The Black Corleones (The Beginning) (5 page)

“I know and that’s why I love you bro.”

Just like that in Samir’s Chevy, riding down Washington Ave on their way to Washington park to meet up with the rest of their crew, Meko and Samir solidified their brotherly bond and with that confirmation, The Black Corleones were born.

Chapter Four

The next morning, t
he sun snuck its way through Samir’s windows like a thief in the night. He opened his eyes when he heard his two-way going off with a menacing headache. He looked around his room not realizing he was home and what’s even worse is he didn’t know how he got there. The last thing he remembered was sitting on the hood of his Chevy on 76
th
and Stoney Island at White Castle, watching everybody stunt. He and his crew always hit up the unofficial block party of 76
th
and Stoney. Every dope boy, jack boy, hood nigga, square nigga, and mover and shaker hung out on Stoney. Every hood rat, bust down and all the pretty girls hung out there also, trying to get chose. It was a rite of passage for every Chicago kid in the hood. Even more puzzling was the girl lying in his bed next to him. He couldn’t remember her name or how she got with him in the first place.

“Fuck
, I gotta stop drinking,” Samir said to himself. “Say, shawty wake up. I gotta take you home before my mother wake up,” Samir nudged his evening companion just as he checked his two-way.

Samir,
this is Tim. You and two of your boys need to meet me in Atgeld Gardens at 1pm. You show up one second late and you can kiss this opportunity good bye.

Samir read the message from his father’s right hand man and glanced over at his clock
, which read 12:07 pm. He jumped up and quickly hopped in the shower. He forwarded the message to Cesar and Meko.
Yo, you niggaz need to meet me here asap.
Samir sent as an added message to ensure they would be there. He knew Tim meant business and this was all a part of his father’s test. He wanted to test Samir sense of urgency and the urgency of those closest to him.

To Carlyle, the people that showed up to his trap spot with Samir would show him his judge of character. Samir understood that and he was determined to pass every one of his father’s
tests. Carlyle knew Samir was determined to make money, but being in the game was more than just making money. There was a strategy like a game of chess and any wrong move would prove beneficial to your opponent and cost you the game all together.

After his shower
, he got dressed in a simple white tee, Air Force One’s, a pair of Giorgio Armani Jeans and his favorite New York Yankees fitted cap. The young lady that Samir fucked the night before was still lying in his bed as if he never told her to get up in the first place. That infuriated him. It was already 12:30 by the time he finished dressing and this bitch was still parlaying.

“Say
, shorty… get the fuck up and get your shit,” he snapped, as he pulled her up.

“What the hell is your problem Samir
? You weren’t acting like this last night when you were fucking me,” she responded

“Am I fucking your right now or no?
Because you talking about last night. I got shit to do now and I can’t have you in my momma house while she woke, so shut the fuck up and let’s go!”

After his guest got dressed
, Samir called her a cab. She was upset that he didn’t take her home and even more upset that he treated her like a hoe. Samir didn’t care about her feelings and he sure didn’t care if she had to stand outside and wait for a cab. He gave her $100 for her ride and headed to the Gardens so he could meet his father’s man. On the ride there he called to ensure that Ces and Meko were in route as well. Samir gave Ces the keys to his four-door Chevy so it shouldn’t have been an issue about them getting there.

“Where are you
, Joe?” Samir asked Meko.

“We
in route to the gardens, my nigga. We pulling up in like five minutes,” Meko replied.

“Alright cool
. I’ll be there around the same time. Tim wants us to meet him at apartment twelve thirty six.”

“Ok
ay. I got you. We’ll see you in five my nigga.”

Altgeld
Gardens was one of the only projects in the wild 100’s and Samir knew the area well. It was a part of his brothers set and it would eventually be his to run, but he never knew his father had a trap house in the hood he hung out in.

When Samir pulled up
, Tim was standing outside, talking to a couple of Sin’s corner boys. Samir checked his Rolex and the time read 12:52. He got out his car to greet Tim when he noticed his boys pulling up behind him. Their arrival lifted a weight off Samir’s shoulder, but now he had to prove that his choices where good enough for Tim to report back to his father. Everything needed to go perfect with this meeting. Samir knew his father would get a full report on how he handled himself, so he had to be on point. Once Samir greeted his boys, they walked over to greet Tim.

“
Yo, whats up Tim?” Samir said, as he stretched his hand out for a handshake.

“Boy
, I’ve known you all your life. You hug your uncle, young blood,” Tim responded, as he grabbed Samir’s hand and hugged him at the same time.

“This is
Meko and you already know Cesar.” Samir introduced Meko to Tim.

“What
’s up, young bloods? Are y’all ready to get to business?”

“As ready as we will ever be, sir.”
Meko respectfully responded.

“Ok
ay, let’s go inside and go over the particulars.”

