Black Sheep

Black Sheep 9

BlackSheep9

Trevor Kim has just ordered Sosa and his goons to kill us. Within a matter of seconds, Keon pulls out a gun. I'm kind of shocked low-key. Keon is really a gangster and that is so different from the guy that I know. Seeing how quickly he pulls out the gun and points it at Sosa is shocking to say the least.

"You got the balls to pull that trigger kid," Trevor asks.

Keon is surrounded by goons with guns. They have the guns pointed at me. They have the guns pointed at Jamila who is standing there just looking lost and confused.

"Trevor, baby what are you doing?" Jamila asks.

The pathetic nature of my sister takes a whole new low. I'm shocked when she just looks like she really believes this guy is her baby. The look on Trevor Kim's face shows that he doesn't care about Jamila. Even worse than that I don't think Trevor Kim gives two fucks about Sosa.

Keon's hand is shaking, "Sosa, tell your boys to put the guns down."

"Do it," Sosa states.

"Don't..." Trevor argues.

I'm even more surprised when I notice Sosa's goons hesitate to follow Sosa's orders. When Trevor responds they look at one another with this confused look on what should actually be done. They don't put the guns down. There are guns pointed at all of our heads. My heart is racing. Trevor is calling Keon's bluff and at this moment it looks like even though Sosa looks like the killer it is really Trevor who is pulling all the strings in this situation.

Sosa looks at Trevor, "What the fuck?"

"He's not going to do it," Trevor responds, "Trust me."

Sosa looks uneasy at Trevor. I hold Jamila's hands. My sister is crying unreasonably all of a sudden. I feel so bad for her. She feels betrayed. I can see her just sitting there breaking down and I can't help but feel bad. This has nothing to do with the fact that somehow we found ourselves in the middle of a gangster standoff. This was because the man she supposedly loved could give two fucks about her.

Keon is shaking his head, "Sosa. I'm telling you man. I don't miss. Let us walk out of here. We don't want no beef. We just want to leave."

"Too late," Travis Kim states, "I don't do too well with competition."

"I'm not talking to you," Keon says, "Sosa ain't you the boss? Ain't you the one making the calls right now?"

Sosa isn't the type of guy you point a gun at. I'm shocked and surprised by the amount of balls that Keon has right now. Sosa was a gang boss. He wasn't on the same level as Keon but right now Keon was going head to head with him without batting an eye.

"You shoot me, they will rain down on you," Sosa tells Keon, "You know that right."

"I promise you if I go out, I'm taking at least you with me."

"First shot you take you're dead."

Travis interrupts, "Aim it at him."

The goons follow Sosa's directives. Within a matter of seconds, I'm the target. All of the guns. Keon looks over at me and he looks like he is completely losing it right now. The focus that was in his eyes a minute ago is gone. All of a sudden his hands are shaking and that steady gun isn't so steady anymore. His eyes keep looking over at me. They keep staring hard.

"Wait ok. Hold up. Hold up," Keon starts tripping through shaking hands and immediate sweats rolling down his forehead.

Sosa's people can tell that they are making him sweat. All of a sudden these cocky smiles are forming on their faces.

"They are going to kill me anyway," I tell him.

"Put the gun down," Travis repeats.

I don't know what Keon is thinking but he does what they say. He just gives up the fucking gun! He hands it right to Sosa like it's nothing! I'm shocked.

"Please don't..." Keon states.

He went from acting like a gangster to basically begging. I don't understand it but when I look in his eyes I can see some real emotion there. The response that Keon gets when he begs is a laughter from Sosa who has all of a sudden regained control of the situation.

"Let's take them out back by the alley. It's empty there," Travis offers.

They take us around back. We are tied up. I look over at Jamila and all I can think about is just how stupid she looks right now. Her "so-called" boyfriend was clearly using her and now that we were all going to die because of it. The worse thing about Trevor Kim was that he wasn't even man enough to see his order done.

