Carl Weber's Kingpins: The Ultimate Hustle

by T. Friday

Genres: African American Urban

Synopsis

Being the daughter of a pastor, Erica Collins never got a chance to live a normal life. When she lost her mother at a very young age, she questioned her faith in the Lord. Pastor Collins tried to rescue her faith by tying her everyday life even more closely to the church.
Now 21 years old, Erica’s only escape from her father and his Bible is when she hooks up with her best friend, Nicole. She finds a little freedom through Nicole’s wild stories, with most of them being about her boyfriend, Mekco. Erica is all in, craving the attention and the lifestyle that Nicole has.
Mekco is the leader of The Detroit Brick Boyz. Now that his best friend and the former leader of the crew, Pierre aka P, is out of jail, Mekco is ready to put his boy back on without stepping down as the leader.
Before getting knocked, Pierre was used to living the fast lifestyle and making money. After he’s released, he is introduced to the beautiful Erica Collins. Once Erica enters his life, he questions if he has been living wrong all along. He soon finds himself falling for a young lady who didn’t have any business looking his way.
He wants to do right by her, but pursuing his position as the leader of the Brick Boyz and dealing with snakes from the past cause him to push her away.
This pastor’s daughter has some choices to make. Does she return to the flock, or fully enter the world of these kingpins?

Release date: October 25, 2022

Publisher: Urban Books

Print pages: 288

Sample

“Shot, shot, shot!” Chanel and Nicole playfully yelled over the loud music as they watched and cheered their friend Erica on. Erica was the life of the party as she tossed back three shots of Patrón down her throat, acting like she had something to prove.

No one looking at their table would have guessed that the three young ladies who sat around the booth were all faithful members of Missionary Baptist Church and the main one drinking and partying was the one and only 21-year-old Erica Collins—Pastor Eric Collins’s one and only beloved daughter.

“Whew, that was straight fire. Let’s get another round,” Erica said, fanning her mouth before jumping up out of her seat and walking toward the bar.

Chanel stayed behind, babysitting her cup. Unlike Erica, she knew not to party too hard on Saturdays, especially when they had to be at Sunday school at 8:00 a.m. Nicole, on the other hand, was too busy texting her boo, Mekco. She was secretly ready to go and lie up under him.

Rolling her eyes, Chanel sipped her drink. “I hope we don’t end up having to carry her home. Then we’ll all end up in trouble with the pastor.”

“Come on now, Chanel. Loosen up a li’l bit. She only gets a chance to be free and hang out every blue moon,” Nicole explained, hoping their so-called friend would understand and cut Erica some slack. Knowing she had it the worst of the three of them put together being the preacher’s kid (PK) and all, she deserved a good night out.

Seeing that Chanel’s face was still twisted up in disappointment, Nicole walked off toward the dance floor. Mekco had just texted her, letting it be known that he had just made it. She wasn’t in the mood to deal with Chanel’s negative attitude. She really felt like if Chanel was going to be so uptight that night, then she should have stayed home reading her Bible or something.

Nicole had been Erica’s best friend since the first grade and knew how her life could be with her strict dad. There wasn’t anything wrong with loving the Lord, but Mr. Collins could be a little too godly at times with all the praying and praising. Even with Erica being grown, Pastor Collins was not having his daughter out in the streets embarrassing him or their church family with her foolishness. It was a miracle that he finally allowed Erica to have the little freedom that she had now. Maybe it was because she had turned 21 and he overheard her talking to Nicole about moving in with her. He was scared that he was going to lose his baby girl for good. She still was on lockdown, but not the whole twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. Pastor Collins had made sure to keep his daughter busy in the church as much as possible.

The days that Erica was allowed to spend the night at Nicole’s house were the most important days of her life. That night was the first night that she had been out in over a month, and she was trying to enjoy herself to the fullest. The only rule that her father had was that she had to have herself in church every Sunday no matter what house she woke up in.

Chanel was new to the clique and had been at their church for two years. They had really just started letting her hang with them and into their secret lifestyle outside of the church. Sometimes she acted like she was cool with them, but tonight she seemed to only be around just to be nosy and to judge them. That was one reason why Nicole really didn’t care too much to have her around. She would have stopped her coming around altogether, but Erica was blinded by her church-girl ways.

As Nicole walked off, she pulled out her phone and texted Mekco. She was ready for him to show his face and handle his business so they could spend the rest of the night together. After she pressed send, she felt someone grab her from behind, their strong arms wrapped around her waist. She was ready to go off until she looked down and saw “Detroit Brick Boyz” tattooed on the guy’s hand. She took that moment to twerk on him so he could feel just what he had been missing since the last time they had hooked up.

“Hey, baby!” Nicole said while turning around and planting a kiss on her lover.

