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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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV57gGqNdUp
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOrzTVynC7t
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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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoKe5OIe0h
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She walked in like she owned the block.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaIPzEJolk1
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMV5JONRZq2
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJuCFwbB5f
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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpihPOrKwqV
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO58478eFqF
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Camera feeds.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwczgtmOkl
My feeds.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRz2uSWWbmb
My damn security system.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2NpiPpCpcq
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJJ1OdjQKK
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.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLMNIqFdh1E
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She didn’t even blink.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo2ilwKk8T6
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBYp9VVJhi
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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.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkwlnKxp3pV
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuLPFqL0xF3
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“You must be Saint,” she said.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6cG1QyWKI
Like she already knew everything about me.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9HJvR8AiBk
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwJgRTslzK
Then again, I like slick.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZkWwUEE8s
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3UcsuUqge
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“And you are?”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0fTuCCzMZ
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“Nova.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4lNld5SZF
Just that. Like it was enough.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMa6pUDZdWO
And it was.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3N7cqWYm2C
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fN3Wpu1BH
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhK3WJMaQpg
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLRKOFX538i
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I let her go.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1jr2RNsnvB
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYzy4kAso4L
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But from that night on,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfReRuuG0N
I watched her.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQI3BiEyUmS
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And every time her name came up,20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO80XEC4ZRW
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIkZDjrpvM
I felt it.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiKNqOVje0
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A shift.20Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYc9YF5iNSZ
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
