Goodfellas Read online

  “Nah,” Jayden shook his head. “Don’t nobody enter this city without me knowing about it. Especially doing no shit like this.”

  “They can enter if they have a key.”

  “Ain’t no key.”

  “You sure about that?” Kayden asked, sending Jayden into a whirl of his own thoughts.

  “Does Dad know?” Jayden asked in a low tone after a few moments.

  “Hell, nah, but we need to dead the issue.”

  “Word. Straight like that. So what’s the move? Do you know anything about these niggas?”

  “I had Dino scope out the niggas last night after Miguel brought me this bullshit. After a few shots of Patrón, they got real lippy. We found out who their key is,” Kayden said and looked Jayden dead in his eyes. “It’s Slime.”

  “Slime? That man has been working for Dad since he was fifteen.”

  Roderick “Slime” Davis started off working as a street runner for Greyson back when the movement was just taking off. Slowly, he worked his way up in the ranks until finally he became the head of distribution. Only a few people knew the location of the warehouse used to package up all of the work orders. Greyson used a decorative type of wrap for all of his work, and once each kilo was wrapped up, his seal was placed on it. It was his stamp in the game. No one else was doing it, and it set him apart from the competition. However, whereas Slime had access to the wrapping papers, he did not have access to the seal. Only Greyson’s right-hand man, Tip, had the ability to place Greyson’s seal.

  Jayden just didn’t understand why Slime would do anything to cross Greyson. When he had literally nothing, Greyson gave him the means to get everything. He was considered family to them all, so if what Kayden was saying was the truth, it was a greasy double cross.

  “Niggas always want more than what’s in the hand that’s feeding them,” Kayden said, reading Jayden’s mind. “Word is, one of the niggas is his people.”

  “Cousin,” Dino said.

  “I don’t know what’s gotten into this nigga, but we’ve been waiting for you to get here so that we can go and find out. You tryin’a ride out or what?”

  “It’s business. Of course, I’m gon’ ride.”

  Chapter 5

  Jayden

  When they left the apartment building, Jayden half-hoped that he would see the girl sitting on the steps, but, of course, she was long gone. For some reason, her smile lingered in his mind in a way that he honestly didn’t want any woman’s to in a while.

  He followed behind his brother’s G-Wagen on the highway, already knowing where they were headed. The secret warehouse was located underneath Greyson’s dry-cleaning business, Pleasantly Clean, and the majority of the customers were regulars and had been going there for years.

  When they arrived, they pulled to the back and parked in the alley behind the dry cleaners. Kayden hopped out first with a duffle bag over his shoulder; then Jayden followed suit. The only entrance to the warehouse was through a door in the back of the large building that led to a set of stairs. Jayden reached into the pocket of his coat to find the key to the door, but Kayden beat him to it.

  “What, you think you the only one with a key?” he asked when he saw Jayden’s eyebrow raise. “Pops gave it to me a few weeks ago.”

  “After the shit you pulled in Chicago?” Jayden asked, walking through the doorway first.

  “That ‘shit’ I pulled in Chicago brought in more business than even Pop’s predicted.”

  “Nigga, you went out there on some Rah-Rah Beanie Sigel shit,” Jayden said, going down the stairs.

  It was cold outside, and it honestly didn’t feel any better in that stairwell. The blue concrete walls didn’t do any good at holding heat inside, but once they were off of the stairs, there was a hallway that led to their destination. Jayden could feel the air around him growing warmer by the second.

  “It got the job done.”

  “Your ego almost brought down the entire empire.”

  “But it didn’t. Pops handled that for me.”

  “Like always,” Jayden said when they got to the five-inch thick door.

  He reached to open it, but Kayden caught his arm. He whipped to face his twin and saw a look that he didn’t recognize. It was a look that he didn’t think he had ever made.

  “Yo, what’s that supposed to mean, Jay?” Kayden challenged.

  Jayden heard his brother’s menacing tone and saw that the look in his eyes matched, but he had never been one to back down from a challenge.

