The Black Corleones (The Beginning) (4 page)

“Son, you are only
fifteen years old. You don’t know what you want yet. Give yourself some time to figure out what life is about.”

“Ma, I know what I want and I want to do this.”

“I dreaded this from the day you were born. I love you son and I will pray that God watches over you. Promise me that you will always be careful. Promise me that you will conduct yourself like a man with integrity and not like a money hungry thug. Promise me this one thing son, because greedy niggas get killed.”

“I promise momma. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be good and thank you lady.”

“No need to thank me son. I have accepted the fact that I need to let you boys chose your own path. I put you in this situation when I got married to the game. I knew that my male children would want to follow their father’s footsteps
,
”
Lola gently kissed her baby boys forehead and watched as he walked out the door. With tears in her eyes she fell to her knees on his behalf. “Father, please watch over my youngest son. I apologize from the bottom of my soul, Lord for not guiding the blessings you bestowed upon me down the right path. I pray to you, Jesus that you forgive my sons for their sins and see to it that he is safe. In Jesus name, Amen,” she prayed with all her might. She needed her savior to protect Samir as he embarked on a life that would put him in many dangers.

Samir thought about the promise his mother made him make and from that very moment he was dead set on keeping
it. Not many mothers would accept and support their child’s decision to live a life that is illegal, yet his mother understood why he needed to do what he was doing.  She understood that young men grow up to aspire to be like their fathers. Only Samir had aspirations to build an empire that surpassed his.

Samir hit I-57 in route to
Meko’s grandmother’s house where his crew was awaiting his arrival. They were all anxious to know what was so important that they had to cancel their Saturday plans to meet up with him. When Samir arrived, his crew was already hanging out on the porch.

“
Yo, Samir, what’s the deal homie?” Chase dapped his friend. The rest of the crew followed suit with their normal greeting.

“So, why you cal
l us over here. I had a date with Karlie today and you know she suck dick like a pro,” Seven asked, trying to get the purpose of their meeting underway.

“
Aight, y’all know my brothers have to go sit down for a while and my pops don’t have a replacement for Sin, so I am going to proposition him to let me…” he paused, “Excuse me… to let us… take over. My brother’s set is already pumping so all we gotta do is keep shit going and make this money. My pops will front us after we pass his test. I think it’s time that we get rich fellas and there’s only one way to do that,” Samir Responded.

“Wait one fucking minute my nigga
. When were you gonna tell us that you were even thinking about jumping into the dope game?” Meko questioned.

“I’m telling you now
, you ignant fool,” Samir said with a chuckle.

“What exactly we
gotta do Sam?” Cesar asked.

“Look
, all we gotta do is keep my brother’s set jumping and collect this bread. Once my pops see we can handle ourselves, he’ll have no choice but to let us expand outside of Sin’s sets and into our own sets. I’ll convince him that we can take on this task. He normally tests his new recruits by giving them a certain amount of work and executing a deadline. My older brothers got his money to him in a week. I want to get his money to him in half that time.”

“Look, shit rough over here so you had me at
the mention of money, my dude. I can’t deal with asking granny for bread and I ain’t getting no bullshit ass job, so I’m down… one hundred and ten percent.” Meko answered, anxiously.

The rest of Samir’s crew agreed to join his plan. They all came from fucked up backgrounds and Samir was their only way out of a dead end life. Money motivated them because for the first times in their lives they had an opportunity to live a better life even if that opportunity wasn’t exactly legal.

After meeting with his boys, Samir had one more stop sign on his road to hustling, and that was his father. He never felt butterflies but at the moment he felt queasiness in his stomach as he drove to his father’s house.
How would he take his youngest son asking for his blessing to jump in the game? Would he flip out on him or would he embrace him with open arms?
Samir only wanted his father’s blessing, but he was making this decision whether his father approved of it or not.

With his fate left in his father’s hand Samir spent the rest of
the drive content that no matter the outcome of his conversation with his father, he was now a hustler. He put himself in the mind frame of just that; a hustler. From this day forward he was no longer that young boy who had it made, he was the man that made things happen.

Chapter Three

Music Playing

Everything in my power and within my frame to protect you from this life and keep you away from the game; But you was one of the few people that I can trust and the fact of the matter I slang these pies for us; You put the pressure on me daily, rarely would you let it go;
was a thousand and one times; I had to tell you no.

Jay Z’s
You Must Love Me
blared through Samir’s speakers as he pulled into the driveway of his father’s house. This song, for some reason felt like it would be the story of his life, but he had to put those feelings to the side because he was about to cross the point of no return. As the beat danced through his speakers he knew there was no turning back. He was already vested. He bobbed his head to every lyric and the music pierced his soul. Samir always knew he was destined for greatness and he always felt as if he was an old soul. He was only 15, but he felt much older. As Kelly Price sang her heart out on the end of the track, Samir gripped his face and swallowed the butterflies. He headed inside to confront his father. When he walked in the house, his father was in the kitchen as if he knew his son was coming.

