Page 50 of My Brother's Keeper
Chevy banged his hand on the table so hard that everyone looked his way. Beans held his arm in front of Chevy. “Nigga calm down. You’re going to get your turn.”
Chevy’s eyes bounced on Dio and Samara. Samara sat up, then let out a sharp breath. “Dio and I live together. The day you guys dropped me off and I told you he had a key, it’s because we made that decision.”
Chevy dropped his head. “Zu, you knew?”
“Yeah, nigga I knew.”
Chevy’s eyes rolled to Dio, who was sitting there unbothered. “Little nig—”
Chevy tried jumping over the table. Everyone jumped back while some of the niggas tried to tame him. That nigga Chevy was strong. Diamond reached over and grabbed a roll, chomping on it as if all that mattered was him eating. Zaria came around the table, grabbing Chevy’s shirt. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
When he lifted, the nigga had turkey residue on his face. You could see how disgusted he was, and we all started laughing. I knew Dio was in for it for sure. I sat back and watched as the Zoo family chaos made mine feel minor. While everyone was going back to calm, I spotted Symphony, whom I had been waiting for. The way she stood on the deck told me something was wrong. She had been crying, I could tell. She stormed down the steps and into my face. “Where the fuck is it!” she screamed.
I could feel eyes on us. I went to grab her hand, and she pulled away from me. “No, nigga where is my fucking necklace? Did you sell it? I know you were there, I fucking know!”
I was beginning to panic.How the fuck was this happening to me?The regret of everything began suffocating me. I wanted to tell her myself. I wanted it to be just her and me, without everyone included, so that when she walked away from me, I could be alone. “Baby, listen to me. I-I—”
She wiped her tears, “You lied to me. You deceived me. Mison, I opened up to you, and now I have this baby in me, and you are just like Kareem.”
“I’m not like that nigga!” I snapped. “Don’t do that, don’t you compare me to his ass. I was there, but I did not know it was your place at first. Once I realized it, I tried to help, but it was too late. I swear to God, Symph. I swear I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“Fuck you! When you realized, why didn’t you come to help? Why didn’t you give me my shit back? Why did you make me catch feelings, and you knew all along?”
I had no words. What was I supposed to say? I moved closer, and she moved back. “That fucking bottle. They always say a drunk ain’t shit, and you were probably drunk. You love that shit over everything. You sit here and act like because you had a few days of sobriety that you deserve some fucking award. You don’t, you should have been in jail right along with his ass. Fuck you, Mison!”
Bishop came over. “Ayo Symph, you alright? You know how I move about you,” he said, cutting his eyes at me.
She turned to him and snarled. “Fuck up, Bishop! Fine time to think that way now!”
Chev glanced at Bishop. “Let’s not go backward, my nigga. Ease up, they got this.”
I could see it in her eyes; she was done with me. It didn’t matter what I said or how much I pleaded; Symphony was done. Her tears poured out of her while mine trickled down my face. Everything I thought would happen smoothly went completely the opposite way.
I nodded my head as I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out the necklace. “I wanted to tell you I did. The nigga wanted me to sell it, and I couldn’t because it was you. The girl who has everything, I was hoping that it would bring me love.”
I placed it in her hand, and she stormed off back the way she came. A nigga was broken. I had nothing to say. I glanced around as everyone looked at me with surprise and pity. I was the clown of the hour, and I couldn’t bear it, so I walked off.
“Ayo Mison, come back!” I heard one of them say.
I no longer wanted to be bothered. I had lost everything, and a nigga was tired.
Mison and Symphony’s argument fucked with my head. When he stormed off, my first thought was that he was going to relapse. I knew my brother, and when he was under a lot of pressure, he always went back to what he felt more comfortable with. I tried following him, but he was moving too damn quickly. By the time I had gotten outside, he was speeding off. “Fu-fu-f-f-fuck!”
Alyse came up behind me, hugging me tightly. “Jalen.”
I turned to face her.I’m sorry, baby, but I need to go after my brother.
Beans came outside.Nah, let me talk to him. I think I know where he is going.
Monfua was right behind him.I’m going too.
When I turned to Alyse, her brother clung to her leg. His big brown eyes looked afraid. I knew this environment was too much for him and her. This wasn’t the impression I wanted to make; it’s why I hid the fact that my brother had a problem. My world was nothing like hers, and today she saw it from the frontrow.You should get your brother out of here. I will call you later.
“No, we need to talk,” she said nervously.
I had a feeling that whatever she wanted to talk about had to do with Zay. I didn’t know if I could hear what she wanted to say, but I also knew her voice mattered. She turned to her brother.
Go inside for a second. I will be in there to get you in a bit.
