“Tony, what are you doing here?” his cousin asked him.
“I just need a little something to get me started.”
“Tone, man, you’re speaking out of pure heartache. Drugs have never been part of your résumé, dawg. You don’t even know how to cut dope, so I know good and well you don’t know shit about running no block and selling it.” Tony went to his cousin Biggie trying to get him to sell him some work so he could step his game up. Paige looked so happy sitting in the company of a man who could take care of her better than he could. And when Marla called him broke, that was just too much for him. She not only embarrassed him, but she was sitting up under a cat getting major money. Mad-Dog was known all over Baltimore and beyond.
Mad-Dog had a gang of loyal dudes on his team from McCabe and East Baltimore. And Tony knew that the name Mad-Dog was a title that spoke for itself. At all costs, Tony wanted to avoid a war with Mad-Dog, at least until his pockets were thick enough to wage war on his own.
Tony loved Paige and their daughter Tonaya with all his heart. She was damn near named after him. He knew he fucked up, but Paige never gave him a chance to explain himself. If it took the glamorous life to pull her back in, then so be it. He didn’t care what he had to do. The only issue he had right now was convincing his cousin Biggie to put him on and finding a few loyal thugs to rock with him.
“Listen, if I’ma spend my last, I’d rather spend it with you, fam. But if you don’t wanna help a brother out, I’ll go elsewhere.”
“So you really serious about this, huh?”
“As a stroke!”
“I don’t feel right putting you on. You’ve managed to stay out of the streets, and now you wanna get involved because of your pride? I think you need to think about it.”
“No disrespect, cuzzo, but I’m a grown-ass man. Paige on some bullshit. She moved out of the house and not fuckin’ with me at all. I haven’t seen Tonaya. I quit my job. I got a lot of shit going on, and I need to make this happen. So either you’re with me or against me.”
“Well, I’m definitely not against you. Let me tell you something. I got in the game the same exact way. My baby mama started fucking with Mike Regents from the Ravens. I was like, oh, hell, no. This nigga not about to be buying my daughter better gifts than me. That was 10 years ago. So I can relate. It’s a pride thing. But I’ve missed not one, but two federal indictments by the skin of my ass. So just know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“I’m not gonna stay in long. I’ma just get in, make some paper, and get out.”
“Sounds good, Tony. But the game is a drug itself. You think the fiends are the only ones that get addicted? Nah, we’re the real addicts.”
“I managed to stay out of the game all this time. Six months max.”
“Okay. Whatever you say, cuz. But if you’re gonna do this, be smart. Get a young worker and let his name claim the fame. You keep your name on the low.” Tony was listening, but not really. The whole point of this was to make money and show that he could compete with Mad-Dog. His cousin didn’t grab his attention until he started explaining the game to him.
“When can I get that work?”
“Slow down, Pablo. For the next 2 weeks, it’s me and you. I’ma school you. You’ll get Hustle Game 101. I’ma show you how to run your own block,” Biggie said.
“A’ight, bet.”
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For the next 2 weeks Biggie did just that. He explained to his cousin everything he needed to know about the dope crowd, how to cut it up, give out testers before opening up shop, and how to protect his territory. Those 2 weeks were the most intense 2 weeks of Tony’s life. It revealed to him how fast the paper could come rolling in. Money wasn’t the only thing that was fast . . . so was Tony’s ability to pick up the game. He was very intelligent, so he was able to figure a few things out on his own. Biggie was impressed.
Tony went out and got six young cats to work the block for him. He got an apartment to trap out of a week later. Biggie couldn’t believe it. Tony was moving 200 grams a day after cutting it. His listened to Biggie and let his name stay on the low for the time being. But it wasn’t for the reasons Biggie gave him; it was because he didn’t want to be known as a small-timer once his name got out there. Once he got his shit right, muh’fuckas was gon’ know ‘bout Tony!
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Tony did not intend to mess around with Sharise. He went out and shopped for Paige and Tonaya for Christmas, and he was upset that he couldn’t buy them the kind of things he felt they deserved. So his homeboy introduced him to Sharise and said she was the connect on everything. Sharise was a street chick. She boosted clothes and sold a little weed and crack every now and then. She was kind of cute, and he flirted with her with intentions on getting a discount on a couple of things, but it went too far. He didn’t mean for it to destroy his relationship with Paige, not at all.