Tim led the young boys inside the house. Samir had never actually been inside of one of his father’s dope house
s, so he wasn’t sure what he would see. Once they got inside, Samir scanned the room and recognized a few of the faces. He noticed the money counters and the large bags of money being sorted through, but more importantly he noticed that every nigga in the room was visibly strapped. Not to mention the big security guard sitting in the recliner, holding on to an AK-47, watching all the proceedings.

After saying what
’s up to everybody, Tim led the young men into the kitchen where the real work was done. 

Inside the kitchen Samir noticed the half-naked chicks breaking down and wrapping packs
. There was also a dude sitting on a stool managing the proceedings. Tim walked over to the observer and introduced him to Samir.

“
Cavalli, this is young Samir. He’s here to pick up a special pack. He’s Carlyle’s youngest son, so anything he needs you better make sure he gets it,” Tim sternly explained

“Ok
ay, okay. I got you, boss. I’ll make sure he’s well taken care of. It’ll be my personal duty,” Cavalli turned to Samir. “What up Samir, I’m Valli. Anything you need, you just let me know.” he said, as he dapped Samir.

“Sweetheart
, go get that half I had you wrap for me please.” he told the young worker.

Once the young lady returned with
Samir’s product, he was ready to hit the streets running. He motioned for Meko to go and get his back pack out of his car while he proceeded to test the product for quality. Tim was impressed with the way Samir handled himself and was intent on giving him a satisfactory report. Once they were squared away, Tim walked Samir and his crew to the car and informed him that his two weeks started the moment he drove away.

“Ok
ay, Samir, don’t fuck this up, son. This is you only opportunity to show us what you got and your one shot to run this muthafucka you see here. Don’t fuck it up youngsta.”

“Trust me
Unc, I won’t fail this. I was born to do this. Now, if you don’t mind, me and my crew got some work to do.” Samir responded.

He gave Cesar and
Meko instructions to round up the rest of the crew and meet him at Meko’s grandmother’s house in 2 hours. Once they were all gathered together, Samir planned for them to set up shop down the block at Sasha’s house. Samir had already paid her upfront to let him set up shop in her crib. He wasn’t sure if his boy’s knew how to cook the work, but this would be their one and only training session because he was intent on getting his father his money in three days.

In the meantime
, Tim headed over to Carlyle’s residence to give him the report of how Samir handled himself. Once he made it to his boss’s house they headed down to the basement to discuss Samir’s future.

“How did it go today?” Carlyle asked
. He was anxious.

“It went pretty good actually. He showed up on time with his p
artners, Meko and Cesar. He handled himself quite well.  He didn’t seem too nervous or anxious. He had a good handle on his homies; they respect him. I honestly think he’s gonna do good.” Tim explained to Carlyle.

“Yea, that’s just it brother. I always knew he was equipped for this game. I just never wanted this for him. But he made his decision
and there’s nothing I can do to change his mind. I saw it in his eyes when he was just a young boy. He was always intuitive with everything that was going on around him. I guess we at the point of no return.”

Carlyle had complete confidence that Samir would pass every test
, but in the back of his mind a part of him wished he wouldn’t. He could keep his son away from this life as much as he wanted to, but he knew Samir would do what he was drawn to at all cost. He couldn’t and he wouldn’t step in front of his path to manhood.

He and his right hand man discussed further plans for Samir and his crew to take over Sin’s set. Carlyle gave Tim strict instructions on watching out for Samir without Samir actually knowing that he was being protected.
At any point, Carlyle didn’t want Samir to feel like he was only succeeding because of him. But at the same time he couldn’t afford any mishaps when it came to his youngest son, so he had Tim discretely put the word out that no one was to fuck with Samir, in any way.  He also made sure that Tim informed the officers on their payroll that Samir would be the one taking over.

“
Once Samir gets his return back to us, make sure he gets twenty five bricks to start off. Then let him know how the reports are made and how to conduct himself for the Co-op meeting. And keep an eye on that Cesar guy, I don’t trust him.” Carlyle informed Tim

“I
’m already ahead of you bro. The apple don’t fall far from the tree. I don’t think you should worry at all though. Young Samir is fully capable of handling himself. He’s ready for this bro.” Tim said, with confidence.”

Carlyle finally realized that he had to let go of the young boy he called his baby
, and allow him to become the man he wanted to be. He never chose this life for his son’s, but he knew that exposing them would gain their interest and it was nothing he could do about it because he couldn’t be the pot calling the kettle black. He couldn’t tell his sons that it was wrong for them to sell drugs when they spent their entire lives watching their father do that very thing. Despite how much he wanted things to be different, Carlyle had raised and groomed a new breed of dope boys.

