“Mars, get the fuck out of here, now,” I tried to whisper.
“But I need—”
I shook my head. “Samara, listen to me. Get out of here. Whatever you want to say needs to wait.”
That’s when I felt her soft hand touch me. A nigga wanted to break. I went to remove the blindfold when her hand felt as if it had been snatched away.
“Mars,” I whispered.
Moments later, I felt my body being snatched back and dragged like the very first day on the line, only this time, I didn’t fight back. My body was tossed onto the ground.
“You worried about a bitch, when your brothers are waiting on you. Gods don’t leave their people hanging,” Thick Neck grumbled in my ear.
“Like you did with your best friend Percy?” I muttered.
Kick! Kick! Kick!
His foot met my stomach, making it hard for me to even speak. It took me a while to get up, but when I did, I snatched the blindfold off. The nigga was right there in my face. “Drop the line, Slime. Drop, drop, drop, drop.”
“I’m a Chi man!” I shouted. “If it ain’t about Chi, then why?! We’re strong, we’re solid, and we’re dogs!”
Nose to nose.
He wanted me to drop, but I wasn’t. I knew he was the problem.He was the reason fraternities had a bad name. It wasn’t the organization as a whole, but the ones who now had voices, the ones who went from being the unseen to being sought after. The nerds to being the popular. The quiet to the loudest, and the broken to the partially whole. These were the ones who snatched titles and destroyed those they thought looked down on them. But what Jesaiah failed to realize was that I was the loudest and the most popular, and I’d never been whole. I was broken with a tortured soul but had the heart of a demon. When you unleash something like that in a nigga that isn’t wrapped too tight, it doesn’t matter what is achieved, what is morally right, or what’s ethical because all I saw was orange.
***
I rushed toward Avery Hall. When I got to Street’s door, I banged on that muhfucka like my life depended on it. He swung the door open as if he had just woken up.
“Where that nigga at?” I barked.
He held his hand out. “Ayo, nigga, stop the yelling, and who the fuck are you talking about?”
I glanced around the room to see the empty bed across from Streets. “Percy. Where is he?”
Streets shrugged. “Shit, I came in here one day, and the nigga was gone. Who told you that nigga was my roommate because I never told you?”
I cut my eyes at him. “Niggas talk. You know where I can find him?”
“No, what’s good? We’re riding out or what?” he asked.
I glanced down at his foot. “You can’t help me, peg leg. I just need to find him.”
That was when an idea struck me. I didn’t trustJesaiah at all. I knew he was watching me. If I left campus to go try to talk to Samara, he was going to be on my ass.
“Get Samara here. Don’t tell anybody why she’s here. Just bring her ass to your room. When she’s inside, call me.”
He looked confused. “Oh, so you want to use my shit to fuck in. Hell nah!”
I ran my hand over my face. “Streets, nigga, for once, can you listen to somebody? Stop thinking about yourself and do what I asked. Get her here and call me,” I repeated.
It was time for us to have another talk, but this time, without the yelling. If I had to guess, he saw her, and I needed her to stay the fuck away. I knew she wouldn’t listen to anybody else, but if I told her, she would.
APPLE
I pulled up to Samara’s apartment to drop her off after she had cried all the way here. “Why did he do that to him?” she sniffled.
I felt so bad because I knew it was hard to see, but this was what happened when things that were not meant to be seen were exposed. However, Jesaiah was doing the most. Him kicking him like that was over the top. Had I not snatched Samara back and Jesaiah had seen her, there was no telling what else would have happened.
