Breaking her daze, Shells spoke up asking Say No how long would it take for him to assemble their arsenal of weapons, knowing they had enough to take on the entire Milwaukee Police Department.
“Hell, I can be back in the city by 7:30 – so like two hours,” Say No declared.
“That’s perfect. It will give us plenty time to go peep out their hood, while allowing the sun to go down,” she responded.
“Well at least we know some structure is coming back to the family,” added Mayhem. “Hell, I got to give it to Fast Eddie; he’s not one to waste time implementing his plans. I don’t know about ya’ll but I’m ready to rock these niggas’ world. Because the sooner we rid the city of all the niggas that’s stepped up since we stepped off, the sooner we can load our own plates back up.”
Immolating Ja Rule’s voice, Murder interrupted saying, “It’s murder time, ya heard me. Aint nothing to it but to do it. So ya’ll niggas go do whatever you need to, because come 7:30, with or without ya’ll, I’m going to put the clap down on these snitch made bitch made niggas. It’s real in the Mil!”
CHAPTER FIVE
Fast Eddie felt somewhat better after talking to his crew. The twenty-five years the judge had just sentenced him to hadn’t truly set in yet, and he wasn’t sure if it ever would. As he walked back into the unit from his Attorney visit, all eyes were on him, but no one said a thing. The Channel 4 News had just run a segment titled, “Drug Kingpin Sentenced To Do More Than 25 Years in Federal Prison.” Everybody knew that Fast Eddie was deep in thought, therefore, out of respect, he was left alone.
Several hours and a million thoughts later, an ole’ school playa named Cadillac pulled up on Fast Eddie to drop some jewels and words of encouragement. He told him that he had just heard how the crackas did a young playa and that it took a soldier to bear what he had just endured. He explained to him that a conscious soldier knew that sacrificing his life for the likes of this family and the people he cared for was a must. It was something that he didn’t even think about, like Nike – he just did it. He said he goes hard so that the people he cherishes and loves wouldn’t have to travel down the same path and endure the same trials and tribulations that he did. Sometimes his mission is accomplished, other times it’s not. But regardless to the outcome, a real playa accepts the cards he’s dealt simply because he refuses to live a lie.
He told Fast Eddie about how niggas so eagerly jump head first into the dopeman’s lifestyle just wanting to enjoy its fruits, the fast money, the bitches and the whips, but neglect to prepare themselves mentally or just refuse to accept the flip-side of the exact same coin. He told him personally he never made that mistake. Cadillac told Fast Eddie that maintaining his honor and accepting the bitter with the sweet completes the picture; just as the flip-side erases all the fame and respect that was otherwise due.
Cadillac was in his early to mid 50’s. He was back facing revocation after doing twenty-two years flat in various Federal USP’s throughout the country. His eyes and ears had seen and heard it all. He was the epitome of what the average street hustler would become. He was in and out of prison for his entire life and had more stories to tell than a Highway Patrol.
When Cadillac left his room, Fast Eddie thought about what he had said and realized it was hands down some of the realist shit he had ever heard. Fast Eddie decided to call it a night and just get his thoughts together. He was glad that he didn’t have a cellie, ‘cause he needed some time to himself.
CHAPTER SIX
Upon leaving the spot, Say No called his wife Sheila. Knowing the danger they were about to embark upon he felt it was only right to make her aware of the possibility that he may not make it home tonight. See, out of all the people in the 2-4 Family only he and Eddie had legal wives. Although Eddie continued to have flings and affairs on the side, Say No was content with his gorgeous wife Sheila. They had met six years prior at one of Fast Eddie’s parties his wife Fatima would throw. He was walking out to the swimming pool, fully engrossed in the conversation he and Fast Eddie were having, until he’d seen Sheila, aka She She, lifting herself out the swimming pool. Never had he seen a more beautiful woman. It was at that moment he set his mind to make her his wife.
After being introduced formally to her, he wasted no time – making it a top priority to entwine their lives as one. Now here it was one kid and six years later and they still held the exact same passion and desires for one another as the day they met. The only real issue that couldn’t be resolved was his undying love and dedication to Fast Eddie and the 2-4 Family. She She just couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen to him, especially after seeing Eddie take his fall. She was just as much a part of it, although Say No kept his home life totally separate from the streets, her and Fatima remained close friends. She spent many a nights comforting and consoling her good friend, telling her everything would be alright but knowing in her heart she really didn’t know if it was or not. She was merely hoping and praying things would be alright, while at the same time being grateful it wasn’t her who had to deal with the loss of her soul mate. Also fearful because Say No was still tossing rocks at the penitentiary walls. Although Say No knew his wife had valid concerns, he never once considered the option of abandoning Eddie or the family. In his mind loyalty was a must.
At one point in his younger years Say No had a drug addiction. He was first introduced to crack cocaine at the tender age of fourteen while moving packs for an older hustler in his neighborhood. He did as so many people in the game does, he tricked off with one of the first of many prostitutes that worked the neighborhood corners. It was one of the worst mistakes he made when he let her blow secondhand smoke from the stem she smoked out of into his mouth.
Experiencing the buzz from the smoke, he gave into what he knew was wrong and took his first blast of crack cocaine. It wasn’t long before it got the best of him. After stealing an ounce from Dirty Dre, the person who he worked for, he was forced to move out of that neighborhood before he found him. After smoking with a whore named Tammy for two days, he found himself broke and without no dope, nor a place to lay his tired ass down so he decided it would be best if he went to his Auntie Freda’s house on 24th Avenue. 24th Avenue was a different area than the one Dirty Dre ran.
Since moving to his Auntie’s house he slowed down his smoking habit due to the fact he no longer had access to the drugs as he used to. He would hang out at Franklin Elementary School, along with all the neighborhood hustlers and ballers. The basketball court was the grounds of all the illegal activities that happened on a daily basis in that neighborhood. It was there that he met Fast Eddie. And it was there his life changed for the better.
It was what appeared to be a normal day up on the blacktop – that’s the basketball court. Standing by the water fountain stood Say No attempting to talk one of the young neighborhood girls into borrowing him twenty dollars, when out the corner of his eyes he spots three nervous looking guys approaching the blacktop at a fast pace. Say No wasn’t recognizing any of them as ever being around his hood before, so he knew some shit was about to crack off, but was afraid to yell out and give warning to the unsuspecting people on the blacktop. Scared that one, if not all three strangers, would turn their unclear motives on him, he started walking away and heard numerous gunshots erupt. Running away from the park as fast as his legs could carry him, he was almost hit by a Grey Cutlass as it was speeding viciously by him. With two police cars on his tail, the fleeing car tossed a brown bag out the window. As it passed, knowing how shit went in the hood, Say No didn’t hesitate to pick the bag up and started to walk away with it until he noticed one of the squad cars was hitting reverse and aimed straight towards him.
He knew he only had a small head start and took off running through several yards, hiding inside an abandoned apartment complex. Once inside, he opened the bag and realized it wasn’t what he expected it to be, not at all. Instead of drugs, he held a 357 Magnum in his hand. Truly disappointed, he hid the gun and went home contemplating who or where he could sell the gun to get some money.
Later that night he saw on the news that two of the three dudes who came to wreak havoc