Chapter Five

While his father was coming to terms with his decision, Samir was preparing for his reign in the
game on the other side of town. His entire crew was waiting for him to arrive so they could go over the plan for the rest of their lives. They were no longer young teenage boys from the hood; they were bosses now.

Once Samir pulled up in front
of Meko’s house they all headed to Meko’s room and it was there that Samir laid out his plans for the crew.

“Ok
ay, listen… we gotta get this work broken down and moved before the end of the deadline. I already set it up to give nine to my homie, Zoe from the low ends. He giving me twenty five hundred for that… and that leaves us with nine to break down and stretch, so we can come up with my father’s five. On top of that we’ll have some bread for ourselves. This half is ten thousand, retail, so that means we need to make at least that in less than a week so my pops can hit us with more work and my brother’s set. I got us a block to move our work on and Zoe gone come fuck with us tomorrow for the nine.” Samir explained.

They agreed
on who would be working the block and at what time. Once they went over the most common issues, they headed over to Sasha’s crib to cook and bag up the product.

After a quick
, dope-cooking 101 session, Samir and his crew were ready to hit the streets. They spent the next three days working the block. With every transaction they made, they began to become addicted to the lifestyle of easy money. Their minds were no longer on school, hoes and frivolous nonsense; their only concern was getting money.

Samir watched as his plan slowly unfolded. Every day after school they would meet at Sasha’s house to re-up and hit the
block. They went so hard as a crew, they hadn’t realized they sold every ounce they had in a matter of three days. It had to be a new record for Carlyle, and Samir was too excited to be able to tell his father that he was a week and a half early with his return.

“
Yo, my nigga… aint shit left,” Meko told Samir. “That shit is banana’s Joe. We only been rocking a couple of days, granted, we only had a half, but I just knew it was gone take us a little longer than that.”

“Man
, we been working day and night, but it only means we can go to my pops with his bread and really get in these streets. This shit we did aint shit compared to what we about to do.” Samir responded

“These streets aint ready for us
, we moved that shit in three fucking days. Can you imagine the money we about to make when Sam’s pops really hit us off?” Seven Chimed in.

“I don’t want to imagine my nigga
. I’m ready to go, fuck imagination; we need to make this shit a reality.” Cesar said.

“I’m with you
Ces. We see know what we capable of, so now it’s time to switch it into high gear,” Chase said, in agreement to Cesar.

“Well
, my niggas, the only thing left for us to do is count up this money and take my pops his return so we can get back out here.” Samir said, calling his crew to order.

They sat around the table sorting the bills by dollar amount. They ran every dollar they made over the last
three days through the money counter and once it finished they came up with a grand total of $16,000. It was more money than his four comrades had ever seen in their entire lives.

After cutting their original
eighteen ounces in half and selling nine wholesale, Samir took the remaining nine ounces and stretched it back to eighteen ounces, using a method he watched his older brothers use countless times. After taking his father’s five thousand return out of their earnings, the crew was left with eleven thousand that they would split five ways.

In
72 hours they had made $2,200 apiece. That was more than their parents made all month. In those three days they had made enough money to sustain a fifteen year old for a long while, but this amount of money didn’t impress the young crew the least bit. They saw the potential for making $22,000 in three days far more appealing than the measly two grand they had just made.

Samir
hadn’t divided their shares immediately because he wanted to drop off his father’s return, and he wanted to do it as a crew. After that, they would sit and split their profits.

They loaded up and headed to Carlyle’s house to hand over his return and hopefully set up a new pick up that would include a much larger amount of work. The fellas gain
ed leverage in their minds. Enough leverage to be able to negotiate a fair price for the work they were intended on asking for.

Carlyle wasn’t expecting his son for another week and a half, so
when he showed up with his entire entourage, he was surprised. He didn’t ask Samir the reason for the visit; he just proceeded to escort him and his crew into the basement to conduct their business.

“Samir
, what’s up, is something wrong? I wasn’t expecting to see you for a while,” Carlyle asked his son.

“Na
h pop, everything is Kosher. We came to give you the return you asked us for and move forward,” Samir answered.

“Wait, my return
… you mean to tell me, ya’ll got my money in three days?”

“With all respect Mr. Kendall, we were trying to get this money so we
wasn’t bullshitting around in these streets. We got out there and we got this bread,” Meko spoke on his crew’s behalf.

“No disrespect taking young blood. I must say
, I’m very impressed by this. I‘ve never had anybody come to me and tell me they had my return in three days. I’m real fucking impressed. So, here’s what I’m gonna do… Samir, you and your crew will take over Sin’s set. Sin normally went through twenty bricks a week on that set. But he didn’t have a crew half as determined as yours, so I’m starting y’all with thirty bricks and I’ll see how quick y’all can move those. I’m a give y’all this work at five thousand, which is generous because I do wholesale between seven and eight grand. You’re getting this price for one; Samir is my son, and for two, I’m fucking impressed with you fellas. And just to prove how much I’m impressed… y’all can keep that five thousand you owe me for yourselves, shit… you niggas deserve it. Tim will meet y’all Friday. Take tomorrow off and enjoy your success. Come Friday, shit is about to get real.”

