Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 40037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Everyone believed Dream Lake to be haunted.
After a while, the lake and surrounding area went wild and empty for a long time. The property costs dropped to almost nothing.
That resulted in my great-great grandfather and others buying up incredibly cheap land around Dream Lake. In this Mansion, there was a framed picture of an old news article. The title proclaimed, “Crazy Negroes Buy Property Around Haunted Lake.”
And the newspapers and city hadn’t overexaggerated.
There really were ghosts all over this property. Luckily, they only came out at night and none ever bothered us.
Meanwhile, the Killer Crows were created by my ancestors and other Crownsville residents.
Our mission was to protect the interests of black people in Paradise and even surrounding areas. When the government came through to try to take our land from all of those we loved, we fought back, legally and illegally. When racists tried to start that Ku Klux Klan bullshit up in Paradise, Killer Crows shut it down within days.
In this age of police brutality and the trending names of bloodied black women and men shot by cops, none of that craziness occurred in my city.
If a cop unlawfully shot any black person in Paradise, it didn’t matter if the person was with Killer Crows or not, we would come through and deal with it.
And no official in Paradise wanted to mess with us or the Syndicate.
So when a cop spotted a black person and pulled them over, they came correct and had lots of respect.
That went the same with other forms of discrimination. It didn't happen in the West and if we heard about it in other parts of Paradise, we were right at the discriminator’s doorstep, letting them know how things were going to continue in the future.
Therefore, it was all on my shoulders to maintain strong Killer Crows. My fucking up would not only be disrespectful to my ancestors, but it could also adversely affect other blacks in the city.
I will keep my mouth shut for now. And figure out who I am as a Chairman, before making major moves.
Noise sounded behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder.
My butler Frederick strolled over. “The Board is ready, Chairman.”
“Good. Send my people in.” I looked back at Dream Lake. “I won’t head down until my inner circle is with me.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
My stomach twisted with anxiety.
I pushed it away as much as I could and sighed.
Nobody thinks I can lead, but I’ll show these motherfuckers.
3
Blast Them
Kashmere
I
continued to watch the crows play over Dream Lake.
My number one, Rue walked up to me, dressed in a red skirt suit.
On my first day as chairman, I tried to hire the best possible team, taking a page from my siblings’ books.
Rue had served as Romeo, my brother’s number one for five years. Rue had also proven her loyalty and impeccable work ethic.
Plus, she was smart as fuck. In college, she’d majored in psychology. Then, she’d gone to graduate school for business management and completed her doctorate with honors. Therefore, I made her my number one too.
Rue smiled at me. “You look magnificent.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
“The body is an instrument of communication.” Rue assessed me more. “Our appearance is an exceedingly successful vehicle for non-verbal communication.”
“Basically, sometimes you will have to show a little cleavage and leg.” My number two, Dane stepped onto the balcony. He had the features of a black angel—rich brown skin, sculpted model face, and tattooed muscular arms and chest.
Today, he donned a designer red suit with a black shirt and tie.
I had grabbed Dane from my sister Chanel’s old team. He’d been her number three, when she took leadership. Before that, he managed her security team and helped with strategic decisions.
Dane glanced my way and whistled. “Go on with your fine ass.”
My number three, Merik appeared, holding his red machine gun with the gold tip. He had dark brown skin, always wore a humorous expression, and loved to comb his long black beard with his fingers.
Merik was my cousin and best friend.
Our mothers birthed us a week apart. Therefore, we played together our whole childhoods as our mothers would meet and gossip.
In our teens years, we solidified our friendship and always hung together. Merik was the only thing that kept me stable in this insane world. He would kill for me, and I would cut off heads for him.
Grinning, Merik looked me up and down. “You’re wearing a skirt and showing off your cleavage? What the fuck, Kash?”
“When Chanel ruled, she tried to dress masculine so they could forget that she was a woman.” I shook my head. “I want the Board to know from the very beginning that I am young, female, and proud of it all. I won’t try to pretend to be some wise old guy.”
“Fuck the Board.” Merik gestured to the red machine gun. “I could go in there and blast them for you.”