Page 54

“Good. Because the word is now. Get me the ticket.”

Chapter Ten

ANYTHING FOR BLOOD

Damien

“Son, this could be the one.”

My mother Devina is sitting in her favorite chair, sipping cranberry tea. She’s been helping me put together my app for the last month. It seems like we’re finally making real progress. We’ve got the platform. The name. The color scheme and the links are properly working. It’s looking good.

“Cool. All that’s needed now is to make sure everything is legally situated.”

“And we’ll leave that up to your ol’ knuckle-headed father,” she whispers before another sip of tea. Mom’s completely in her Different World phase. Long college sweatshirts that are probably older than me and a messy bun where her hair usually is. She’s semi-retired from teaching. Her class was cut along with a few others a while back due to budget cuts, so she spends more time at home, reading and gardening. Which is how she claims to prefer it. It’s not like she has to worry. Between Pops and myself, she’s always taken care of.

“Well, thanks, Ma. You know I couldn’t do this without you.”

“You know it’s no problem. But since I’ve got you here…you know I need to ask. What’s been going on with you and your brother?”

She’s giving me a stern look from under her glasses. The kind of look I used to hate coming home to after a bad report from school.

“Ahh, the usual,” I answer nonchalantly, “He does something dumb. I give him hell for it.”

“Hmph. Destiny tells me it’s getting really bad lately.”

“Yeah. I just don’t know what else to do, Ma.”

“There is nothing you can do, Damien. Except to still be the best big brother you can. Look, I love all of y’all equally. I do. But Rayne…Rayne is a rather interesting child of mine. I don’t understand all of his choices. Nor do I always agree with them. Lord knows I pray for him. That doesn’t mean I want y’all fighting. Or talking so crazy to each other. Destiny has two brothers. Not one. It would be nice to see you all getting along for once. Like a damn family. Life shouldn’t always be about bickering and grudges. Let it go and start over.”

She’s right. I know she’s right. Leave it to ol’ Devina to get me to see things from a different perspective. Sometimes I get so caught up in trying to bail Rayne out, the door isn’t always open for us to properly communicate as brothers. Lately it feels like everybody is being affected by my lack of understanding. Morgan. Rayne. Destiny.

If enough people say the same shit, it must be true, right? “What do you want me to do, Ma?”

Mom gets up and places a hand on my shoulder as a form of comfort.

“Talk to him, Damien. Not yell. Not judge. Not fight. Talk. You’re my talker. You wouldn’t have gotten this far if you didn’t know how to. Just give it a try. For me.”

I can say no to a lot of people. My mother isn’t usually one of them. Especially when she starts with the For Me business.

“Yeah, I got you, Ma. I’ll see what I can do.”

She kisses me on the cheek. “Thank you. That’s the oldest child that I know. I need you to protect them, Damien. They depend on you. We won’t be here forever. Remember that.”

I leave my parents' house with those words running through my head endlessly. Talk. Maybe it could help. Or maybe it’ll only make me want to knock some sense into him again. Regardless, at least I could say I gave it a shot. The only thing left to do is find the nigga. He’s been MIA since our squabble at McGov and he’s not responding to shit. Knowing him, there’s no telling where he is.

I start to text him until a message from Morgan pops up to interrupt me.

Wifey: Bae. I’ll explain in full later, but Syren is no good. We have to cut her off. ASAP. Oh, and your brother is smashing my friend Dime. He’s crashing at her house. You didn’t hear that from me. But you heard it from me.

That’s a lot to take in within one message. Cutting off a little rogue shorty doesn’t necessarily bother me. We can always find another third when the timing’s appropriate. I am intrigued on what went down, though. We had an incredible night with her just hours ago. Now she has to go? Fuck. It must’ve been something insane. Maybe not as insane as the second part of her message.

Rayne is smashing her homie, Dime? What the hell? I shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s my little brother we’re talking about. Nothing he does should come as a surprise anymore. Mid sigh, I text Morgan back, mainly asking for the address to Dime’s place. She sends it quickly, urging me to call her when I can. Yeah, I will soon as I get ahold of this crazy nigga. I don’t know what he’s got going on, but we need to settle some things once and for all.

I’m in traffic right after, driving like a madman. This Dime chick stays on the Hampton block so she’s close enough. It’s not a drive to Japan by any means. I’m thinking I can make it in five minutes, flat. I’m actually there in seven, taking an empty parking spot right in the front. I can even see Rayne’s car, confirming what Morgan already told me. What is this nigga up to now?

I bang on the door with force, looking around to check out the scenery. It’s quiet all around. With barely any sign of life outside of two men talking on the corner, passing a blunt back and forth.

It’s enough of a distraction that I don’t notice Rayne opening the door. Holding a big ass bowl of cereal for some reason.