Page 168 of 4 Corinthians

“Business deal,” I said, shaking my head. I remembered Robert having the same deal with Ruben for Cori and Psalms. Robert got Cori; Jonathan got Psalms. “Who drafted that? Can you tell?” I would hate it to be Xia. As much as I loved the St. Thomas’s, if she did that shit, she was going to die.

“Nah,” he replied. “All I know is that it wasn’t Xia or Xayne. They weren’t fucking with Robert by then.”

“When did their business stop?”

“After the DeCortes died,” he said. “After their accident, everyone cut ties with Robert. The Stones, Carters, shit damn near all of TR. Nobody fucked with them. It looks like nobody knew what the fuck Robert and Logan were up to.”

“I knew that,” I said, nodding. “It’s one of the reasons why I changed my mind on killing them.”

“How did you know?”

“Because nobody knew who I was,” I replied. “And it wasn’t a fake not knowing either. They legit didn’t know, and if they were tied to that shit, they would’ve known.”

“So what’s your next move?”

“Go see Pyrite and Xoey,” I announced as I stood. “I want to meet the woman in the basement and the nigga in the warehouse.”

***

“No,” Pyrite said, shaking his head. He took a pull of his blunt as he watched something on his computer. “Not happening.”

“Why?”

“Itty Bitty doesn’t know shit,” he answered. “Not even one small damn detail.”

“You can see Javien Jr.,” Xoey offered. She sat next to me. Her attention was on something on her phone. “I don’t mind as long as you don’t kill him.”

“Why?”

“Because I need information,” she replied. “Only he can give me. You killing him will stop that.”

“Get your information, then I will kill him.”

She slowly lifted her head. “No.” Doll sat next to her. Her eyes locked on me just like her owner. Everyone thought Doll was just a pet, but that was the furthest thing from the truth. She was just as dangerous as Xoey. If Xoey was calm, so was Doll; if she wasn’t, there was a problem.

“Why?”

“Because I said so,” she replied. “Now I can always renege on you seeing him.”

“I could always just go to the warehouse,” I reminded her, then turned to Pyrite. “And break into your house.”

“You wouldn’t,” Pyrite said, and I just stared at him.

I would. Without a doubt and wouldn’t care. I needed information; they held the people who had the information. They were either going to let me talk to them, or I would do it my way.

“Why is this so important to you?” Pyrite asked. “He’s just a nigga that’s wrapped up in some shit. His pops owes me money; he inherited the debt. They decided the payment was his sister.”

“I need to talk to one of them about their daddy and a business deal he was a part of.”

“How much do they owe?” Pyrite sighed. “I’ll pay it off that way I have more leverage over the sister.”

“You are so in love,” Xoey laughed and shook her head. “Just tell Fable that you love her already so y’all can have pretty brown big-haired babies.”

“Everything ain’t a love story,” Pyrite told her.

Xoey reared back and then rolled her eyes. “Yes, it is.” She turned to me. “Do you want a moment with Jr or no? Because this nigga is in love, and I can tell you right now he ain’t gonna let you talk to The Baker. He gets moody when I come by.”

“You come over uninvited.”