He was putting some time in with Sharise, and on a drunk night, ended up sleeping with her. But his feelings weren’t in it. Sharise liked Tony a lot more than he liked her. But because of Paige kicking it with Mad-Dog and her shutting him out, he found himself in Sharise’s company much more than he should have been. He was hurt, and he blamed all of his troubles on the lack of money.
As the weeks rolled on by, Tony was coming up. He had his block on smash and even had to get four more young dudes to work for him. He was making a few dollars. But nothing stayed secret in the hood. One day, he was coming off his block, and Rodney waved him down. He pulled over.
“Tony, whattup, baby? I see you over here rolling now.”
“Nah, don’t let nobody fool you. I’m not making any noise.”
“That’s good. Keep it like that. Rats is running wild in the city, telling everything they heard and some mo’ shit these days.”
“Most definitely. But you know, I stay to myself and fucks with myself, so any problems I got, it’s with myself, ya hear?”
“I like that philosophy,” Rodney stated. Rod could tell Tony was getting his hands dirty now. He looked like new money and even bought a new vocabulary. Usually Tony talked a li’l more proper, but he was dropping street Ebonics. Yeah, he was into something new. Suddenly, Star sat up. She had been in Rodney’s lap the whole time. This nicca was crazy, Tony thought. She got out of the car and ran into the corner store.
“Gottdamn, my nicca, Shorty still illegal, ain’t she?” Tony asked.
“Illegal to buy liquor, but not illegal to take dick. Baby girl bleeding and coming like a grown woman,” Rodney said proudly.
“You wildin’, Rod. You better leave them young chicks alone. Your ass gon’ have bad luck.”
“I got too much money to have bad luck. I can buy good fortune, baby.”
Tony just shook his head. “So what’s up with Von? How she doing?”
“You tell me. I haven’t seen her ass. She call herself being mad at me. She packed herself and moved out. I figure she probably staying with you and Paige.”
“Nah, Paige ain’t fucking with me right now. I got caught up with Sharise on some bullshit, and Paige found out. She bounced on me. So I haven’t seen her or my daughter. I thought maybe she was staying with y’all.”
“Damn, we all fucked up, huh? But they’ll be back.”
“I don’t know. Maybe Von, but Paige is taking it a little bit too far. She been kicking it wit’ ol’ boy Mad-Dog.”
“Say, word? Damn, Tone. That’s foul. I better not find out Von on no bullshit.”
“Well, they been all hanging out on Friday’s at Hammers. You might find her there.”
“For her sake, I hope I don’t.”
“Since I got you right here, let me ask you a question, Rod. You already got a banging spot up top, so whattup with letting me open up on the block with this dope I got? You know, the more fiends, the more money. We can work something out.”
Rod tilted his head from side to side contemplating. “You know what, Tone, that’s not a bad idea. We’ll talk about that later. My peoples is coming, so I’ll holla at you.” Just then the young girl came out of the store and got back in the car with Rod. He drove off after dapping with Tony. When Rodney drove off, he couldn’t help himself. His mind was focused on Von. All he could think about was her fucking with one of Mad-Dog’s boys following behind Paige. Hell, no. That was not an option. He wasn’t going out like that. There was no way that shit was going down.
Tony was making moves. He learned quickly that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed. He was talking to cats and asking discreet questions about what spots were available. He located three vacant streets in East Baltimore that nobody was claiming, and he proceeded to set up shop. It seemed like Tony’s business was growing by the minute. He was happy that things were moving along. Soon, Paige wouldn’t be able to deny his status.
He went to the mall and picked up a few things for Tonaya. He missed his baby girl, and by hook or crook, he was gonna see his daughter and spend time with her.
Sharise thought Tony was just something fun to do. She didn’t expect this new Tony. She saw his drive and how he was starting to come up in the game. She was going to back away from Tony at first, but after seeing how he was moving some numbers, she decided to stick around. She felt like she could be the brains behind Tony’s operation. Sharise wanted to get on herself, but nobody would put her on because she had too many snake qualities. Everybody liked buying shit from a thief, but nobody wanted to do business with one. So she saw Tony as an opportunity to come up, and she didn’t plan on going anywhere!