19

“So, what this ho talkin’ about, YB?” Rufus asked. “She tryin’ to set that nigga up?”

“Yeah, my nigga. Sweet definitely got info on how to get at Crown. We need to hit this nigga hard and fast,” YB replied.

“You trust this bitch, YB? I mean, how we know she ain’t tryin’ to set us up and shit?”

“Believe me, cuz. She’s sick of this nigga’s shit just like the two of us. Sweet is good peoples.”

“I’m down for whatever, YB. You know I’m gonna murder that faggot-pimp nigga when I see him. And Harlem, he’s next. And wit’ what we take from this nigga, it should cover our debt wit’ the Mexicans.”

Both men sat parked on Market Street under an unlit street light. Rufus took a few pulls from the burning spliff and thought about different ways to murder Crown and Harlem and maybe raping one of his hoes. Thinking about the way Harlem disrespected his block and made them lose out on some serious paper kept Rufus’s face in a scowl.

YB was always the smart one. He would be the one to execute the strategy while Rufus had his back. He sat quietly in the passenger seat and thought out every possible angle. He even thought about it being a setup but figured Sweet and Chaos had begun to resent Crown and his abusive ways.

YB learned in his early years that hell had no fury like a woman scorned. When he was eighteen, he was stabbed in the back three times by a jealous ex-girlfriend and was fortunate to live. Another girlfriend crashed YB’s Benz on purpose because she kept accusing him of cheating. YB beat the shit out of both of them but he understood that once a woman was upset with a man, she didn’t have a limit to the damage that she could cause.

“So, how soon we tryin’ to do this?” Rufus asked.

“Real soon, my nigga. Everything is being set in motion right now,” YB said.

Rufus nodded and took another drag of the burning weed.

YB thought about Magic’s advice. In the end, it probably would be best for him to leave town for a while, especially after their plan to rob and murder Crown. YB turned to his cousin and asked, “Yo, how would you feel if after this shit, I leave town for a while?”

“What the fuck you talkin’ about, YB? Where you planning to go?” Rufus asked in annoyance.

“I’m just sayin’, I’m gettin’ tired and shit is gettin’ crazy. All this killing and beefing, I mean, where we gonna see ourselves in five years, my nigga, doin’ the same shit we doin’ now? Locked up or probably dead,” YB proclaimed.

Rufus chuckled. “Nigga, you talkin’ crazy. You love this street shit! This is us and how we came up. I can’t ever get tired of this shit here. Nigga, Philly is all we fuckin’ know. And what got you sparking that dumb fuckin’ idea in your head? Magic? Or you thinking of skatin’ of wit’ that ho bitch, Chaos?” Rufus shook his head. “Nigga, she don’t give a fuck about you! That bitch lives on her fuckin’ back and you ain’t even fuck her yet.”

YB sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to get through his cousin’s thick head. Rufus was only concerned about three things: money, his reputation, and raping women.

“Nigga, what you blowing out your mouth for! What, you a nigga wit’ a conscience now? What the fuck I done told about these bitches? You can’t love these hoes, nigga. You, you tryin’ to leave family now for that bitch and live a fuckin’ life like the Huxtables? Nigga, wake the fuck up! You ain’t Bill Cosby and that bitch definitely ain’t Claire.”

“Why the fuck you so ignorant, Rufus?” YB snapped. “You always negative about some shit. I’m always defending you against Magic but you always seem to prove me wrong.”

“That nigga Magic talkin’ shit about me?” Rufus snarled.

Too late, YB realized that he shouldn’t have mentioned Magic’s opinion of Rufus. “Nigga, chill. I ain’t having this conversation wit’ you right now, nigga.”

“Yeah, whatever YB. Just like when we were kids, you always tryin’ to be the boss of things. Like you always fuckin’ know any better. Nigga, let’s just get at Crown and Harlem, get this money, and do what we do best: We run our fuckin’ block and maintain our fuckin’ reputation,” Rufus stated.

YB sat back and just kept his mouth shut. Rufus was going to continue to be Rufus; but he was still family and YB always had love for family.