Chapter 20 #2
“Shawn was having a kickback at his house…” Apollo answered.
“Shawn?” he asked incredulously. “The nigga that you just got jammed up with in the bathroom at school?!”
“Yeah.”
“AP, bro.” He chuckled again, gripping the paperwork tightly. “I’m trying real hard not to beat the fuck out yo’ ass right now, my nigga. What the fuck be going through your head?”
“Same thing that be going through yours when you getting money,” he answered and I dropped my head. He was just asking for his brother to jump on him.
“Naw, nigga, dumb shit like that don’t be going through my head,” he snapped. “I ain’t ever stolen shit in my fucking life, especially if I didn’t have to, and I damn sure wouldn’t be doing the shit with stupid niggas that constantly get caught.”
“Whatever bruh.”
Adonis got ready to move toward him, but I intercepted and said, “okay, stop.” I looked between them both. “Apollo, try losing the attitude. You’re the one in the wrong here…”
“I ain’t got an attitude,” he cut me off. “And I ain’t talking to you. You not my real sister anyways.” He mumbled the last part, but I heard him very clearly.
I didn’t even have time to fully register his words before Adonis was clearing the space between him and his brother and hopping on his ass.
It happened so fast. He was over him raining blows all over him while Apollo was balled up trying to protect himself.
I had to run over and pull on the hoodie that Adonis was wearing while begging him to stop.
He finally pulled back, but not after busting his brother’s nose and lip. I hurried next to him, grabbing some nearby Kleenex for him to hold there.
“Move, Jru,” Adonis gently grabbed me, but I pulled away from him.
“Stop it, Adonis.” I rose to my feet and pulled Apollo up. “Come on.”
I tugged him toward my kitchen to get an icepack from the freezer then the first aid kit from the drawer. I helped him get the nose bleeding to stop, then I cleaned his lip.
“Nigga’s not a baby, Jru,” Adonis fussed. “He act and talk like a grown ass man…”
“But he’s not a grown ass man, Adonis!” I fired back. “He’s a child—your little brother—so you need to stop.” I snapped, shaking my head. “Okay, I think the bleeding stopped, Apollo.” I examined him some. “Take these and go clean yourself up in your bathroom.”
He gave me a somber look before taking he gauze from me and leaving me and Adonis in the kitchen in an awkward silence. I grabbed some bleach to spray the counter down then I used some Clorox wipes to actually wipe it.
“I think you and Apollo need some time apart, then you need to go in and talk to him.” I finally broke the silence. “And apologize to him for…”
“I ain’t apologizing to him for shit,” he spat, cutting me off. “Lil’ mothafucka too disrespectful for me.”
“He’s a fifteen-year-old boy, Adonis.”
“With a mouth on him like someone our age,” he argued. “I don’t give a fuck about all that hormonal, trying to figure himself out shit. That ain’t a pass for him to disrespect me and he damn sure ain’t gon’ be talking to you crazy.”
“I understand that, but did you have to bust his lip and nose?” I frowned. “You could have broken it or really hurt him.”
He scoffed. “Nigga’s lucky I didn’t. How he end up outside anyway, Jruelle? You was supposed to be watching him.”
“Excuse me?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I was watching him, but I wasn’t aware that I had to physically sit in the room and do it, or that I wasn’t allowed to go to sleep.”
“How he know to get up with them niggas? I took his phone and he been suspended, so there was no way for him to talk to them.”
“Oh, shit,” I palmed my forehead.
“What?”
“He came in while the girls were here and asked for my iPad…”
“Jru…”
“He asked to call Breanna about their homework,” I argued and he sucked his teeth.
“Really Jruelle? When does this nigga ever give a fuck like that about his homework?”
“I-I don’t know.” I answered feeling horrible. I should have listened to Adonis and not given Apollo the iPad, but he’d been in that room all day with nothing. “I didn’t think it would lead up to this.”
“But it did,” he shook his head. “And now that I think about the shit, you didn’t even call me when the nigga was jammed up at the police station. Why?”
“He-I’d just woken up,” I shrugged. “And I was caught off guard by it. He was saying they wouldn’t let him leave unless a parent came. I should have called you, but…” my words trailed off because I didn’t want to admit that Apollo had asked me not to.
“But what?”
“I’m sorry, Adonis.” I dropped my head.
“But what, Jruelle?” he asked again.
“He asked me to come and not to call you.” I mumbled.
He chuckled humorlessly, dragging his hand down his face.
“Boy, y’all two are something else.”
“Adonis…”
“AP is a child, so I expect him to do stupid shit, but not you, Jru. I thought you had more sense that what you obviously do.” He shook his head.
“Excuse me?!” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“You’re excused. Don’t act like I don’t got the right to feel the way I do right now, my nigga.”
“You have the right to be upset, yes, but you don’t have the right to be disrespectful in the process. I did you favor.”
“Yeah? I won’t ask you to do that shit no more.” He mumbled and started off toward the door.
“Adonis…”
“I need some air,” he said before exiting.
I followed him outside, pleading with him to come back in. It was late and I didn’t want him to leave with us on bad terms or him and his brother in a rocky place.
“Adonis, please,” I pleaded.
“Go back in the house, Jru.”
“No, come here.”
“I’m ‘bout to chill out here and smoke, Jruelle,” he opened his car door. “Go in the house.”
“I can stay out here with…”
“Naw, you can’t,” he spun around and snapped. “I want to be alone, so go back in the house.”
I was a bit taken aback by his tone and demeanor, but I didn’t want to push any further. If he didn’t want me to be around, then I wasn’t going to beg him.
I went back inside, locking the door behind me. After tossing the wipes I was cleaning with in the trash and putting the supplies away, I peeked in Apollo’s room to find him asleep in bed, then I made my way down the hall to my room.
I took my shoes and pants off before getting back in bed. Eyeing my phone for a few seconds, I swooped it up and text Adonis.
Me: Are you coming inside, Adonis?
Bae: idk.
I chewed on my bottom lip, contemplating if I had the right to be upset. I did give Apollo the iPad despite his brother giving me strict orders, but I also didn’t give him permission to leave nor did I think that he would.
Me: Fine, if you want to be like that, then you can go home.
I waited to see what his response would be and got the surprise of my life when he didn’t reply. Instead, I heard the engine of his truck come to life, since my house was dead silent, before I heard his car pulling out of my driveway.
He was upset, sure—he had every right to be, but I didn’t expect him to be as cold as he was being. I felt a way without a doubt, but I wasn’t going to bother him anymore. If he wanted space, then I was going to give it to him.
No matter how much it hurt my feelings.