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the good shit lately, and I need to serve my people in the ’hood,” Rico said.
“Well it’s here. I got two bricks, and I’m going to need $50,000.”
“I got forty. I can pay you the rest in a couple of days.”
“Okay. I’ll let you deal with Dawg from now on because I got to make sure we keep getting what we need.”
“I see you’re playing the big-man role already,” Rico said, laughing.
“I don’t want to be the big man. The big man is the one who gets all the prison time. I want to be the one who gets all the money.”
Jamal showed Rico two brick-like packages. They reminisced for a few minutes before counting the $40,000.
***
    Dream was still upset by the way DeVon had treated her in the visiting room. He’d acted like an adolescent about some pictures she’d taken years ago. She blamed society for the double standard between men and women. It was acceptable for a man to engage in any kind of undesirable act, and society would forgive him. Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, and Jimmy Swaggart had all been involved in sex-related scandals. Initially the media was in a frenzy, but after a couple of months, the hype died down; the country forgave them, but the poor women involved were scorned.
    She wondered why men always dwelt on the past. She had never tried to investigate DeVon’s previous relationships. She was certain that she could easily dig into his past and come up with some skeletons, but she had no desire to. She wasn’t concerned about his past love life. She didn’t know whether she still loved DeVon. She missed him terribly though, and she needed to talk to someone. She decided to call her best friend, Keisha Ferguson.
    Keisha picked up the phone on the first ring. “What’s up, girl?” she screamed, which meant she must have looked at the Caller ID.
“Nothing much here. Just needed someone to talk to,” Dream said.
“You sound down. What happened?”
For the next twenty minutes, Dream told her all the details of her visit with DeVon. Keisha listened without interruption, and when Dream finished talking, Keisha commented, “He’s so damn childish.”
“That’s exactly what I said,” Dream replied, but she wasn’t exactly surprised that Keisha had taken her side, after all, they were best friends, and they did think alike.
“You know what? You need a vacation, girl. You haven’t been anywhere but to that damn prison, to work, and to your parents’ house. Why don’t you come with me to South Beach this Fourth of July weekend?”
“A vacation like that must be expensive,” Dream said.
“Well, I already have a room reserved. All you need to do is get an airline ticket.”
Keisha was right. Dream hadn’t been anywhere all summer, and a trip could be soothing. Dream thought about it for a couple of minutes before deciding she would go. “I’ll search the Internet for a deal.”
“Call me back and let me know what you come up with,” Keisha said.
***
    Jamal had dealt with Ruff for about three weeks, and had made nearly $50,000 in profits. Not bad money for less than a month of work. When he was in prison, he had heard that high-tech was the wave of the future, with some jobs making as much as $150,000 a year. He preferred pharmaceutical sales. There was no money like drug money , he thought. He had made enough to get the new E-Class Benz if he wanted. He had enough to buy some cheap real estate. He could even buy into a fast-food franchise. He decided to wait before he spent his money foolishly.
    Fourth of July weekend was coming up, and since this was his first summer of freedom in five years, Jamal decided he and Dawg would fly to South Beach for the weekend. Rappers, hustlers, and women from all over the United States would be down in Miami, and Jamal knew it would be live. I have to be there, he told himself. He had Dawg call Oceanside Car Rentals and reserve two convertible Porsches.
***
    Mark Pratt had been following Ruff since the day the $85,000 was seized. Ruff hadn’t