“Mannn, if you waiting on shorty you might as well grab one of these hoes. Unless you lying.”
“Nigga, you the only mufucka in here booty scouting. I’m good on the strippers, bro. You should be too. Your ass married and yo wife be beating yo ass.”
“Who? If a hoe even thinks about hitting me, I’mma knock her head back so far her daddy gone lay down from the impact.You see what my name is don’t ya?” Me and our other teammate, Trent laughed hard as hell cus this nigga was stunting for these hoes.
“We be seeing them bruises. Let you tell it; some stairs hate to see your ass coming. Nigga fall every other day. How you went down the stairs, but had a mountain on the top of your head?” I dapped Trent up because this nigga knew he was lying.
“That’s how you got your name. Cus yo bitch stay knocking yo ass out. We used to look at each other and laugh when we saw the bruises and just say Nock as our code. You started answering to it, so that made it even funnier.” He was looking pissed, but me and Trent continued to laugh.
“So, you saying yall be watching me in the locker room?”
“If you dodged that hoe punches the way you dodging these accusations yo ass could avoid all them bruises.” You could tell Nock was ready to go off, but how do you get mad at the truth?
“Man, can I enjoy this pussy in my face?”
“Yup, you sure can, but I don’t wanna hear shit when coach fine your ass for being too bruised up to play.” Trent was on a roll tonight, and I couldn’t do shit but laugh.
“You talking shit, but you married too?” Nock said to Trent trying to justify his beatings.
“Yeah, he married, but his bitch don’t look like a linebacker. If my bitch was out here shaped like The Big Show, I would be cockeyed than a mufucka. I ain’t looking at shit bae.” This time, Nock fell out laughing because he knew his girl was bad built. My phone vibrated causing me to look down.
“I thought you said you wasn’t trying to cheat on your girl.” Nock ass ass was still talking shit causing me to shake my head.
“Nigga, you all in my business. I said I couldn’t get caught on camera, not that I wasn’t gone be fucking these hoes. She still got a man. Yo boy ain’t no dummy. You got this shit fucked up.” Before I could hit send on the message, my phone rang. Seeing it was Landon, I left the message and answered his call. It was after midnight, and he never called me this late.
“Hold up, I’m not gone be able to hear you.” Dapping the homies up, I left the section and walked outside. I was about to leave anyway, so it didn’t matter. “Aight, what’s up?”
“Can you come and get me, please?” Hearing the vulnerability in his voice had me jumping in my car and pulling off fast as fuck.
“I’m on the way, but what’s up? You good?” I did everything I could to make the group home good, but that didn’t mean some shit ain’t pop off.
“I had a nightmare, and I’m just not in the right head space. I don’t want to take my shit out on nobody else, and I really just need to be around some positive energy right now.” Normally, we wouldn’t break the rules, but tonight was different. I ignored him cursing and responded.
“I’m on the way. I’ll call the front and let them know what’s going on. Be outside.”
“Thank you.” I felt bad for my lil nigga, but I was clueless as to what his nightmares was about. The first time I talked to Landon, he told me he was now living in a group home, but never how he got there. I know in the parking lot that night he spoke on being a punching bag, but that was as far as he went. He’s mentioned being bullied, but I had no idea how he ended up where he was. I figured when he was ready, he would tell me.
When I pulled up, he was trying to punch the wood out the tree. Normally, I would have just blown the horn, but this time I got out. Walking over to him, I just stood there. He kept swinging, until he eventually slowed and looked at me. The tears were evident, and it was in these moments I remembered he was a kid. He was so wise beyond his years; you forget his age sometimes.
His body began shaking and Landon broke down crying hard. I could have let him have his space, but I needed him to know I was here. Walking over to him, I wrapped my arms around him. After about five minutes, he pulled back and wiped his face aggressively.
“I’m good, I just needed a minute. I’m sorry for crying.” I motioned for him to get in the car before I continued this conversation. I wasn’t trying to be caught lacking. Once we were inside, I drove off and looked over at him.
“It’s nothing wrong with a man crying. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel because you’re a man you have to hold it all in. That’s how mufuckas break and fuck around and kill everyone. Men carry the most weight, but we’re given the less grace. Sometimes you just need to release.”
“So, you cry too?” He looked up at me with hopeful eyes.
“Hell naw, I’m not no bitch.” His mouth dropped before we both fell out laughing.
“You ain’t shit man.”
“Watch yo mouth lil nigga.” He spaced out again, so I continued. “All jokes aside, you too young to be holding so much in. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but what I do know is that shit only made you stronger. It gave you character and you will be able to use that pain one day. As long as you keep showing up, I will too. You got this.”
“Thank you, Devin. I’m glad you’re not like the media portray you to be.” I nodded and turned the corner. I was just bending blocks, but I decided I wasn’t taking him back tonight just in case he had another nightmare.
“You hungry? I can stop and get something to eat before we head in.”
“Yo fat ass think food fix everything.” Laughing, I grabbed my phone and clicked on the screen. “Damn, you had plans. My bad.” He saw my message still on the screen, but I shrugged him off and cleared it out. Going to the app, I started putting my food order in.
