Page 6 of My Brother's Keeper
A smile eased on my face because I began to think about the guy from the party who used sign language. It was rare to see a guy like him doing it. He had a hard exterior, but when he signed, his worries showed a softer side. It could have been me overthinking it. The first person I thought about was my baby brother because in the future, it would be him too.
I knew I shouldn’t have been in the Cove, but my friends were in town for the Halloween weekend, and they talked me into going to that party. I had to call the nanny for the night and pay her extra out of the money my parents had given me so that she wouldn’t say anything. The only thing I was allowed to do outside of watching the trio was my dance classes and even that was a stretch because my mother and father felt like nothing was bigger than an education. However, many professional dancers make a great deal of money.
I picked up my bags and headed downstairs. The sounds of tiny footsteps following me alerted me that Brennon was close. When I reached the bottom of the steps, Alice zoomed by, screaming as Brice chased her with his Halloween mask. “Slow down!” I yelled.
My phone vibrated with a text from Morgan telling me she wanted to hang out before I took off back to school. Morgan and I were best friends. We met when her family moved into the neighborhood when she was seven, and years later, we were still close. The only thing was that Morgan’s family believed in her dance career, as mine didn’t. Morgan did not have to go to college, so instead she had been taking extra classes until she got a callback from one of the many auditions she had submitted for.
I shot her a quick text and told her I would meet her at the mall. It took another hour or so for my parents to show up. The trio squealed as they came through the door. “Mommy!” they yelled in unison.
She gave them a bright smile as she hugged them tightly. At the same time, I walked over to my dad and hugged him. “How was the trip?” I asked.
Honestly, the answer was always the same. They had a great time, and my mother racked up the credit cards. “We had a blast until your mother thought it was a good idea to max out the credit cards.” He chuckled.
I gave him a weak smile. “Well, you know, mommy, she loves to shop.”
“Now don’t go putting it all on me. I did buy you something, though,” she said as she began going through her bags.
My father played with Brice as he signed at Brennon. “Hope the trio didn’t give you any problems. I know you’re ready to go back to school. You know things get real now that the homecoming period is over with.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I missed the last few performances for the games watching the—”
My mother jumped in, holding a luxury bag. “Here! Hopefully, this makes up for it. Remember, dance is a plus, grades and exams are what’s important.”
They didn’t care that I missed my dance performances for the games. I knew once I got back to TSU, it was going to be hell to pay. Meanwhile, my parents were satisfied with knowing they were making me one step closer to getting kicked off the team. I watched as they both signed at Brennon. Oftentimes, I felt like Brennon, because although I could hear and talk. I felt like my voice was hidden and went unheard, just as his.
PEANUT
I paced around the quiet house that Mison, Xavier, and I had purchased with the money that Chevy had given us. We’d searched the city all night but couldn't find my brother. I feared that he had gotten himself into some real deep shit with Kareem and that nigga offed my brother and got gone.
“Za-Za-Zay!” I called out.
He spun in my direction. The exact amount of worry that settled in me was displayed on his face. I could tell his patience was running thin. His waiting on the next move from Chevy and the crew to go back out looking for Mison was a no-go, and I agreed. Time was ticking, and niggas weren’t moving fast enough for us. Here it was, Zay should have been on his way back to TSU, but as always, he had to step in like a fucking detective to find our brother.
He ran his hand through his locs as his eyes locked with mine. This was his way to try to see if I would lie. He used to do it all the time when we were younger. “Who does Kareem know?” he asked me.
I guess he figured I would know everything, like I was Mison’s handler while he was away at school. I stared at him like he was speaking fucking Spanish. “I-I- do-don’t na-na- know.”
“What the fuck have you been doing then?” he snapped.
It was pissing me off that he thought I was supposed to babysit Mison while he was off to school. I was in a place in my life where I needed to figure out what I wanted for myself, not run after a nigga with a problem. I’ve gone as far as hiding the bottle from the nigga, and somehow, he managed to still drink.
Nigga I’ve been minding my fucking business. I’ve been trying to figure out what I want for myself. I don’t have time to be running after Mison’s drunk ass every day!
My bad. I’m sorry. I know you have a life too. All I want to do is find him so we can move on.He responded.
Let’s go try to find him then. It is Keith’s brother.I replied.
The only thing I knew about Kareem was that he was Keith’s older brother, and I only knew because I heard people in the streets talking about how he was after Dio.
“Cool, then let’s start there. I’m going to have Dio meet up with us because the way he beat Keith’s ass, that nigga is gone to bow down to the Prince.”
I didn’t know what today was going to hold, but I knew that I wasn’t going to let it end without seeing Mison alive.
FLEX
The sun had come up, and I hadn’t gotten any sleep. Kareem had been up the entire night, pacing the floor and rapping. I thought that after Mison had run out, he would for sure run after him, but he didn’t. I glanced at Kareem, whose eyes screamed he needed sleep, yet they held pure desperation.
I knew that feeling of desperation all too well. To want to be free of whatever was holding you back. He wanted riches, and so did I. He wanted normalcy, and so did I. He wanted freedom from the vice grip around his neck, and so did I. Although Kareem seemed evil, he was merely a man who wanted better, but the only way he knew how to get that was by being a menace. I didn’t know if I was trying to mentally justify why he was being the way he was, or if I truly felt sorry for him, but I knew it was something.