I look over at AK. He's there with his brother. Hell his brother hands him Keon's gun. I know AK well enough to know not to expect anything from him when it comes to Sosa. He wasn't going to defend me. Jamila is too into her feelings and Keon seems to have been completely defeated in this situation. It is up to me to at least stall for some time.

"You know you're nothing but a lap dog to him," I tell Sosa, "Look what he did to my sister? You think that's a man that has any loyalty."

I don't know what his goons know about Sosa's sexuality or even if it matters to them. Regardless I can tell by the look on some of their faces that they don't seem to be too aware of exactly what the relationship is between Sosa and Travis. AK is very aware though. That is clear.

We are tied up. We are put up against the wall. The gangsters line up on the other side of us like this is some sort of firing squad. Right now it seems like the only thing that is between us and certain death is most likely AK. I look at AK and I mouth out words that I swear I'd never use: Help me please. I don't know why I sound so desperate but I don't want to die. I don't want Keon to die. I don't want Jamila to die. AK is the only one who can help us right now.

At first AK looks away. He acts like he doesn't even fucking see me.

"I heard you was a slick talker. All that talking. Look where it got you now," Sosa states, "This has to happen. No hard feelings though. It was just a matter of time."

I hear Sosa give his people a nod. I hear someone cock their gun. I close my eyes. My heart is racing. Sweat is rolling down my forehead. That's when I look to my side and I feel a shoulder pressed up against my own shoulder. It's Keon. He's looking right in my eyes and he's trying to give me strength. I look into Keon's eyes as well. If we die I might as well be dying with someone who I considered one of my best friends for so long.

AK looks over at his brother, "Wait Sosa..."

My eyes jet over at AK. I'm shocked that he's stepping in. This is definitely not something that he usually does.

"You got something to say?" Sosa asks his little brother.

"He has a point. We can't trust that Travis dude. He's not one of us. He's not from the streets."

"And this motherfucker is?" Sosa says looking over at me.

I am sitting here in my business suit speaking full sentences and trying to reason with gangsters like this is some sort of board meeting. I had a gun to my head. I had a GUN to my fucking head. I didn't know what the hell I was doing here. This wasn't my life!

"Yeah, yeah he is," Keon states, surprising everyone involved, "He's might have left but he's a part of us."

Sosa shakes his head.

"Us? There is no US."

"What separates you from us? A couple of blocks?" Keon asks, "Remember when Big Mama Wallace was alive? She had us all sit down and work shit out. We all came to a peace."

"That peace is over. Joyous thinks he's the man. He thinks he runs these fucking streets. That peace she was talking about is over," Sosa states, "Joyous needs to learn his place. If that means losing his brother, his sister and one of his soldiers then so be it. Big Mama Wallace is dead. Now so are you."

I close my eyes.

The gun is about to go off but then all of a sudden something happens. It's something that I would never in a million years think would happen.

Someone stops him.

It's AK.

AK doesn't only stand in the way of Sosa's goons. He has a gun in his hand. It's the same gun that Keon had. AK is clearly looking like he is ready to use it and he doesn't seem to be hesitating in anyway.

"Put that gun down yo..." AK states.

"You raising your gun to me lil' man?" Sosa asks.

Sosa is shocked. Not as shocked as the rest of us though. Keon looks over at me and I look over at Keon. What the fuck was going on?

"That's your issue. I'm not a lil' man," AK responds to Sosa, "You need to respect me. You need to listen to me when I say that this is wrong. You out here killing people for Travis Kim so that he can get rich out here. How does that sound? He's not even from out here but we killing each other for him? FOR HIM?"

Travis has a point. I would like to believe that it resonated with Sosa and his gang but I don't see any signs of that. At least not right now. They were stone faced killers and they were all too entrenched in picking up their guns to really listen to what AK had to say.

Sosa looks like a savage too. The look in his eyes says that he is probably willing to put his brother's backbone on the line right now. He doesn't order his guys to stand down. Matter of fact. He does the opposite. Someone hands Sosa a gun. It's an automatic.

