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People think growing up in a crime family means fast cars, stacks of cash, and respect out the gate.
They forget what it really feels like—
To be a kid in a kingdom built on blood.
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I was six the first time I saw someone get shot.
Seven when I stopped flinching at it.
Eight when my pops slid a Glock across the dinner table and said,
“You protect what’s yours, or you don’t deserve to have it.”
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There were no bedtime stories in our house.
Only war stories, whispered over dark liquor and cigar smoke.
The men in my family were soldiers with gold rings, missing morals, and a God complex.
The women?
Silenced, shadowed, or gone.
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My mama was one of the gone.
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They say she ran. I say she survived.
She left one morning with nothing but her purse and her prayers.
Left me behind. Left him behind.
And for the longest, I hated her for it.
Until I realized—she didn’t leave me.
She left him.
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My pops raised me like I was his next investment.
No hugs. No I’m proud of yous.
Just expectations like iron on my back.
Make money. Be feared. Trust no one—not even blood.
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So I learned early:
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- Emotions get you killed.
- Weakness gets used.
- And love? Love ain’t real. It’s just leverage in a pretty package.
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By fourteen, I was already running numbers and cleaning up messes.
By sixteen, I made my first body disappear.
No panic. No guilt. Just business.
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They started calling me Saint around then—
Because I never raised my voice, never lost my cool.
But behind the calm was just a boy praying somebody would see he was drowning in a name that didn’t fit.
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Nobody did.
So I became the man they expected.
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Cold. Calculated. In control.
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But sometimes—
In the dead quiet, when the city’s asleep and no one’s watching—
I still think about her.
Not my mama.
Her.
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The one girl I pushed away because I didn’t know how to let someone stay.
The day I met her….
I wasn’t lookin’ for her.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStDrgz6vsF
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKooQjCwLt
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I was posted at The Silo, one of my lower-level spots. Mid-week, quiet night, just there to check on things, make sure the cash was clean and the faces were familiar.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDfaKFBiuS6
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She walked in like she owned the block.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILAbii0US9
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvWlI1tg23W
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqilQr1BXD3
Walked straight to the bar, ordered cranberry juice, and pulled out a laptop like this was a damn coffee shop and not one of the most dangerous rooms in the city.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Wu93ewRjK
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysMwkhWxB3
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Camera feeds.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2TxaBAsv73
My feeds.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvFIiaCcTOT
My damn security system.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbfvqefdEPM
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFDFbxaXAP
Pulled up the stool next to her and said, “That’s not a smart thing to do in a place full of men who kill over less.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqA3Ei5QMGQ
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She didn’t even blink.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfiF7jNODgT
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOF77oxT5K
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I stared at her, trying to figure out what the hell kind of woman hacked into my building and had the nerve to call my system trash—while sitting in it.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxEHRW8EbBF
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKogjKXprbY
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“You must be Saint,” she said.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcXkIbhyrW
Like she already knew everything about me.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuO1oywWWiI
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqLWGoutF7M
Then again, I like slick.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRCrPkyvNE
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp4yrhpap3N
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“And you are?”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFy1Ls16iD
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“Nova.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKk2Ms7zchr
Just that. Like it was enough.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXCgYheX6g
And it was.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoftqCkuJzu
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡorxh3h6rnD
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MtNEfYuka
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3HzXrW3ux
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I let her go.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySV66jBfsF
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBDUEbIYge
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But from that night on,55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2ihteaYvu
I watched her.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh9iObAj51r
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And every time her name came up,55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2saXIspfbT
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwAiqmnVqe0
I felt it.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1IwylEt8I
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A shift.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsFtCqHgHUJ
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
