Chapter1
2019
Sincere Junior
“And last time, are you sure about this, Junior?”
Walking down the long hallway, I sighed into my cell. “Yea, ma. I’m sure. I’ll see you during the next holiday break.”
“And that means that you’re really gonna call Houston home, huh?”
“Yea.”
Sounding disappointed, my moms aka Shaia sighed into the phone. “Okay. This house won’t be the same without you…but I guess me and Sunny will have to adjust. Fuck. I should’ve known that you had a trick up ya sleeve when you told me that you wanted to spend most of the summer in New York with me. Your sneaky ass knew that you was ‘bout to lower the boom. You really ran out there with ya pops.”
Stepping into the expansive family room, I sighed. My pops’ crib was ginormous, while the crib back in Brooklyn with moms paled in comparison. “Ma, it’s really not that bad. Like you said, you want the best environment for us.”
“Yea, yea. Yo, stop running game, boy. You’re out there in Houston to play Richey Rich. That lifestyle got you in a chokehold, but it’s all good. Just know that my doors are always open.”
“I know, ma.” I nodded. “Well…uh, I guess that I’ll call you later. Pops is about to drop me off.”
“Drop you off where?” She wanted to know.
“To Jahrein and Raven’s crib.”
“Oh. The super rich mufuckas. Yea, go cozy up,” she giggled. At this point, everybody in my family knew my stepmom’s family, even my moms. Although my moms and my stepmoms, Trinity, merely tolerated each other.
I smirked. “I will. Love you.”
“Love you too, baby. Talk to you later.”
I ended the call, and paused, breathing everything in. After considering it for years, I’d finally decided that I wanted to permanently live with my pops. He’d been living in Houston since I was about eleven years old. Initially, we thought that it was temporary, seeing as how he’d only ended up in Houston due to catching a case there, while moving dope. Then once he was released from prison on parole, he swore up and down that he’d be back in New York, the minute he was legally allowed to.
All that moving home talk changed after he met Trinity. It had taken a while for me to fully understand the story, but basically he’d met her, fell in love, and then found the supreme connect within Trinity’s cousin-in-law, Jahrein. Then my pops started seeing more money than he’d ever seen in his life. His hustle elevated, and he would come to visit us in New York pretty often. He even eventually bought a brownstone in the city, but would still just visit. After a while, we just all had to accept that Houston was his home…because Trinity was never fully leaving.
Realizing that my pops was never moving back, for real, my moms was pissed. So, for years shit was bonkers. There was a lot of arguing. Toxic shit. I used to believe that there was some shit that I just didn’t understand, until I stumbled upon my moms on the phone gossiping. She was going on and on about Trinity, and she refused to let my pops have a healthy relationship afterhe’d chosen another bitch over her and us. What she didn’t know was that my pops had made it his mission to always stress the fact that he loved us, regardless of not being with our moms. So, I realized then that my moms’ personal feelings were interfering with our relationship with our pops. And from that point on, I refused to be manipulated.
Naturally, I still loved my moms, but I was doing what felt right for me. My little brother Sunny still had a deep attachment to our moms, and had allowed her to guilt-trip him into staying. Still, I was confident that he’d soon cave and move out too, especially since I wouldn’t be there with him, anymore.
For me, being in Houston with my pops just made sense. Despite him being a great provider, our lifestyles were still so different back in New York, and that had a lot to do with the cost of living. I was decked out in high fashion but was still very much in the hood back in Brooklyn. And having more than your peers created unnecessary animosity and jealousy. I’d lost count of how many hating niggas I’d had to knock out, because they wanted to test me, swearing that I was just a rich kid. The thing was…even with the cash my pops provided, we weren’t living a highlife. My moms used that money to pay the bills, while working a low-level job at a bar. My pops was keeping us in fresh gear, though. So, we were probably considered ghetto fabulous at the most. Meanwhile, my pops was wealthy in Houston, and we’d only see the hood whenever there was a family function or we were breezing through on the freeway.
Frankly, after seeing virtually everything imaginable, I was cool with just visiting the hood. But I was straight on living in it. So, I embraced the notion of being the Fresh Prince of Katy. I would always love the NY and carry it wherever I’d go, but I was also ready to fully benefit from the fruits of my pops’ labor. He had a phat crib in a gated community. A pool outback, and a Benz in the driveway that was technically mine. He’d bought it for me, but refused to send it to New York, because I was seventeen, and he said that I needed to prove that I was responsible, before letting me loose in the city, in a foreign whip. Reading between the lines, I knew that he didn’t trust my moms to stay on top of things, and ensure that I wasn’t losing my mind out in the city. In fact, he was constantly talking about how we needed him more at these pivotal times in our lives. He feared that I’d get caught up in the streets, and felt that if he kept us closer that he could safeguard certain shit.
Keeping it funky, the streets didn’t have an allure to me. I’d witnessed enough not to glorify the shit. But I still understood my pops’ stance. He’d walked away from hustling virtually unscathed, and he didn’t want us trying to follow in his footsteps. And I wasn’t. Just needed my little bro to see that Houston was the place to be too.
Outside of that, I was totally at peace with my decision. I loved living in a fucking mansion. But…the suburban life could get a bit boring. That’s why I’d link with my nigga Jahrae, Jahrein and Raven’s son, and plot on finding some good ole hood fun. We’d usually go on adventures in the hood, and our parents were always none the wiser. So, that’s why I was getting dropped off around the corner. I was trying to go outside.
“Yo, you ready?” My pops questioned, as he sauntered into the family room.
I turned to face him, realizing that he had two hefty chains gleaming around his neck, indicating that he had plans of his own. “Yea. You and Trinity stepping out?”
“Yea. She wanna go to this new roof top spot.” He shrugged. “So, I’m ‘bout to drop you off, and then we’re takingthe kids to her auntie’s. That means that you might as well sleep over at Jah’s. I’ll come scoop you up tomorrow.”
“Cool.” I nodded, knowing that I was always treated like family at Jahrein’s house.
“A’ight, here.” My pops slapped a few bills in my palm. “Don’t do no shit that I wouldn’t.”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Nah, pops. You aint got nothin’ to worry about. True story.”
