“You don’t. All you can do is try to stay on his good side.” Ruxs chimed in. It was the truth. Under no circumstance would they ever tell a dealer that God and Day would not arrest them. They couldn’t speak for them or make deals on their behalf.
“Talk. I don’t have all day.” Green pushed off the truck like he was ready to leave.
“Alright man. Chill out. Damn.” JJ lowered his voice like there might be someone else listening. “Chainz is on some foul shit. He been doing some dealings with these foreign cats in Canada. They got fucking trucks that can get through the border undetected and everything. Chainz is talking about having them bring two hundred pounds of weed and a quarter mil in coke by next month.”
Ruxs and Green both had to check their first reaction. That was a lot of fuckin’ drugs to hit the streets if they let it. No damn way. That shit would not be acceptable. “Are you sure they are definitely coming?”
JJ pinched the bridge of his nose, like he was beyond stressed out. “Fuck yes. The deal is made. I was there. He’s already paid half and the other half is gonna be paid when they arrive.”
“You look nervous. What aren’t you telling us?” Ruxs stepped closer, reading JJ’s body language. The man’s hands shook as he adjusted his walkie-talkie volume.
“Fuck, man. Those Canadian dudes are on a whole different level, Ruxsberg. We were outnumbered five-to-one when we went to meet them. They had machine guns, men on the rooftops and shit.”
“How many men do you think there are?” Green asked.
“Hell if I know. Those are just the ones that were at the meeting to exchange the dough.” JJ huffed. The guy looked ready to snap, he was wound so tight. They needed to get everything because they might not get another chance if JJ was this scared.
“Alright. Calm down, J. Tell us where the meeting took place.”
“A warehouse the Canadians own in East Point off Headland.”
“Is that where they are going to bring in the shipment too?” Green said, already Googling the address.
“Yeah. Chainz thought it’d be brilliant to bring all that shit to one of the houses on Cleveland and put it underneath the house and flip it from out of there, just like always. No one would think we could stash that much. But word is already getting around. Someone is talking. Not just me. We gonna be defending ourselves more than getting the product out. Do you know how many different sets would roll up and try to hit that house, trying to rob us, man?” JJ tugged at his knit cap in frustration.
“You’re not the only one that doesn’t want to deal with these guys, huh?” Ruxs asked, suddenly feeling sorry for JJ. He really looked like his world was about to come to an end.
“Hell no. I can name five g’s off the top of my head that’s not feeling this deal. Them foreigners don’t want to work with a bunch of ghetto thugs from the slums of A.T.L. Some of us think when the time comes, those trucks are going to be empty and they’re going to jack the rest of the money and fuckin’ let loose on us. We suggested trying to put together our own army but Chainz doesn’t want to bring in more guys because he doesn’t trust anyone.” JJ’s eyes shifted back and forth before he spoke again. “It wasn’t a mistake that Tommy’s crack-smoking girl found out about the deal. I knew she was listening. I also knew Tommy was an informant for God. I figured he’d get word to y’all.”
“Pretty smart.” Green nodded.
“Do you have contact information on these guys? Names? Numbers? Addresses?”
JJ turned to face Ruxs. “Naw, man. That’s for you guys to figure out. Chainz keeps that information locked tight.”
“I’ll make sure God knows where this information came from. You been a lot of help JJ.” Green gave him a handshake.
“That’s what you think. I gotta figure out how to get the fuck out of this shit. There’s no leaving the crew. Only way out is in a body bag, G.” JJ dropped Green’s hand and began to pace back and forth. His walkie-talkie beeped again and this time a voice was announcing that he was needed in the front. “Fuck. I gotta go back to work.”
“Hey, J. Does your mom still live in San Francisco?” Ruxs asked out of the blue.
JJ cracked a small smile. “Yeah. She just turned ninety-two, man. She ain’t doing half bad. How’d you know tha — pfft. Nevermind.”
“What do you think about relocating? I’m sure she could use her son’s help way out there by herself.” Ruxs cocked an eyebrow and he could see Green’s eyes on him.
JJ eyed him for a few seconds and nodded his head once. A small grin was on his face and his eyes seemed to lighten with the idea. Ruxs had given him his way out. “Yeah. I think she could man.”