“Luckily, I’d just unloaded some work before they grabbed me. So they was only able to hit me wit’ a bullshit gambling charge.”

“Don’t look at the charge. Look at the bigger picture.”

“What bigger picture, Rap?”

“Nessa, you already know your name is ringing bells in the streets. You on the police’s radar, and before yesterday they didn’t have your prints, your mug shot, or your name in the system. Now they got it all. Even if the charge don’t stick, you in the system now.”

“How I’m on they radar like that? I keep it simple and low—no jewels, no cars.”

“Come on, Nessa, in the last two years you’ve taken over a lot of territory with Eugie and his wild-ass boys behind you. You got niggas noticing you that you don’t even know about. They see you, a chick, getting money the way you are. A lot of niggas is not feeling that shit. That’s all it takes for one of them faggots to run to the jakes and drop a dime on you.”

Arnessa spun around, leaning her back against the bar, “I also lost my muscle for a while … maybe forever!”

“How?”

“Man, they kept Eugie. He got an attempted murder charge out in Hampton, Virginia.”

“Where is Cee and Nick?”

“On the run from the same charge.” Signs of defeat were beginning to surface on her face. “It’s only a matter of time before Suef start aiming at my blocks again, now that I don’t have no real fire power behind me.” Just the mentions of Suef’s name could fuck up Arnessa’s day. To her, he was a low-life derelict who’d made a come-up when the leader of his crew got knocked and sentenced to life. Now he was running through Harlem, ruthlessly taking over blocks on some get down or lay down shit. He’d tried coming at Arnessa’s territory, but it wasn’t going down that easy with Eugie and his trigger-happy finger backing her up.

Rap took a shot of Hennessy and looked over at her. “You making good paper moving that boy to them dudes out in B-more?”

“The money down there is love.”

“Why don’t you just give up them blocks, get that B-more paper then?”

Staring at the ceiling, Arnessa contemplated Rap’s advice. At the moment she felt down, but she wasn’t out. Since she was a little girl she’d had a defiant streak that was hard to suppress. “Nah, Rap, I can’t just relinquish my shit to that fuck boy like that. Nah, my dude, I’m not going out like that.”

“You just like your brother, yo,” Rap commented while rubbing his chin with finger, a sure sign that he was cooking up an idea in his mind. “I think I might have a solution to your problem.”

“And that is?”

“My peoples just came home a minute ago; he a real good dude too. I’ll send him around your way later.”

“That’s what’s up.” Arnessa hopped off the stool, giving Rap a pound. “I’m out, yo.”