"You see all these guns pointing at you, LIL man," Sosa says stressing the 'lil' part.

"I'm not scared," AK states.

"One gun against all these guns?"

"IT'S NOT ONE GUN!"

The voice ringing out at the end of the block is loud, vociferous. I damn near jump to my feet when I see my brother Joyous pulling up in a car down the block. He isn't alone. He's brought members of his crew with him and they are all strapped. All of a sudden Sosa and his men don't seem to give two fucks about the little firing line they were about to form. All of a sudden all of their lives were at risk right now.

"Joyous," Sosa states.

"So we about to do this here huh?" Joyous states, licking his thumb and putting it in the air, "Nice weather. This is a damn good day to die."

"You think you tough huh?" Sosa says.

My brother might have been prettier than Sosa but I knew he was just as crazy if not more. Looking at Joyous walk onto this block with a weapon the size of his arms and a bunch of shady looking guys that look like they were extras in the First 48 made me think this was going to be a straight up massacre. I had no doubt that it was going to be either when my brother stops.

The two gangs face off.

"We can all walk away from this," I suggest, "No one has to die here. Not right now."

"I ain't scared to die," Joyous offers.

I pretty much figured that part. Joyous was all about his respect. I was glad that I sent him a message when AK freaked me out in the bathroom because Joyous wouldn't have been here otherwise, but I knew my brother well enough to know that he LIVED this life. He didn't just walk in and out of it. He had a savage look in his eyes and he was ready to die today.

"I can give you what you want," Sosa offers.

"Not today," I offer again, "No one is getting out of here if bullets start flying. You all know that."

They all seem to think about it. For the first time I feel like people actually hear my voice and they actually listen. I look at how narrow this alley is. No one was getting out of here. We'd all be dead. It definitely didn't make any sense.

I look over at Joyous. I don't think Sosa was going to be the first one to make a move in this situation. I had to basically hope my brother cared enough about me and Jamila not to get us killed in a back alley somewhere.

Joyous definitely seems to be weighing those feelings at that moment.

"Another time..." Joyous states.

I don't know how we get out of that alley without any bullets flying. I don't even look back at the savages wearing blue when people start walking. Somehow people just postpone their pride and anger for the moment because they knew no one would come out on top in that situation. I never been through anything so intense in my life.

I've never lived through anything like that before.

The car ride back to our side of town is awkward to say the least. No one says anything except a very short conversation that happens.

Joyous looks over at Keon, "You went out there to save my brother? You went out there alone?"

Keon doesn't return my brother's stare. He just looks out the window, "Sure did."

Joyous doesn't smile or thank Keon or anything like that. That might be too soft for a conversation with gangsters.

"Cool," is all my brother says.

That was the whole conversation. It happens right before Joyous drops Keon off on the corner. He doesn't even take Keon to his house. Just the corner. I guess gangsters don't think it's really necessary to do that. As long as Joyous got Keon around his neighborhood it was up to Keon to get the rest of the way.

I can't stop thinking about the conversation even when Keon is gone. For some reason though I figure that a lot more has happened in that moment. It was an understanding at least. A moment where my brother wasn't so angry at Keon and Keon's life wasn't at stake. My brother had some level of respect for Keon now that he didn't have before. They don't say it. That wasn't exactly how gangsters moved. Sometimes they didn't have to say it. Hell. Maybe I was getting it wrong. I could be making it all up in my head even. I just felt it.

When we get back to Joyous's place, Jamila is still crying. She's headed towards the door but she doesn't get far.

"Where the fuck you staying tonight?" Joyous asks her.

"Joyous," I start out knowing immediately where my brother was going with this.

Joyous might have been 'trying' with me but that doesn't stop him from being Joyous. He gives me a hard look, "Am I talking to you? Mind your fucking business."

Jamila answers like a wimpy child, "I was hoping that I could stay here with you."

