Terrance
Terrance had been unable to sleep for most of the night as he wondered how things would go when he and Smoke met up with Quack, and how things would be for him going forward. Hopefully he would be able to get out of the situation as smoothly as they had planned and he would be through dealing with Quack. Even if he mangaged to wiggle out of the contract as planned he could only hope Quack would be satisfied with the six million dollars he had schemed up on.
Terrance was also preoccupied with thoughts of C-Note and how he was doing, because he had become more like a role model to him than anyone else. In reality, he consciously attempted to emulate C-Note at times, but had been hesitant to really open himself up to a true friendship beyond what they did together concerning the music industry. He hadn’t wanted anyone to completely see through the image he had created for himself through his music. But after the latest incident with Quack and his crew jumping on him with no real fear of retaliation from him, he could hardly pretend to anyone, or even himself, any longer. He was just plain Terrance, and though his alter ego, Triggamane, had granted all of his hopes and dreams, and more than he could have ever imagined, he wasn’t that person. He felt as though he owned the cousins so much now, especially since they had stood up for him when they could have stood down. Though they wouldn’t have made any money off of him if he left, they also wouldn’t have lost any.
A few hours after Terrance finally dozed off he was awaken by his cell phone’s ringing. The call was from C-Lo Chainz who was looking for Smoke, but had been unable to contact him. Terrance had also tried to call Smoke very early that morning, but that was mostly out of nervousness, and he wanted to talk to the person who would be with him that day.
After the short call, Terrance got up to go over everything and to try to mentally prepare himself for the day. He knew that even though everything had been planned out that he couldn’t put anything pass what the treacherous Quack might try, like taking the money and keeping the gun. They had people who would be around for that, but there was no way to know what Quack had up his sleeve.
Kain had stayed over the night before like he did a lot of other times and he was hanging out in the den working on his computer tablet when Terrance walked in.
“Wassup mane, this kinda early for you to be up, even on a day when you got somethin’ goin’ on,” Kain said.
It’s nine in the morning, the whole world should still be in the bed,”Terance replied.
“You ai’ight for today, with goin’ and meeting with dude?”
“Yeah, we got this contract all put together and ready to go. And I already talked to the people at the bank, so I’m going to pick up my piece of the money.”
“Since that shit happened with C-Note you gon’ have to put up mo’ money though right?”
“I ain’t trippin’, it’s better than having to pay this fool all of the money and then having to work for this nigga on top of that.”
“Shit. The way I see it even if you only pay the nigga half of it that’s still way too much damn money.”
“Shit, it’s either that or prison, and I ain’t going to jail. Plus, after this thang with Legendary, and a world tour, a nigga money gon’ be more that made up. We’ll be swimming in that shit. I just hate my nigga C-Note going through the shit he is and ain’t gon’ be round, but I’m sho’ he still gon’ get his cut.”
“I wish I had it like that, a nigga half dead and still making cake.”
“Yeah, that’s some shit ain’t it.”
“So when you gon’ head to the bank? I want to roll wit’ you. I ain’t never seen a million dollars cash, let alone three.”
For a minute Terrance became suspicious about the comment and the possibility that his friend could try something foul. He now knew firsthand that even those that you thought would be there for you no matter what would do scandalous acts for the sake of money. But he had to give his partner the benefit of the doubt since he had done nothing over all the time that they had been around one another that could make him question his loyalty. He had also spent money freely on his friend and figured that there was no point in Kain taking anything from him when he could simply ask and would likely get it without a problem.
“I’on know yet. It won’t be too much longer though ‘cause I don’t want want to be scrambling to do nothing at the last minute and then some bullshit hold me up,” Terrance said.
“You think Smoke might try something once ya’ll get the gun ‘cause the nigga ain’t got no more power over you then,” Kain said.
“I’on know, but I don’t think so, that nigga got a lot to lose. If he didn’t want to he didn’t have to get involved, and he damn sho’ didn’t have to give this fool all this damn money. I believe he would’ve said something too, because going in on that tip and I don’t know what’s goin’ on could get both our asses killed.”
“You right. It ain’t really worth it, just get this shit over wit’ and be through wit’ the nigga. And you don’t go shoot no mo’ niggas and just leave guns and witnesses and shit all around.”
Terrance knew that his partner had meant the last statement as a joke, but he found no real humor in it himself. There shouldn’t have been a gun or witness in the first place as far as he was concerned.
“I’mma go jump in the shower real quick, then we can roll out. We gon’ pick up the money and shoot straight out to meet Smoke at his office. He said he’d be there by ten thirty so we’ll have just enough time,” Terrance said then walked out of the room in deep thought.
Terrance finished showering and then he and Kain headed to the bank to pick up the money. Once they made it there and got the cash they had to roll it out on a cart because it was too heavy to carry by hand. Kain picked up one bag and Terrance saw a pistol when his shirt raised, something he had never known Kain to take anywhere before.
