Friend-Zoned (Friend-Zoned 1)

The door opens and Uncle Jerm is standing in front of his desk, smiling with open arms.

The thing about Uncle Jerm is you gotta love him. He is lovable.

Never without a smile or kind word.

I would tell you he wasn’t cut out for this work but I know some of the things he’s done.

The stuff of nightmares.

He will do anything to protect his boys.

I walk over to the short, sixty year old African American who always wears a suit and tie, hug him and pat his back. Ghost doesn’t hug. He just stands in the corner on watch.

Uncle Jerm pulls back from me and says, “Well, well, well. Looks like the little boy grew into a big man. ”

I chuckle. I wasn’t very tall the last time we met. I was just a freakin’ kid. I’m surprised he remembers.

Smiling, I say, “Uncle Jerm. You look good. ”

He pats his belly and replies, “Old lady’s on my back. Cholesterol this and cholesterol that. Won’t let me eat anythin’ anymore. Thinks I’ll have a heart attack or some such shit. ”

He motions for me to sit which I do. Then he takes his place behind his desk. It’s very similar to mine.

He claps his hands together and says, “So, I believe we have a small problem. ”

I nod and respond, “Yes, sir. I think we do. Your boy Omarr broke into my girl’s apartment and did a job on her cat. Ripped its head off and hung it like a Christmas ornament on the back porch. Luckily, the neighbor found it before Tina did. ”

Uncle Jerm’s face droops into a frown. He mutters, “I don’t like this. Omarr… Well, he hasn’t been the same since Marcus died. ” He straightens and reveals, “Always hated on me for not retaliating. Doesn’t tell me things like he used to. But I heard of your Tina. Chaos seem real pleased you found yourself a girl. Says she real pretty. I’m happy for you, son. You get something good, you hold onto it with both hands, ya hear?”

See what I mean?

Lovable.

I nod and he continues, “Omarr has been extremely disrespectful as of late. He don’t turn up for his shifts. He don’t answer to me anymore. ” He leans back and with a sigh says, “He gone rogue, boy. ”

Oh, Fuck.

This is what I was dreading. Omarr isn’t taking orders from Uncle Jerm anymore, which means he’s only answering to himself. This is basically Omarr making his own rules. If Uncle Jerm gets evidence Omarr’s recruiting behind his back, Uncle Jerm will have no choice but to kill him

which would be good for me.

I utter a hesi

tant, “I see. ”

Uncle Jerm nods and says, “Yeah. I know you get me, son. Not much I can do about him right now but I’ll have my boys keep an eye out. Haven’t seen him in days. If I could control this, I would. Terrorizing an innocent girl is not the way the Sixes roll. I hear he wants her. You better up security from your end. If he wants her, he’ll take her. You take care now, ya hear?”

And just like that, we’re dismissed.

We didn’t get anything sorted but at least I got some information.

Looks like the next step is security.

***

It’s around four when I hear the god-awful bell go off.

I’m a little stunned when in strolls Ghost with three other men. Ghost doesn’t even look at us girls as he walks in and out of rooms giving instruction to the men. One man has a note pad and pen and is writing furiously all the while nodding. One man is taking measurements. And the other man almost pushes me out the way to get under the counter.