  “It means we aren’t kids anymore, bro. The shit you do doesn’t just affect you. If you go down, we all go down. Now, you’re back moving like a rookie.”

  “I told you that work in the apartment wasn’t mine. I showed you proof.”

  “A’ight, I can accept that. But if you think for one second I believe that you aren’t trapping out of that bitch, you’re crazy. You can’t tell me that all of those upgrades just came with the place. And you had that big nigga at the door with the big chopper. You wildin’, G.”

  “So what?” Kayden put his hands in his pocket. “You’re trying to tell me how to move now?”

  “When it’s jeopardizing my shit, yea. It looks like I might have to. The stunts you pulled in Chicago ain’t gon’ fly here, Kay. You gon’ have to chill out.”

  “Your shit? Did you forget that we’re twins, brother? You aren’t better than me. What’s yours is mine, and vice versa. We shared a womb, and I’m six minutes older. Never forget that.”

  “Duly noted, but apparently that extra six minutes when I was baking gave me the common sense that you don’t have. This ain’t about me being better than you; this is about me knowing what’s best for the business. We deaded the way of trap houses years ago. The only niggas that trap Dad’s work out of traps are the niggas that buy wholesale, and that’s not our problem. When you were gone, Dad trusted me with a lot of tasks, and I’m not about to have you here undoing my hard work, understand? I want that fucking trap closed down by the end of the day, or you gon’ force my hand.”

  “Or else what? You gon’ tell Dad on me or something?” Kayden chuckled.

  “Nah,” Jayden said. “I’m a grown-ass man. I can handle my own light work.”

  Kayden looked like there was more he wanted to say, and Jayden knew it was just sitting at the tip of his tongue. He must have known that it was a battle that he wasn’t going to win. He gave one nod and let Jayden’s arm go.

  The steel door did not have a doorknob. The only way to open it was a little console on the wall. Jayden flipped the top open, input in the eight-digit code, and on the last number, there was a loud clicking sound as the door swung open. The door was completely soundproof, but once open, they heard the sounds of loud music and somebody yelling over it.

  “Bitch! That ain’t how you bag the coke! Get yo’ high ass off the production floor and come back in thirty minutes.”

  Jayden would recognize Slime’s deep baritone voice anywhere. He was a dark-skinned bald man. He was only a few years older than the twins but looked to be in his midthirties. He was tall and slim but had a muscular build. He didn’t need them, but he always had on a pair of designer spectacles.

  “Bitches love a nigga with glasses,” he would always say when somebody asked.

  The warehouse was the size of an average basement. There wasn’t much furniture, just tables and chairs for the women bagging up the product. They wore masks over their faces and white robes over their bra and panties. One of them sat in the far corner pouting with her arms crossed. From the looks of it, everything was running smoothly. Jayden saw piled up work stacked neatly in the corner ready to be stamped with Greyson’s seal and then delivered. Slime didn’t notice the twins enter his work area until he finally looked up.

  “Well, if it ain’t my favorite people!” he said, throwing his hands in the air.

  The smile on his face showed that he was genuinely happy to see them. That raised a few hairs for Jayden. If he were moving foul, t
hen he should have been alarmed by their sudden presence. Slime walked up and dapped them up and greeted. His eyebrow lifted when Kayden was hesitant to shake his hand.

  “Damn, son, why you always so uptight? Smile a little. Shit, I’m used to Jayden being all tight about shit, but, damn. I thought twins were opposites of each other. Looks like neither one of you got a happy bone.”

  Under any other circumstance, Jayden might have smiled. He may have even laughed, but right then, he needed to get down to the bottom of the fake dope lobbing around his city.

  “As much fun as it would be, we aren’t here to see how you’re doing, Slime,” Jayden said, and then nodded at Kayden to hand Slime the bad on his shoulders. “We’re here to find out some information. We have reason to believe you can give it to us.”

  “What’s this, you brought me a gift?” Slime asked, taking the bag from Kayden.