He could tell by the smile she wore on her face that he was missed. “Damn, baby, I missed your li’l sexy ass,” Mekco said, giving her a hug and squeezing her ass. He had played his part in helping it grow, so he had no problem touching what was his, no matter who was around and watching.

“I missed you, baby. Are you ready to go now?” Nicole questioned.

“Not yet, bae. When my bro get here and the crew welcome him home, we getting the fuck out of here. I hope your girl not busted. My man needs her to be a bad bitch like you,” Mekco jokingly teased.

“First off, I don’t see anything funny, boy. You know I don’t hang around no ugly girls, and you already know Erica is not ugly at all. And we ain’t no bitches, so watch your mouth. Anyway, let me get back to my girls. Just text me when y’all about to come over.”

Nicole gave Mekco a peck on his big, juicy lips before leaving him stuck in his nasty thoughts. He couldn’t wait to get her home and make love to his girl. He had been so busy over the last two weeks getting things ready for his homeboy Pierre’s homecoming and taking care of business that he barely had any time to just chill with Nicole.

It was crazy how the two were so different but had fallen in love with each other. Nicole felt comfortable around him even when he was showing his rough side and running in the streets. Something about him being a boss turned her on.

Erica and Nicole came back to the table at the same time. “Okay, ladies, I bought a few more shots for us, but looking around, I see I just wasted my dang money,” Erica said, noticing that Chanel still had her first drink.

Nicole quickly butted in. “No, you didn’t, boo,” she said, killing two shots back-to-back. Seeing Mekco’s sexy ass and knowing what was in store for her when she got home made her want to be drunk. There was something about drinking and fucking Mekco that she loved.

She turned to Chanel. “Come on, girl. You come to have fun or not?”

Chanel knew all the attention was on her now thanks to Nicole. She really wasn’t feeling the night anymore. She looked down at her watch. “Look, it’s almost eleven p.m. We should be leaving now. Y’all ready?”

Nicole gave Chanel a dirty look, then turned her attention to Erica. “Do you hear her? She always flaking on us. I still don’t understand why you hang out with this wack-ass girl.”

Erica tried not to laugh at Nicole’s goofy ass, knowing that would have only egged her on, but at the same time she was right about Chanel. “Nicole, boo, chill out. Please.”

“Come on, Chanel, this is the most fun that I’ve had in months. You don’t have to drink, just chill with us a little longer,” Erica begged.

“Look, I’m not really feeling this tonight. Maybe some other time.”

That very moment Erica started to see what Nicole had been warning her about. “Well, Chanel, I guess it’s a good thing you drove your own car, ’cause we are not ready to leave yet. Bye.”

Nicole giggled to herself as Chanel grabbed her purse and stomped off. Erica didn’t say another word as she picked up Chanel’s drink to finish it off. “Shoot, I’m not about to waste my money.” Both girls burst into laughter.

“I’m glad she’s gone. Things were going to get a little awkward in a minute anyway,” Nicole said, totally trying to ignore the face that Erica was giving her.

“What are you talking about, girl?” Erica asked, confused by her best friend’s statement.

“Nothing, boo. Let’s just chill out.”

“No, Nicole, what you got up your sleeves? Please don’t make me hurt your crazy self.”

“Okay, boo. You know I’ve been dating my baby Mekco for a minute now, right? Well, he’s here tonight with his homeboy, and I was thinking that maybe—”

Before she had a chance to finish her sentence, Erica cut her off. “No, no, no. The last time you tried to hook me up, the dumb boy worked my darn nerves within the first twenty minutes. I’m not dealing with that crap.”

“Please, Erica, you’ll be my best friend for life. Just talk to him, and if you don’t feel anything, I promise I won’t play Cupid anymore.”

Listening to Nicole plead her case, she agreed to at least be nice and have a conversation with the guy. “Okay, Nicole, but this is the last time.”

With a wide smile spread across her face, Nicole looked away from her phone and said, “Good, boo, ’cause they will be on their way over here in ten minutes.”

“Welcome home!” the whole Detroit Brick Boyz squad yelled as they lifted their bottles and cups in the air. Their old leader had just come home from doing a six-year bid for a drug charge, and they were all there to celebrate with him. Well, all the ones who stayed loyal to him.

After six long years locked up, Mr. Pierre Miller, aka P in the streets, was finally a free man. His boy Mekco had been the one who kept things in order while he was behind bars. Mekco did exactly what he was supposed to do and made sure everything ran smoothly. Most importantly he made sure everyone in the crew ate. Along the way he had to body a couple of snakes, but as far as he knew they deserved whatever came their way.

When P walked out of the prison gates, Mekco had already had a place waiting for him and a ride in his driveway. Their dads had been business partners back in the day, so the two grew up more as family than just friends. They learned as small boys that being loyal should always be first if you were gonna make it in this life.

