MALI
The sun had set, and I decided to see what Diamond wanted.
I just got my new phone, and this nigga was blowing my shit up.
I stopped at a nearby gas station to grab some gum because the last thing I wanted was for a nigga to talk about me drinking.
I jogged into the store and walked down an aisle to see if I could find a travel-size mouthwash when I spotted Scooter’s stripper bitch walk in. I dropped my head and shook it.
I hadn’t had any contact with the nigga and was praying he'd lay off, but seeing her let me know that the trouble Scooter was brewing was still lingering. She acted as if she didn’t see me as she walked straight back to the drinks.
I hurried, grabbed the mouthwash and gum, and placed them on the counter.
The cashier rang me up, I grabbed my shit and walked outside.
“Fuck!” I mumbled.
I made my way toward my bike. “Sup,” I muttered.
He rolled a toothpick in his mouth as his nose flared. “Where is my shit? Nigga. You know something is telling me you’re scheming.”
“Scheming what? I told you I lost the shit.”
He shrugged. “Ok. What’s up with yo homie?”
I cleared my throat. “He ain’t hit me back yet,” I lied.
The offer Beans gave me seemed clear and dry.
The shit was honestly simple, but not simple to someone who wasn’t ready to give something up.
Scooter wasn’t worth it or at least to me.
He laughed. “I tell you what. You’ve got a few more days to either come up with some bread or studio time.
I got the feeling you’re the reason I got locked up.
I’m smelling a rat nigga, and I’m going to show you what I do to those.
If you can’t produce shit, I’m going to see if that pussy is worth it.
Symphony, I wonder how she would feel to know you were there that night, huh?
To know that you had that pretty expensive ass necklace I snatched from her neck.
Better yet, those Zoo bitches I wonder what they would think if they knew Mison Mali Keyton was involved in that shit.
Call me a snitch nigga, ‘cause I’m going to sing.
See, I will do whatever for my brother, even if it means being on grimy nigga time.
You,” he pointed at me. “You would leave your brothers out to dry, especially for a drink.”
I swung and hit his ass. I hit him over and over. Scooter lifted me, slamming me against the gas pump. “Fuck you nigga!” I shouted.
The blows were back-to-back as we were thumping outside. “I want my fucking money nigga,” he gritted.
“You ain’t getting shit!”
Whap! Whap!
“Stop!” I heard a woman yell.
Scooter shoved me off him as he backed up slowly. He wiped his nose as he nodded. That’s when I spotted Chevy only a few feet away from us. Scooter pointed at me, “You’re a dead nigga!” he shouted before he glanced at Chevy. “And that nigga Dio too!”
My chest heaved in and out as I picked the phone up off the ground. When I lifted, I shook my head because this was the last thing I needed. I heard a car screech, letting me know that Scooter and his stripper bitch had left. When I turned back around, Chevy was still standing there.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “You got hands, but you don’t have heart,” Chevy said to me.
“I got all the heart.”
He dropped his head as his eyes rose to me. “You’ve got delusion. Follow me.”
He walked off, hopped on his bike, and took off.
Although I didn’t want to, I did. When we pulled into the neighborhood, Chev pulled into his driveway while I parked on the street.
He came down, staring at me as he pointed at Diamond’s crib.
I should have known this shit was a setup.
I hopped off my bike as I strolled toward Diamond’s.
“If you niggas wanted to have a meeting, you should have said that and why you didn’t check the nigga about Dio? ” I rambled.
“For a nigga with ninety-nine problems, you sure do have a lot of lip. I don’t have to say shit because Dio has heart. Dio can handle that nigga, and what he thinks he wants, he doesn’t. He’s a dead nigga walking and you're about to be too if you keep fucking with me,” Chev grumbled behind me.
When we got to the door, I didn’t have to knock as Diamond swung the door open. “Have you been drinking?”
I turned to look at Chevy. “No.”
“First step is denial. Nigga you’re not going to make it in the Zoo. Get in here,” Diamond said as he shook his head.
As soon as I stepped inside, Diamond wasted no time slamming an old ass newspaper on the table. “Look, I told Chev to let me holla you. I want to show you something, come sit.”
I tried stretching my neck to see what was on the paper as I walked over. “Sit yo goofy ass down and read it,” Diamond spat.
I walked over and sat down as my eyes landed on the paper.
Alverez Blanco was arrested for the murder of Kima Blanco.
Mr. Blanco murdered Kima Blanco, his wife, in cold blood.
The couple had been going through a domestic dispute when Mrs. Blanco decided to try to escape.
Allegedly, their only child, Diamond Ricardo Blanco, witnessed the incident.
Sources say when they arrived on the scene, their son was nowhere to be found.
When investigators questioned Mr. Blanco about why he committed such a brutal crime, he responded that he had been drinking for days and blacked out.
My head rose as I stared at Diamond. “What does this have to do with me?”
“It means your past doesn’t determine your future.
My father killed my mother after drinking.
You think that was the first time he put a bottle to his lips.
He beat her ass all the time,” he paused.
“I’m saying just because your father was an alcoholic doesn’t mean you need to be.
Just because you have problems that you may not want to share with us, there are different ways to handle them.
Therapist, group meetings, hell, your brothers.
However, this shit is only going to lead to something irreversible.
I watched you under the influence. Nigga your mouth gets real bad, your attitude is shit, and no telling what you would do on one of your good drinking days.
That bottle is either going to lead you to a grave or behind bars.
Here, I found this AA group, and I think you should check it out,” he finished as he handed me a pamphlet.
I snatched the paper from his hand as I shot up from the couch. “I don’t have a fucking problem, and none of you OG niggas know me. None of you has been through the shit I have!” I snapped as I headed for the door.
“If you don’t get help, you don’t have to worry about being a part of the Zoo any longer.
I get it, you don’t want us to know, but we do.
You claim I’m trying to be the hero in your story, but how can I be a hero to a nigga who doesn’t even know his own story?
Figure it out or get the fuck out,” Chevy finished.
I glanced down at the pamphlet again before I walked out. Everyone thought they knew what was best for me, but all they were doing was showing me that my liquid lover was the only one who cared.