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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.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUNzmP811Du
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡryK7SuMmSe
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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.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2kBLkBLrPi
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She walked in like she owned the block.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5W6wa1Xey
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkSKuUbLLH
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHy12hTFG8u
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.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhQFub0Gl8
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGfN0Wiev3
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Camera feeds.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8gJnFAG9i
My feeds.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3daSYyVPPB
My damn security system.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGKaomWACR
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2IwMdet9J
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.”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXfTtr9Cqd
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She didn’t even blink.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl3QVtwNrv6
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VBd1TlLr7
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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.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN6Uzmx5P3z
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3eqZdr45xI
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“You must be Saint,” she said.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuCXjDG2fh0
Like she already knew everything about me.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxX3k8GL7H
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTrLPWFvKn
Then again, I like slick.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Sqo5zgjRh
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcjldmFc4mo
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“And you are?”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dTszlLagp
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“Nova.”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDbPx9nOng
Just that. Like it was enough.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcOA1AubDyl
And it was.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcL2n0sjWH8
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOXWtWZpysi
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7q7P6dopw
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWZFBOu0q1
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I let her go.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd47RPZjERW
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkUlmiyzqJ
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But from that night on,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcAHtdK89L
I watched her.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrxW1REqD0K
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And every time her name came up,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyRFXb0XCv
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4YmpShPcSI
I felt it.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlPylgWjos
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A shift.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfo7cw3GUcj
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
