answered the phone with sleep in his voice. “Who dat?”
“Get up nigga! You still sleep?” Radi barked, knowing he himself had just gotten up from the night before. He always made it seem like he had been up all morning, but Cho knew better.
“Shit nigga, I’m just taking a nap. You know what time I hit the block. That’s your fat ass that wants to sleep late every day. It’s only 24 hours in a day, you know.”
“I been up too,” Radi lied. “Tiff had me in here cleaning up and shit.” Radi and Tiff had been together since the day they met. They had a little girl and just found out that they were expecting another baby. Tiff had turned Radi into a family man, but she ran shit for real. He didn’t hang out anymore and he never cheated on her.
Cho teased him saying, “Tiff must got that shit, ‘cause her lor ass got you gone. You always cleaning and shit! Come on out. Meet me down at the market.”
“Aight, cool, Give me like an hour.”
After they hung up, Cho looked at Sheila. She was still out. He rubbed his hand across her thigh to her midsection. When she shifted her legs he could feel the wetness and his dick started to get hard.
Fuck it, he thought. I got an hour. He spread her legs and entered her. Once he got all the way inside of her she woke up—or so he thought. She had actually been waiting for him the whole time.
He looked at her and smiled. “We have to make this fast. I have to take care of something.”
“Fine…by…me…,” she said between breaths as he went in and out of her. She didn’t know how long it would be until the next time they were intimate, so she was satisfied with the time she’d gotten.
CHAPTER 2
For the past few years, Baltimore had been rebuilding the downtown part of the city to make it a more popular tourist attraction. A lot of the historical buildings and areas were being renovated just for that purpose. Lexington Market was among the sites that were under construction. Although they redid the outside, a step through the doors proved everything inside was the same. It was still a hangout for dope fiends and ex-dope fiends, alcoholics, homeless people and other undesirables that the city didn’t want on display. The market’s legendary food was still up to par, so lots of people who worked in the neighborhood went there for lunch.
Cho parked his black 2003 Honda Accord coupe in the outside parking lot next to Radi’s car. Radi drove a silver 2000 Cadillac DeVille. It had black leather interior and gleaming 22-inch rims. Cho had black leather interior as well, but he stuck with the factory rims.
He entered the market through the side door, and walked up the steps to see if Radi was sitting at one of the tables eating.
As he got to the top of the steps, a small-framed woman approached saying, “Percs and Oxys! Baby whatchu need?” Cho looked at her like she was crazy. Before he could respond, an older man directly behind him spoke. “Do you have some met?”
The woman nodded. “Excuse me sugar, wit your cute self.” She grinned at Cho with most of her teeth missing.
Cho just smiled and continued his search for Radi. He wasn’t upstairs. Cho looked over the railing down to the marketplace. The typical mayhem was bustling everywhere. He managed to spot Radi getting a cup of lemonade at Pretzel Time and went down to join him.
“A yo! Get me one too. I’ma go get me a sandwich from Mary Mervis.” Radi nodded back. Cho went and got a shrimp salad sandwich, a bag of chips and four chicken wings. By the time he returned to the eatery upstairs, Radi was already seated.
“What you get?”
“Same shit you got.” They began their meal.
“What took you so long?” Radi asked while biting into his sandwich.
“I was fucking.”
“Who?”
“Sheila.”
Radi started laughing. “Your wife?”
“That ain’t my wife!”
“Whatever!”
Radi always called Sheila Cho’s wife. He knew better, but that was his way of getting on Cho for riding his back about Tiff.
“Nigga, just ‘cause you married don’t mean that I have to be. It’s too many bitches out here, and I rather do me than get caught up again. Besides, you all in love and faithful and shit. I got to fuck for the both of us. You know you washed up.” Radi became quiet and took a bite into his chicken wing. His plan had backfired. He quickly changed the subject as he broke his chicken wing apart. He was curious to know about the shop that Cho’s cousin Randy had just opened.
“What’s up wit your cousin and them? How that shit lookin’?”
“It’s chill for right now. I haven’t talked to him today but I think once the word gets out, he should be good for at least 10. What’s up with your boys?”
Radi grunted. “That’s what I wanted to holla at you about. Knockers ran up in Ms. Cindy’s house this morning. Tato hit the window and was able to get the gun and whatever packs he could get out of there. Lor Shan and Cupcake got caught though. I have to link up with Tato to see what all they found, but it couldn’t have been much if he said he got away with some shit.”
Cho shook his head. These things happened all the time. It was a part of the game. The more money they made, the more losses they took. It was normal. “Where was Ms. Cindy?” he asked.
“Yo said she had nodded out over her girlfriend’s house and hadn’t been home.” “What’s their bails?”
“Like I said, I have to holla at yo. As slow as the bookings is, I doubt if they got processed yet. I should know something by later. Everything else is cool,” he said, still feeding his face.
“You talk to Pimp yet?”
“Naw. Matter of fact, let me hit yo right now.” Radi wiped the chicken grease from his fingers and grabbed his cell phone. He dialed Pimp’s number as Cho looked on, still eating his food. The phone rang twice before Pimp answered, “What’s up my nig?”
“Ain’t shit, chillin, chillin. I’m on the underpath coming from up the Village. Where you at?”
“Me and Cho down the market.”
“Aight. I’ll be there in a minute.” He hung up before anyone had a chance to reply.
Cho and Radi sat in silence until they finished their food. Cho had a puzzling look on his face. “A yo. I hope Ol’ Head can keep that shit.”
“I know,” Radi replied. “That shit is a monster. Fiends say they ain’t had no smack like that in years. Tato said two bitches went out on that shit just the other day. That’s probably why it’s so hot down there.”
As soon as he finished his statement, Pimp walked up. A much taller version of his fallen brother, the major difference in his look was the close-cut Caeser and Bin Laden goatee he wore, along with five-carat studs