When Pierre got knocked, Mekco did the only thing that he thought was right. He stepped up and became the leader. He knew his job was to make his boss proud of him.

Mekco hit the streets and collected all the money that was due to P. Instead of putting that shit in his own pockets, he got his boy a lawyer, made sure his books stayed straight, and with the rest, he put the shit up in a safe place. He knew whenever his boy came home, he shouldn’t have to ask anybody for shit. He tried his best to keep everyone in their crew on a straight path. They didn’t need anyone else getting knocked.

On top of Mekco being loyal, P was also loyal. He never snitched on nobody he worked with. He did them six years without making anyone else pay for something they all were on the streets doing. P lived by the Meek Mill lyrics:


“Welcome home, my nigga. It took you long enough to get here. We turning up thinking your ass wasn’t gonna show up to your own party,” Brandon said with his words slurring.

P gazed his way and gave him a funny look. Back in the day, P didn’t care too much for Brandon or his stepbrother Brian, and now they were celebrating his homecoming. P couldn’t believe that Mekco had recruited these fools to roll with his crew. P decided not to be petty and just enjoy his night. He gave him a nod and then turned toward everyone else.

Brandon wasn’t a fool, so instead of playing the tough guy, he sat there holding his drink like a bitch. His brother peeped everything and gave his brother a look that let Brandon know he should have said something. Brian hated how his brother was letting muthafuckas ho him.

Looking around at his old crew, Pierre couldn’t help but smile. “I miss y’all niggas. I couldn’t wait to get home and see y’all niggas for real doe. Sad to see a few didn’t make it, but only the strong will survive this game.”

“Damn, nigga, don’t tell me you done got soft on us over the years,” Mekco jokingly said.

“Right, this nigga giving out mushy-ass speeches and shit,” Face added.

Pierre couldn’t help but laugh at his best friend. “Man, fuck y’all niggas. Let’s get some more bottles around this bitch. A real nigga home.”

Everyone raised their drinks again and drank to a real nigga being home.

While everyone sat around enjoying themselves, Mekco pulled P to the side. “Ay, bro, I’ve been talking to this bad-ass shawty who’s over there, and she got her homegirl with her. After six years I know some pussy is what you need. These niggas good over here. Let’s bounce.”

Thinking about what Mekco just said, he drowned his throat with the alcohol, not letting the burning sensation faze him. Standing up to leave, he admitted, “I been around all niggas for six punk-ass years. I see the crew doing good, so yeah, let’s go see these bitches.”

Mekco shot Nicole a quick text letting her know that he was on his way over to her booth. “Follow me, my nigga. They over there.”

Nicole smiled as she placed her cell phone back into her handbag.

“Girl, I take it your boo on his way. That smile is not fooling nobody,” Erica said.

“I swear, when you’re in love and know that he loves you back just as much or even more, you can’t help but smile,” Nicole bragged.

Erica was happy for her friend and the love that she had found in Mekco. Nicole deserved to be happy especially after her last boyfriend, Denzel, dogged her out. After she dated him for five months, he had her believing that he was the one. But he couldn’t hide his true intentions with her after she gave up her virginity.

“Damn, nigga, is that your girl or is she the one for me?” Pierre asked when he noticed that there was only one girl at the table. He had to admit that baby girl was a li’l cutie.

Mekco smirked. “Calm down, nigga. That’s my fucking wife you over here lusting after. You wouldn’t even know what to do with that. I don’t know where her friend at, but she look just as good with her pretty brown skin.”

P shook his head. He was ready to see what the hype was all about.

“Hey, baby, what’s up?” Nicole asked as she stood up to give Mekco a hug and a passionate kiss. It was like no one was watching the way they showed their affection for one another. You would have never guessed that they were just together fifteen minutes ago.

Pulling away from her, Mekco turned toward P. “Hey, baby, this my bro P, and, P, this my baby Nicole.”

“What’s good, sis? You all right?”

“Hey, P, I’m happy to finally get a chance to meet you. Mekco talked so highly about you, I couldn’t wait until I could put a face with the name.”

“Now that we are all together, where is your homegirl?” Mekco questioned. He hoped Nicole’s best friend didn’t chicken out and go home. He knew she could be a good girl at times.

Nicole could tell that Mekco and P were worried about Erica’s disappearance. “She just went to the restroom. She should be back in a minute.”

After waiting for a good ten minutes and making small talk, Pierre excused himself and went over toward the bar. He was feeling like ol’ girl was on some bullshit, and sitting around watching his homeboy and his bitch caked up wasn’t in his plans as a good time. He took a seat and ordered a beer.