"Fuck no. Go stay with Travis Kim since that's who you sold your family out for," Joyous states, "You aren't welcome in my house. Joshua lock the door on your way in."

Joyous isn't having it. I attempt to say something to him to help the situation but as soon as I open my mouth he turns and walks into the apartment slamming the door behind him. I look over at Jamila. She has a look her face that says that she is in pain. It's real pain.

"He's right. I fucked up," Jamila states.

"He shouldn't be locking you out. I don't know what is up with this family and closing our doors on each other," I state shaking my head, "Trust me. I know all about that."

"It's cool," she responds, "I deserve it."

I look over at Jamila. I'm worried about her. I'm really worried. Regardless of whether the relationship with Travis was real or not, she was doing better. She thought it was real. She looked better. She was actually showing up for things and didn't seem like she was strung out on some drug somewhere.

"Where you going to go?" I ask.

Jamila shrugs, "I don't know. I'll figure it out. I always do."

"That's the problem. You shouldn't have to figure it out," I state, "That's not what family is about. We shouldn't be ignoring you, not knowing where you are or what you're doing."

Jamila smiles. If I was the black sheep of the family, then what was Jamila? Jamila was the person that they didn't even see. She was the invisible sister. She was a walking ghost, hovering around South Central hoping to find some sort of relevancy in her life. She had thought she had found it in a lover but it wasn't what she thought. The look in Jamila's eyes just says it all.

"I'll figure it out," she says.

"Here."

I give Jamila some money. I give her all the money I have in my pocket.

I'm surprised when Jamila shakes her head, "I don't want it. I don't need it. I'll be fine. I'll figure it out. Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like I'm a victim. I'm not dead yet. You know. I'm not dead. I'll be fine," she states, "Just heartbroken that's all. Love,,, You know? Or do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean. I know love," I respond.

"Love is Keon showing up to save you only to being too scared to follow up with his plan because he can't face the thought of losing you. That was some love right there," Jamila tells me, "But what do I know?"

"Keon loves me but it's not like he's in love with me," I state.

Or did he?

"You sure?" she asks.

I wasn't. I look over at Jamila. I guess it took Jamila to break her heart to have a meaningful conversation because right now she is definitely making me think about a few things. I stand there stuck not sure how to respond to her.

"I don't know," I finally respond.

"Well I know you're leaving. I figure that much but maybe before you leave you should figure it out," she explains.

I sit there and think about it.

She had a point.

~

It's the next morning when I call the meeting. I have everyone gather at the Marchioness. It's not just my siblings that I invite either. I actually invite everyone that was at that meeting that we had before. I invite everyone that was there before.

Joyous and I show up first but soon after Lady Lucille and a bunch of her girls show up.

"Thanks for coming," I state.

"You called this meeting?" she asks.

"Surprised?"

"Yeah thought you'd be gone," Lady Lucille states, "Your cousin Sheila said you definitely would be leaving town. That's one of the only reasons I came. I thought you were out of the picture."

I wonder why she thought that. That was the thing about this neighborhood. Everyone talked entirely too much including my nosy ass cousin Sheila. What business was it of Sheila's where I was anyway?

"I've decided to stay and work on the club."

"Really?" she asks raising her eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes. Really. I'm glad you were able to make it."

A lady always shows up on time," Lady Lucile states, "I got a message you wanted me to bring some of my girls with me."

"I wanted to see what you were working with?"

"I'm sorry but what's the point?" Lady Lucille asks, "Didn't you guys get robbed or something? Hell...word on the street is you almost got killed by some downtown Crips. I'm honestly quite surprised to see you."

A couple of the girls Lady Lucille have around her start laughing as though almost getting killed is actually something to joke about. I try to keep my composure and not get smart with her. She didn't have to show up here.

"Well I'm here and I want us to have this meeting. Are you still interested in staffing the Marchioness..."

"You find the money?" She asks.

"No..."

"Then what are we talking about. Don't waste my time," she explains, "My girls make money. That's all we do. Now if you want to talk some business I know that your sister is a little strapped for cash."