Samir and his crew left his father’s house with the weight of the world finally
lifted off his shoulders. He settled up the money with his crew, giving them each $3,200. He knew it was more money than most of them had ever had in their hands at one time. He felt good being able to provide his childhood friends with an opportunity to take care of their families. He was proud of every last one of them and he couldn’t have done what he had done without them. From that day forward he pledged his loyalty to each of them, because without them, he would still be thinking of a way to impress his father. They were his crew and he couldn’t have assembled a better one.

Samir made plans to meet up with the guys the next day
, after school because he didn’t plan on making it to class that day. “I’ma meet you niggas after class tomorrow. I don’t plan on going, so I’ll meet y’all at the school and we can hit Evergreen Plaza and spend some of this bread.” Samir told them.

“Why aren’t you coming to school
, my nigga? I know Ms. Kendall aint letting you miss class.” Meko teased.

“I got something important to handle tomorrow
, so I’ma fuck with y’all after.” Samir responded. He dapped them up and went in the opposite direction.

Samir had the approval and the blessing of his father which meant more to him than
anything, but there were two more blessings Samir needed before he set out on his road to becoming legendary. He needed his brother’s approval before he could actually take hustling serious.

He grew up admiring his brothers and before he wanted to be like his father
, he wanted to be like his big brothers. Truth be told, if Sin and Ace would have chosen a different lifestyle, Samir would have done the same. His brothers were his first examples of what a man was supposed to be. Although his father was always a part of his life, Samir grew up with his older brothers teaching him the ways of a man. Every decision he made in his life his brothers influenced, so it was only right he went to visit them and tell them what was going on.

When Samir finally made it home
, his mother was still up, going over legal documents for her upcoming case. He hadn’t really seen her in the last few days because she was always asleep when he made it home and even though she hadn’t said a word, he knew in his heart that she knew he had begun his journey.

He loved his mother and he never wanted to hurt her
, but he respected the fact that she understood him and his decision to hustle. Just as he was about to walk into her office, he heard her call his name.

“Samir, sweetheart
, is that you?”

“Yes
, mom, it’s me. How was your day?” He asked, as he walked into her office and kissed her cheek.

“My day was fine dear
, just a little busy. I’m trying to get ready for this case. What’s going one with you? I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“Yea
h, I know ma. I been grinding, trying to get pops return.”

With a concern
ed look in her eyes, she proceeded to choose her next words lightly. She had already given her son her blessing, so she couldn’t sound like she was against his decision. The truth was, she was against it 100 percent. “Samir, dear, you know I love you, so I’m only going to ask you this once. Please remember your promise you made to me and please be careful because you are my youngest child and I would die if anything happened to you.”

“Don’t worry about me ma, I won’t forget my promise
. It means more to me than anything.”

“Ok
ay, son, you won’t hear this from me again. One last thing, I have allowed you to do what you have to do for you, Samir, but can you make one more promise to me. Promise me that you won’t allow this game to interfere with you graduating from high school. It’s the same promise your brothers made and kept and I want the same from you.”

“I can do that mom
. I won’t let it interfere with me finishing school. But, ma… I wanted you to call me in tomorrow because I need to go see my brothers.”

“Samir
, why can’t you wait until Saturday to do that.”

“I can’t mom
. I need to see them tomorrow. I have to talk to them ma, because Friday things are going to get serious and I need to talk to my brothers before then. Please do this for me ma.”

“Ok
ay, Samir. I’ll call the school in the morning, but this is the last time you’re skipping school to deal with your drug dealing. Do you understand me?

“Ye
s ma. I got you. No more missing school after this. Thanks for understanding. You’re the best mother on earth,” he said, as he kissed her cheek a second time and headed up to his room.

Once inside his room
, he counted the money he made and thought about how after Friday the rest of his life would change and about how the measly $3200 dollars he held in his hand would be the last time he held such a minuscule amount of money again.

He replayed his father’s words over and over. He la
y back on his bed staring at the ceiling.
Could he and his crew handle Sin’s massive set and move thirty kilos of dope at such a young age?
This was the first time Samir had doubted his ability to handle the game.

He
believed he was different because his business mind was that of a thirty year old and not a young teenager. He had his doubts, but he could hear Sin’s voice in his head telling him he was going to be a beast in the game if he ever decided to join forces with the rest of the family.

He knew going to see his brothers was the only way he could kick his confidence into high gear. He not only wanted their blessings, he needed it to survive in th
e game.