AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anyone that’s ever been to prison knew that lifestyle was something damn near the strength of a giant in order to cope. Niggas in there didn’t have shit to lose, so if they wanted to, they could end your life just because. I never worried about something like that happening to my ole boy. Not because I thought he was immune to getting hurt, it was just that he was my ole boy, so I naturally thought of his ass like superman or some shit. To me, if he got into a fight with a bear, it would be the bear’s safety that I was worried about and not his, so for someone to just stab him to death, it was a tough pill to swallow.
I thought doing time in prison was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but at this moment, as I walked down the middle aisle of the church, preparing to make my way to the casket, I had to admit that this was by far the hardest shit that I’d ever done. Big, oversized Saint Laurent shades covered the majority of my face because I’d be damned if I cried in front of all these motha fuckas who probably didn’t even know my ole boy. A lot of people were just in this bitch to be nosey. Then, I felt like some people came just to make sure he was dead for real. I knew about the enemies that my ole boy had in the streets from stories that he would tell me over the years.
Back when he was a free man, he was young and making a lot of money, so, of course, niggas were going to envy him because of that. Of course, there had been times when he had to dodge a few bullets from jealous ass niggas who were trying to take his life along with his position in the streets, but he always made it out alive. So, today was pretty much just the clarification that a lot of these old heads needed to make sure that it really was him lying in that casket.
As I walked to the casket, out of all the people there, my eyes landed on Breshay. She offered me a look of sympathy while I just nodded to acknowledge her. She was going to bring the kids since they knew their grandfather through the visits, phone calls, and letters, but I wasn’t ready to expose them to no shit
like this, so I didn’t allow them to come. They knew that their grandfather had gotten “hurt” in prison, and as a result, he’d lost his life, and that’s all I planned to tell them. I wanted to keep my kids green to a lot of shit, and death happened to be one of those things that I didn’t want to expose them to yet. My kids didn’t even like watching scary movies, so I’d be damned if I brought them to a funeral for them to see their grandfather lying in a casket. That shit would probably scar them for life.
I was finally standing over the casket, and only one lone tear escaped my eyes, which I didn’t even bother to wipe away. They’d done a good job on him because he looked exactly how I remembered him. As hurt as I was, I still found myself smiling as I thought about the conversations and shit that he and I shared over the years, the laughs, hugs, just all of that good shit.
“They got you looking clean, old man. In my thirty-five years on this Earth, I’ve never seen you clean up like this. Only time I saw you in a suit was on pictures. You fucked my head up with this one, but I’ll be alright. They call me Bully for a reason. Mama wishes that she could be here, but she told me to let you know how much she loves you. I love you too, man, and Ima miss you,” I whispered and raised my fist.
I placed it next to his because that was like our signature handshake over the years, and I knew that this would be the last time I got to do it with him. For two minutes, I stood over his body until I finally got the strength to move my feet, and I did, taking my seat on the first row right next to my grandmother. I was surprised that she was holding up this well because my ole boy was her only child, and she loved his ass more than she loved herself. Granted, she was a total wreck, but she wasn’t as bad as I thought she would be. I was trying my best to be there for her during this time, but the shit was hard because I was barely there for myself, so how the hell could I be there for anyone else?
The funeral had begun, and I couldn’t say that I was disappointed in Takari for not coming because I’d told her that she didn’t owe me shit, but at the same time, a nigga expected to see her. As promised, I’d texted her over the details and everything last night, and she assured me that she would come. I had to laugh to myself because Marco, a nigga who was damn near my brother didn’t even have the decency to bring his ass to the funeral, so I didn’t know why I expected to see her.
I didn’t know why I always put my faith in people like that, just to get bullshit in return! The choir had started singing, and like I was a k-9 or some shit, I could smell sweetness getting closer to me. I knew that expensive ass perfume from a mile away. I turned my head, and that’s when our eyes met. I nodded, telling her to come over, and she did. It looked as if she was going to take a seat in one of the pews that were more so in the middle of the church.
