** EXTREME VIOLENCE, MATURE CONTENT AHEAD **

The whole team was waiting up the way with Tiana's stepdaddy when me and Rico got back to the alley. They had the man tied up, and strung up. All my uncles, all the lookouts, all the new crew, all the youngins. Everybody. Even the OGs that I thought were out of town doing runs were there. Everybody was there. Just that quick. Briefly I wondered who the hell was watching the block. Who the hell was out on the corners getting our money? Did they just lock up the crackhouses and shut it down for the night?

If they did Rico was the ma. fuggin. man, because who the hell does that shit?

The smell of gasoline was so thick, we were all having trouble breathing.

"This is what the fuck happens when the chain of command is not followed," Rico barked out. His voice echoed all over the place. He sounded like a giant, and he looked like one, too. The moonlight and the streetlights were playing tricks on my eyes. "Where the fuck is everyone supposed to be right now? How much fucking money am I losing right now?" Everyone's eyes shifted to me, then back to Rico. "But instead we're out here defending some stretched out pussy!" he roared, and I promise the wind started blowing at the exact same time. "Stay. In. Line! Never make a move unless I say so!"

Rico never yelled at the crew. He never lost control. When he stomped people out, his stomps were methodical and calculated. Like he was systematically trying to beat them into obedience. Outside of the house, Rico was the most laid back, cool, charismatic guy you ever could meet. This was probably most of their first time even seeing him angry. Rico even murdered with a quiet calmness. But this Rico was a different guy. This was me and Jazz's Rico. I could tell by what I could make out of the men's faces that I wasn't the only one who never wanted to see this Rico out on the streets again.

"Now we have this." Rico gestured his hand toward the man who was struggling and swinging upside down from a rope. Back and forth, back and forth. His mouth was taped up, but I could still tell that he was screaming. I felt sick. "A loyal customer." He turned to look into the squirming man's eyes. "Gone." Tiana's stepdaddy started to cry. "Money. Gone. Free young pussy without consequence, gone."

Rico turned to me. I had never seen his face look this way before. It was like the movies when you catch a glimpse of the demon inside of the man.

I was scared as shit.

I'm not even gonna lie.

"Do you think Carole found this man by accident?" The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. What the fuck? "I put him there. I made sure we had an open door to that sweet, wet pussy. All of us. She's for us. I taught her what she knows. How to stay wet. How to stay tight. How to spit on command. Do you think she only does that for you?" My whole body turned to ice. What...the fuck? "I taught her how to take it like she does. From whoever I want her to take it from. You, son, thought it was him." Rico pointed to Tiana's stepfather without looking at him. "It was me!"

His laughter felt like nails on a chalkboard.

"...can take it from all of us." My ears were ringing, but I tried to tune back into what he was saying. "...back to back to back. I taught her that! I invested my time into that. Years. To create that for us. The perfect. whore. And you, son, fell in love with my whore!"

My eye twitched. I felt crazy. Like Rico's craziness was contagious and it was jumping off on me.

"Nephew, she can suck you dry, take it all in the ass...she never gets tired. None of these other girls can do that. Did you ever wonder why?"

He watched me for a long time and his face kind of changed when he realized that she was the only one that I had ever been with. I had no idea what those other girls could do, and I didn't care. My face was red with humiliation, but no one was laughing.

Because this shit wasn't funny.

Not even a little bit.

The real little kids were scared as hell. The OGs were pissed that I almost fucked everything up. I couldn't get a good read on the youngins. Honestly they just looked ready to get back to the money.

I was the only one taking this shit personal.

And Rico wanted everyone to see it. To see me doing that. You couldn't take anything personal in our business. You just...couldn't.

Tiana's stepfather wasn't the only example being made that night.

