Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. Ashley

part of the reason why I gave Free my blessing regarding you is because I knew that he would do anything to give you the world. I knew that he would take care of you, and he has. He just finished doing a bid, so it’s gon’ take him a minute to get back on his feet. Until then, you have to hold him down. You know that I’m gon’ help you in any way that I can, and Free don’t have to know about that. He’s a real man, and you belong to him now. He ain’t gon’ want no other man taking care of his home…. It don’t matter that I’m your daddy. So this can be our secret.”

      Jones reached in his pocket and handed Six two thousand dollars, enough to pay her rent, and then continued. “I know Free had quite a bit of change saved up, but he paid that price for his freedom. Those damn lawyers will do that to you. The important thing is that he’s out. You don’t know what it’s like being a young black man with a record, baby girl. Your daddy knows about that, so I can relate to what Free is going through. Don’t sweat him…. Just ride with him. Let him get used to breathing this free air again. Once he gets used to being home, everything will fall into place.” He stopped talking to puff on the joint while Six sat in his old La-Z-Boy, absorbing her father’s words.

      “Is that all that’s bothering you?” Jones asked his daughter, noticing her contemplation.

      Six nodded her head and replied, “Yeah, Daddy, that’s it. I’m good; I just got a lot on my mind.” Six had decided on the way there not to tell her father about their run-in with the Russians. She didn’t want him worrying, and she also didn’t want her father confronting the Russians. She knew that he didn’t care how big or dangerous Claude’s operation was—her father would kill them or die in the process for laying hands on his little girl. In his day, he was a notorious murder for hire and would put in work if he had to. No, it’s better if I keep that to myself, she thought as she rose from her seat and hugged her father.

      “I love you, Daddy. Thanks for everything.”

      “I love you too, baby girl,” he said in between tokes. “Tell Free to come see me. He’s been out for a couple days now, and he ain’t come to holla at your old man. I need to talk to him about something.”

      “I will,” Six replied as she walked toward the door.

      “Six!” Jones called out.

      “Yeah, Daddy?” she said as she turned around to face him.

      “Word on the street is Free owes the Russians a lot of money. You need to be careful,” he warned her.

      “You know how niggas talk in the streets, Daddy. Everybody spreading rumors. Free is good,” Six replied quickly. She didn’t realize that he already knew about Free’s beef with the Russians. For him to know about it meant that it was traveling down the hood grapevine and she knew that couldn’t be a good thing.

      “Yeah, I hear you holding your man down, not wanting to put his business out. I already know the deal so there ain’t no need to lie to me. Those Russian mu’fuckas ain’t nothing to play with.”

      “I hear you, Daddy.”

      “I’m serious, Six. Be careful. The best way to get to a man is through his woman. Always remember that. Do you still have the pistol I bought you for your eighteenth birthday?”

      Six lifted her pants leg and revealed the tiny .22 pistol that was strapped to her ankle in a holster.

      “That’s my girl. Make sure Free comes to see me and soon.”

      He kissed Six on her forehead and she walked out the door. Just as she stepped off of his porch she saw a pearl-white Rolls-Royce pull up in front of her father’s house. Who is driving a Royce through the hood? She asked herself as she made her way to her car. A dark-skinned dude with a five o’clock shadow stepped out of the vehicle. He was clean in a white linen button-down and matching baggy linen shorts. Six silently wondered what the guy was doing there to see her father. She could feel his eyes watching her from behind the designer shades he wore and she turned her head to avoid his gaze as she passed him. He nodded a hello at her as he stepped to the side to watch her walk by, but she disregarded him without acknowledgement. She was too busy thinking about her father’s warning regarding the Russians.

      Her father’s words kept playing in her head and Six was grateful for his wisdom. He was always there when she needed him and he always made her feel better when she had a problem. The simple fact that he had warned her about the Russians told her that they were dangerous and made her think about their intrusion that morning. If we can pay off the Russians, everything will be okay.

      Six began plotting ways for them to come up. She knew that they needed a hustle, she just didn’t know what it would be. It was clear that Free couldn’t enter the dope game. There was too big of a risk associated with it. Free would need to move some serious weight in order to achieve that goal. The dope game is out. I can’t see my baby get locked up again, so we definitely not fucking with that. We’re in this together. I know Free is gon’ try to carry this by himself, but I’m not taking no for an answer. We have to get this money.