The thought of Kain robbing him crept back into his mind, and though he wanted to say something he wasn’t sure what to. He wasn’t’ trying to get robbed for three million dollars, that would be too big of a hit to his account,and then he would have to arrange another three million withdrawal for the slick robbery Quaack was doing. Terrance didn’t have a gun on him since he didn’t think he would need it until he and Smoke met up with the shyster Quack. Even if he did, he wouldn’t want to actually use it on his best friend, or anyone else for that matter. His mind remained preoccupied with suspicion as they got back into his Range Rover Sport and then headed towards M’Famous Ent.’s headquarters.
“Aye stop at this lil Asian restaurant up here on the right real quick,” Kain said. “I ain’t ate shit since last night.”
Terrance mind went into overdrive as he tried to figure something out to defer the request as he became more and more wary of his supposed friend. It seemed like to much of a set up to try something and he knew that if Kain was about to rob him there wasn’t much he would be able to do once he stopped moving.
“Mane, I really ain’t tryin’ to stop and hang out wit’ all this money in here,” Terrance said giving a good excuse to keep going. “I want to get to the spot as soon as I can.”
“Nigga it ain’t gon’ take but a few minutes, they be having shit pre-made,” Kain responded. “Come on mane, you want me ridin’ round this bitch hungry all day?”
“I got a house full of food, why you ain’t eat there?”
“I wasn’t hungry then nigga, I’m hungry now. Come on nigga, don’t nobody know you got truck full of money except me and you, and if it make you feel better you can sit yo’ ass in the car.”
After giving Kain a sidelong look, Terrance gave in, unable to decipher where or not there was any deception in Kain’s voice or expression. He pulled the truck in to the restaurant’s small parking lot, but he never put the truck in park.
“I’m just gon’ wait out here, go ‘head if you going,” Terrance said.
“If I’m going? Nigga it ain’t a question, I’mma be back in a minute,” Kain said and got out.
Terrance still didn’t put the SUV in park in anticipation of someone running up on him from any direction. About five minutes after Kain had disappeared inside, four darkly dressed and rough looking men walked out, all headed in his direction. Terrance locked all of his doors and tensed up, ready to punch the gas and haul ass if he had to as the men got closer. He watched nervously as they walked behind his truck, and kept going climbing into a car a few parking spaces over. He turned around just in time to see Kain walking out of the restaurant with a bag, and let out a deep sigh. The stress of everything that was going on had him too on edge. He now saw a threat in everything and everybody. He knew that while he had to be cautious and wary of people like Quack, everyone wasn’t’ actually out to get him. He unlocked the doors and once Kain got back in they pulled away without Terrance saying much, feeling guilty about his accusations.
“Here nigga. I got yo’ ass somethin’, even though you ain’t hungry,” Kain said.
“Who said I wasn’t hungry?” Terrance replied.
Kain didn’t respond, only shaking his head.
“Aye when ya’ll finish with all this world touring and all that shit we need to go on a vacation or somethin’, switch the scene up for lil bit,” Kain said.
“That sound like a plan, Memphis starting to wear on me a lil,” Terrance replied.
“I know, me too. I wish I could move the hell away from my baby momma, but then my lil boy’ll be on his own, and I ain’t trying to do my lil dude like that.”
“That’s real, but I’on think it would matter too much if you moved cause it wouln’t take too long before you put another baby in somebody.”
“Mane don’t say that shit, I got a broad talkin’ ‘bout she pregnant now. I ain’t trying to have no mo’ babies wit’ hood rats.”
“Well stop fuckin’ hood rats dumb ass nigga,” Terrance said and both men shared a laugh.
The two arrived at M’Famous headquarters a little bit later and went up to meet Smoke, who was in his office smoking weed, which was something he usually didn’t do at work. Terrance knew it had to be the stress from what was happening with C-Note and the other things going on.
“Wassup Smoke, you ai’ight?” Terrance asked concerned about his boss.
“Yeah, I just needed to relax my mind a lil bit,” Smoke responded. “I got all this shit goin’ on at once.”
“Wassup wit’ C-Note, is he getting any better?”
“Naw, they said he still ain’t responding so he might be in a coma.”
“Shit,” Kain mouthed. “I hate to see that happen to good people like that.”
“Yeah, my nigga ain’t deserve that shit,” Terrance added.
“Naw, he didn’t but that nigga gotta be lil less careless, especially when he fuck up somebody the way he did K. Some niggas goin’ retaliate and he should’ve been ready for that shit, but it’s all good, he took two of them niggas out and the rest is in the bag. If he go some niggas beat him there so fuck it.”
“So what happened wit’ the K nigga,” Terrance asked, “Did anybody ever catch up to him?”
“Don’t even worry ‘bout that part. I don’t want nobody ‘round here really talking ‘bout it for real, so do me a favor and let it die down,” Smoke said. “Sooner or later the police gon’ show up asking questions, so the less talking people do about it the less to be said to them.”
“I feel you on that.”
“Wassup though, you got that piece of change ready so we can go deal wit’ this nigga?”
