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“What’s wit’ yo’ attitude when I can’t sit up under you all day?”

“I took time off, Shameek. To be with you for a few days. Now you’re leaving me here to go and handle your business when I could be doing the same.”

I chuckled. “I’ve literally laid up with you for two days, bruh. I did that in the process of shuttin’ my operation down until I came up wit’ a plan. Now that I have a plan, I need to put it into action.”

“Okay.”

“Nikki, if you’re unhappy wit’ a nigga, you don’t have to fuck wit’ me. Go be happy somewhere else. I can’t sit under yo’ ass twenty-four seven. Not if you plan on continuing to receive the gifts that I give you.”

“Fuck the gifts, Shameek. I want a man.”

“Yeah, take yo’ ass on. Not once have I not been a man.”

“Oh, you putting me out now.”

“No, I’m tellin’ you to take yo’ ass on before we get into it. When we first started fuckin’ ‘round, you knew what I did for a livin’. You said it was cool. As the years have gone by and the more money rolls in, the more attitude you got.”

“Because by now, I thought I would’ve been a wife like Kyenna.”

And there it was. Kyenna’s name again.

“You wanna be a wife like Kyenna? Do you kno’ what she sacrificed for her marriage? You lookin’ from the outside. Kyenna held my muthafuckin’ brother down. When that nigga didn’t walk in the door until two or three in the mornin’, she wasn’t houndin’ that nigga. She knew what it took for him to get Royal Flush goin’ ‘cause she helped build that shit.”

“So, I got to be a ride or die in order to be your wife. I’m sorry, but I’m not built for the street shit, so I’ll pass.”

“And there you have it.” I flopped my arms. “That’s why for years we just been chillin’ and fuckin’. I kno’ you not built for this shit.”

“Wow! Instead of you changing for me, you rather stay the same.”

“Aye man, you done?”

Nikki grabbed the rest of her shit and walked out of the room. Moments later, I could hear my alarm going off and her slamming the door. Usually, I was the one chasing her ass and trying to make the shit right. I loved her, but her entitlement was starting to wear my ass out. She was going to have to reach out to me first.

I stood in front of the whiteboard looking over every route we had used in the last six months. My drivers knew their routes too damn well. Dispatch knew them well, too. If it was working perfect, I never changed shit. The money was flowing, the product was being delivered, and customers were happy. Rah dying hadn’t changed that. Niggas were watching us harder, waiting on one of us to fuck up while grieving. I erased the whole damn board. Starting today, no driver would know where they were going until he arrived for the shift. Dispatch wouldn’t receive the full route list anymore either. They would get just enough information to get the truck moving. The drivers would not know what was on another man’s truck. The warehouse workers would only pack the trucks by numbers, instead of routes. That way their ass didn’t know either. I would give them just enough information to do their fucking job and nothing more.

If it slowed us down for a few weeks, so be it. I’d rather move slower than lose another truck to a fuck nigga. I had already replaced every tracking device overnight. The old ones weren’t bad, but too many people knew where they were located. I didn’t even give my pops the information. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, it was just that the fewer mouths that knew the information, the better. I hated that I was predictable. Once I was satisfied with my new method, I sent an email out for everyone to report back to work the next day. I wasn’t a bad nigga. I knew me stopping the flow of things for a few days dried up some of their money because they had no sense of financial literacy. Most of them lived above their means and liked to flex when they went out.

“Lloyd, what’s up?” I said, answering his call.

“I got the email with the results. Ryleigh is a King, as y’all suspected. However, Raya is requesting the funds be released immediately. I called Kyenna, but she’s not answering. I remember you saying something about adding an addendum about visitation.”

“Hell yeah! I don’t think Rah was thinkin’ that the bitch would keep baby girl from us. Before funds are released, I want to have one last meetin’ wit’ Raya. I need Kyenna present since the estate is really hers. I just kno’ Raya will fold if it’s me.”

“I’ll set it up.”

“Make it today. I’m free for the rest of the day.”

“I’ll set it for four this afternoon. That should give Kyenna time to clear her schedule,” he said.

Fuck he knew about Kyenna clearing her schedule? Which reminded me I needed to call her. We hadn’t talked since Nikki was at the house.

“Bet, I’ll see you then.”

I hung up with him and dialed Kyenna’s number. She answered with music playing in the background.

“How’s it goin’?”

“You hear it. Everything is everything. What you up to?”