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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- 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEXoleP0aK
- 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.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVal6sDguNr
That’s the part that pisses me off the most.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU0yT2KccmV
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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.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyboAmDR8lS
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She walked in like she owned the block.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMd3KbXkrRV
Tight black jeans, boots heavy like she was ready for war, and them neon braids swingin’ like a weapon.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpcyoxxP1r0
Didn’t smile. Didn’t flinch.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡop8k3RgQjT
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.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDiQszj29q
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I was about to send security her way—until I saw what was on her screen.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡweRIL36s0e
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Camera feeds.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uCLGAKGsb
My feeds.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDEoo7nSO5
My damn security system.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoWVwpLcPF
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I moved in slow, calm, calculated.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBkEn842RG
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.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMdJPycn3F
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She didn’t even blink.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDXlrSXX6c
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“Maybe if your encryption wasn’t trash, I’d have more respect,” she said, eyes still on the screen.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3Ox7VYvFU
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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.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiLQC5XXOl
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She finally looked up. Eyes sharp. Cold. Beautiful in a way that was more threat than invitation.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybGYf4wwsi
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“You must be Saint,” she said.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTfr2qeK6Hf
Like she already knew everything about me.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ505EJUwJ30
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I remember thinking: She talks too slick for someone who should be dead.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡabJeu9KsbZ
Then again, I like slick.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1AnoMZoiL
And maybe part of me wanted to see how far she’d go.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYuWxh4h3I
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“And you are?”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xVsjYkFTi
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“Nova.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3TTwTjnhfh
Just that. Like it was enough.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYdy5mW4kQ
And it was.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4KadNkF0p
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She slid a flash drive across the bar.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCdEXMfxv8
“You’ve got a rat in your house. I’ll let you guess who. First one’s free. Next time costs.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwDevBeV2ad
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Then she got up. Walked out like the whole damn room didn’t freeze watching her pass.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuWMX1VM6Fd
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I let her go.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9FYZFfGV4N
Didn’t stop her. Didn’t chase.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6QdC6TOdKB
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But from that night on,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWKNQ1qq7dA
I watched her.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFDsriCu8K
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And every time her name came up,37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiAd1WZOx5
every time her fingerprints showed up where they shouldn’t—37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8npIlfWWBK
I felt it.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRYe7NnWyR
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A shift.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7srf4Y17i
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Like something wild had just stepped into my world and refused to be caged.
and then Add to home screen.