“Yeah, it’s out in the truck and waiting. You ready?”
“Partna I was born ready. All I do is handle business, day in and day out.”
Smoke’s phone rang and he took a few minutes to deal with the call.
“Aye Scoob on the way wit’ the burnas,” Smoke informed Terrance and Kain. “When he get here, we gon’ call this nigga up so we can go ‘head and get this shit over wit’.”
Terrance’s heart began to beat faster just thinking about what could happen.
“Let me hit that blunt,” he told Smoke, who handed it over to him.
“I’mma need you to stand up in there today lil nigga. If that nigga try a double cross and try to get my money and hold this damn gun that’s causing all these problems, it’s goin’ down. I’m gon’ start shootin’ and I advise you to be ready for it.”
“I’m ready, shit I ain’t got no choice but to be ready.”
They fired up some more blunts and about fifteen minutes later Scoob showed up. Terrance, Smoke, Kain, and Scoob all went out and took the money from Smoke’s truck and loaded it into Terrance’s Range Rover.
“Shit you probably had this shit layin’ around the house,” Terrance said trying to lighten the mood as he and Smoke climbed into the SUV.
“I got chips, but shit I ain’t excited ‘bout giving it away to no monkey ass nigga,” Smoke said. “But this did come out the safe. You can’t let them white folks have all yo’ money, too much shit happening nowadays. They got mothafuckas hacking into they computers and all types of shit. I could walk in the bank tomorrow and they tell me all my money disappeared and and a nigga got to wait for however long ‘til they get shit straightened out.”
“Damn, I keep a lil money at the house, but I never really thought about that. When we get this thang poppin’ wit’ Legenday, I’mma have to make sho’ I keep a lil mo’ of my own paper.”
“It work two ways though, cause money just sittin’ up ain’t making you no mo’ money. So think about that before you just throw it all under the matress. Me and C always lookin’ for lil investments to make our money work for us a lil bit.”
Terrance had never really been around Smoke like this before and never really held a serious conversation with him. So every thing Smoke said sounded like jewels.Terrance’s phone rang, interrupting their conversation. It was Quack, and he gave the location that he would be waiting at for the two to show up.
“Ai’ight Scoob and some mo’ guys already know the play and they waiting on us to pull out,” Smoke said. “Play it cool and let’s make this smooth, but be ready for anything.”
Terrance only nodded his head as they pulled out and made their way to Quack, who was waiting at Chucalissa Park on the outskirsts of Memphis. Though it was still day time the park was secluded and was usually empty during the week, especially early in the day. All of that made it a good place to be if things went sour.
Terrance was just pulling into the park when Smoke’s phone rang. He said nothing once he answered and only listened to the caller who Terrance could tell was excited about something.
“Okay, don’t worry, I’ll deal with it as soon as I can,” Smoke said. “Okay, I’ll talk to you soon.”
Terrance parked and he and Smoke got out, and Smoke grabbed one of the bags of money and tossed it over his shoulder. Quack, Gizzle, and another tall, stocky man, who Terrance had never seen before, were all hanging around a table deep in the park when he and Smoke walked up. They stopped about ten feet short of the group and the looks on everone’s face were anxious and grimacing.
Quack’s eyes were focused soley on Smoke, the unkown man and factor, who seemed unfazed by the situation at hand. Gizzle meanwhile, was locked in on one thing, the bag that held the money.
“I know ya’ll ain’t fit six million dollars in one bag,” Gizzle said.
“Naw, this only a part of the money. The rest of it in the truck back there,” Smoke responded ready for anyone to move the wrong way. “When we get the gun ya’ll can get the rest of it.”
Gizzle looked at Quack questioningly.
“It’s cool, we got this,”Quack said then looked at Terrance. “You got that contract?”
Terrance pulled an envelope containing the contract from his pocket. “Yeah, it’s right here.”
“Good, you can keep it though,” Quack said then a smirk appeard on his sface. “I got my own one for you for five albums. On my terms.”
Terrance was disheartened by the revelation and all of his hopes of some good coming out of he day vanished. He looked to Smoke for some type of guidance, but he could only shrug.
“It is what it is, ain’t really no way round it,” Smoke said to him.
With defeat in his eyes Terrance walked over and took the contract from Quack and signed it without looking at a single word.
“Don’t look so sad cuz, we gon’ take care of you,”Gizzle said now smirking himself.
“Ai’ight, where the gun at, fuck all that playing,” Smoke said aggravated by Gizzle’s taunting.
“Let’s see if it’s really some money in that bag,” Quack replied.
Smoke tossed the bag right in the center of the distance between them and Gizzle stepped forward and crouched over the bag. He opened it up an moved some of the money around checking it, then he nodded back to his uncle.
“Yeah it’s good here, but we stil gon’ have to check the rest of it,” Gizzle said.
Quack reached behind him and pulled a plastic bag from his pocket and tossed it to Terracne who just eyed it in his hands.