"Listen bitch...my sister's fine," I respond quickly counter.

She laughs a little with her manly features. I'm not a fan of this Lady Lucille character. The truth is though she had the means to staff the Marchioness. I'm kind of glad that she isn't completely offended by me calling her a bitch. She seems to have heard it before clearly.

"Lucille you pissing off my brother?" Joyous interrupts, luckily.

All of a sudden I see all 15 girls that Lady Lucille brought with damn near wet themselves in unison when Joyous shows up on the scene. I literally hear audible gasps from the girls. They were clearly turned on by the pretty boy gangster that Joyous was. Hell even Lucille had turned from a tiger into some sort of fucking housebroken domestic cat.

"Of course not Joyous," she states, "We are just here to help in any way we can."

"Good, the meeting is going to start soon when everyone shows up. Can you have your girls wait for us?" Joyous asks.

"Anything you want us to do daddy," Lady Lucille responds.

Lady Lucille and her girls follow suit and walk over to the main lobby area of the Marchioness. It's empty still but at least it's clean all thanks to Keon who actually did a pretty damn good job cleaning out all the old things and demolishing everything that was broken in the Marchioness. We had a nice shell in here.

"Thanks for that," I tell Joyous as soon as he looks over.

"Of course," He responds, "My boys are coming in who are going to work security as well. Still, I'm kind of confused Joshua. Why the hell are you calling this meeting?"

"You trust me?" I ask.

"Did you get Jamila to give back the money?" he asks me.

"I don't know who took the money..."

My brother gives me a weird look, "Now you know damn well Jamila took that money..."

"I don't know anything. And if she shows up I'd appreciate it if we don't point the finger at her without knowing the facts," I state, "Please. I know how it feels like to be on the outside. I don't want Jamila feeling that way."

"She sold us out."

"She fell in love," I state, "She made a mistake. Which one of us haven't done that?"

I look at Joyous. I can tell he's not feeling Jamila right now. I'm sure the rest of my family was probably in the same fucking mind state right now.

"If I find out she had anything to do with stealing that money..." he starts.

"I'm with you. Until then though...let's just look to the future. Can you please go make sure your thugs don't start no trouble?" I ask.

Joyous nods, reluctantly. I know that he still wants to talk about this Jamila situation. Jamila did turn on us. She really did. I can understand why there is tension with Joyous because of it. I can understand why he's pissed that she got us all in that situation last night. Jamila made a mistake. She was human and she made a mistake.

I was pretty sure she felt the anger from Joyous though and wouldn't be showing up today. This was different though. Jamila not showing up today was different because I felt like she would go right back to the drugs.

"Damn...I'm glad you're OK. I heard what happened yesterday," a voice says as soon as my brother walks away.

I turn and notice why the person only walks up to me in the Marchioness when my brother walks away. I realize that DJ Battery shows up.

"You crazy?" I ask this guy.

"Crazy about you..." DJ Battery responds.

I roll my eyes at that moment, "Who the hell even invited you?"

"Jamison. He said you were holding a meeting about the Marchioness. Since I signed on the be the DJ, I figured I'd come to the meeting. It's only right. Plus, I get to see your face again..."

Battery was flirting hard. I had to admit he was looking sexy. He has the best looking suit and was standing there looking like something to eat. As he does his flirting he pulls something out. It's a little flower. He looks over at Joyous before he hands it to me. He probably knows damn well my brother was not with the whole gay thing. Him checking for Joyous before he gives me the flower just reminds me of exactly why I am mad at him in the first place.

"Listen I don't get into cowards," I state.

Battery looks immediately offended.

"Cowards?" he asks.

"Yeah cowards," I respond.

"I didn't tell you to go down there. I was smart enough not to stick around. You should have taken your ass home. You don't fuck with these thugs out here. These people weren't born. These savages out here were taken straight out of hell. So no. I don't want to be around the shit. Why do you think I keep turning down Travis Kim's offers to work over there? I don't associate with the gangster shit."

