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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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6iRxoqWD4
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoWxucrSsk
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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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiO2wJgAI8L
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She walked in like she owned the block.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyqIZ9KphU
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4D7KbwQwBG
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJePAF8czhf
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ22qHuZUKhQ
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1oc6vGEiq
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Camera feeds.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBSjmCuX5vc
My feeds.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKyHWGHFU0v
My damn security system.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7l5dsKlCY
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQkMOHp5kpZ
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.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoH0ALWPCS
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She didn’t even blink.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0G1APJGwu2
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWBgCOzkna
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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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXZ3DRIE0U
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCcAmEt77Oa
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“You must be Saint,” she said.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMURatWrW09
Like she already knew everything about me.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fy4xYyppC
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVsUWmb9mG8
Then again, I like slick.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2iWtZb0gH3
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbrvV1z5k9
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“And you are?”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEKED7Tyq8
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“Nova.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQKJVDG5qyR
Just that. Like it was enough.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fQuwIj0aD
And it was.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceHX4n5ETU
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm3lQYQxR4t
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrab6HbgISB
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrVUmJHKB0Z
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I let her go.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQn4sU7bde8
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6nEzUoLaIH
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But from that night on,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhjai6oDln
I watched her.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrD6jWDkZFS
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And every time her name came up,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs46Au2wmt1
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPrnwomLs7
I felt it.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7yiT4tDrG
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A shift.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Qd5a6rxDL
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
