Page 44 of Welcome to the Heart Of A Maniac
Entering the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of Crown that I had sitting on the counter and opened it.
“Huh, Tyree?”
Trayvon stepped into the kitchen and yanked the bottle away from me as I placed it to my lips.
“I did what you weren’t man enough to do.” My teeth clenched.
“What the hell are you talking ’bout?”
“I found a new connect, and he’s way cheaper than Maniac.”
“Who?”
“Roc.”
“Have you lost yo’ fucking mind? Roc is the last person you should be dealing with.”
I waved him off and went over to the couch. Maybe if I ignore the shit out of him, he’d leave.
“I really wish you would’ve just left that shit alone. You out here thinking that you’re that nigga when you not. You don’t have the brains to run no operation alone. You don’t have thefucking discipline. All yo’ product gon’ go straight up yo’ fucking nose.”
“Can you get the fuck outta here with all that bullshit?” I shot to my feet and hands balled into fists.
Trayvon stared at my hands and brought his attention back to my face. “What? You wanna hit me? Gone hit me.”
“I’m gon’ prove yo’ ass wrong. I can do this shit and I am. You’ll see.” Marching over to the front door and yanked it open. “You’ll see.”
Trayvon shook his head. “All I ever did was try to protect you and yo’ sister, but I see you don’t need me anymore.” He closed the gap between us. “Let’s just hope that you don’t end up getting yourself killed.”
“Just wait ’til I prove you wrong.” He exited the house, and I slammed the door behind him. Trayvon thinks that I can’t do this shit, but I’m gon’ show him.
Wren
A WEEK LATER
“That brother of yours is losing his mind,” Uncle Trayvon said through the phone. He didn’t have to call and tell me that, I already knew from experience myself.
“What he did now?”
“Word on the street is that he owes some nigga name Roc some money. I tried to tell him it wasn’t a good idea.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“I tried calling his phone, but he’s sending me to voicemail.”
“I think he has you blocked.”
Getting up from the desk, I rounded it and headed toward the back of the library to keep everyone out of my conversation. I try not to talk on the phone when I’m here but when I saw Uncle Trayvon’s name pop up on the phone, I knew it was something and immediately answered it.
“It’s alright. He just gon’ have to learn the hard way.”
“And I hate that for him.” My head lowered and I sighed as I leaned into the wall by the bathroom door. “We’ve done all we can do to save him. It’s up to him now.” I just hope that whoever this Roc guy is, that he takes it easy on him.
“I’m not gon’ hold you up for too long. I’ll call you later and check in on you.”
“Okay.”
The call disconnected, and I peeled away from the wall. Shaking my head, I headed back to the desk and sat there for the rest of the day with a book.
