Some Things Never Change

Chapter 5

Say anything you want about Wayne but he was smart drug dealer. Don’t get caught selling the goods, was his firm belief. Wayne believed in equal opportunity employment and encouraged the recruitment of underlings for distribution of the drugs. He left it up to Sizzla to do the recruiting and train their followers while he handled the accounting side of the business.

He noticed that Sizzla was dipping into the company’s profit more and more it was only a matter of time before Sizzla would get greedy and try to cut out the middle man. He was probably over thinking it, he and Sizzla went way back. They lived in the same neighborhood and went to school together. The frequented the same places and been through thick and thin. No way would Sizzla ever betray him like that. The business was getting to him, he saw shadows that lurked when there were none.

Hookah Daze got started when Wayne took out all the money he saved growing up. His total life savings and invested it into the business. He and Sizzla were new to the market and they got taken for a ride by everyone. The first party tanked, everyone made promises and no once came out to support the event. Wayne learned an important rule that day; you can’t run a business on promises. They were overcharged from the venue to the liquor. Wayne learned that lesson when all his life savings disappeared. When Sizzla told him about how his cousin Crazy T made his money, Wayne jokingly said they would have been better off selling drugs. Sizzla took the idea an ran with it, how would they do that?

Wayne replied by keeping the parties going and selling the drugs. Sizzla took it seriously and arranged it all. Here they were, four years later, still wheeling and dealing but he was getting tired of the game and the guys sensed it. Wayne was the reason the guys hadn’t gotten caught by the police as yet. Unlike the other guys, he dressed simple and never flossed. The only thing expensive he owned that could be seen by the public was his car. He still lived at home with his mother. He knew what he did was illegal and if caught it could mean serious jail time and a clamp down on his assets. So he mixed the proceeds from the drug trade with that of the monies from the party.

He wasn’t about to go down empty handed. He knew that Sizzla was a selfish soul and would want to do his own thing eventually. So he secretly set up an off shore account in the Cayman Islands where his salary that he never had to touch went.

Now that Hookah Promotions was self-sufficient he felt that they should end their ties with the drug trade both Sizzla and Crazy T shot that advice down. There was no way he was going to prison, his mama didn’t raise know fool. So he started to plot his way out of that predicament with this being his last year.

They had a big deal coming up, a new party drug was on the market. The Dutty Bloodz and their competition were openly involved in bidding wars to see who would get a monopoly on that drug. That would be the icing on his early retirement cake.

He invited Lou on a movie date, since outside of work they were both busy. She attended classes and he threw his parties. It was by mutual agreement that after the movie they would go for a drink at a more upscale bar.

Wayne felt like he had known Lou for years not months. However, he dreaded the talk that was to come. He knew that at some point Lou would want him to cut off any associations he had with the Dirty Bloodz. Over the past few weeks Wayne had stalled, claimed he was swamped with work, anything to postpone this pending argument. He felt that the less she knew about this aspect of his life the safer she would be.

“Wayne thanks for spending time with me. I really appreciate it.”  Lou said.

“We’ve both been busy it felt like a good idea for us to de-stress.” Replied Wayne. “So what’s on your mind? You’ve been silent for most of the night.”

Lou looked Wayne in the eyes. “It’s about that ring you wear. It’s been troubling me.”

Wayne glanced at his ring. “What about it?”

“Are you a member of the Dutty Bloods?”

“Yes I am. As a matter of fact, I am one of the leaders for the group. We are a promising promotions company, nothing to panic about despite the rumors. I can’t believe that’s what’s been bothering you this whole time. I can honestly say we run a legit business, don’t believe all the hype on the streets, people will say anything to bring a man down. Just can’t get out of that crab in the barrel mentality. They don’t want to see us make money and get out of the hood, bad mind is always active.”

“Do I look like a fool to you?” Lou raised not only her eyebrow but her voice as well.

“No Lou, never that but it is easy for people to exaggerate the truth. You wouldn’t be able to fathom the ridiculous things people have said about our crew, calling us names, looking down on us, the struggle is always real baby girl.”

“How did you get mixed up with them?”

“Well Sizzla is my best friend, he took an idea that I had and ran with it and his cousin Crazy T sponsored us with the necessary capital to keep the business afloat. Like I said, don’t believe all the gossip you hear. We are pretty much harmless as individuals.”

“I saw with my own two eyes Crazy T slash a guy’s face the other day, narrowly missing his right eye with that knife he always carries, just for looking at him wrong. How can you condone that kind of behavior?”

“Crazy T is a law unto himself, in no form is he a reflection of the rest of the crew. He is not my friend and we don’t hang out together. We don’t even like or respect each other and if it wasn’t for him being Sizzla’s cousin and a part of the business. We wouldn’t have any dealings with each other.”

“Tell me more about this meeting.”

Wayne let out a loud sigh, “What exactly do you want to know?” He was trying to be as vague as possible but Lou wasn’t having that.

“What exactly do you do?”