ZU-TOPIA

PROLOGUE

ZEUS

BEFORE ZOO

The sound of the groundskeeper tossing loose dirt onto the shiny black casket in a single rectangle-shaped grave that provided no space to breathe. I stood over my father’s grave thinking of how he died of a broken heart. The woman he loved with every fiber in his body forced him to do the unthinkable. I didn’t know whether to be sad or mad. How could he give his all to someone who constantly broke him down?

There was a light tap to my shoulder pulling my attention away. “I got you my nigga anything you need,”

Chevy whispered as he walked off.

My head eased back toward the grave, where now the casket was almost covered. It was as if any words I had to say to my pops would go unheard. The sound of sobs filled my ears. My eyes slowly eased toward Dionysus. My fourteen-year-old brother with no real understanding of what has happened. My parents did their best to mask what our household was truly like when Dio was around. The constant bickering, the arguments, the shout battles, the belittling and degrading. Dio was sheltered and witnessed none of it. Me, they didn’t care to spare my feelings, I was exposed to every fucking thing. Hell, I didn’t even know what a healthy relationship looked like because the one I was exposed to had always been toxic and unloving in my eyes.

Once the last bit of dirt covered the casket Dio tossed his limped, soggy tear filled rose onto the pile. He and I glanced at each other before walking off.

Here I was, twenty-eight now, having to care for my brother. I was forced to become someone’s guardian. I resented my parents for having Dio in the first place. The age gap between us wasn’t small, but huge. The way they treated him was as if it was a second chance to get it right. I was a rebel but who wanted to sit in a house that felt loveless? As we made our way back to the limo, I spotted someone watching us. I was eager to say something to express how I felt, to scream, to wreck shit but I simply got inside the limo right after Dio.

“Zeus, what are we going to do?”

Dio whimpered.

I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I couldn’t let my brother see how afraid I was to start this new journey with just him and I. I glared out of the window as we left the cemetery. I left all my emotions and thoughts with my father because taking them with me was pointless. I didn’t know the first thing about caring for someone. It is possible there was a method to my father’s madness. He had always been obsessed with Greek mythology that he’d named us both after Greek Gods. The irony is, Zeus was the father of Dionysus. Although I wasn’t Dionysus’ father, I had now become that. My parents never gave me the guidance I needed, just in case some shit like this happened.

We finally pulled up to the repast, which was being held at the loveless house. It was full of people I didn’t know my father knew. There were professors from the university he’d worked at, extended family which I’d never talk to, and some of his friends, I assumed. Dio went straight to his room, leaving me to entertain a bunch of muhfuckas I cared nothing about. Honestly, I would have rather spent this time alone. The sound of Triece’s voice filled the space. “Zeus!”

she screamed.

I turned toward her, “Sup, why the fuck are you shouting?”

“Why didn’t you invite me to the funeral? Damn, I mean I would like to support you,”

she hissed.

Triece said she was my girl, but I had a feeling she was spreading that pussy throughout the city. I’d been hearing word that she was fucking with different niggas, so I placed her ass in the caliber she was supposed to be in. When a nigga wanted to fuck, that’s when I would call her. She was an example of why a nigga couldn’t give his heart away. She and I would argue every time we were together, and the shit was draining. I dealt with enough of that with my parents. I didn’t need it from her ass too. I promised myself that loving a woman wasn’t worth the stress. I stood against the wall as Triece rambled. I watched as her mouth moved but I didn’t hear shit she said. I spotted Chevy coming into the house when his eyes landed on me. I moved around Triece and stepped over to him.

“Damn didn’t know your pops knew all these people,”

he said as he dapped me up.

I shrugged. “Shit me either. What’s the word?” I asked.

He pulled out an envelope, handing it to me. “I know shit is about to get real sticky for you now that it’s just you and Dio. Money is tight, but I got you. I added your name to the juice bar. This way you’ll have something in your name, something you can be a part of if anything ever happens to me. I will split the profit with you. Zu my nigga, this is my baby, I’m trusting you to do right by me. Also, we got a race tonight. Twenty-five bands, if we win, I’ll give it to you,”

he finished.

