expectations of him proved that she didn't give a damn if he lived or died, as long as he had stacks coming in.
How could she not want more than just another nigga running the streets, knocking muthafuckas out, and dodging bullets? Miego had plans to make a lot of money real fast and then get out the game for good, but he damn sure wasn't about to tell her dumb ass that. She would be trying to spend it before he could even get a good count on it.
“Why the fuck you looking at me like that?” Nakia’s raspy voice snapped him back into reality.
He shook his head without speaking a word, and with a series of fluent movements, Miego stepped into his Timbs, pulled his hoodie over his head, and was out the door. As it closed behind him, he heard glass shatter, causing him to release a low muffled laugh.
At that moment, he realized that leaving Nakia would be easy. However, her words would continue to penetrate his thoughts no matter what type of distance there was between the two of them. Little did she know, she had confirmed for him what he had been thinking for a while. She was his past, and it was time to find his future because she damn sure wasn't it.
*****
Tron’s high school gym was packed. Their school was playing a rival team and everyone had come out, current students as well as those who had graduated or dropped out. If they had gone to high school at some point in their life and were still in the neighborhood, they showed up for games like the one being played tonight. The tiny gym was well over its capacity, but no one cared. They were in the hood, and nobody gave a damn but the people who lived there.
Miego had dropped out of school his freshman year, but he still knew almost everyone in there; the younger dudes and all the old heads. He had sold with and for a lot of them, knocked a few of them out, and even filled a few with lead. That was just how shit went for Miego. He was a hood celebrity, a gang affiliated, dope dealing thug who basically ran shit, and prison didn't change that.
Even now, fresh out of lock up, there was still a certain amount of respect that he commanded without even trying. From the head nods to the pounds, to the way people cleared the way when they saw him coming, Miego knew that he was still respected. That was a high that never got old. When you're classified as a neighborhood boss, it stayed with you no matter what, unless you did some fuck shit that put you on the wrong side of trust. The fucked up thing about it was that it was all he had. His life amounted to a hood celebrity status that he couldn't do a damn thing with, and he wanted more than that. He hadn't quite figured out how to get it, but he had to make it happen.
“What the fuck you doing in here, Miego? When did your ass get out? Shit, you could have hit me up, yo.” Train grabbed Miego and pulled him into a hug. His platinum grin was still the same as he eyed his partner.
Train and Miego had been down since grade school, robbing, hustling, knocking niggas down. Anything to survive.
“Shit, I just got out. Just taking a minute to breathe. You know how that shit goes. Kia told me she hit you up, though, I got you for that shit.”
Train chuckled at the mention of Kia’s name before he leaned against the wall next to his boy.
“Man, fuck that and Kia’s hoe ass. You don't owe me shit, and it's fucked up I had to find out you were home from her. Damn, yo, that’s how we doing it? She gave me head as payment, though, I bet she didn't tell you that, did she? You know Kia ain't shit.”
Miego laughed at Train. Hell, he couldn't even be mad. He knew how Kia got down, and Train fucking with her didn't even bother him. Train would never fuck with a female that Miego was serious about and he knew that. They both also knew that the second Miego got locked up, word had got around quick that Kia was doing any and everything to keep cash circulating. Miego had left her with a stash, which of course, had gone
The Best of Murray Leinster (1976)