The officer’s thin lips tightened. “I’m sorry to report that we found your father, Mr. Bobbie Laureaux, deceased, sir. It appears he committed suicide. We tried reaching out to your mother, but we haven’t been able to. He also left a letter that said, contact you first.”
I felt dazed because what the fuck was happening? “Was he home?” I asked.
The officer shook his head. “No, sir, we were called out to a hotel he had gotten only a few hours before. That is where we found him.”
They offered me to come to the hospital, but I was sick of fucking hospitals. I stood there as my world crumbled overnight.
It was Christmas morning, and a nigga felt sick. For the last few days, I had been out of it. I tried wrapping my mind around how I was here, and my fucking brother was gone. The nigga was never coming back, and there wasn’t shit I could do about it. What hurt the most was Morgan pulling the trigger on him. The sick part of it all was that I missed her. I missed her so fucking much I couldn’t think. I felt like one of those sad love songs. I even hopped on Keith’s old game to see if she would be on, and she wasn’t.
I was mad, but it wasn’t at her. It was at Keith. I was mad because I knew the nigga’s head was fucked up, but why would he pull a gun on them? Nothing made sense, and because it didn’t, I was upset. There was a knock on the door, bringing me back to reality. “Come in,” I said.
The door opened to Bishop peeking inside. “You cool?” he asked.
“Man, I don’t know. I-I just miss him, Bop,” I choked up.
Bishop dragged his feet as he came into the room. Although he was out of the hospital, my nigga was still in the process of healing. Naheem caught him in the leg and two to the chest. God had to be on his side cause my nigga really pulled through. By the time he came closer to the bed, I stood to help him sit. “Look, I love Keith like he was my own, and I miss his ass a lot. But Keith was bull-headed. Although he had everything, he was still missing something. It was something neither you nor I could give him, and that was acceptance. I’m going to see to it we do it right for him, but let him rest and live for Kareem. It’s time,” he said as he took in Keith’s room one last time before slowly getting up. “Oh yeah, once you get cleaned up, come downstairs. I got you a Christmas gift, and if you're up to it, we're going to Chev’s for Zoomas.”
I chuckled. “For what?”
He shrugged. “Some shit they made up. The Cove can say what they want, but since the Zoo has been here, they have brought life to the city. So, I only fuck with the Zoo.” He winked.
I shook my head as he left me in silence with the reminiscence of my brother. I looked around as I nodded, realizing Keith had the life we had always talked about. Although he didn’t have it for long. Still, he experienced a glimpse of what it was like to simply live. Everything I did from here on out was now for me to live, and the first step was to take my music and make moves. I got dressed and hurried downstairs, where Bishop, Indigo, and London were waiting.
Indigo smiled. “Merry Christmas, Kareem,” she said as she handed me a black gift bag.
“Same to you,” I replied.
I stuck my hand in the bag, and as soon as I felt it, my head shot up to Bishop. “Fifty of those thangs,” he said happily.
My hand swept further into the bag, and right then I broke. “Is this a fucking car?”
A tear rolled down my face because this was the first time I had gotten a gift on a holiday. “That nigga Beans did some good before his pops passed. He got your record clean. Nigga, you’re free.”
I hadn’t talked to anybody since Keith, and now I felt bad because my nigga’s pops was gone, and I didn’t extend my condolences. I walked outside to a clean ass midnight blue Jeep truck. It was some sucker shit, but a nigga felt like a kid.
“Ayo, Bop, I’m going to meet you at Chev’s. Is that cool?” I asked as he and Indigo stood in the doorway watching me.
“You’re grown, nigga, do what you do,” he said.
I hopped in and took off. I needed to make this Christmas right because I had made a promise I was going to keep.
MORGAN
Since Kareem left, I hadn’t bothered to call him. I knew he hated me, and I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire. There was a knock on my door, but I didn’t bother to move from my couch. “Come in!” I called out.
When the door opened, I peeked over the couch to see my mother coming in with a gift. “I know you’re not feeling up to it, but you have a Christmas present,” she said.
I slowly lifted from the couch and dragged my feet toward her, grabbing the box out of her hand. I slowly ripped a small piece of the wrapping paper, then stopped. “Ma, can I open it later?” I asked.
“Morgan, get yourself together. I’ve never seen you this down before. Sweetie, it will be alright,” she said.
I knew my mother was trying, but my heart was broken. I had finally found someone who genuinely made me happy, and as quickly as I got him, he was gone. I knew I couldn’t be in a slump forever, so I tried my best to shift my thoughts. I began opening the box when I noticed something leaking from it. I held it out as I looked at my mother, who held a funny grin on herface. “Is this one of those prank gifts. What is this?” I said as I lifted the box and carried it to my island.
Once I placed it down, I touched my sticky hand. “Is this syrup?” I mumbled.
When I realized it was syrup, I hurried and ripped the damn box open. When I saw the breakfast food in there, I cried and laughed at the same time. Then I noticed something else. I stuck my hands in the eggs to find a pretty dainty bracelet with 'Rich Girl' on it.
Before I could turn around to ask my mom where she got this from, I heard him rapping.
