Power by Joy Deja King

Starbucks,” Deion grinned.
    “You over here talkin’ ‘bout Starbucks but yet you slicing up chicks. I still can’t believe you did that.”
    “Man, quit saying that. I ain’t in the mood for no damn lecture. Her nigga should’ve paid his bill and none of that shit would’ve happened. Let’s move the fuck on. So what did you want?”
    Popcorn leaned forward and pulled out a packet of heroin reading Happy Birthday and a picture of a birthday cake on display. “Nice…right?” Popcorn had a big Kool Aid grin on his face.
    “Put that shit up,” Deion snarled. He scanned the coffee shop.  The geeks were still pecking on their laptops, not paying attention.
    Popcorn put the packet away. “This shit right here is better than Lebron James,” Popcorn bragged like he created the shit.
    “What? Really?”
    “Man, the best shit I have ever ran across,” he stressed.
    “So you have more money for me?” Deion laughed.
    “What?”
    “You said if it was purer than we thought, you would give me more money. What, you got amnesia now?”
    “I’ll give you a couple more thousand.”
    “I’m just kiddin’ wit’ you dude. I was only giving you a reminder.”
    “Can you get more of this?”
    “Yes.”
    “This same exact dope?”
    “Pretty sure I can.”
    “If you can get this, we’ll be rich, nigga. I’m talkin’ rich as fuck!”
    “I can get it.”
    “When?”
    “In a few days.”
    “How much are you going to have?”
    “More than you can handle.”
    “The reason I asked is cuz I want to be a supplier to other niggas.”
    “A wholesaler?”
    “Wholesaler, supplier, whatever you wanna call it.”
    One of the geeks stopped typing and asked, “Do you know what time it is?”
    “Ain’t the time on your computer?” Popcorn popped, giving him the side eye.
    “Yeah, I forgot.”
    “Forgot my ass…Let’s go outside,” Popcorn said, ready to go.
    “Gimme a few days and we’ll be in business,” Deion confirmed once they were outside. Popcorn got his Kool Aid grin back at the sound of that and they went their separate ways.
    Chapter 13
    World Ablaze
    Isabella was staying in the same Penthouse Suite in the Four Seasons that she had stayed at before. When she arrived in town the first call she made was to Alex. She wanted to see him, and although he tried to play it ultra cool she could tell he wanted to see her too. When he arrived, unlike before she was fully dressed, yet just as alluring. Isabella was wearing a cobalt blue wrap dress that displayed the right amount of skin to pull a man in but also left something to the imagination. Her strappy open-toed heels elongated her shapely legs. Her jet-black hair was flowing loosely around her tiny accentuated waist.
    “Where is Joaquin?” Alex wanted to know as soon as he stepped in her suite.
    “I’m not sure where he’s staying. He didn’t want me to know. He said the less I knew the better off I’d be.”
    “What did he mean by that?”
    “From what I understand somebody Joaquin was supplying heroin to double crossed him. He went behind his back and started dealing with another cartel.”
    “I think he mentioned that to me.”
    “I’m sure. He seems to be telling anybody that will listen. It’s amazing how important loyalty is to him but he doesn’t have any for his wife. But I guess that’s how the game goes sometimes.”
    “And you want me to see you behind his back.  I don’t think that would be smart.”
    “How would he find out? I have no intention of telling him.”
    Alex walked to the other side of the room, grabbed a bottle of water from the dresser and sat at the table. “He said you would have something for me.”
    “Yes, I do.”  Isabella made her way over to the closet. Alex was mesmerized by how she moved with so much ease and sexiness, yet sophistication. All he could think of is what a fool Joaquin had to be to let a woman like Isabella slip through his fingers. She removed a shopping bag from the top of the closet