Justify My Thug by Wahida Clark

Trae!” she squealed with excitement surprising the shit out of me and opened the door. “Oh my heavens. Come in! Miss Aisha talk about you all the time. Come in! I feel like I know you. Your wife is Auntie Tasha. There’s also Auntie Angel and Jaz. The twins and Callie.” Oh, I can’t wait to go to California. Mr. Marvis promise me he take me soon.”
    â€œCaliph.” I corrected her as I stepped inside.
    â€œMr. Marvin didn’t tell me you were coming. He won’t beback for a couple of days. Can I fix you something to eat? You came all the way from California and he didn’t tell me? He must have forgotten.”
    I couldn’t get a word in. She was talking non-stop. I wasn’t listening, just disappointed that I came all the way down here and the nigga wasn’t even home. Now I had to decide if I wanted to camp out for a few days or take my ass back home and check him out next week. But then there was always the chance that the nigga would get ghost once he learned that I knew where he rested. The good thing was, this chick wouldn’t stop talking. Whatever information she had, I would have no problem getting. She guided me into the kitchen and sat me at the kitchen table. She started going through the cabinets and refrigerator, preparing to cook something up. I sat back and allowed her to ramble on.
STEPHON
    I didn’t want to believe that my own blood threatened me like that. Shit, she was fucking with my livelihood and she knew it. Yeah, I knew that Marvin was running a little get high from the club but, Who doesn’t? And if I would have ratted him out what would he have done to me? I didn’t know Tasha knew what was going on but if she rats me out to Trae that could be a problem. By the skin of our teeth we were able to get the club re-opened. It’s not back to how we had it, not yet, but at least we are open and it’s running.
    I was caught between a rock and a hard place. Adding Charli Li to the equation, what was a nigga supposed to do? I called her and she answered on the second ring.
    â€œWell, well, well. What a pleasant surprise. I was just beginning to feel insulted.”
    â€œMy favorite lady friend,” I teased. “How are you and where the hell have you been?”
    â€œIf you would have been keeping in touch the way you were supposed to you would know, Stephon.”
    â€œDon’t put all the blame on me. You haven’t called me, texted me, anything.”
    â€œI told you that I had business in Seoul, remember?”
    â€œVaguely. Stop by the club. I have some things to run by you.”
    â€œIs everything alright?” I could hear the genuine concern in her voice.
    â€œI need to talk to you. How soon can you get here?”
    â€œYou don’t mean today do you?”
    â€œYes, today.”
    â€œDid Trae put you up to this?”
    â€œNo. Well … I need to run a few things by you.”
    â€œStephon, is everything alright?”
    â€œYeah, girl. I need to talk to you, that’s all I want to run Vegas by you.” I could hear her fumbling around in the background.
    â€œVegas?”
    â€œYes, Vegas. This could be big, Charli, I’m telling you.”
    She laughed, “Fine. I can get there anywhere between noon and one.”
    â€œBet. Thanks Charli. I’ll see you then.”
CHARLI LI
    Stephon and I have been friends for about five years. He walked into Hammerstein and Li one day and I was temporarily smitten.The tall, dark and handsome, bald-headed stranger reminded me of Boris Kodjoe and as quiet as it’s kept, I’m so intrigued with Boris Kodjoe. The fact that he was charming and intelligent was an added bonus, so I decided to wrap my lucious lips around his member that very same afternoon. But after spending a few days and nights with him, I learned that his swagger was contrived, it was completely made up. Stephon turned out to be a watered down thug, business