Page 22 of My Brother's Keeper
She shook her head. “No, stand on what you're about to say because the people want to know.” She smiled.
He didn’t crack a smile or sweat. He sat back in his chair as he gazed at her. “I would,” he paused. “Ifshe is worth sacrificing for. Issheworth breaking all the rules for? Family, I mean, I can’t call it.”
“You heard it yourself, ladies. He is willing to bend a little.”
“I’m not doing any bending, but I will bendher.” He winked at her. “What about you, Piggy? What are you willing to sacrifice?”
The way they stared at each other was weird. It was hard to tell if they were fucking with each other or if this was all for the show. A text popped up from Alyse telling me she was done. As badly as I wanted to continue to listen to them go back and forth. I would much rather be chilling with Alyse.
MALI
The sun had set, and I decided to see what Diamond wanted. I just got my new phone, and this nigga was blowing my shit up. I stopped at a nearby gas station to grab some gum because the last thing I wanted was for a nigga to talk about me drinking. I jogged into the store and walked down an aisle to see if I could find a travel-size mouthwash when I spotted Scooter’s stripper bitch walk in. I dropped my head and shook it.
I hadn’t had any contact with the nigga and was praying he'd lay off, but seeing her let me know that the trouble Scooter was brewing was still lingering. She acted as if she didn’t see me as she walked straight back to the drinks. I hurried, grabbed the mouthwash and gum, and placed them on the counter. The cashier rang me up, I grabbed my shit and walked outside.
When I saw Scooter leaning against my bike, I knew there was no escaping his ass. “The drunken God, Mison Mali Keyton!” he shouted.
“Fuck!”I mumbled.
I made my way toward my bike. “Sup,” I muttered.
He rolled a toothpick in his mouth as his nose flared. “Where is my shit? Nigga. You know something is telling me you’re scheming.”
“Scheming what? I told you I lost the shit.”
He shrugged. “Ok. What’s up with yo homie?”
I cleared my throat. “He ain’t hit me back yet,” I lied.
The offer Beans gave me seemed clear and dry. The shit was honestly simple, but not simple to someone who wasn’t ready to give something up. Scooter wasn’t worth it or at least to me. He laughed. “I tell you what. You’ve got a few more days to eithercome up with some bread or studio time. I got the feeling you’re the reason I got locked up. I’m smelling a rat nigga, and I’m going to show you what I do to those. If you can’t produce shit, I’m going to see if that pussy is worth it. Symphony, I wonder how she would feel to know you were there that night, huh? To know that you had that pretty expensive ass necklace I snatched from her neck. Better yet, those Zoo bitches I wonder what they would think if they knew MisonMaliKeyton was involved in that shit. Call me a snitch nigga, ‘cause I’m going to sing. See, I will do whatever for my brother, even if it means being on grimy nigga time. You,” he pointed at me. “You would leave your brothers out to dry, especially for a drink.”
I swung and hit his ass. I hit him over and over. Scooter lifted me, slamming me against the gas pump. “Fuck you nigga!” I shouted.
The blows were back-to-back as we were thumping outside. “I want my fucking money nigga,” he gritted.
“You ain’t getting shit!”
Whap! Whap!
“Stop!”I heard a woman yell.
Scooter shoved me off him as he backed up slowly. He wiped his nose as he nodded. That’s when I spotted Chevy only a few feet away from us. Scooter pointed at me, “You’re a dead nigga!” he shouted before he glanced at Chevy. “And that nigga Dio too!”
My chest heaved in and out as I picked the phone up off the ground. When I lifted, I shook my head because this was the last thing I needed. I heard a car screech, letting me know that Scooter and his stripper bitch had left. When I turned back around, Chevy was still standing there.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You got hands, but you don’t have heart,” Chevy said to me.
“I got all the heart.”
He dropped his head as his eyes rose to me. “You’ve got delusion. Follow me.”
He walked off, hopped on his bike, and took off. Although I didn’t want to, I did. When we pulled into the neighborhood, Chev pulled into his driveway while I parked on the street. He came down, staring at me as he pointed at Diamond’s crib. I should have known this shit was a setup. I hopped off my bike as I strolled toward Diamond’s. “If you niggas wanted to have a meeting, you should have said that and why you didn’t check the nigga about Dio?” I rambled.
“For a nigga with ninety-nine problems, you sure do have a lot of lip. I don’t have to say shit because Dio has heart. Dio can handle that nigga, and what he thinks he wants, he doesn’t. He’s a dead nigga walking and you're about to be too if you keep fucking with me,” Chev grumbled behind me.
When we got to the door, I didn’t have to knock as Diamond swung the door open. “Have you been drinking?”
I turned to look at Chevy. “No.”