  He looked into it and pulled out one of the bricks of cocaine. At first glance, the expression on his face was alarmed, like a kid caught with his hand in the candy jar. Jayden’s hand slowly went to his waist, preparing to do away with the problem.

  “Somebody wasn’t happy with their product?” Slime asked and threw Jayden completely for a loop.

  “What?”

  “That’s what this is, right? Why else would you bring the product back to me? Oh shit . . . Greyson isn’t going to like this. Yo, who was it? Those damn Haitians, I bet. They were talking all that shit about how the work in Florida is ten times better than it is here. They must be trying to start some shit!”

  “Slime—Slime!” Jayden put his hands up to silence the man. “Ain’t nobody trying to return no product. Take a good look at the shit in your hands. That’s not my father’s cocaine.”

  Slime did as he was told, and the moment he saw what was missing, the seal, his eyes widened; then he looked up at the twins. An understanding look crossed his face, and suddenly he knew why the twins had come there to show it to him.

  “The seal is missing,” he said. “This is a copycat. You—you can’t possibly think that I have anything to do with this shit.”

  “You’re the only one with access to the wrapping paper. It’s not easily duplicated, so that means it can only come from one place,” Jayden pointed to where the special paper was on one of the tables. “Here. So is there anything that you would like to tell us?”

  Jayden didn’t notice until then that his brother’s old Desert Eagle was already pointed at Slime’s face. Slime swallowed hard as he looked down the butt of the gun. He shook his head, and although scared, stood his ground.

  “You think I’m out here pushing fake work? After everything Greyson has done for me? I would never cross him or his family like that. It would be like crossing my own!”

  Jayden studied him for a few seconds before turning to his brother’s angry face.

  “What was it them hounds of yours found out, Kayden?”

  “Man! It don’t matter. Can’t you see this nigga is playing us?”

  “Fuck you mean it don’t matter?” Jayden asked, surprised at his brother’s statement. “You got a gun in this nigga’s face. Produce the facts that he’s guilty so we can handle our shit and be out.”

  Kayden had enough of his twin acting as if he was the more superior one out of the two. When he saw that his brother wasn’t going to let up, he did what he had to do.

  Bang! Bang!

  Kayden released two bullets from his weapon. The close range did more than just snap Slime’s head back. It made it explode. The women bagging up product jumped and sucked their breath, but none of them screamed. It was not their first time being in the midst of violence, but a wave of shock filled the entire room.

  “Yo, man, what the fuck!” Jayden exclaimed when Slime’s body collapsed to the ground. “What the fuck!”

  “He was talking too much,” Kayden said, tucking his weapon away.

  “You ain’t even let him speak!”

  “Fuck did he need to speak for? I gave you all the information and showed you all the proof you needed. Pops was right. It’s a good thing I’m back. You done got soft out here.”

  “What?”

  “You heard me, Jay. Why you think he gave me these keys and even asked me to come back to New York in the first place? You ain’t moving the way a boss move. The ice done melted around your heart or something, my G. What’s up, you gon’ hit me again? The way you did over a bitch and some pussy? Try it, and I bet you this time, we both gon’ leave here bloody.”

  He saw the way Jayden had flexed through his coat. He didn’t miss a beat, and he balled his hands into fists as well just in case times called for him to use them. Jayden reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He took a few steps away from Kayden as he dialed a number and placed the phone to his ear.

  “Aye, yo, Mags, we’re going to need a cleanup at the warehouse. Yea, Slime had an accident,” he paused. “Yup, fifteen minutes is good.”

  Jayden turned back to his brother, but his eyes fell on Slime’s dead body. The blood from his head was leaking on the concrete floor and was running every which way. Despite the dead body on the ground, the women never stopped doing their jobs. They avoided eye contact with the two brothers, probably fearful that they would become the next victims. Jayden let out a breath of air and shook his head before he turned his back on the scene.

  “Since you made the mess, you stay here until it’s cleaned up,” he threw over his shoulder as he walked out. “And until every last order is ready to be moved out.”

