"You know this party is about to be one of the greatest right? I'm talkin' about goin' all in on this one. The joint will definitely be jumpin' in a few days people." Trevon explained to a group of girls who's table he had invaded a minute ago.

Jamal sat at his own table and smiled while shaking his head, easily able to hear everything that his friend was talking to the ladies about. He'd had another day of just letting some of the local boys who hung around the block handle the selling of his supply, while he sat in his pizza shop hangout along with his friends and just took it easy. This had been the routine for the last few months as he moved up the ranks in his own organized crew, he would let some of the other hang arounds handle the hand to hand deals on the street.

It made him smile when he thought about how he used to be one of them, just another boy on the block looking to get paid and dodging the police to stay out of prison. He was still looking to do the latter but he had graduated from doing the former and he found that he didn't have any complaints about it.

In fact, Jamal had begun to put together his own little operation of people to take care of the whole drug operation for him. Setting it up carefully he had people who would stand out there to protect the dealers who would move the product directly to the customers. He would have money men who stayed hidden somewhere close by and kept hold of all the money either of his two territories collected by the day and once the days sales were done, the money would be brought to him.

Jamal would then keep several different stashes in several different places. He had his own personal stash, he had his employee payment stash, and last but not least, the cut that had to be given to Hector's stash. If anybody was watching him and were gutsy enough to try and rob him, then they wouldn't completely fuck him over seeing as he'd be hit in one and not all three.

With the increase in operation, came the increase in the amount of product he'd carry at one time. Also came in another source. It would seem Markus and the gang him and Trevon were trying to get in had finally proven useful to Jamal himself. After Trevon made some inquires into who it was they had inherited the bag of pills and party drugs from, Markus had gone about bragging that there was a source who would give them large amounts of marijuana to sell.

Jamal was able to make the right inquires about the person who was trying to sell smaller drugs in the territory that Jamal was holding onto. The bad news about this situation would be that with them moving in on Jamal's territory, Hector wouldn't take this too kindly and conflict may ensue. Jamal wasn't afraid of conflict but it drew all the wrong kinds of attention and made it that much more difficult for him to handle business.

Jamal had reached out to this new player trying to move in and conducted business with him. Told him that he already had his own operation here and his shit worked. He also dropped some big names of who he worked with and that was enough to get the man on board with letting him handle his marijuana and other smaller drugs he'd take and move to other dealers in other parts of the city at higher prices to turn a profit.

The man had told Jamal that his name was Manuel, but his friends called him Manny and he told Jamal to call him such. Jamal took the stack of money out of his pocket and counted it at his table again as he made sure that all of it was there. The stack of money he was currently counting was the man's cut. Jamal figured it'd be a smart move to test the amount of consumers he could attract with party drugs. He called it a trial run and gave it to someone he knew who sold things like speed to kids at colleges that wanted to stay up to study for exams. At the same time he also had the same people selling that for him to mention the party he was planning on throwing in the near future, killing two birds with one stone.

"That's like the third time you countin' it mother fucker. What, you don't believe in your math skills or somethin'?" Trevon asked as he made his way back to the table Jamal was sitting at.

Jamal looked up from his count briefly, remembering the number he had just reached in his head, to shoot Trevon a look that he paid no mind to before resuming his count. After he was done he then wrapped the wad of money back in a band and stuffed it back into his pocket.

"Nahh, I trust it. I didn't spend my days in school cut class to chase after ass like you did." Jamal fired back.

"You mean SUCCESSFULLY chase after ass like I did. You tried it, you just never wasn't any good at it. If you did Kelly would still be around." Trevon teased.

Jamal tried to keep the wince from his face and felt he did a good job. The topic of Kelly Wilson was a sore one for him. She was another one of their friends who they grew up with. Unlike the rest of them she saw fit to actually leave the inner city of Los Angeles and go make something of herself instead of staying around here. She tried her best to protect kids from falling into the life they were as a counselor to youth at schools and those in other communities. Seeing as that wasn't such a large focus in this part of the city her work to her to other parts until she just figured it'd made more sense to just move out to where her work took her.

