Page 64 of Stay with Me

“Someone has to. Getting picked on made me want to do more for others.

“Yeah, we gave you a ton of shit. Sorry about that, man.”

I wave him off. I got over it. They were just as bad with each other as they were with me. I think at some point, we all became desensitized to the drama that comes with having three brothers.

“Do you remember that time when I kept giving you shit?”

I snort. “Which time? You’re always giving me shit. I think you gave me a wedgie with my diaper on the day I was born.”

“Shut the fuck,” he laughs. “I’m talking about that time when you earned all our respect. The day you made us proud of our little brother.”

I knit my brows as I look at him. I’m not sure when he’s talking about. Although I’m curious to know when I made my brothers proud of me. I know they love me, but I can’t say I can name a time when they’ve told me they were proud of me.

“I’m talking about Kimmie Dickens,” he says.

I knit my brows. I remember Kimmie, but I’m not sure how one of the most embarrassing moments in my life could have made him or anyone else proud of me.

“As your big brothers, what we love about you is the fact that you’re never anyone’s victim. Not only that, but you always make things right,” Prince says.

“Okay,” I drag out. “I still don’t get what Kimmie Dickens has to do with anything. You pantsed me in front of my crush while I was already trying to hide my boner from her.

“What about that made you proud? We were in the middle of a fucking pool party with half the high school there. Bro, I was on the verge of fucking tears,” I say in annoyance.

“Not that you had shit to be embarrassed about. Girls were chasing you down after that, not that they weren’t checking you before seeing what you were packing,” he says smugly.

“Whatever,” I mumble.

“I did feel bad after. I was sure you were going to tell Mom on me. We weren’t supposed to take you to a high school party with us in the first place. You wouldn’t speak to me or Lord for weeks.

“I had thought I went too far and you would never forgive me, but then you got me back. That shit was epic. You gained so much respect for that.

“It was smart and bold as hell because you still had to come home and live with me after that shit. I’ve thought twice about the pranks I’ve pulled on you since.”

Realization hits. I didn’t tell mom way I was so upset with my brothers. Prince pantsed me, but Lord set me up. He made sure I was talking to Kimmie in that tiny bikini to distract me from Prince coming.

I was mad at Bishop too because he didn’t stop them or warn me. If I wasn’t so excited to be at a high school party with my older brothers while talking to my crush, I probably would have seen it coming.

However, it was Prince I got back at. Back then he and Lord were so vain. I knew just how to embarrass him. I set up a cam in his bathroom and got footage of him and his morning routine.

I lucked out on a week when he had an acne flair up. I then paid one of the girls from his high school to play the video during morning announcements for everyone to see that my brother used makeup to achieve the flawless skin everyone thought he had.

They gave him shit at school for the rest of the year. He and Lord did back off the pranks for a while. I didn’t know they were proud of me for that. All I wanted was for them to stop embarrassing me in front of girls.

I snort. “What made you think of that?”

“You could have cried to Mom about it and got me into trouble. You could have allowed me to keep pulling pranks on you and did nothing, but you didn’t. You found a way to stop me and earned my respect.

“You becoming a cop. I always saw it as the same. You fix things for the violated. You always make things right.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

He reaches to pat my leg. “Now, about that favor I need.”

CHAPTER 25

Laughs

Knight

---