  He’d had it up to here with Kayden’s stunts. He didn’t understand it because most twins were close. Most siblings, for that matter, but it seemed like the two of them couldn’t get on the same page if their lives depended on it. All Kayden had been doing was showing him how much he didn’t respect Jayden. However, Jayden didn’t know why he was even surprised at that. Kayden had been trying to show him up ever since they were kids. He knew there was only one person who could get Kayden in check. Their father. He made a mental note to have a sit-down with Greyson soon as he got back into his vehicle and pulled away from the building. Something had to give, even if it meant putting Kayden on the bench for a while.

  Chapter 6

  Faye

  There were only a few boxes in the apartment left to take down to the moving truck, and Faye was in the living room out of breath. She was fully dressed in a pair of her thickest high-waist jeans, a pair of old, all-black Uggs, her winter coat, and a hat over her head. It was almost noon, and she’d been hard at work trying to get everything out of there since eight o’clock. Minus the help of the movers she’d hired to do the heavy lifting, it was just her. She didn’t mind it, though. The constant moving around kept her mind off of the face that she was really leaving. She just had to. The constant reminder of the way things were weeks before was becoming too much to stand. She was sitting on one of the boxes, taking a swig of water, when she heard a knock on the slightly open apartment door.

  “Can I come in—Jaymar!”

  Before the sweet voice could finish asking permission to enter, the cutest toddler boy pushed the door open and ran inside. Faye smiled when she saw his familiar dimples and copper-colored eyes. She opened her arms just in time to receive his hug and placed a kiss on his forehead.

  “Baby boy!” she said with a smile. “I was wondering when you were going to make your way over to see me!”

  “Auntie Faye! Where all your stuff go?” His high-pitched voice was so cute it was almost too much to take.

  “Auntie Faye is moving, baby, but you can come visit me whenever you want!”

  “Girl, why didn’t you say anything? You know I would have helped you move!”

  Faye grinned sheepishly at her friend, Lee Lee, as she came into the apartment. She was wearing a cute black leather jacket over a cute blouse and a pair of jeans made perfectly to fit over her wide hips. The high-knee Michael Kors boots she wore matched perfectly the jacket she was wearing. The two had known each oth
er for a while but only had just become close friends in the past two years. Lee Lee was the only one who had been there for Faye in the midst of everything going on around her. Still, somehow along the line, Faye had managed to shut her out too.

  “Lee Lee, you know I’m an independent black woman,” she joked.

  “You’re so stupid,” Lee Lee smirked and rolled her eyes and took a seat on the other box in the living room.

  “For real. Plus, I just needed the time to clear my head.”

  “How have you been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

  “I’m sorry. This is just really . . . a big adjustment for me. I never thought that this was the way I’d say good-bye, you know?”

  “Yea, me and my mom aren’t even close like that, but if something happened to her, I think I’d go crazy. I’ve been praying for you and your healing every night, though, friend.”

  “And I appreciate it. I need every prayer that I can get right about now. But enough about me. What have you and my li’l man been up to?” Faye tickled Jaymar, who was leaned up against her legs, sending him into a fit of giggles.

  “Just the same old bullshit. The only thing that’s changing is the day.”

  “His d-a-d-d-y still on bullshit?” Faye asked, spelling out the word so Jaymar wouldn’t know who they were talking about.

  “Yes. He’s still upset that I don’t want to be with him.”

  “Be with him while he’s out here in every ho’s bed? I don’t think so, and he’s a fool to think that you would ever come back and deal with that mess.”

  “Exactly. Plus, it’s been almost a year. Let go of that hurt and be a damn daddy. Jaymar didn’t do anything.”

  “Please don’t tell me he’s acting crazy to this baby.”

  “Girl! Just last week he wasn’t trying to buy Jaymar’s inhaler! You know all that mess I was going through with his insurance? In the midst of all of that, my baby had gotten sick, so I’m like, nigga, your child needs his medicine.”

  “Why didn’t you just ask me? You know I would have come through for you.”