Page 21 of Krist and Moanie
A true revelation in the dirt
The way she moves, that’s a sermon
Her hips preachin’ my rebirth
Got me killin’ the old me just to watch her soul emerge first.”
Saheed paused right there and the look on his face was priceless. “The way you just carried that shit into a mixtape about you being priceless is fucking genius! Do you have a title for this one?”
I shook my head. “Nah, not yet. I’ll get at you with it.”
“Please do, because this shit so cold I can’t even fathom how much this is about to eat. No shit, but you done blew my mind today, bro.”
I laughed at him. We talked for a while longer before I left and went to check in with my brother. I know I’d been a lil busy with Moanie and this mixtape, but I wasn’t too busy to not know my brother. Ever since he tweaked his ankle, he had been lowkey avoiding me. We talked, but he was home less and I didn’t much like that, especially because I didn’t like him damn near living with some chick and her mama. Before he knew it, he’d find himself as the man of their house and that was something I didn’t want. Jru was a teenager and he had room to stay that. He didn’t have to grow up fast.
I walked into the house and Jru was in his bedroom, probably getting ready to go play ball because the music wasblasting and he was rapping along. It was summer, so that was his usual thing.
I proceeded to his room and stood at the doorway before deciding to knock. He looked up and a smile similar to mine filled his expression.
“Alexa, pause,” he commanded loudly before looking back at me and pulling a shirt over his lanky body. “What’s up, bro?”
“Shit, I can’t call it. I’m checking in on you, seeing as how you’ve been lowkey avoiding me.” I was never one to beat around the bush or not say what I was thinking.Shit, he knew that.
He looked at me, eyes letting me know there was something and I wasn’t just tripping.
“Spit that shit, you know I don’t like suspense.”
“Mal is pregnant and she says it’s mine. I believe her, but the timeline don’t sit well.”
My eyes narrowed because maybe I should’ve fucking left well enough alone. This was for damn sure not something I wanted to hear. “Yo, what? I told you to wrap that shit up. As a matter of fucking fact, I buy your rubbers. How, Jru?”
“I don’t know, man. I do wrap my shit up.”
“Then if that’s true, it ain’t yours.”
“But she said condoms break.” He looked so naïve that I wanted to slap his ass upside his fucking head.
“They do, but what the fuck is the probability of that? Especially not with your young ass. How far along is she?”
“Three months.”
“Cool. Call her and tell her I want a DNA test. You can put that shit on me. Tell her I’m willing to pay for it too and tell her we’ll be by to go in the morning.”
He did as asked and I stood there silently listening with my arms crossed. As soon as he said that shit, she started to stutter, talking about she knew it was his and he should just trust her. I shook my head. My brother was torn, but I bet the lil nigga wasgrateful because after five minutes she broke down and told him it wasn’t his baby. During their spring break, when they took a break, she met somebody. That exact fucking somebody who told her from jump he wasn’t publicly claiming her.
“Yo, hang the phone up,” I instructed. By this point Malorie was crying and telling my brother how much she really loved him.
When he hung up, I just looked at him. I didn’t know anything I could’ve said would’ve made him feel better, but I was willing to try.
“Look, I ain’t gonna pretend to know what you going through right now because I don’t. All I will say is it’s better you learned now rather than in the labor and delivery room. You’re young, Jru, and you have a bright future ahead of you. Don’t let yourself get caught up doing adult shit when you’re not an adult yet. You got your whole life ahead of you. Stop moving so fast and enjoy it, because I guarantee when it’s really time to do that adult shit you’ll be wishing you could come back to this age.”
He looked at me, and for the first time since he got that peach fuzz on his chin, I felt like he heard every word I said and that was all I wanted. “I hear you, bro.”
“Good, now go block ol’ girl.”
He looked at me again, this time without blinking. Then he started tapping around on his phone. I assumed he’d done what I asked.
“You hungry?” I asked, truly at a loss. I wasn’t used to dealing with feelings and shit, so this was all new to me.
