up too much of my playtime. I've been movin' so much that I haven't been able to get broken off properly.”

“Oh, shit, y'all need to hold the fuck up and let me and Cuddy roll out before y'all get to talkin' 'bout that freaky shit,” Nutta clowned with a smile on his face.

“I ain't goin' nowhere! I'm tryin' to hear this shit,” said Cuddy.

“Fuck y'all!” both King and Tippi said in unison.

“Speakin' of work, you need to get Keko's people some more yay out in Del City.”

“A'ight, but when are you goin' to put in some work on this?” Tippi asked as she pointed toward her sex.

He ignored her question and told Cuddy and Nutta, “If y'all niggas need somethin' get at me or Tippi. I'm 'bout to go scoop my kids for a li'l while. Be safe.” He turned and faced Tippi again and said, “I'll holla at you later on after I've dropped off the kids. We need to talk.”

“Talk? 'Bout what?”

“You and your fuckin' mouth.”

Before she could respond, Nutta said, “Oooh, checkmate, Tippi. I know you ain't gon' go out like that.”

“Yeah, you ain't gettin' soft on us now that you're all in love wit' your King are you?” Cuddy asked playfully.

Once again Tippi and King yelled, “Fuck y'all!”

* * *

Flamboyant called Shayla's cell and left another message begging for her forgiveness. “Come on, babe, don't do this to me. You're killin' me. I'm sorry for the stupid shit I said and did. Call me so we can talk this shit out. I love you, Shayla. You're my queen.”

He hung up the phone, sat down, and poured himself another shot of Crown Royal. Though Krug champagne was his preference, since his drama with Shayla he'd been drinking nothing but Crown Royal. He felt the need for something stronger in order to help him make it through the day without his queen in his life.

As he sat on the sofa and sipped his drink, a thought came to him:
Shayla has class tomorrow at Rose State. I can pop up on her ass at school and we can talk. She'll talk to me once she sees me face to face. I know she will.
He relaxed back on the sofa with a confident smile on his face.

* * *

When King pulled into Lawanda's driveway he saw Tandy and Trevor Jr. playing in the front yard. He smiled as he got out of his car and joined his children. “What's up wit' y'all? Y'all been good or what?”

“Hi, Daddy. I've been real good. Trevor Jr. hasn't, though,” said Tandy.

“Is that right? What have you been up to now, li'l man?”

Trevor Jr. stood in front of his father with his head bowed and said, “I got in trouble at school today.”

“For what?”

“For cussing.”

“What made you do that?”

He shrugged his small shoulders and said, “I don't know. I was mad, I guess.”

“Who made you mad?”

“My teacher.”

“You cussed at your teacher?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What did they do?”

“They called Mama and told her to come pick me up from school for the rest of the day.”

“Come here, Junior.” King wrapped his arms around his son and said, “You can't be cussin' at yo' teacher. That stuff ain't cool. You got to take care of business when you're at school. How else will you be able to follow yo' dreams? School is the most important part of your life right now. You have to stay focused while you're there and not let yo' anger get you into trouble, like it did today. You understand what I'm sayin'?”

“Uh-huh. I won't do it again, Daddy, promise.”

King hugged his son and said, “That's my li'l man right there! I'm gon' hold you to that promise, too. Now, y'all run on in the house and get y'all's jackets. We're 'bout to go get somethin' to eat.” He followed his children inside of the house. When he saw Lawanda dressed in a pair of jeans with a jean vest without a shirt on, showing much cleavage, he said, “Yeah? Like that, huh?”

She frowned at him and said, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin', just checkin' you out. Where you goin' tonight? Got a hot date?” he asked with a smile on his face.

“As a matter of fact, I do. So could you please keep your children for a li'l longer than we planned? Or is that too much to ask of the King?”

“How much longer?”

“I should be home around eleven or so.”

“That's cool. Have fun,” he said as he turned toward his kids, who had come back into the living room with their jackets on, ready to go. “Come, y'all, let's ride.”

“Ooooh, I can't stand yo' ass sometimes! I swear you make me sick, King!”

“What the fuck are you talkin' 'bout? Hold up. Tandy, you and your brother go get in the car. I'll be there in a minute.” After the kids walked out he turned back to Lawanda and said, “What the fuck is wrong wit' yo' ass?”

“I'm sick and tired of you and yo' bullshit. Why do I have to call you and ask you to come spend some damn time with your own children? Why can't you just come over on a daily basis and check on yo' kids? You be on some bullshit all of the damn time, King, and I'm sick of that shit!”

He smiled at her and said, “You right, my bad. I've been so caught up dealin' wit' all of the bullshit that I've been neglecting mines. I'll get better wit' that shit for real. But you gon' have to stop actin' up yo' damn self.”

“What you talkin' about?”

“You know what I'm talkin' 'bout. Sweatin' my aunty 'bout me and my business. I don't be all in your mix so stay the fuck out of mine. You got you a li'l date and thangs; I'm happy for you. You need to go out more often and enjoy yourself,” he said with a smile on his face.

“You're so wrong. That's why I can't stand ya ass.”

“Stop it. You know damn well if I told you to shake whoever you're 'bout to go meet, you would. It's a difference from doin' wrong and bein' wrong, Lawanda. Do you and let me do me.”

“Whatever, nigga.”

He smiled and said, “Have fun!”