SYMPHONY
I didn’t know much about the other people in the Zoo, but I did know Braylon.
After Mison left here, drunk as hell, the red flag that I had decided to overlook was a major problem.
I was able to get the guy Mison had beaten some help.
I was asked questions, but didn’t want to say who it was, so I lied and said I didn’t see anything.
It wasn’t like the guy was going to remember because of the way Mison beat him, I’m sure he would have some memory loss.
I left my house after finding Braylon’s socials.
I sent him a message to link up. Surprised that he actually agreed, I headed to the location he had given me.
My mind was going a mile a minute, and I started to become worried about Mison.
I didn’t know if he was safe or not. When my GPS said I had arrived, I pulled into the dark, almost empty parking lot, glancing over my shoulders, waiting for Braylon to pull up.
However, I noticed the tinted door had cracked open.
When his head popped out, I jumped out of the car and hurried inside.
The black lights and smell of weed cascaded around me.
He looked at me with a blank stare. “Follow me.”
I was on his heels as he led me toward the back and into another room.
The studio space screamed expensive. I wasn’t surprised because he and I both come from a families with money.
Braylon sat in the seat in front of me and pointed to the couch that was tucked off to the side.
I nervously sat as I stared at him. He turned the chair in my direction. “You going to talk or stare?”
“Mison, he’s—”
“That nigga is grown, next.”
My head flew back. “Isn’t he your friend? Don’t y’all ride bikes and shit together?”
He shrugged. “Can’t save a nigga that don’t want to be saved. Him being my friend has nothing to do with that.”
Braylon had never been this heartless, and I was starting to wonder how that happened. He and I used to live in the same neighborhood until his parents moved to another part of Lake Hill, where only the elite stayed. “What happened to you?”
He turned his back on me as he picked up his blunt and placed it to his lips. I shot up from the couch. “Braylon!” I shouted.
His head snapped my way. “Beans, Symphony, it’s Beans.”
“Beans, Braylon, bitch nigga I don’t—”
He shot up, towering over me. “Watch the shit you say. I know Mison, and he hasn’t learned.
The nigga has been offered help. If you think the shit is so easy, why don’t you save him?
We’re talking about a nigga that blesses the bottle more than he does his brothers.
A nigga who would sacrifice his crew for thirty minutes of liquid courage, a nigga that has secrets beyond what you can believe, that is eating away at him.
So, Symphony, if you want the nigga to have fucking help, you fucking do it. ”
I stood there as my eyes became teary. My brows went inward because I became sad.
Did he not care? I watched as he turned the music up unbothered.
I stepped back and shook my head. He turned to me as the smoke lingered from his mouth.
I knew I needed to find Mison. It was clear it would be me who had to help him.
I rushed out of the room and back to the front door when a girl entered.
She stared at me as I stared at her. She glanced over my shoulder, and I knew Braylon was behind me.
“What, wait, I’m confused,” she muttered.
I turned to look at him one last time before I wiped my tears and left the building. She came out behind me, and I could tell her little heart was broken. However, so was mine because the man I chose to fall for was an alcoholic who needed help.