Chevy had always been a solid nigga. He was my best friend. Nigga never smiled; it had always been business before pleasure. He and I had been riding for a while. We’d always talked about starting our own crew, but every nigga I picked he declined. He said he wanted niggas that were hungry, that struggled. He felt like if they had been through some shit, then they would appreciate the gift more. Me, I was looking for the best riders’; niggas that would help us win.

I tucked the envelope in my pocket, “It’s only two of us Chev,”

I started. “Two of us against a whole crew it’s not gone work.”

“Nigga, we got to start somewhere. Tonight, at eleven, be there. Make Triece’s bald-headed ass watch Dio. Tell her to put that used pussy on ice,”

he said as he walked off.

***

Chevy and I sat amongst the large crowd of people that were there representing the Blue Devils. My nerves were bad, my hands were sweaty, and my mind was all over the place. With a high wager on the race, it was almost as if I were gambling. It had been months since I’d stepped foot in one of my old spots, but this was giving me the urge to step back out there. Chevy had walked back over to me after talking with the leader of the Blue Devils. “Aight my nigga me and you. It’s only up from here.”

“Come on with the pep talk nigga let’s ride!”

I snapped.

“Slow your roll Chewbacca. There is a lot of money at risk. This is not a fucking dice game Zu. This race will make or break us,”

he finished then hopped on his bike.

I knew winning this money would set me and Dio straight for a while, plus the money we had from my father’s policy, which wasn’t much but enough to get us through. This race was to set the tone for something Chevy and I had talked about countless times. One of their girls held up the blue scarf. Chevy and I revved up. He and I looked at each other before pulling down our visors. Once that blue flag went down, we took off.

The speedometer went up as I hauled ass down the street. Chevy swerved in and out between the two Blue Devils’s guys we were racing. I swerved left to make a sharp turn when a flash of my father popped into my head. Then an image of Dio crying. I knew there was so much at stake here and it put a little fear in me. I had only buried my father a few hours ago and here I was at a race because it was the only way I could get money to secure something for my brother.

It was me who now had to be a provider, me the one who had to teach Dio, and I knew nothing about any of it. I was forced to do this, and I resented my parents for it. I hated them for it all. “He’s not my fucking son!”

I shouted as I gear switched, changing lanes now speeding up.

I was angry as fuck, torn, hurt, and most of all sad. I didn’t have time to cry or mourn. The light switch flipped on, and I was in fight-or-flight mode. Then my mother, my muhfuckin mother.

“Yo Zu slow down!”

I heard Chevy yelling.

When I refocused, I saw that I was coming up on the finish line. I hit my brakes, sending my tires spinning. I halted as the smoke from my tires filled the space. I removed my helmet, taking in deep breaths. Chevy came up from behind me landing his hand on my shoulder.

“You were a beast out that bitch!”

I hadn’t realized we won the race because my mind was in its own place. The leader from the Blue Devils handed Chevy a bag and they shook hands. Before I could even celebrate, the sound of Triece’s voice came from the side of me.

“I’m not a fucking babysitter, you left me with him so you can come and fucking race. You know what Zeus, fuck you!”

she shouted.

Dio stepped from the side of her smiling, “You killed it, Zeus!”

I dropped my head because I didn’t want him out here, but I knew I couldn’t pawn him off on anyone. Chevy tossed the bag on my lap, “Fuck Triece, I got you, my nigga. Dio gone be straight. You and I are niggas from the wild finding our own survival.”

I wanted to break down right then and there but when I glanced up at my brother I couldn’t, I wouldn’t because he didn’t need to see me weak. I slid my hands down my face as I nodded my head. “Zoo Boyz!”

I said to Chevy.

“Yeah, nigga, we the muhfuckin Zoo Boyz!”

I didn’t know what God had in store for me and Dio, but I prayed he made this shit easy.