Page 15 of My Brother's Keeper
The way my nerves and guilt were eating me alive, I couldn’t muster up the courage to get the fuck off the bike. I had parked right in front of the open window to see people casually dining and enjoying a beautiful night with either loved ones or a significant other. When my eyes landed on her, I noticed she was sitting alone, and that right there made me suck up whatever I was feeling to see to it she wasn’t alone.
I headed into the building with the weight of everything on my shoulders. My feet felt heavy, and so did my heart. A nigga needed a drink, at least one, to take the edge off. When I reached the table and stood in front of her, she smiled brightly. “You made it,” she muttered.
Symphony, the girl I had wanted since high school, the pretty ass girl who saw no one, was now seeing me. “If you call, I’ll come running,” I replied.
I knew she thought I was full of shit, but a nigga was serious as hell. She smirked. “Are you going to stand or sit?”
She had a nigga’s head gone. I shot her a quick smile as I sat. “My bad. I see you're into the fancy shit.”
She shrugged. “I mean, it can be better, but I’m not complaining. I like it here. Have you been here before?”
I froze. Did I want to share my past with her? Did I want her to feel sorry for a broken nigga like me? I stopped the waiter that was passing by because before I allowed her to dig into a nigga’s closet, I needed a drink.
PEANUT
The way my arms were swinging on the dudes started to be uncontrollable. My fists were my voice, and I was belting with each blow I sent to one of these niggas. This was another example of why Mison had become a problem. This fight was because of his actions. One drunken night, he wrote a check his ass couldn’t cash. It was my very first race, and I wasn’t ready. When we lost, Mison looked at me like I had purposely done it, but he knew he had fucked up.
When I started riding, it was purely because my big brothers were doing it. Mison learned from one of the neighborhood kids, and he taught Zay. I learned by sneaking on Mison’s bike; he wasn’t around. When he found out at first, he was so pissed, but later showed me the right way. That bike was his life, it was the one thing my mother had used her entire savings to get for him. Then, after she died, he went on a spiral and got into an accident. He said he wasn’t drunk, but Zay and I knew he was.
As I went to throw another blow, I felt my body being pulled backward. “Not today, you hoodlums need to leave,” I heard someone say.
When I glanced over, two security guards were trying to tame Dio, but he was working their ass. “Get your fucking hands off me!” he shouted.
Dio shoved one of them so hard that he flew back. When he caught his balance, he began to tug at his belt.
“He has a gun!” someone shouted.
Everyone in the parking lot started screaming and scattering. My eyes searched for Alyse, but I didn’t see her. I felt a tap on my arm to see Dio giving me the head nod, and I knew that was my cue to leave. However, I couldn’t leave Alyse if she were still here. I searched for her car, and it was gone. I knew that I had fucked up by fighting, and it probably scared her off.
Although I felt like I should have stayed, I hopped on my bike and took off behind Dio. We sped through the streets with no destination. “Who were those niggas?” Dio came in on the headset.
“Th-the-they wa-wa-w-were—”
“You know what nigga, never mind.”
I wanted to shoutfuck you,but shit, I knew that alone wasn’t even worth it. When we pulled up to the red light, three bikes pulled up on the side of me. My head swiveled toward Dio, who nodded slowly. “So, them niggas ride?” he asked me.
I nodded. I knew what type of time Dio was on, and I was ready for whatever. The guys from NTR revved up their bikes, signaling they wanted the smoke. I glanced back at Dio, who began revving his bike. Samara wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. This nigga was off one to even consider the shit with his girl on his bike, but it was clear she was on the same type of time. “You better smoke their ass, baby,” she said in the helmet.
I didn’t know the full story of Samara and Dio, but seeing her support him the way she did gave me hope that I, too, would have the same support. Would it be Alyse? I didn’t know, but Iknew whoever the girl was needed to ride for me just as such because giving up riding wasn’t an option.
I revved my bike as I turned to the nigga from NTR. I held up two fingers, which let him know we were doing two miles. My head slowly turned back toward the light. Green light.Go!
I burnt rubber and took off.Swerve left, cross over Dio, swerve right.
“Oooo shit, little nigga move like a leopard!” he shouted.
Dio swerved to my side as he had now taken the lead. One of the guys from NTR swerved his bike, tapped my tires, and sent my bike further to the left into oncoming traffic. I gear-switched and swerved low to my right as I got in front of him and hit the corner. “Fu-fu-fuck, ni-ni-nigga, al-mu-mu-most hit m-m-m—”
“Me!The nigga almost hit you. Don’t worry about it. I got you, baby, hold on,” Dio snapped.
He slowed down, hit his brakes, turned around, and took off head-on toward them. I didn’t know what he was on, but the nigga was tripping. I stopped to turn to watch. He was going head-on with one of the niggas from NTR. They were only inches apart when Dio’s bike leaned low as he spun, making his tires hit the oncoming bike, sending the nigga flying into the street. The sound of him laughing wildly and Samara screaming filled the helmet.
The other riders didn’t even bother to continue the race as they hopped off their bikes to help their partner. Dio rode until he reached me. “Let’s get the fuck out of here. I need to get us back to campus. You good, my nigga?” he asked.
I nodded. I didn’t know what would come of tonight’s events, but I did know I needed to make it up to Alyse.
SYMPHONY
