Page 14 of My Brother's Keeper
Roll backwards, tap.
I felt his nose nuzzle in my neck before the feel of his lips graced it.
Roll backwards, tap.
Suddenly, he did a move as he came from behind me and in front of me, which made me open my eyes. He had me floating around the rink. Now his taps were to the small of my back as he continued to guide me. His eyes watched me as we moved.Pretty ass.He mouthed.
I could feel my face getting hot as I tried not to blush. I closed my eyes again to take in the moment when I heard someone shouting as they passed by. “I see you nigga!” I heard someone say.
My eyes followed the younger guy, whom I thought I had seen on campus before. He laughed as he and the girl he was with floated past. When I glanced up, I spotted my neighbor’s daughter staring at me. I panicked and tried to turn around so fast that I stumbled and caused Jalen and me both to hit the floor. “Shit!” I mumbled. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
He helped me up and off the floor. Before he could ask me anything, I glanced at my phone to see that it was almost midnight. I needed to get out of here. “Jalen, I need to leave. I’m sorry.”
I hurried over, sat down, and took off my skates. He picked them up and turned them in along with his. When he came back, he grabbed my hand to lead me outside. As soon as we stepped out the door, some guys were leaning on my car. “Ayo, Peanut!” one of them shouted.
My head spun to look at Jalen. Somehow, I was hoping he would open his mouth and say something, but he said nothing. “You know them?” I asked him.
He didn’t bother to look at me, yet his attention was solely on them. They wore biker jackets and looked ready for trouble. I didn’t need to be a part of whatever it was that was about to happen. Jalen seemed nice, but if this is what he was into, I couldn’t be involved.
The guy who had called out to him came forward, stepping only a foot away from us. “Mutenigga!”
I quickly turned and pointed at the guy. “Don’t fucking talk to him like that!” I shouted.
The guy’s eyes landed on me before he laughed. “Oh shit. Pretty Princess sticking up for this nigga. Pussy won’t save you. I know you hear me. I see you're a part of a crew now. You niggas still owe me money. We haven’t forgotten how your brother fucked us!” he shouted.
Jalen moved me out of the way, and suddenly his arms started swinging. He hit the guy. Once they started fighting, the others jumped in. Five verses one. They were tussling so badly that I got shoved back. That’s when the guy from the inside came out with his girl. “Fuck going on out here!” he snapped. “Oh shit, Peanut,” he grumbled as he rushed over, jumping in.
“Dio!”the girl screamed.
I watched as he and Peanut moved in that circle like wild animals. The way their fists were moving was wild,pound for Pound.
Security tried breaking it up, but it wasn’t helping. I glanced at my car because I knew being around this type of shit would cause me problems, but I also knew leaving Jalen would be fucked up.Car or Jalen. Stay or go.
Whatever I decided, I needed to do it now.
MALI
When Symphony sent her location, a nigga got excited. How was it that years after high school, she was deciding to give me the time of day? The thought of not even approaching this situation played on my mind, but I didn’t want to be the nigga down the line, seeing her with someone else and being on my should-have, could-have, would-have moments. However, I knew bringing her into my dark world was not only dangerous mentally but also emotionally. A lot came with fucking with a nigga like me and had nothing to do with the outside world, but everything internally. In this moment, I wanted to be selfish with no remorse.
I set the bottle on the table as I got up from the couch, feeling slightly dizzy. I knew if I had taken another drink, getting to her would never happen. I hurried upstairs to my room to shower and change clothes. I rummaged through my drawers looking for something to put on when I came across something. It watched me as I watched it as it began to cripple me. It began to make me feel that any decision I made, closing the drawer, leaving it where it lay, would curse me.
The feeling of guilt began to swallow me, and I couldn’t take it, so I closed the drawer and found what I needed from another drawer. It took me about thirty minutes to shower and get dressed before I headed back downstairs. I passed by the living room only to feel as though I could hear my jealous liquid lover. It was calling out to me, asking me to share myself with it, but I wanted to share myself with Symphony. I took a deep breath as I passed by the living room to the front door. When I swungit open, I was surprised to see Diamond standing there. “Sup nigga,” he said as he nodded his head.
I peeked out of the house to see if the other guys were around. When I noticed he was the only one, I became curious. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
Diamond glanced behind me, “Nigga it’s cold. Can we go inside?”
I was hesitant because if I went back inside, my liquid lover would win. She probably set the shit up. However, I was determined to get to Symphony.
I glanced back at Diamond, “I’m busy.”
“Are you? Or do you want to get to the bottle? Look, we all know what it is, Mali. A nigga jokes a lot, but I want to holla at you. So, this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to let you slide, but be at my crib tomorrow,sober,nigga, and I mean that shit,” he paused. “You’re not about to be drunk around my fucking girl or daughter. I’ll beat yo ass,” he finished as he walked off, hopped on his bike, and took off.
I wasn’t sure what he wanted to talk about, but that nigga was going to see me on my time and not his. It made me angry because they were all acting like I had a problem. Little did they know my problems were bigger than a drink. I had sent a message to Beans, but he hadn't answered yet. I was hoping he did a nigga a solid before I ended up running into Kareem’s ass again.
***
I pulled up to the location that Symphony had given me. I thought coming here would be easy for me, but now that I was here, it seemed more complicated than I thought. Birthdays and what my parents could afford for family dinners were spent here. That’s when shit was good. When my two-parent home washealthy, and the last time a nigga felt happy. I knew I needed to decide whether I wanted to set foot in the building. After all, I had no way of telling her I was outside, because I didn’t have a phone, and I wasn’t about to travel with a big ass iPad on me.