My little gesture to her, mixed with her being the finest woman in that bitch had everyone diverting their attention from the choir to us. In seconds, she was sitting next to me, and I knew that we were going to be the topic of a lot of group messages by the time the funeral was done. Half the women who were in that bitch weren’t there because they genuinely cared that my ole boy was dead. Those were bitches who I’d dumped my kids on any available part of their body, so they were there with high hopes of being the lady that I took home with me today while I went through a very vulnerable stage in my life.
I knew bitches, and I knew the way that they thought. They thought that they could prey on a nigga’s emotions, but I never doubled back on old pussy because I obviously left the shit alone for a reason.
“I’m so sorry I’m late. My sister was late picking up my kids this morning,” Takai said the moment she took a seat next to me and made herself comfortable.
“You here now, and that’s all that matters,” I let her know.
She smiled, and that was that. We both diverted our attention back to the choir as the rest of the funeral went on. The pastor of the church that we were at had been preaching there since before I was even born. He knew my ole boy personally, and during his sermon, he talked about how he knew what my ole boy did for a living and how he didn’t approve of it, but in the same instance, he talked about how good of a man my ole boy was. How no matter how much dope he was pushing on the streets, he made sure that him and my ole girl made it to church every Sunday morning. He also talked about how my ole boy was the one who paid for the remodeling of the church, which was something that I didn’t even know about.
Many people went up to the front of the church to share stories that they had with him or even different types of things that he’d done, which I never knew about today. In the end, I was proud to say that man was my father. I didn’t have it in me to take my ass up to the front of the church and say anything, so I stayed in my seat the entire time.
“I wish I could have met him. He seemed so perfect,” Takari said the moment that she and I were standing outside the church.
I was about to respond to her, but in the distance, I saw Breshay making her way toward. She was walking fast as shit and staring at Takari with a smile on her face. I looked down at Takari, and a smile was on her face as well. God, please don’t let them know each other! We don’t fuck each other’s friends! That’s like rule number one in the baby mama/baby daddy rule book!
“I knew that was you walking in the church, but I just wasn’t certain. Girl, how do you know Bully?” was the first thing that Breshay asked Takari when she was close enough.
“We’re just friends. How do you know him?” Takari asked Breshay.
“He’s my kids’ father,” Breshay said.
I thought that shit would go left, but all Takari did was nod her head.
“Fuck y’all know each other from?” I finally asked, addressing the elephant in the room.
“We just met a few weeks ago. She’s dating my best friend,” Takari said, and I nodded.
I released a sigh of relief because that meant I still had a shot. If Takari and Breshay were long lost friends, I wouldn’t have fucked with Takari on that level, I didn’t care how fine her ass was.
“You gotta be the one my homegirl told me he took to the hospital that night. God, I hope you are. You are exactly what he needs. Beautiful, intelligent, and because you have kids of your own, then you already have that motherly instinct, so I can somewhat trust you around my kids. I hung out with you for a few hours when we were all together, and I like you. Oh my Gosh, I’m soooo happy,” Breshay went on to say.
I looked at her ass like she was crazy. The furthest Takari and I ever took it was a kiss, which I loved, but I felt like we shouldn’t have done that shit. Yet, Breshay was acting like she wanted me to marry this woman or some shit.
“Chill out with all that, yo. This my friend, that’s it. You can go and get my kids from your mama’s house, since you said that you weren’t coming over to my grandma’s crib for the repast,” I let Breshay know.
It wasn’t that my grandma and Breshay didn’t get along, but the two of them had a rocky relationship. They could be good one minute and hard down arguing the next. Majority of the time, they would get into it because my grandma was always trying to preach to Breshay on what she should or shouldn’t be doing as a mother. For instance, it could be seventy degrees outside, and because my grandmother was born and raised in Miami, to her, that was cool. So, if she saw that Breshay didn’t have the kids on a light sweater or something like that, she would get on Breshay about it.
Breshay knew in her heart that she had this mothering shit down pat, so, to her, it was sort of an insult for another woman to speak up on or try to make alterations to her parenting. Little shit like that would have the two of them beefing.
