Promise to Keep it Trill Read online

  Promise to Keep it Trill

  B. Love

  #BTheBeast

  Copyright © 2021 by B. Love

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Preface

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Five years later…

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Epilogue

  The End!

  This is an ode to Memphis… the land of the hustlas… and some of the trillest hustlas of all…

  Preface

  Please note: This is NOT the typical B. Love romance novel. It is urban street lit with a love story intertwined. It has very vulgar language, violence, death, and just a lot of craziness. If you’d like to avoid this list of warnings, please choose a different title from my 100+ collection.

  Triggers:

  This book does contain fights, shootings, and death. Chapter 4 includes violence towards a child. Minimal details are given, but if this will trigger you, please skip chapter 4.

  1

  Kannon

  July 2015

  The whole city was turnt. Everybody came out to the heart of Downtown Memphis, Tom Lee Park, to celebrate Rico’s freedom. Kannon really only fucked with Rico off the strength of his brotherhood with Jason. To be honest, Kannon hadn’t trusted Rico from the moment Jason took him under his wing, but it didn’t matter. Jason was cautious and followed his gut, but he was also quicker to give a nigga a chance than Kannon was if they had heart. That had been the dynamic of their relationship since the duo had met over twenty years ago, and Kannon didn’t see it changing any time soon. For him, you started out with none of his trust and respect and had to build it. For Jason, you started with both and only had one chance to fuck up either.

  “Big brothas, listen.” Rico’s head shook from side to side as he provided a toothless grin. His eyes were glossy, low, and red, proof of all the weed and liquor he’d digested since they arrived at the park hours earlier. Really, they’d started pregaming before they even made it to the park.

  “I don’t know how y’all got the hood to come out to show a nigga love like this, but I shol’ appreciate it.”

  Jason shook Rico’s hand and pulled him in for a brotherly hug while Kannon merely nodded. The scent of barbecue permeated the air as all different kinds of liquor and blunts rotated through hundreds of hands. Kannon’s eyes scanned the crowd. He was always aware of his surroundings. Nothing too out of the ordinary caught his attention. People were rapping, dancing, talking and laughing… just having a good time. Kannon may not have cared about the reason they’d come together, but he was glad they were able to come together and not have no bullshit hovering over them.

  As soon as he saw Carmen, Kannon was convinced that shit was about to change. With an already irritated sigh, Kannon headed over to the wooden table where Makayla was seated. Her back was to them as she took her time rolling more blunts for their mini crew. Even with the Memphis Police Department heavily on the scene, expecting drama, they still did whatever the fuck they wanted to do. You had that ability when you were connected to Jason Weaver and Kannon Campbell.

  Sitting next to Makayla, Jason’s woman, Kannon looked her face over briefly. She was high, too, but not enough to not be fully cognizant. Her already lazy eyes were sitting a little low, and a small smile played on the corners of her mouth. Normally, Makayla wore a mug, and if Kannon were to be honest, she had a lot of shit to mug about. So it was always good to see a smile on her face, even if it was because she was high. His eyes scanned her frame briefly and he swallowed when she looked over at him.

  Truth be told, Kannon had always wanted Makayla. But the night the trio met, the stark differences between him and Jason were made evident. While Kannon took a moment to admire and observe before making a move, Jason immediately went in to devour his prey. Where Kannon was methodical and strategic, Jason was quick to fly off the handle with no thought. In business, this balanced them and made them good partners, but when it came to women, it always made for friendly competition.

  Makayla looked over at him as she took her time sealing the blunt with her tongue, and the shit had never been sexual to Kannon until he watched her do it. Still, it didn’t matter how attracted to the Werther’s Original caramel candy-colored beauty he was, out of respect for his best friend, his brother, Kannon would never allow himself to act on what he felt.

  “Who made you mad?” Makayla asked, and her voice instantly reminded him of his childhood crush, Lisa Bonet. It had that same low, soft, soothing feel to the tone. Often times, Kannon closed his eyes when she spoke, just to let that shit become his peace.

  “Why you think somebody made me mad?” he countered, looking her facial features over intently. With him sitting on the bench backwards and opposite of her, he had the perfect view of Carmen and everyone else while still giving Makayla his undivided attention.

  “Because you don’t leave Jason unless you’re avoiding some bullshit.”

  Kannon chuckled because that was the truth. The two were tied at the hip damn near every day all day. But between Rico and Carmen, he needed space before he said some shit that would cause Jason to do something they both would regret.