"Now that's gone." Rico shook his head like he was ready to sell me to the lowest bidder. "You fucked up, nephew. You really did." Rico stared into my eyes. "Getting rid of him," he pointed to Tiana's father again without looking at him, "doesn't. change. anything." He paused so that would sink all the way in, and he waited for my reaction. On the inside, I disintegrated. On the outside, nothing. "You have to kill me, son, if you want anything on this block to be your own."

Everyone looked from me to Rico like they were watching a boxing match. But the thing was, I wasn't fighting him back. I couldn't. It was like I was little all over again, and he was just too strong. Rico was crushing me. He wasn't pissing me off, he was breaking me. And he knew it. That's what he wanted to happen. That's what he needed to happen. There couldn't be two lions in the same jungle. He had to either make sure that I stayed a cub, or he had to...take care of it. And the real fucked up part was that the more he said, the less I wanted to stand up to him. I didn't want to fight him. There was no way I would win if I did. I didn't want any problems with Rico at all. I wanted us to stay on the same team.

I didn't want them to hurt my family, I didn't want them to hurt Tiana. And the more he said about what they had already done to Tiana, the more shit I realized that they could still do to her.

I didn't want that.

I didn't want them to hurt her any more than they already had. So if Rico wanted me to leave her alone, if he wanted me to keep my head one hundred percent all business all the time, to not cloud my judgement with feelings for her, then that's exactly what I would do.

If that's what it took to keep them from shredding her down to nothing, then that's what I would do.

"Call it nephew."

Rico knew that I had zoned out. I was staring at Tiana's stepfather, thinking what the fuck did I just do? I looked over at Rico and gulped. I didn't hear shit he had just said.

Rico took a step closer to me and tried to keep his cool. "This is your mess, son. Give the fucking order."

I didn't hesitate this time. "Do that shit." My voice was quiet, but I know they heard me.

No one moved.

Rico laughed so loud, you could probably hear him all the way down in the Third Ward.

"I was tes-ting you mother fu-ckers!" It sounded like he was singing. "Anyone who moved, would have gone right up in flames with him."

Rico pointed to Tiana's stepfather, and this time looked at him, too. He wanted to see dude's reaction to finding out that he was about to be burned alive. Rico just kind of stood there for a minute, watching the man screaming and fighting to get loose. He was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. He was grinning at that man the same way that he had grinned at mama when she was beating Ruby's ass back when we were kids.

I never forgot Rico's face when he sat back and watched everything go down that night. Like it was his own personal show. The way he watched me spit on Ruby and then apologize and walk out with daddy. The whole thing was his show. We were all his show.

And that's exactly how he was watching all of us right now. He wasn't pissed at me for fucking up. He was excited that I had finally done what he knew I was eventually gonna do. Did he single Tiana out, of all the girls in our hood, on purpose?

Rico turned to me and grinned, like he knew exactly what I was thinking, and was loving every minute of it.

Rico was the sickest son of a bitch I knew.

Hands down.

Nobody could top him.

Nobody.

"Now," Rico turned to Remmey. "These young ma' fuckas..." he looked down and shook his head sadly like he was disappointed in us, but I could tell that he was secretly loving how horrified and terrified we were. "Set this shit straight." Remmey lit the match, and we all had to stand there and watch Tiana's stepfather burn. Nobody moved. Not even the little kids. Because nobody wanted to be next.

I fought the urge to throw up...or shed tears...or run up the walls...or something. I wanted to do all of those things. I felt fucked up, like I was losing my mind. Tiana's stepdad was screaming like a woman. It was the worst sound I ever heard. Even worse than when they set Uncle Tony on fire. This time, the screaming was...stuck in my head. Forever. This one was all on me. He smelled like meat. And hair. Like when mama burned Charity's hair with the hot comb.

I hope mama never does that shit around me again....

I blinked. My mind was drifting like I couldn't stay...here. I blinked again and tried to keep myself in the present. The last thing I needed was to check out like mama right then.

Rico was watching me. And grinning. The fire was gleaming off of his teeth like he had gold fronts, but he didn't.