As he finally looked to his left, he saw a beautiful brown-skinned female. Matter of fact, she was drop-dead beautiful and had caught his eye. He tried not to keep staring, but it was hard for him not to do. The fitted blue dress that she wore hugged her body just right, and the splits on her side made him wonder if she wore any panties under the dress.

He finally picked up the nerve to walk over and shoot his shot.

“Excuse me, how you doing tonight?” he said nervously. Having been locked away for six years, he wasn’t sure if things still worked the same as they did before.

Erica lifted her head up from the bar counter and saw who was trying to get her attention. At first glance, all she saw was a thuggish-looking guy with tattoos covering up most parts of his body that showed and who probably just wanted sex, but she wasn’t giving shit up. After seeing his beautiful smile and pretty, platinum slugs, she couldn’t help but smile and reach her hand out.

“Hey, I’m Erica.”

“What’s up, Erica? I’m P.”

Erica stared at him strangely. “P, really? Do you have a real name?”

“Yeah, shawty, but we just met, and I can’t trust you with my government yet,” P said, laughing.

Erica couldn’t help but join him in a laugh. “I see you have jokes, Mr. P.”

After a good twenty minutes of conversation, they were joking and laughing together as if they were old friends. She laughed at so many jokes that she had forgotten all about her headache and feeling sick. The headache was what had her sitting at the bar in the first place. She couldn’t make it back to the booth where her friend was waiting for her.

Feeling her phone vibrate, Erica dug in her purse to get it. She looked down and saw that it was Nicole calling. “Hey, boo, what’s up?” she asked.

“Girl, where are you? Mekco’s friend was waiting for you to come back to the table. I asked you to do me one favor and you start acting like Chanel’s bogus self.”

“Nicole, don’t be mad. I got a li’l sick from those freaking drinks, so I took a seat at the bar. I swear, I couldn’t even make it back there toward the table. I’m at the bar getting myself together. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay, boo, don’t be long. Love you.”

“Love you too, Nicole.”

Nicole grinned, then hung the phone up. “She said she’d be back in a minute, but anyway, where P go?”

Mekco was leaning back with his eyes closed. He was faded and didn’t give a fuck where anyone was at. All he wanted to do was to get the fuck to the crib and lie up with Nicole.

Erica put her phone away. “I’m sorry. That was my homegirl. I was supposed to be meeting one of her boyfriend’s friends. I wish I could stay and talk a little longer, but I already promised not to flake on her.”

P laughed to himself. He knew exactly what she was talking about, and she was sitting there clueless. One thing that he could admit was that Erica was just as beautiful as her friend.

“Okay, shawty, that’s cool. So you think I could put my number in your phone? That way if shit don’t go right with ol’ boy, you could hit me up.”

P could tell that she was feeling him. She kept a smile on her face that was bright enough to put the sun out of business. She slowly pulled her phone back out and handed it to him. He quickly put his number in her phone. “Don’t forget to call me, okay, shawty?”

“I won’t,” she mumbled as she watched him walk off toward the restrooms.

Erica hated that she had to leave the bar and return to the booth where Nicole was waiting for her. It was a surprise, but she was actually feeling P. There was something about his thuggish ways that intrigued her. From his tattoos to his teeth, she was wishing it was the next day so she could call him. One thing that made her really like him was the fact that he kept her laughing.

Making her way back toward the table, Erica sat down and said hi to Mekco. He said hi back. He was sort of happy to see her because that meant they could finally go.

“So where’s your boy?” Erica dryly said.

“Man, your ass disappeared and hurt his feelings. There ain’t no telling where that nigga went,” Mekco said, causing the whole table to laugh.

Just then P walked up to the table. “What up doe?”

Erica looked at him strangely. “Oh my, did you follow me over here?” she frantically asked. She was hoping that he wasn’t crazy like the last guy Nicole tried to hook her up with.

P took a seat right next to her. He knew what she was thinking, but he thought it was funny to make her sweat. P would have kept fucking with her, but Mekco and Nicole couldn’t keep their laughter in.

“Don’t start tripping, Erica. This is my bro P.”

Erica gave the whole table a funny look before laughing herself.

“So I take it y’all two know each other?” Nicole asked with a smile. She could clearly tell that her friend was interested in P.

Erica had to admit, “Yeah, something like that. We sort of met at the bar.”

“Cool, now we can get the fuck out of here. Let’s go get some Coney then chill at my baby’s crib,” Mekco said. Everyone was down and quickly got up from the table.

“Erica, why don’t you go ahead and ride with P, and Mekco can ride with me since he didn’t drive here,” Nicole suggested.

Erica couldn’t control the face that she made. He was cool so far, but she wasn’t all too sure about riding with him by herself.

“Damn, baby girl. I’m not gonna bite your ass,” Pierre s. . .