Page 5 of Rocky

By the time the hospital took his symptoms seriously, it was too late. We sued them for negligence and a host of other wrongdoings and won a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. We put 75 percent of the money into a trust for RJ, and the other 25 percent was used to open the youth center.

RJ’s mother didn’t handle my brother’s death well and sunk into a deep depression. Not long after Roman died, me and my other brother, Russell, gained full custody of RJ. Collette had lost interest in being a mother and didn’t put up a fight, althoughwhen we won the settlement, she took us to court on some come up shit.

The judge knew what she was on, so it didn’t go very far. Although she was awarded visitation in the original custody agreement, she only saw RJ sporadically. He didn’t seem to care, but we knew her absence might affect him later in life.

“We need to find out if Nani cooked dinner.”

“She usually only cooks on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays. Today is Thursday, and I don’t want leftovers again.”

I chuckled because he was right. My grandmother only cooked the first few days of the week, and after that, we were on our own.

“You’re right. Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah. I’m starving because I played three basketball games. I was on fire, too.”

“I saw you out there dribbling circles around the kids. You ain’t have to do them like that, Nephew.”

“Yes, I did because they was talking crazy, Uncle.”

His response made me laugh. “I hear you, buddy. Go wait for me in the gym, and I’ll be out in five minutes.”

“Okay.” He left as quickly as he arrived.

I logged into my desktop and went to our student database. After looking up Briar’s name, I went to the parent contact information.

“Rue Abrams,” I whispered.

Based on the address, they only lived a few blocks from the center. We were located in a middle-class neighborhood, so I assumed she did okay for herself, especially since no name was listed under father.

“She probably ran him off with her bad attitude,” I mumbled before closing out of the program and shutting down my computer.

A few minutes later, RJ and I were cruising through the city on my motorcycle. He loved riding just as much as I did and couldn’t wait until he was old enough to have his own bike.

We arrived at the restaurant about fifteen minutes later. Once inside, we went to our favorite booth and waited for the server.

“I already know I want a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a lemonade,” he said.

“It sounds like you’ve been planning this visit all day.”

“Not all day, but some of it. Lunch at school sucked, and I’ve been hungry all day.”

I couldn’t do anything but laugh at RJ. He had no filter and said whatever was on his mind. He was a lot like his father at that age, which made me smile often.

“Did you have a snack at the center?”

“Yeah, but that wasn’t enough.”

“RJ, you know you’re part owner of the center with me and Uncle Russ, right?” He nodded. “You could’ve gotten another snack if you wanted.”

“I know, but none of my friends could have another snack, and I didn’t want to eat in front of my friends if they couldn’t have more.”

“That’s pretty cool of you, RJ. Most kids your age would only care about themselves.”

The server arrived to take our orders, and when she left, I couldn’t resist asking him about Briar.

“So, you cool with Briar?”

“Yeah, he’s my best friend, even though we only see each other at school.”

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