"Nephew," he sounded far away. I blinked over at him and swayed a little. Rico started laughing. "Nephew..."

Tiana's stepfather's clothes started burning. They smelled like weed. Kind of. I thought about how weird it was that I smelled his skin burning before I smelled his clothes burning.

I was losing it.

"Nephew..."

Rico was right in front of me now. His hand was on my shoulder. The room swayed again and all I could smell was weed and meat. And hair. But mostly meat. Like hamburgers...on the grill...

I blinked at Rico again and tried to focus in on what he was saying.

Rico laughed loudly and stepped away from me, turning back to Tiana's unrecognizable stepfather, who was somehow still screaming and fighting.

Rico watched me as I watched the burning man. "See, this is the difference between you and me. You're over there quivering, sick like a little bitch. Like the pussy that caused this shit. You don't have these." He grabbed his balls. "You need these. This is what makes me the King, son." Rico breathed in deep like he was breathing in fresh air. "You don't have the balls for this yet. No balls, all heart."

Rico laughed like that was the funniest joke he ever told. Then he suddenly got serious and walked over to me again, right up to my face.

"Keep. That. Heart. Son." He poked me in the chest with every word. Hard. I didn't even want to poke him back. I just wanted to do whatever he said. Rico leaned in closer to me. "Pussy is for fucking, not business." I nodded. "Say it," he whispered.

The street nigga in me should have stood up. But the thirteen-year-old kid in me was just...frozen. Like a little bitch.

"Pussy is for fucking, not business." My eyes were looking directly into his eyes. I knew he could see the fear in mine. But I wasn't afraid for me. I was afraid for Tiana.

And he knew it.

"Pussy has no place in business."

"Pussy has no place in business," I repeated, without him having to tell me to do it.

"Look what you've done, son." Rico put his arm around my shoulder and positioned me so that I was directly facing the burning, twitching man. "Say it," Rico whispered in my ear.

I looked up at the man and tried to swallow my heart back down into my chest.

"Pussy has no place in business."

"That's right." Rico took his arm from around my shoulders and walked back around to stand in front of me. "Pussy is for fucking, not business." He gestured to the man, as if to say this is what happens when you mix the two.

I got his meaning right away.

Tiana would be next if I fucked up again.

Rico's eyes gleamed and he nodded, grinning. He knew I finally got it. He could see it in all over my face. Then he started laughing again.

"You are sick. I get off on this shit!" He started laughing and grabbed his balls again. "I think I'll go home and fuck my wife!" He observed every single face in the crowd. Nobody was laughing with him, and nobody was questioning who was King. Not even Remmey, and he was the one who lit the match. Rico's eyes rested back on me last and the fire danced on his corneas like he was burning in hell. "Fuck her til the sun comes up."

I suddenly got that gut punch feeling that I used to get when I would sit next to Jazz and Rico's door, listening to Jazz scream, while I waited for Rico to open the door so that I could go in and make sure that he hadn't killed her.

When Rico turned to leave, I was right behind him. But then he stopped and turned around like he forgot to tell me something. "Nephew, you run the block tonight." He watched me, waiting for me to do anything other than follow his direct order. "You're the Prince, right?" He said it loud enough for anyone, who may have been questioning that after this, to hear. Rico's heavy hand came down hard on my shoulder. "You're the Prince, I'm the ma fuggin King." He pointed to the charred piece of meat and exposed bloody bones that was still twitching and whimpering. "Clean that shit up." Then he flashed me a grin and looked into my eyes. "Handle my shit, nephew."

After observing me for another few seconds, he walked away.

I stood there blinking and swallowing down panic...not rage, just panic...for a full minute before I realized that everyone was still standing around, watching me, waiting for orders.

"Everyone post up. Now!" I barked.

They already knew what the fuck to do. Go back to doing whatever the hell they were doing before the night got fucked up.

All fucked up.

I looked up at the dying fire one last time, and then went to find Tiana.

We could clean that shit up later.