“What’s up son, what brings you here?” Carlyle inquired.

“What up pops. I needed to talk to you about something. How you feeling today? Momma told me you were under the weather,” Samir replied

“I’m good Sam. You know how your step momma can be; any little sniffle and she think I’m about to cro
ak.”

“Yea
h, I feel you. She just want you to take care of yourself.”

“I am taking care of myself and that’s what I got
a woman for, right? But enough about me; what you wanna talk about son?

“Let’s take this downstairs pops. I
kinda wanna talk to you in private.”

“Ok
ay my boy,” Carlyle responded as he headed down to the basement. Most of his business was conducted in the basement of his home. Most people would say you never conduct business where you sleep but Carlyle never worried because he only held meetings in his home. He wasn’t worried about being bugged because he had detectives on his payroll that would come do a sweep once a month.

Once they made it downstairs, Carlyle headed to the bar
, “So, what is it that you want to holla at me about, Samir?”

“I got some things on my mind pops. The other night when you said you were going to find somebody to take over for Sin; that bothered me a bit
,” Samir answered.

“Ok
, why exactly?”

“I don’t feel like anybody should be able to take over for Sin when this is a family business and everybody that holds a high position is family. So with that being said
, pops I’m ready to join the business. If anybody should take over for my brother it should be me. I’m ready pops.”

“Samir
, to be honest, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re only fifteen and you’re my youngest son. I already got two sons in jail and one son hustling. I just don’t know if I’m cool with that. Besides, your momma will kill me.”

“Look
, pops, I already talked to moms and she understands. I’m coming to you because I want your blessing and I want to be a part of your organization because I’m your son. But truth be told, I made this decision a long time ago and I’m going to do it whether you are okay with it or not. It’s a decision I made as a man. From one man to another I know you understand that I gotta do this pops.”

Carlyle listened to his son and in his mind he wanted to contest him and inform him that
if he shut him down nobody in the city of Chicago would allow him to work for them, but on the other hand he respected his son’s eagerness and his argument.
How does he allow his baby boy to join a game that could land him in jail or dead? How could he refuse him when he always taught them that men have to make tough decisions in life on the journey throughout their manhood?

Carlyle was in a tough situation
. He could say no and have his son go behind his back, or he could give him permission and turn his son into a hustler. The decision was one of the hardest he’d ever have to make.

“Son, this game isn’t for the weak heart
ed. It’s not for little boys; this is a man’s game from start to finish. Once you get in, there is no turning back. You understand that right?” Carlyle explained.

“Yea
h, pops. I understand.”

“Let me help you understand something
else. The most important thing to surviving this game is to keep your eyes open at all times. Don’t give anybody, and I mean
anybody
all your trust. Second, be the type of nigga that everybody can do business with. Conduct yourself like a man of dignity and integrity. Don’t let nobody fuck you, but don’t shit on niggas either; once a nigga feel like you don’t respect them as a man, they’ll come for you at all cost.”

“I got you pop.”

“I’m serious, Samir. Remember the shit I’m telling you. I ain’t been in the game this long because I was dumb. Respect is everything and if a nigga don’t respect you, they won’t have a problem with coming for your spot. So, since you got your mind made up, please explain to me how you gone get this shit popping. Who’s on your team?”

“My nigga
s, Meko, Cesar, Chase and Seven are already down with me. Meko is a beast and I know I’ll be good if anything pop off with him around. My crew is solid and they’ll do anything to get this bread.”

“You don’t need nigga
s that will do anything to get bread because those type of niggas will be the ones that set you up for the right price. I know your lil’ crew and they seem like a solid group of cats. But you know how I feel about Ces’ people, so keep your eyes open.”

“I will dad.”

“So, I tell you what I’m going to do. I’ma give you half of key. A whole one is nineteen-five on the street, but I’ma give it to you wholesale for ten thousand, so that means for half you owe me five thousand. You got two weeks to get me my money and I’ll make my decision if you can take over you brother’s spot. Do what you gotta do to get my return and make a profit for yourself. You got two weeks, Samir. If you don’t have my money in two weeks, you’re done. You understand me?”

“Ok
ay pops, I understand.”

“Ok
ay, I’ll set it up for you to receive the work you need tomorrow. If there’s nothing else, let’s head back upstairs.”

Samir didn’t say a word as he followed his father back into the main part of the house. The
only thing on his mind was hitting the streets and getting paid. He had something to prove to his father because he could pick up the doubt in his voice as he reluctantly agreed to allow him to join this lifestyle. He knew in order to gain his father’s confidence he had to get his money back to him in less than two weeks and in less time than his older brothers had done. This was do or die for Samir. This was the only shot he had to prove to himself and everybody around him that he could hold his own.

He left his father’s house and headed to
Meko’s grandmothers’ house to scoop Meko. Although Cesar and Samir knew each other their entire life, Meko was the one nigga Samir would confide in. When he had shit on his mind and needed a real niggas point of view, he got it from Meko.

