URBAN: Chosen By A Kingpin by Shantel Johnson Read Free Book Online

patted my back and walked away.
    I watched him fade away and then heard his footsteps going down the stairs. I went home and found my mom was asleep. I didn’t bother her with telling her what happened. I know my mom is so tired. Her arm was always in pain, but she just grimaced through it. I started to put the groceries away. When I got to the last bag, the one with my candy, I saw that it had a small stack of money. I didn’t understand, but then I remembered that Lenny had put in most of the bags. I peeked into my mom’s room to see if she was still asleep and she was still out, so I went looking for Lenny.
    It didn’t take long for me to find him. His house was down the block and as I got closer to it, he was actually on his way out.
    “Little man!” He greeted me and we exchanged hands. “What is going on? I didn’t expect to see you so soon.”
    “I know sir, but I just wanted to let you know that you left some money in the bags.”
    “I left that for you and your mother. I know money is going to be tight, so I thought it would help out a little bit.”
    I don’t know why I started to tear up, but I did. I felt like such a charity case and I wasn't even trying. He just put his hand on my shoulder.
    “It’s okay Little man. We all go through our problems. Sometimes we don’t have enough money, but if someone wants to help you, don’t turn it down.”
    “I don’t want to help.”
    “Oh…” He started to complain.
    “I want to work.’
    He got real quiet then. he looked at me like i was nuts. I guess he wasn’t expecting this type of response from such a young kid.
    “Go home little man.”
    “I want to work.”
    “Go home.” He told me again.
    “I want to work and I want to work with you.”
    “What do you know about this work?” He squinted at me. “What do you know about what I do?”
    “I don’t know much, but I know a professional when I see one.”
    He smiled at me. He then started busting out in laughter.
    “You are really smart and observant. I be seeing you looking out the window every now and then, but I didn’t think that you were really paying attention.”
    “You saw me?”
    “I know every eye that is watching me.” His face got serious. “I make sure I do. I am not ready to lose and the only way to make sure of that is to pay attention to who is watching me.” His face got calm again. “But I don’t know about letting a little man like you around the business.”
    “I just need to make money.”
    “I’ll break you off every week.’
    “I rather earn it sir.”
    He nodded his head and shook my hand.
    “I’m not going to lie to you, I’m not really comfortable with this, but the way you make your moves, I respect that. I respect that you won’t take a handout. Now if I start you out with this work, it’s going to be small but the pay is going to be good.”
    “Thank you.” I nodded.
    “So, what you going to do with that money” He gave me a smirk. “You’re going to buy more candy.”
    “No sir, I’m going to walk to the rental office and put it down on the rent.”
    “Aw man.” He laughed. “I’m going to walk with you.”
    That was such a long time ago. When we got to the rental office, Lenny paid for six months of rent. The small job he started me on was just to tell people to pick up a package. I would just pick up the payphone, call a random number, and just tell them the words pick up. He would give me more and more responsibility. He taught me the drug business from the ground up. I started doing more and more and the next thing I know, I was close to the top.
    One day he pulled me to the side.
    “Little man. It’s been a good six years.” He broke me off with some bread.
    “What’s this for?” I counted it and saw it was well over $10,000. I’ve gotten so used to large amounts of money, that it was getting easier and easier to count stacks. “We about to go make a purchase.”
    “Nah, business is going to have to come to a stop...at