"Nahh if there's one failure I'm actually okay with it was that THAT didn't work out. Kell didn't need to be around our type of shit. She should've never been around it to begin with." Jamal lamented in a lower tone of voice.

Trevon wasn't about to let his closest friend throw himself a pity party. It just wasn't his style to sit around another grown man as he brooded.

"C'mon you moody bastard, it was a joke. I didn't mean to get you all down in your feelings. Do I need to go and bring those bitches over here to cheer you up?" Trevon asked in an attempt to change the subject and lift his friend's spirits.

"Only if I can join in on your fun amigos." A voice said entering in from behind where Trevon was sitting.

Trevon jumped slightly at the voice as it surprised him and it also served to snap Jamal out of his stupor. He silently cursed himself for allowing his feelings of regret to cause him to slip in his focus and attention. If he was still on the streets something like that could cost him his life or his money, neither of which he was willing to part with especially due to his own sloppiness.

"About time you showed up, Manny." Jamal responded.

The man who approached was wearing a leather jacket with slacks on and a t-shirt. He had an amused grin on his face and slicked back hair. He looked harmless and more suave than intimidating for the most part but Jamal learned very early on in his career to not underestimate anyone despite appearances. Some of the most gentle people were truly hardcore if pushed to their limit.

"How about we go talk a walk out side my friend, go talk a bit of business and get our minds of the chocha." The man now recognized as Manny proposed.

Jamal seemed to be in agreement as he nodded and got up to follow the man outside. Trevon on the other hand wasn't in such agreement. 

"Hold on cuz, you just gonna follow this man out.....Wherever the fuck he tryin' to take you and you don't even know him like that? Ain't you ever hear that shit about stranger danger?" Trevon asked incredulously.

Manny gave a soft chuckle and turned back to face Trevon.

"I'm the one who helps your friend make more dinero with my own shit. I'm also the one hooking up your little girl scout club with enough green to choke your fuckin' lungs out. I shouldn't be a stranger to either of you homes. So don't worry when the men are done breaking it off business wise Jamal will be back. Why don't you order a couple more slices, or better yet try the salad, you look like you could use one." Manny joked as he gave a soft laugh turning and continuing to walk to the door.

He pretended to be completely oblivious to how he had riled up Trevon. Trevon was up out his chair and making his way toward Manny when he ran straight into Jamal who held him back.

"Yo, I ain't gonna just let that mother fucker disrespect me. And he dissed the gang too? Hell nah, that shit ain't about to fly." Jamal exclaimed as he tried to wiggle out of Jamal's grasp.

Jamal wasn't going to let go at all though.

"Chill out fool. We don't know nothin' about this dude. How we know if you go attack him this mother fucker don't call up half the fuckin' Colombians he knows down here to rain hell on us. All for some stupid pride. Man sit yo ass down and let me handle this. I'll be right back." Jamal reasoned.

He tried to keep his voice lower so they didn't cause a further scene, but sound firm at the same time. After a bit more squirming and the fact that Manny had now made it out the door Trevon had finally stopped struggling and separated himself from Jamal. 

"Alright, I'll let it slide. But that dude say somethin' again and we gonna go toe to toe. I'll show that mother fucker who needs a salad. I'll slap a salad right upside his fuckin' head." Trevon threatened.

Jamal put his hands up in a manner to try and placate and calm him down.

"Just chill out bro, I got this. You just hang out in here." Jamal instructed.

Seeing that Trevon seemed to cool down a little bit and retake his seat at the table, Jamal begun to make his way toward the door. Right before making his way out of it he turned and yelled toward his friend, "And try the salad, it ain't that bad." He joked as he stepped outside the door.

Before it fully closed he could hear Trevon make some sort of rebuttal but he couldn't make it out clearly. His mind quickly refocused back to the business at hand. The paying of and the ensuing conversation with Manny.

Jamal followed Manny to where his car was parked, around behind the building in the parking lot. It was small and kinda out of sight from street level so a quick and simple look around was all that was needed to know that there were no extra eyes on them. Jamal opened the trunk of his car where he held a duffel bag that was full of cash. He opened it and made sure it was still all there before handing it over to Manny, who also looked inside the bag before closing it and putting it inside the backseat of his own car.

