Between Friends Read Online Free PDF Page B

surveillance work could take as little as a day or as long as a month. It was a matter of the luck of the draw. So for the next four hours, we took turns watching the dilapidated house on Hollywood Road. I did more watching than Phil, whose snoring was starting to get on my damn nerves.
    Crackheads and dealers made their way in and out, oblivious to the fact that they were being watched.
    â€œGet up, dude. Ain’t that your CI?” I asked, nudging Phil with my elbow.
    â€œYeah, that’s him. Hit the lights.”
    I flashed the headlights twice, and we watched as Darius checked his surroundings before he started a sluggish jog in our direction. He probably couldn’t get up the speed to run because he was so big and sloppy, on top of the fact that his pants were down around his ass. When he approached the truck, I instinctively rested my hand on my gun.
    Phil rolled down the window. “Yo, what you doing over here?”
    He shook his head and looked up the street from where he’d just come. “Just chillin’. Ain’t nothing goin’ on over here. It’s just the same crowd.”
    Darius kept eyeing me, and I did likewise. I didn’t like dealing with a CI that I wasn’t familiar with, but this dude and Phil had developed a good relationship. So if my partner trusted him, then I had to trust him as well.
    â€œDamn,” Phil said. “Can’t you call someone? Let them know you’re looking for weight.”
    Darius frowned at him. “What, you think we all hang out playing Xbox and texting each other and shit?”
    I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
    Phil sank back in his seat. “Come on, Darius, I need something.”
    â€œLook, just gimme a couple days to try to come up with something. I might know somebody, a brotha named Twist. He always knows a little bit of something about everything. Let me see if I can catch up with him. Cool?”
    â€œA’ight, call as soon as he get at you,” Phil instructed.
    â€œNo doubt.”
    Phil rolled up the tinted window and looked over at me. “You ready to call it a night?”
    â€œWhatever, you slept most of the time,” I laughed.
    â€œTold you I was tired.”
    After I dropped Phil off at his car, I checked the time. It was pushing up on eight, but I decided to stop past my mom’s, anyway. I hadn’t seen her or my sister since I’d been in town. Plus I was starving, and a drive-through just wasn’t gonna cut it for me right now.
    I pulled into the tiny driveway in front of the even smaller house situated over in southwest Atlanta. I swear, when I was growing up, this house and yard used to be huge. Now it seemed so small and inconsequential. Back then, however, I wasn’t six foot two and 195 pounds.
    The light in the living-room was on, letting me know someone was up. I took a deep breath and killed the engine on the truck. Memories started flying at me like I was in a batting cage. Each one held its own dose of emotion. When I saw the curtains in the front window rustle, it was official.
    I was home again.
    I hopped out of the truck and made my way to the front door. Before I could rest my hand on the doorknob, my baby sister snatched the door open and wrapped her arms around my neck.
    â€œOh my God! Trip! When did you get here?” she shrieked.
    â€œI got in town a few days ago,” I said, walking into the house with Trinity still wrapped around my body.
    She slid off me and placed her feet on the floor and her hands on her full-sized hips. “And you’re just now coming by here? Mommy gon’ be mad.”
    â€œI was doing some surveillance work, couldn’t get away. This bust ruffled a lot of feathers.”
    She smiled big. “Well, now that my big brother is in town, it’s all good!”
    I cracked a smile. “Glad you have that much faith in me.”
    She looked around me, back at the front door. “Where’s your