i gotta story to tell

Growin up in the hood just my dog and me
We used to hustle in the hood for, all to see
Problems, I called on him, he called on me
We wasn't quite partners, I hit him off my P
Met him unlocked doors, off my keys
Yeah we spoke, much more than cordially
Man he broke bread with me, my business spread swiftly
The Feds came to get me, we both fled quickly
Wasn't quick enough to jump over the hedges with me
Got caught, and that's when our relationship strayed
Used to call me from the joint til he ran out of change
And when he called collect and I heard his name
I quickly accepted, but when I reached the phone
he's talkin reckless, I can sense deceit in his tone
I said, "Damn dawg, what, nine weeks and you're home?"
He said, "Main man, you think shit's sweet cause you're home."
I just sat, spat no more speech in the phone
The crackers up there bleachin your dome, you're reachin
I said, "The world don't stop I've got to keep keep on."
From there I sensed the beef was on
I ran to the spy store to add some more features on my phone
To see if I had bugs and leeches on my phone
Can't be too safe cause niggaz is two-faced
And they show the other side when they catch a new case
It's on

Jay Z (A Week Ago)


Soulmates. Inseparable. A great compliment to each other. That's what people thought when they saw the 2 of them together. Xavier and Reign. He was that dude that everybody liked. If you ever heard someone say something bad about him, it'd be because they were simply hating on him. Xavier was a good catch...and he knew it. He had graduated from Howard with a degree in business administration. He came from humble beginnings in East Atlanta. His childhood home was located in the slums in the shadows of Turner Field. Not many dudes from his neighborhood finished high school...none went to college. Not only did he finish college but he just got his masters from Morehouse. To say that he made his momma proud is an understatement.

Reign was no slouch either. She had rec'd her undergraduate degree from GaTech. She was one of the best in her class. It spoke volumes to see a sista doing very well in her field despite being a minority. They had been friends for 2 years but they had been dating for a year. They had no kids but you could see that marriage was on the horizon for them.

Xavier was an entrepreneur. He owned several small business (barber shops, car washes, etc.). He also had a several investment properties. He had a keen business sense. Reign was fully aware and proud of Xavier's business accomplishments. She didn't like the fact that Xavier had employed his brother to help with some property management. Xavier's brother, Rodney, was a knucklehead. He was always getting into trouble. Every time Xavier did well in school, Rodney came home with bad grades. Rodney had also been in and out of jail for various reasons.

One day, Xavier leaves his house to pick up Reign for dinner. They went to a fancy seafood spot in the city. After dinner Xavier excuses himself from the table...only to return with a box in his hand. He got on one knee and proposed to her. She cried tears of joy and accepted his proposal. They immediately set the wedding date for a month from that day that they were engaged.

Two weeks before the wedding, Rodney was arrested for driving with a suspending license. After the cops pulled him over, they found a loaded gun in the car. Xavier called Reign to let her know what had happened and he told her that he'd bail him out. Well, that didn't sit well with Reign and she decided to go to Xavier's house to find out what was going on. On her way there, she rec'd a phone call from her friend Janet. Janet was a well known gossiper. And when she called...she usually had dirt on somebody. Janet was a dispatcher for the county police dept and that made matters worse.

Reign: "Hello"

Janet: "Hey girrrrrrrl. You ain't gonna believe what I just found out."

Reign: "Janet...I'm not in the mood. Rodney just got arrested and Xavier is gonna bail him out.

Janet: "I know that already. Tell me something that I don't know."

Reign: "Huh? What the fuck are you talking about? I know what's going on. I'm not in the mood for your silly shit today."

Janet: "You betta listen to me. Do you know everything? I know everything. I know about the crew, the money, and everything in between."

Reign: "Huh? Will you make some sense please?"

Janet: "They are about to come down on the crew. Xavier and Rodney are members of the Parkside Crew. They are about to get charged for all of this dope on the streets, guns, and some dead bodies that turned up in Decatur. My source told me that they are trying to get Rodney to wear a wire to set Xavier up so that he'll do less time than him. Mmmmm hmmm, girl. This shit is about to hit the fan. You need to cut him off before they drag you into it. If I was you I would..." CLICK

Reign hung up the phone. She was speechless. She knew that her man wasn't some drug dealer. She'd never even seen him around those kinda folk. He didn't dress flashy nor did he have any thing that would suggest otherwise. He had the investment properties and businesses. Could they have been a front so that he could launder his drug money through them? How could this be? They are getting married in 2 weeks. How could he be tied up with a notorious drug gang in Atlanta? What was SHE gonna do? Before she knew it, she had pulled her car into his driveway. He was walking out of the house and was headed to bail out his lil brutha. She froze when she saw him. What should she do? Should she let him know about the wire? Should she leave him and protect her own neck? Should she act like she doesn't know anything? Is HER life safe? What should Xavier do? What would YOU do?

Holllllllllllla!