Losing her leg was like taking her livelihood. Taking away the one thing she had always been able to control.
Her mobility.
“Been telling her that she needs to take better care of herself. Always worried about everyone else, never herself.”
“Yeah, she stubborn. You know that… always been” he whispered. I could hear my brother unraveling.
Breaking on the other end of the line.
Moms was our hero. She stepped up when our father bowed out on us. When she could have complained, she never did. She rolled up her sleeves and took on the task of two boys.
That in and out of our lives shit never flew with her. The first time he showed he was in and out, she made sure he remained out.
I wished I could have been there with her.
This was the part of prison that the little niggas didn’t see when they were out in those streets. Everyone spoke about your freedom being snatched away, but no one ever spoke about your family.
Being away from them.
The strain it put on them to visit you hours away, keep money on your books, or make themselves available to take your call.
Nobody ever spoke about the shit you missed. Losing family members and having to listen to your family break while you clung to a phone receiver, wanting to do anything.
Something.
If you were lucky and your family did your bid with you, you came home and things were different. Sometimes it was a good different, and other times it was bad. You were getting to know the same people you’ve known your entire life.
They weren’t the same.
You weren’t the same.
When you came from behind those walls, you were different. Nothing was the same for you. Not the way you moved, or the way you thought. Prison was supposed to rehabilitate us, but in a sense, it fucked us mentally and sent us on our way.
Expecting us to do right, but how could you do right when you spent years in survival mode. You only adapted that same way of living when you got on the outside.
My wheels crushed the gravel as I pulled up to Menace’s gates. I told him that I wanted to meet with him today. I did shit the way that Zoya wanted me to, but he needed to know. Don already knew, so it was only a matter of time before the information made it to Menace, and I wanted it to come from me.
They did the usual security check before sending me through. Visiting Menace was like trying to see the president. Shit, I felt like he had even more security than the president. I slowly cruised up the hill and leaned back, taking in the scenery.
Every time I came to his crib, I was blown away by the lengths this man went to be isolated. He wanted to make sure that he had no neighbors, and that his house wasn’t easily accessible.
Before I turned my truck off, I sat in the car for a minute and got my mind right. Dealing with Menace took a lot of patience. I wasn’t coming to him with some small news. His sister was fucking a serial killer, and the fact that his sister was one of the pictures in that box was something to be on guard about.
A Porsche whipped up the driveway and parked in front of me. Corleon’s long frame filed out the small car and he opened the back door. A little curly hair girl, who I assumed was Estella, hopped out the back and tried to snatch her computer and small bag from him.
Before she could get it, he held it back and spoke to her, as if he was trying to teach her manners. Corleon pointed to the computer and then said something, and she dropped her head.
With his free hand, he lifted her chin and smiled, and she jumped right into him, hugging him. He looked around like he sensed someone watching them, and when I climbed out the truck, he smirked.
“Weirdo nigga,” he snorted.
Estella tugged at the computer and bag, as she looked at me. “What up, Stellie?”
It had been a minute since I had seen Estella. Time waited for nobody, because she had grown up some, and she resembled Skyler even more. That serious expression that Skyler had when she was hacking into some shit, her daughter shared the same face.
“Hi Goon!” She smiled, remembering me.
“Stellie, go on inside and run through the rain.” He laughed, as she handed him back her stuff and took off running.
