Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
“I know you, homie. You Sharain’s man? Or wanted to be.” The guy laughed then got the attention of the others. “This dude shot his nut so fast up in Sharain, she kicked his ass out ten minutes later.”
Is that what she was telling everyone? Ty held back his smirk. These dudes gossiped worse than the hens. Ty was there for business, not to shoot the shit with these lazy bastards. Sitting around doing nothing except talking about other men who were on their grind.
“Idle hands are the devils workshop.”
“Where’s Black Rock?” Ty asked, after they finished trying to clown him, seeing that he wasn’t taking the bait.
“Black don’t see nobody, homie. Especially no delivery boys. If you got something to drop, then leave it with me and care yo’ ass outta here. I’ll give it to Rock.”
“It don’t work like that. I’ll bring it back later. When you expect him?” Ty said calmly.
“Who the fuck you think you talking to?” The guy stood but no one else followed suit. That meant he wasn’t in charge, he was a flunky and the men sitting around him didn’t have his back.
Ty didn’t answer and they probably hadn’t expected him to. He just stood quietly waiting on the loudmouth to make his move. The guy pulled a powerful weapon from behind his back and placed it on the table in front of him. “If you know what’s good, you’ll roll out, homie. You don’t wanna feel this heat.”
Ty nodded gravely but he hadn’t budged. Instead, his mind moved fast. That was the difference with hood cats. They moved first and thought last. Their actions getting them into trouble that their minds couldn’t get them out of. Like now.
“You harda’ hearing, motherfucker? Raise up.” The man moved from the table, leaving his piece behind.
The act confused Ty, but he kept his face impassive. He could hear other people in the two-story home but his focus was on the idiot boldly advancing on him. Ty stood with his hands at his sides as if he wasn’t a threat. When the man was only a few feet away Ty kicked out in front of him, catching the guy just under his rib cage, making him fly backwards and land on the rickety card table. When he tried to right himself—his mind scurrying to catch up with what’d just happened—the table crashed to the floor beneath him. Ty gave the rest of the men a deadly stare. The posse moved back as if giving them some space. No one else stepped forward. The man had no allies, he was on his own.
This was Hood101. A lesson many men had to learn the hard way. This sucker had run his mouth; solicited trouble… and now he had it. Ty moved his book bag behind him and took a few steps forward. The dumbass was looking for the weapon he’d ignorantly walked away from. When the table went down, so had his piece. Ty pulled the man off the floor and held him at arm’s length. He was taller than him by a few inches, but the man had fifteen to twenty pounds on Ty. It meant nothing. Ty was a calm man, cool, collected, and now his blood ran ice-cold.
“Don’t threaten me with your goddamn gun if you ain’t ready to pull the trigger. Don’t run your big mouth if you can’t back your shit up,” Ty pulled the man to him. “And don’t you dare fuckin walk up on me if you ain’t up for the challenge. I had you on your back in seconds. Weak-ass motherfucker.”
When would these men learn? Ty wasn’t a product of this environment. However, he knew how to walk the walk and he knew how to talk in a way these men would understand. Ty’s lethal steel pressed against his back. His gun was registered, the thugs probably wasn’t. Ty wouldn’t pull it. His pistol was the bottom line. He wouldn’t kill this asshole and leave his body in the street to await a chalk outline. He wouldn’t make this man hood-infamous’ today. Walking out of Rock’s trap house, Ty didn’t have to look behind to know they wouldn’t follow. They’d tell Rock what had happened, and the man would either retaliate against him or against the idiot who’d thoughtlessly started a fight in his place of business. If he was smart, Rock would chose the latter.
Kell
“He’s ready, Duke. You know he’s got the chops, the speed, the smarts, the—”
“But does he have the self-control, Quick? Can he work with a team?” Duke’s deep voice cut over his sensei. Kell sat quietly while they discussed his future.
Kell couldn’t blame Duke. He knew the man ran a tight ship. Duke’s street credibility and his name were extremely important to him. But, he and Quick were fifty-fifty partners, so Duke let Quick put up his argument to recruit Kell into their new program. To train the next generation of bounty hunters.