Manny turned and faced Jamal with a pleased expression on his face.

"So homes, things look good. You seem like you can sell snow to an Eskimo the way you move this shit. You should be thinking bigger instead of moving the little bits and pieces for ole Hector over there in Chino." Manny said. 

Jamal leaned against his car and shook his head as he'd done whenever someone brought up his current situation with Hector. Sure he realized he could've turned down Hector once he got in contact with a Cartel representative but that might not have been taken well especially when Hector and his gang knew a lot about Jamal and his people.

"It ain't that simple. Walkin' away from Hector ain't like quitting a 9 to 5. You think he's gonna be happy with me goin' into business for myself and still tryin' to sell shit on his corners? And that's prime real estate, there's all kinds of fiends around here that's why I do so well. So it's either give up my prime money makin' corners to try it out on my own or get rich with the crazy ass Mexican who's son wants to put a cap in my ass. If you know as much about me as you think, which one you think I'm pickin'." Jamal replied.

"Who says you can't just pay him for the space and keep on pushin' your own product? You think people don't know about you buying your own little bit on the side and outsourcing too? How long you think it is before Hector gets upset with you pushing drugs for the other gangs while pushing for him. And your little organization that you're workin' with on the side? How long do you think it is before he finds out about that?" Manny asked, the pleased expression never leaving his face.

Jamal felt that Manny's expression was more smug than it was pleased. He seemed like he was happy with the fact that he knew something Jamal didn't know. Or rather, he knew more about Jamal's business than he thought he did. Jamal didn't like it.

"Where the fuck you come by all this information about my shit Manny?" Jamal asked outright.

If anything it only served to widen the satisfied smirk on Manny's face.

"I know a lot of things that you think I don't, I also know a lot of things that you don't know. I could fill a book with the information I'm privy too. That's what being a supplier is all about. Everybody's got a lot to say for a little piece of the pie mi amigo. Be careful to watch those who are watching you." Manny warned in a way that made it hard to take him serious or not want to punch him in the jaw.

Manny then got into his car and turned it on so he could lower the window and speak out of it.

"Hey listen, I may have something for you that opens up the door of opportunity you've been knocking on and you don't even have to worry about Senor Hector." Manny baited.

Jamal had no choice but to arch an eyebrow as his curiosity had been piqued.

"The fuck you talkin' about?" He inquired.

Manny gave a soft chuckle before he responded.

"An opportunity, out of town of course, but still something you'll be able to handle. I don't think Hector will be worried about this operation. I also think it'll be one that he won't be able to touch. Seeing as his reach doesn't quite extend that far.. If you know what I mean." Manny informed him.

Jamal was beginning to lose his patience at this point.

"Obviously I don't know what the fuck you mean so why don't you cut the shit and let me know what you're talkin' about." Jamal almost demanded.

Manny just laughed him off.

"I hope I'm invited to the party your big friend was talkin' about inside homes. I'd love to partake in all the dancing and chatting and seeing all the pretty women myself too. Also loud music is the best environment to talk business in. Makes it hard for uninvited people to listen in." Manny responded and nodded in a direction behind Jamal where he could see Trevon beginning to make his way over to them. "I'll see you boys there." He yelled and then put his car in reverse to back out of his parking spot and then pulled off honking the horn at Trevon as he passed by.

Trevon yelled a curse at him he pulled off into the street and Jamal began to approach his friend.

"I thought I told you to stay inside, I had this." Jamal reprimanded.

"Well you was takin' too long so sorry for comin' to check on your slow ass. What that shady mother fucker want anyway?" Trevon asked. 

"Guess I won't find out until the party now. Thanks for that homie." Jamal replied as he began to walk back into the pizza shop.

"Party?? You lettin' THAT mother fucker come too? Hold on we may need to make some exceptions to the guest list!" Trevon shouted as he ran to follow

The two continued to go back and forth in the Pizza shop well into the afternoon almost until the place had to close down. Even though Jamal was able to keep things light with his friend, he couldn't help but think about the opportunity Manny was speaking about and wonder what it was. Manny was a good businessman when he wanted to be despite his attitude. So whatever he was talking about Jamal was sure that it would most certainly be a great opportunity indeed.