  “I’m sick of faking the funk with Rico’s fraudulent ass.” Makayla nodded in agreement. “And Carmen is here. I’on know who in the fuck invited her.”

  Makayla’s hand absently went to his thigh to calm him before she handed him the blunt.

  “We know nothing will go down with Rico until he shows Jason who he really is, and you know I’m not going to let Carmen cause you any trouble. I’ll fold her ass up on this good Saturday real quick before I let her do that.”

  Kannon chuckled as he lit the blunt. It was no secret that they had a one for all and all for one mentality in their crew. Any issues they had with females, Makayla and her cousins would handle, and any issues they had with a nigga o
ver anything… Kannon and Jason handled with no hesitation. If it were up to Kannon, he’d keep Makayla out of the streets and this lifestyle… put her on a pedestal like the Queen she was… but she was wild as fuck before she’d even linked up with them, so there was no changing that now.

  Puffing the blunt twice, Kannon’s vision returned to Carmen. She was talking big shit to Jason – Kannon could tell by her body language. Her chest was poked out, arms crossed over it, head tilted, and she had a smile on her face. She must have thought she was bad with the slaw-ass crew of niggas standing behind her. They were no threat. No nigga in Memphis was.

  With an irritated sigh, Kannon hit the blunt once more before handing it to Makayla.

  “Let me go handle this shit,” he grumbled as he stood.

  “I’m coming with you,” Makayla informed him as she accepted the blunt and took a hit.

  Kannon knew there was no point in telling her no, so he remained silent as they walked over to where Jason, Rico, and two other men were standing. The first thing he heard out of Carmen’s mouth was…

  “I don’t know why you protecting this deadbeat ass nigga, Jason. For real! He got a whole ass daughter out here that he don’t do shit for. And y’all worship him like he a fuckin’ King!”

  Jason’s head tilted as his jaw clenched. He wasn’t the arguing type. Really, he wasn’t the talking type. All it took was the right word or move to set him off, and he was clearing the whole building out. Kannon had always been the peacemaker that tried to smooth things out before shit went left, but make no mistake about it, he was just as deadly, if not more, than Jason. Jason may have offed a nigga with one shot to the head because he was reckless and angry in that moment… but Kannon would sit back, let shit marinate, and think about all the ways he could make his enemies suffer before he put them out of their misery.

  As always, Kannon deflected from Carmen’s accusations. It wasn’t that he was a deadbeat father, and it irritated the fuck out of him that she was always trying to make him look that way.

  “I’m only going to tell you this once, Carmen,” Kannon warned. “Get the fuck outta here before I give you the static you lookin’ for.”

  Carmen smirked, eyes briefly zeroing in on Makayla as she stepped between Kannon and Jason.

  “Fuck you, Kannon. I’m not going anywhere. I want everybody in this motherfucking park to know that your daughter, Kendall, has never seen her father in real life! These bitches you be fucking off with know you a deadbeat? They know you ain’t gon’ do shit for them or their kids if you get them pregnant?”

  Jason took a step in her direction but Kannon’s arm in the center of his chest stopped him. If it was one thing they didn’t tolerate, it was disrespect. They didn’t give a fuck about how people perceived them because they were true to who they were, but you weren’t going to talk shit in their faces and not deal with the consequences.

  Even though Carmen was lying, Kannon couldn’t go back and forth with her. “I don’t have a daughter by you or anyone else, Carmen, but if I did, your ass don’t be on this rah-rah shit when I hand you that money on the first of the month.”

  Her brows wrinkled and arms dropped from her chest. Kannon gave her five thousand dollars faithfully on the first of the month to take care of Kendall. Though he’d never taken a DNA test, Kendall looked just like him. In Kannon’s heart, he knew Kendall was his, but he’d never tell the world that. Kannon had never wanted children while in the streets, and Carmen telling him she was on birth control was the only reason he didn’t faithfully use a condom. Even when he dipped in raw, Kannon pulled out, but all it took was one slip up.

  That slip-up didn’t negate the fact that Kannon’s lifestyle wasn’t set up for children, or a woman he loved for that matter. If his enemies knew about his weaknesses and soft spots, they would capitalize on them, and it didn’t matter what Carmen said or how she felt… he’d never let anyone besides his crew know he had a child out here. His plan had always been to reach out to Kendall when she was eighteen to let her know the real about why he’d chosen to protect her by staying out of her life, but Carmen was making it hard as hell for him to keep his plans and promises to himself.

