Page 112 of Heart Of A Goon II

Shit, he didn’t even call.

We were considered the orphan kids. We stayed in the house while Kora tried to keep Bean and Landon busy with old movies she used to watch with our parents. Shit was too painful for me to watch.

As strong as I had been, this shit fucking hurt me to my core. There wasn’t nothing that I could do. The world saw me as some fuck ass kid that had nothing to offer the world. Shit, I didn’t have anything to offer my own siblings.

It was Thanksgiving and we were sharing two cans of Campbell soup instead of having a full spread of food. Nash has an au pair to take care of us, but when I found out he was fucking the bitch, I sent her packing.

She only wanted to be involved when his ass came around anyway. I didn’t need no fucking weak ass, cum filled pussy bitch around my siblings. You either were gonna care or not.

There was no in-between.

I’m assuming she didn’t tell Nash because he would have called or showed up. Nigga could never look me in the eyes whenever he came around. I wasn’t one to look someone in the eyes, either, but his shit was guilt.

“The solution to your problem isn’t in the bottom of that bottle, Maverick.” Kora leaned in the doorway, her brushed to the front of her head.

She picked at her hair. The entire front of her hair had pieces missing because she couldn’t help herself. The shit started after our parents were murdered. Control was Kora’s thing. She had to control everything, and that was something that she couldn’t control.

“Picking your hair ain’t gonna help, either,” I slurred.

Drinking usually helped people forget, but not me. That shit came to me so vivid. Every unspoken thing I never said. Actions I never took, and the guilt of living while our parents were gone. I often thought back to the day it happened. I wanted to stay home from school that day.

If I would have stayed home, I could have been with them. Not here struggling with money and life. How was I supposed to raise these kids? Kora not so much, but Landon and Zoya...

They fucking left me here to figure this shit out alone. My biggest fear was losing my parents. They understood me more than anyone on this earth. My pops lived by fuck everybody that don’t understand him, while my mother worked to find out the answers. She rallied behind me when it came to going to school. I watched her make dinner mostly every night, but she had my food on a different counter because she knew that I was a picky eater.

My pops would let me sit in his office while he handled business and I would sit quiet. He never forced me to talk or try to pick my brain because he knew how I was. He’d talk and I would just absorb everything he wanted me to know.

First thing he always told me was to never give a fuck. The same people talking about you were the same people ready to suck your dick when you did something amazing.

Dick sucking ass haters.

Told me to enter every room as myself because it was harder to be someone else. People didn’t respect a façade. They wanted the real deal person, so always enter that room and put your best foot forward.

Never show mercy. Give ‘em hell and always apply pressure. You’re the fucking boss, never give them a chance to ever doubt your capabilities.

Then he left me.

They.

Left me with kids that I had to raise.

I was responsible for raising them to be good people in society. They would never look at me as their big brother, but as a parental figure. I’d have to make the decisions that they would eventually hate me for. While they would call Kora to hang out, or just talk, I wouldn’t be the next call.

To them, I was their parent. The one who had to stay on their necks to ensure they did everything correct. Our relationship as brothers and sisters changed the minute our parents were murdered.

“Come on and help me unload this car with the food.” I heard Linda Bruster’s big mouth.

Kora smiled. “We were down to the last can of soup, and I had found some corn… right on time.”

I leaned up as my head started spinning. “You called her?”

Kora shook her head no. “Sometimes family always knows.”

“Fuck is Maverick’s big-headed ass?” I heard Bruster’s voice. “Ouch... dang, Ma.”

“Corleon, I will beat you with that broom if you cuss when I’m in the room again. You hear me?” I could picture him smirking and her folding. “Stop looking at me with that smile… you know you are wrapped around my finger, boy.”

“Love you, Mommy.”