Rhonda hugged True and stood in front of the building, watching him swagger to the car. Halfway to the curb, he was approached by a young lady whom Rhonda knew by sight. Rhonda thought about checking the little bitch, but she didn’t want to play herself. True wasn’t her man yet, and she had no right to cock-block. True smiled and said a few words to the girl before signing a paper bag for her and continuing his walk. Groupie bitch, Rhonda thought to herself.

At the same time True hit the alarm on the Beamer, a black SUV pulled into the spot behind his. She didn’t recognize the car and was too far away to get a good look at the plates. When the driver’s side door opened, all Rhonda could mutter was “fuck,” as Von stepped out.

True saw the light-skinned kid stepping out of the truck, but didn’t pay him a whole lot of attention. He was drained and tired. The only thing that was on his mind was getting back to the crib and taking a nap before the group’s show that night at Club Exit. Halfway to his car, True was cut off by a familiar face, riding a ten-speed.

“What’s the science, God?” Crazy Eight asked, riding circles around True.

“Crazy Eight.” True greeted him with a smile and a pound. Back in the day, Eight’s little brother Harv and True had made a few moves together, so he had a soft spot for Eight. “What da deal, yo?”

“Nothing much, God, you know how I do it. Yo, I’m glad I caught up with you, son. On the real, I got the hottest tape on the streets right now. Let me kick something for you.”

“Eight, I was kinda in a rush…”

“Check it, God: I hold the block with my nine, and kill swine. Can’t stand a pig, they don’t want us to live…”

Eight went on for almost ten minutes and still wasn’t saying nothing. True wanted to take his hammer out and bang himself, but he settled for a more subtle approach. “Yo, that shit was hot, kid,” True lied.

“Word up, True. I’m out here putting it down for all my sons in the struggle. But on the real, you need to listen to my demo.”

“Hit me wit’ it later, I gotta roll,” True said, continuing his walk to the car.

“Nah, I got it right here!” Eight called after him, catching up on his ten-speed. “You just check it out, my dude.”

“A’ight,” True said, getting in the car. To his surprise, Eight opened the other door and was about to load his bike into the backseat. “Eight, fuck is you doing?” True looked at him sideways.

“I thought we was about to burn the road up and listen to the CD, God?” Eight asked seriously.