“You got them L’s yet?” I told him.
“You know Ma not with that,” his tone changed.
“I got you.”
He went into his pocket.
“Look at all this money my friends gave me and shit.”
“And what?” I said, wanting his ass to repeat it.
“I mean and stuff. Two girls gave me this….” He pulled out two Footlocker bags from his bookbag. One had a Nike shirt, the other had a matching set.
I grabbed the clothes, examining them. “What the hell them young ass girls doing buying you shit like this?”
“I got two girlfriends.”
“You ain’t got shit, lil’ nigga... You need to be focusing on school.”
“I am, and they know what I got going on, big bro, but they love me. I get it from you.” He smiled.
I couldn’t do shit but shake my head before giving him my gift. Once that box open, I knew it was going to breathe a monster. Maleek was tamer than me at his age, but I saw a lot of myself in him.
“A chain!” He tossed everything else in his hand to the side.
“What’s this symbol?”
I lifted my chain to show we had matching ones.
“Look. I know shit with us is unorthodox, but I’m gon’ always be here for you. This shit is for infinity and can’t nobody stop that,” I explained, placing the chain around his neck.
He grabbed the chain, toying with the symbol. His eyes got sad.
“Mama wasn’t even here this morning. She didn’t even tell me happy birthday today,” he confessed.
I couldn’t look at the sadness, so I glanced out at the road. Hearing and seeing said shit always put me in a bad mood because I knew there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it. I’ve thought about snatching him up and taking him with me, then I thought about my lifestyle. Maleek was safer with mama.
“You know she’s always late. Always at work. You know she got you.”
He sighed.
“Last night I heard her crying about daddy.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I think she purposely left out this morning because she’s off today,” he explained.
“But your birthday’s going good, right?”
“One of the best ones I’ve had in a while. All I prayed for earlier was that I saw you.”
“You got the burner. Always hit my line.”
“I know. I didn’t doubt you.”
A moment of silence filled the air.
“Mama gon’ be alright. And she didn’t forget your birthday.”
