So it would be a war. Not between two rappers. That war had sizzled out. Both sides were sick of losing money and scared of dying.

But the Dockside King and the Seaside Jesus. Those two had nothing to lose. They were in it.

Baka travelled back to the west coast using...

"His name is Baka."

Danny said smoothly before taking a sip of from his  Coors Banquet. He was drinking a 16 oz can. Thought that the 12oz was too small but tallboys were for drunks and brutes.

"How do you know that?"

Danny gave Blayne a serious look. Didn't answer.

The Kid was in...

Keith got an Egg McMuffin with sausage. Apparently it sounded good to the other two because they both got them two. And with five hashbrowns. Baka and Keith wanted two. Dave was okay with one.

They didn't drive right away. Sat in the car and ate. It was safer that way.

"You're...

21 can you do something for me

BAKA NOT NICE was singing this line on repeat. He didn't know any of the other words. He just kept singing loud 

21 can you do something for me?

And then would go on to mumble the next lines. the right melody but the words...

"Ayeee Keith why the fuck won't you drive, pussio?"

Keith looked over non chalant. He was starting to gain some weight back. After being stuck in that cell wasting away. BAKA was feeding him and Dave well.

"I did enough driving for three lifetimes."

BAKA kissed his teeth. "Excuses. That's all you got...

Keith had definitely heard that name before.  Drake .

If he wasn't mistaken, Drake was quite a popular musician. Not that Keith had ever listened to his stuff, but he heard people on earth talking about Drake when he returned to earth.

This Drake was definitely not a local act at your...

Dave had been on the road now for six hours. He'd be at the Canadian border in the next hour.

He would have to stop before hte border to take off his  bulletproof vest. He had it on during the entire drive. Excited him. But it wouldn't be a good look...

The other bag was a duffel bag.

Dave didn't dare open it until he had privacy. He stepped quickly. The plastic bag coiled and digging into his fingers. The  duffel bag he carried, slung over his right shoulder. He gripped the strap with all the might of his right hand and...

Shane held the receiver to his ear for a minute after the line went blank on the other side.

What in the world was that? he wondered.

He put the receiver down. Leaned back into the squeaky, worn, synthetic leather office chair to give his belly breathing room.

Leaning back he could stare...

21 can you do somethin' for me.?
can you do somethin' for me?
21. can you do something for me?

"What the hell are you saying?"

Aaron looked over. Alan couldn't see his eyes through the dark sunglasses.

"Rapping. I'm rapping."

"Is that even the words?"

"I don't know all the lyrics. But it's basically like that....

Ear buds didn't always need to be uncomfortable. Not if you spent 150 dollars on them. Then they'd slide right in. Rubber heads shaping to her ear. Tulsa didn't go anywhere without them anymore. A gift from her high school best friend who had surprised her with a visit before...

Come the end of the month he thought about a lot of things. But one thing he thought a lot about was the money that got direct-deposited into his bank account. Soon he would not care about this event as it would become just a regular part of life, like...

Before summer I learned you were going to Guatemala. This made me smile. Root for you.

Last week I learned you were in Vermont through Trisha. Training some research assistants or something like that.

This morning I learned that you were dead.

You were always my night friend. Not night-life, but night...