"My brother's a gangster," I respond, "So you might as well leave here too if you're so scared."

"Then I wouldn't be able to see you," he responds.

He's still trying. He even takes a step forward and licks his lips. He looks around to make sure Joyous and his boys aren't looking before he tries to sneak a kiss. He gets it off. His soft lips press up against mine. He even tries to pull me into him for a longer kiss. He grabs onto my ass, squeezing it. Touching it in a way that make me damn near squirm at that moment.

I can't lie. I want to have sex with Battery but then I keep thinking about how he left me. I can't lower myself to that.

"I got my eyes set on someone else Battery," I state.

"Someone else?"

"Yeah. You know? A real man. The kind of man that shows up when other people run away. The kind of man that isn't afraid to fight for what he wants."

My mind shoots over to Keon almost immediately. I think about how Keon didn't hesitate to come there when I needed him. I think about how Keon was there when Battery booked it away the first chance he got. Keon was there. He was willing to die with me. He was willing to risk his life for me. Jamila had seen the whole thing. It wasn't just my imagination.

"Damn..." DJ Battery states.

That's how I felt. Damn. There really was something there between me and Keon.

Just at that moment I see Keon walking through the door.

"Matter of fact that's him right there," I state.

With that I turn and start walking towards Keon. Battery looks a little pissed when he sees it but I don't give a damn right now. As I walk up to Keon I have a smile on my face.

Keon looks damn good. He has on a button up shirt and looks more professional than a gangster. I can tell he's really trying. It was him who made sure this place was cleaned up and kept believing when everyone else stopped. He kept this place going.

"You called this meeting?" Keon asks.

"Yeah...why is everyone so surprised?" I ask.

Keon shrugs, "Just...I thought you were gone."

"Actually no. I'm here and I'm not giving up on the Marchioness."

Keon's face lights up at that moment, "Oh my god Skinny...did you find the money?"

"No. Not exactly," I respond, "But I'm putting my own money up."

Keon's face gets cold.

"What?"

"I'm putting my own money up. Every dollar that I ever made. I'm going to invest into this club."

"You think that's a good idea?" Keon asks, "Don't get me wrong...I want the club to go forward but I also care about you and want to make sure you're OK. This is your grandmother's dream, not yours. You can't put all your money into this."

"Yes I can. That's what I'm going to do," I respond.

I can tell Keon is concerned with me. He looks me in my eyes, "I don't get why you're doing this. I'm so impressed but...damn. You are financing this with your PERSONAL money? That's a fucking gamble..."

"I believe in you..."

"Me?"

"Yeah. Keon. I want you to be the manager of the club," I state.

Keon's eyes get wide at that moment.

"You trust me with that?"

"I trust you with my life," I explain at that moment, "I want to be able to trust you with the club...I want to be able to trust you with even more than that..."

I wrap my arms around him at that moment. I lean in at that moment. I want to be able to trust Keon with my heart. I want to be able to trust Keon with my soul. I feel like I've always had my soulmate in him. He was the person I wanted to end up with. He was the person that was there for me when I wanted him the most.

"You want more?" he asks me.

"I want you?" I respond to him, "Keon...I'm in love with you."

I kiss him. I press my lips up against Keon's lips. I expect sparks. I expect a fucking explosion. I want what Jamila stated to be right so bad. I wanted this to be true SO bad.

Instead of sparks though Keon pulls his head away.

"Wait hold on."

"It's OK, Joyous is busy..."

"I don't care about Joyous," Keon states, "I just have to talk to you. I have to explain something to you before..."

Just at that moment Jamison walks in. Maybe it's because he walks into the lobby to see me in Keon's arms. I think that was the case. For some reason though I can see the petty in my brother's eyes. I fully recognized that petty by now.

My brother is fully aware, "Sorry we're late. We had a long night. Didn't we, Keon? You kept me up all night..."

To read the next chapter in advance go to www.crushedcrown.com