CHAPTER FIVE
1999 – On The Road To The Riches With Diamond Rings
Okay, so Mundo was being taken out of the everyday hustle by Tío Bolo. Called up to the big leagues. All good, honestly. It was gonna happen at some point. I just figured we’d have a few more years running shit together before the inevitable amicable parting of the ways.
And if I’m really gonna try to tap into my feelings, I never wanted this to be forever. I always assumed that there’d come a point where I’d say, “Fuck this shit. What the fuck am I doing, cleaning up after someone else’s criminal enterprise? I need to get myself into Business school and find a legit hustle.”
And hand to God, I always figured I’d get to that point long before Doe ascended his throne as the Crown Prince of Panama. I’ve never been one to armchair quarterback, but I really figured Bolo would wait 2 or 3 years before pulling him out of Brooklyn- like, wait until Mundo was pushing 28, 29. You know, ride the wave of all the smooth money-making work he had going on between Mundo, Hopeton and me. But I guess he and Mundo's parents had a conversation, decided it was better to get him outta Dodge earlier rather than later, which is, fine -fuck it- great for Doe. It’s all he ever really wanted, and ’d always known that.
And here I was for delph, feeling like I was the one stuck holding the bag, because I didn’t have a plan. And I didn’t have a Tío Bolo to “rescue” me from the hood.
Running a quick assessment, it seemed like I had two options. The immediate option was to usurp the power vacuum caused by Mundo’s exit, align myself with Hopeton to gain some stability and have someone with some fucking sense to bounce ideas off of and, finally, assess whether or not to shut down HQ and cut Biz, Lucci and that crazy white girl loose.
The other one was to get the fuck out with the little bit of money I had saved up and apply to Brooklyn College. Work on getting a Masters in International Affairs or Urban Planning.
I wasn’t without options.
I was just short on time.