  “I’m not going to repeat myself,” was all Kannon offered.

  “So you’re not going to acknowledge my baby? Again?”

  Stepping close enough for their bodies to touch, Kannon whispered into her ear, “I told your stupid ass this is for her own good. I will not let anyone bring her harm trying to get to me because you want to be known as my baby mama. Try some shit like this again and see if I send that payment, let you feel like the single mama you swear you is.”

  Carmen stepped back, rearing her arm to slap him, but before she could, Makayla’s hand was wrapping around her neck and slamming her body down onto the grass.

  “See what you did to yourself?” Jason taunted through his smirk as he looked down at Makayla landing blow after blow. “Now she ’bout to beat yo’ ass.”

  “Arr—ah!” Carmen yelled as she tried to shield herself from Makayla’s blows. “Arron… ge—get her off me!”

  As soon as one of the men that had come with her tried to grab Makayla, all hell broke loose. In less than three seconds, Jason had pulled his gun from his waist and sent two into his head. Before his body could drop, Kannon’s gun was drawn and blasting, too. The last thing he wanted was for them to be catching bodies in broad daylight, especially with MPD on the premises already, but this was the kind of shit that happened whenever Jason was around.

  Jason grabbed Makayla, leaving Carmen knocked out with her body stretched out flat. Not to Kannon’s surprise, Rico had dipped as soon as the shots began to ring out. He’d swear it was because he’d just gotten out and wasn’t trying to go back, but jail was a part of their lifestyle, so that was no excuse. As they all ran in different directions, Jason yelled out which safehouse he’d be at while Makayla shot him a wink with a smile.

  All Kannon could do was chuckle at her crazy ass. Jason was his best friend, but Makayla… Makayla was something else. She was his angel and protector in a different kind of way. Jason may have gone to bat for him physically, hell, they both did for one another, but Makayla had a habit of protecting his heart from no-good-ass women in a way that made him feel like, under his mother, she would be the only woman he’d ever be safe with…

  2

  Jason

  MPD had caught Makayla slipping. It didn’t matter what went down over the weekend, she was dedicated to her Early Head Start school. She loved her babies and refused to let them living in low-income parts of the city keep them from being prepared for Kindergarten. Bright and early Monday morning, she made her way to work, and by lunchtime, she was being arrested for assault. Honestly, Jason didn’t expect Makayla to have a warrant, otherwise, he would have made her sit her ass down somewhere.

  It wasn’t the first time she’d beat a bitch’s ass, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. Carmen was scandalous, though, and she’d pressed charges against Makayla as soon as she was awake and alert. To her credit, she hadn’t told the police who shot those fatal shots, but that wasn’t enough for Jason to not want to have her handled.

  What Jason couldn’t understand was why she didn’t have a bond. The assault charge was petty compared to the charges he and Kannon were charged with. It didn’t surprise him to see two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder attached to his name because of what happened at the park, but Makayla’s charge and lack of a bond wasn’t sitting well with him. When he found out about his warrants, he’d already planned to leave the city and lay low for a while until shit blew over, but he couldn’t do that while Makayla was still locked up.

  When his lawyer arrived at the safehouse, Jason made sure no one had followed him before locking up and leading him to the living room.

  “Explain this shit to me,” Jason ordered, plopping down on the couch.

  The wooden cabin wasn’t just a hideout from the law, but it was one of hi
s favorite places of peace. He’d come here whenever he had a lot of shit on his mind. Winter or summer, he’d let the fireplace crackle while he sipped some brown liquor and smoked a blunt… and stayed until shit made sense in his mind.

  “You and Kannon have warrants. The list is growing as time progresses. They are trying to hem you up with everything they possibly can to make sure something sticks.”

  Last time Jason checked, he just had the attempted murder and murder charges, but as he refreshed the page, he noticed they were adding more counts because the shooting was done in a crowded space with bystanders. The bullshit weapons and public nuisance charges he wasn’t even worried about.

  “I’on give a fuck about this. I wanna know why Mak doesn’t have a fucking bond,” Jason clarified. Though his face was stone and his voice was calm, he was raging on the inside. He needed to get Makayla out – now. Yeah, she could handle herself, but she didn’t belong in jail, especially for protecting one of them.