Free Love/Fate by Tracy Brown Page A

understand how you could be so sloppy.” Ingrid couldn’t help leveling with her son. “I know you had to expect that these clowns out here would get sick of seeing you on top. You know the streets only love you until you start doing
too
good. Then they hate you. You gotta watch your back. You should have been expecting them to come to your door eventually, and for that reason you never should have had shit in your house.”
    Born looked at his mother. His eyes pleaded with her to save this conversation for later. He wasn’t in the mood for this so soon after being sprung. She grasped the meaning in his stare, and closed her mouth, driving the rest of the way in silence. As they pulled up in front of the house, Ingrid turned to her son. “I cleaned up as best I could, but the place is still pretty messed up.” Born had expected that the police had trashed his home during their raid, and he was grateful that his mother had used her spare key to straighten up his home as much as possible. He thanked her, gave her a kiss on her soft cheek, and climbed out of the car.
    Ingrid watched Anisa in the backseat, looking terribly upset that she’d been forced to spend the night in jail. She sat there, not budging as she waited for Born to open her door and help her out of the car. The expression on her face was that of someone who was suffering. Ingrid, knowing that her son would take all the weight, and that Anisa wouldn’t have to take a fall in the end, didn’t like how the young woman was portrayingthe role of the victim. Anisa’s lips were pouty, and she had her darkest sunglasses on her face, like she was at a funeral or something. Ingrid knew that if you want to be a hustler’s wife you need to be able to roll with the punches, and take things for better or worse. Anisa didn’t seem to have what it took to stand the test of time. Ingrid took note of this, and added this to her list of reasons for not particularly liking her son’s new girlfriend.
    Born opened the car door, and Anisa stepped out and bid his mother good-bye. They walked into the house, and both went to take much needed showers. By the time Anisa emerged from hers, Born was hanging up the phone after a conversation with Grant. Born was not disappointed. Grant had made his case sound a lot less grim. He explained that due to the quantity of drugs they’d found and Born’s previous arrest record, he would have to do some time in jail. But the judge had called in a favor and the prosecution was seeking far less time than the five years Born had previously been facing. Now Born was looking at a one-and-half-year bid, which he eagerly accepted. The charges against Anisa would be dismissed. He thanked Grant for his help, called Burnett and instructed him to accept the plea deal. He could tell that Anisa was relieved to hear that she would be off the hook. Born, on the other hand, spent the next few weeks preparing for his incarceration and passing his torch in the streets for the duration of his absence.
    Now Born wished he had a crew behind him—someone he could trust to hold shit down in his absence. As much as he hated to have to do it, he went back to his old hood and got in touch with his boys from Arlington. Martin was still locked up on the attempted murder charge. So Born called on Chance and Smitty. He explained what Burnett had told him, and turned over the buildings in Arlington to them. His only condition was that they hold it down for him and welcome him back when his bid was over. The three of them spent an evening together like they had in the good old days—drinking and reminiscing, and burying all their old hatchets. He was confident when he left that his cronies would wield their power well. He put Omar in charge of Park Hill. It was an operation that was running smoothly. And since Omar was one of Dorian’sold cronies, he trusted him. Also, he had the power of Dorian’s