Business as usual
“Yo yo” A man yelled from a cherry red Benz CLS with dark limo tint, to a group of rowdy men joking and laughing on the block. “Yo, Tk what’s popping B?” One of the men replied. “You got that paper right?” Said Tk. Little time had passed since the war with RAN but things were starting to return to normalcy. And for Tk, things for GMF were back to business. With Turk the leader of RAN still in prison with no bail and still facing charges, Tk seized the opportunity to hit the streets hard and make GMF the number one competitor around. “You already know B, shit jumping like LeBron out here, tweakers everywhere.” Said the man handing over a wad of cash. Tk smiled, “Lebrun, huh? No doubt. Drop off be back through later tonight. You’ll get the call.” The red Mercedes pulled off burning rubber.
“Business as usual youngin.” Said Tk counting the money he just received. Leem looked and nodded. Leem was 18 years young but had been in and out the streets for a while now, playing minor roles as a runner and even stick-up kid for a bit before GMF. It wasn’t until he met Ace and Tk that he would catch his first body and his first break. It was then he realized if he wanted to get ahead, he would have to sling the iron to do it, and Tk took notice. “Yeah, before you know it I’ll be able to send you on your own route to collect this money. Right now, though things aren’t too clear cut on boundaries and rules on this new turf yet. Some of these niggas still having trouble conforming to the GMF way of life smell me.” Said Tk. “Shit with that motherfucka Turk still down, it’s only a matter of time. We should take them all out; on some GMF or lay down shit. I’ll do it myself B. Said Leem with a savage look in his eye. Tk laughed “See that’s you lil niggas problem. You never heard why run down and fuck one, when you can walk down and fuck’em all.” Asked Tk. “Huh? That’s some Japanese haiku shit?” Replied Leem. “Do I look Japanese B? It means we hit one or two of them motherfuckas and word gone spread. Some niggas want smoke; some niggas get scared and fuck money up. In either case, it is bad for business. But dry them up and nobody gone to have a choice but to fly GMF smell me.” Tk admired Leem’s savagery, he had a young shooter who he could use for his bidding and loved it. But worried at times that Leem’s ambition and blood lust would be too much to control.
The red Benz pulled up to a seven-story building made of mostly glass in the more suburban part of the city. Tk answered a phone call while exiting the car and nodded for Leem to hop in the driver seat. “That was an old bitch of mine, just put me on game. You know the guy Reg from 163rd? The westside distro? The one you said drinks way too much of the lean. Well she say one of her homegirls says she was with him last night and he was balling out of control. We talking, snorting lines off bitches tits type shit, real rockstar shit B. She says he there over at his spot right now, probably getting high off our shit. And come to find out the cock sucker been short on the count a few times this month. Don’t get high on your own supply, ain’t nobody pay attention watching Scarface.” Said Tk shaking his head. “I need you to go over there, get my money and send a message.” said Tk. “You want me to take the kill?” asked Leem. “I leave that up to you. But that nigga done B. Clean the spot and set one of them other niggas up with a new one.” Said Tk. “No doubt. What about the car?” Asked Leem. “It’s yours, I don’t like the color.” Said Tk with a smile.
Tk walked in the penthouse doors to find James relaxing in the hot tub that was partisan to the living room area. “Man, what the hell you doing? In here chilling when it’s moves to be made out here old head.” Said Tk. James sat in the hot tub shirtless, with a cigar lit in his mouth. “Just like you said I’m old. I can’t be ripping and running like you, I need time to regroup young-bull. Any word from Roc?” Asked James. “Nah, nothing yet. But you know there shit shaky overseas anyway. Probably got held up in customs or some shit, can’t get to phone. I told his ass stay here.” Replied Tk shaking his head. “Well, word on the street is GMF is back and RAN losing morale and money. That’s the word but I’d rather hear it from you, ya dig.” Said James while puffing on his cigar. Tk sat down on the plush sectional, emptied a duffel bag of money on the glass coffee table and began to count. “Damn OG you know an awful lot to be sitting up here soaking and smoking. But yeah the streets ain’t lying RAN and DStars falling in line, no smoke so far though but If it come I’m with that shit too.” Said Tk never taking his eyes off the money. “See that’s the problem with you young cats!” Said James splashing the water to get Tk’s attention. Tk begin laughing “I just was telling my youngin that shit.” “Yeah well, he should listen and so should you. Nobody wants war and you should avoid it at all costs, because the cost is too great. Back in the day, Pops made sure everybody got a piece and everybody stayed happy and alive.” Said James. Tk began to roll his eyes “Ok! Ok! I know it’s easy to blame the new generation, but things are a lot different out here now smell me. New guns, new drugs, new mentalities.” Said Tk. “Ain’t changed that much, it’s still supply and demand at the end of the day. The guns and wrong mentality are what motherfuckas bring in and fuck shit up. It wasn’t always like this, GMF was nothing compared to what it is now. Pops took this shit from a gang to a goddamn organization.” Said James exiting the hot tub and wrapping a towel before walking over to the couch where Tk was sitting. “You know I never really asked or knew too much about Pops. Even when I’d ask Ace or Roc about him, they would always end up answering my question with another question. Why you want info on pops? Who is pops to you? Shit drove me crazy; I just knew he was powerful and respected.” Said Tk. James chuckled “Yeah that was a little thing they learned to do from him. Talking in circles until a motherfucka doesn’t even know what the convo was about. Truth of the matter is they didn’t even know too much about Pops pass and up bringing, he had children after and pretty much was already where he wanted to be in the business.” Said James. “Well damn how long you been moving shit with the fam?” Asked Tk a little intrigued by the history of GMF. “Shit I been seeing bricks since you were in pampers boy, but I been with the fam for over 20 years. I get surprised at myself I’m still here.” “Rest easy Lorenz aka Pops.” James whispered to himself, feeling downhearted about his longtime friend. “Shit even as youngsters Pops was a force to be reckoned with. Coming from where we come from, if you don’t play ball or sling dope, you’re probably smoking it. I meant Pops when I was 15 years old, he was 14 but was taller and carried himself more maturely. You see I lived right on the divider between the westside and the East side. And stood in the middle of an ongoing battle between the two, so I would get love from neither. Until one day that all changed.” Said James reminiscing.