Ring
Ring Ring.
Samir listened to the phone ringing, growing extremely anxious.

“Hello
?” an older voice answered the phone. Her tone could only be described as a tired old woman at her wits end.

“Hi, Ms
. George, how are you?” Samir asked respectfully when he recognized Meko’s grandmother’s voice.

“Oh I’m fine
. Feeling a little under the weather, who is this?”

“Oh
, I’m sorry. This is Samir. I’m calling for Meko.”

“Hello baby
, one second. That heathen is around here somewhere.” she said, with reluctance for Meko’s reckless behavior. She called him to the phone.

“
Yo, what’s up son?” Meko said

“I’m outside my nigga
, lets go.”

Samir waited another
ten minutes before Meko emerged out of the house to join him. “What up Joe?” Meko said, as he dapped Samir.

“Shit
, nothing bro. Just left pops crib,” Samir answered

“Oh shit
, how did it go?”

“He wasn’t thrilled
, but he ain’t try to talk me out of it. He gone front us a half and we gotta get him his bread back in two weeks. He said that he giving us wholesale price of five thousand.”

Stunned by the fact that Samir had to pay his father back
, Meko continued the conversation, “Yo, wait my nigga. You mean to tell me your pops gone make you pay him back? I mean; you are his son.”

“Listen my nigga, my pops
ain’t gone just hand nothing over and it don’t matter that I’m his son. This is a business my nigga and son or no son he still gotta handle his business. He made all my brothers do the same thing. I gotta prove myself to him so we gotta be on point like for real, Joe.”

“You aint
gotta worry about us being on point, Samir. I need this more than you think. I gotta get this money to help my grandmother because she can’t live off that shit she get on social security and take care of me and my little brother. Hell, I need this money for him too. My life is riding on this. I swear on my life, I got you bro and I’ll protect this family at all cost. But I got one issue my nigga and that’s that nigga, Cesar.”

“I feel you. But what
’s your issue with Ces?”

“I mean
, that’s my man a thousand grand, but that nigga got a jealous streak and I don’t trust his kinfolk. They say the apple don’t fall too far from the tree. So we need to watch that nigga a little closer.”

Samir loved Cesar so he didn’t see what everybody else saw because he believed in giving people the benefit of the doubt. He wasn’t going to waste time keeping tabs on Cesar when as far as he was concerned he never showed jealousy or disloyalty. Samir was loyal to Cesar so he couldn’t move forward without him.

“I feel you Meko, but me and that nigga been down since we were in the sandbox. That’s just as much my brother as you are, so we gone do this thing together and that’s the end of that, feel me?” Samir scolded Meko.

“Whatever you say
, but I ain’t gone let up on that nigga and that’s just my personal feelings, period. But when did your pops say he gone hit us off?”

“He gone let me know what to do tomorrow.”

“Damn, I wasn’t expecting the shit that quick. How we gone move this shit when nobody even know we got it?”

“Don’t worry about that
. Cesar’s been spreading the word and so has Seven. We gone be good homie. We just gotta get our shit packaged up and we hitting the streets.”

Samir wasn’t the l
east bit worried about moving the product because he knew his father had the purest work in Chicago. He already had a master plan on movement before he approached his father for his blessing. His plan was to take a zone and sell it whole as nine and then take the other nine, stretch it and cook it up and flood the area with that. His plan wasn’t to pump work into the hood with just a half a kilo, his plan was to introduce his crew to the hood and build his clientele so that he didn’t have to just rely on his brother’s set to be his main source of income. With his test pack he wasn’t even going to go into Sin’s set because he didn’t want nobody fucking with him just because he was Sins’ little brother. He picked a neutral area and that would determine whether he and his crew had a solid enough organization to handle the game. After he passed the test with his father, he and his crew were going to take Chicago by storm. This was the beginning of the rest of their lives. Samir fancied the Italian mob and loved all the mob movies so he would run his organization similar to that of the mafia. He respected the family aspect of the mob and they never allowed anything to affect the family. There was nothing more important in the mob than loyalty and respect. Just as he thought of the mob, he looked at Meko and that’s when he said it.

“Tomorrow when that pack come
bro… it’ll be the birth of us; The Black Corleones. We may not be Italian mob niggas but we will be legendary in these streets,” Samir told Meko.

“The Black
Corleones?” Meko responded, confused.

“Yea
h my nigga, The Black Corleones. The name itself commands loyalty and respect and that’s exactly what we’re about. Nothing is going to be more important than respect, loyalty and this family. Not money, not bitches, not this game. This is who we are and if a nigga test this family they will find out what this name really means.”

“Damn, I’m fucking with it
bro. That shit is dope for real and you already know I’m the fucking enforcer, so if a nigga even think about crossing this family, I’ll make sure that nigga lay down for the long haul. You niggas is the only family I got and I don’t mind bodying niggas behind anyone of y’all.”