SCOOTER
I watched as Keith and his roommate played the game.
To see my brother in a different element was an eye-opener for me.
My little nigga was happy. He was doing something I didn’t think either of us would get the chance to do.
To come from the bottom and end up in college was crazy.
I resented Bop for a while because, on the outside looking in, he was taking the only family I had away from me.
In my mind, he was changing the way Keith looked at me.
However, what he did was shape him into something better.
I thought about what the guys said to me. I knew it was time to talk to Keith about the whole Dio situation. “Ayo, Keith, can I holla at you for a minute?”
He came over to sit on the bed, but I stood up. “Let’s take a walk.”
His face frowned. “Nigga, it’s winter. Twenty fucking degrees outside. Are you crazy?”
“You got a coat, right? Stop complaining and come on before I beat yo ass like I used to.” I laughed.
He rambled off as he snatched up his thick coat and put it on. “I’ll be back,” he told his roommate.
“You like it here?” I asked him.
He nodded. “Yeah, shit is cool. I enjoy the whole HBCU life. Classes are ass, but I’m good.”
I nodded. “I’m not going to lie. I wish it were me who was doing all this shit for you. It’s supposed to be me, your big brother, but it’s clear Bop is doing the job.”
Keith stopped walking as he turned to me. “I know, Kareem. Look, our life looks different than everyone else’s, and I know you had some things going on. Bishop, Bleek, and Indigo have been good to me, but at the end of the day, you’re still my brother, and I would never treat you differently.”
A nigga was getting choked up because, through it all, my baby brother still saw me. I knew the conversation was about to change, but I had to do it. “You know I got your back no matter what. I don’t ask many questions, I move, but I want to know what happened between you and Dio?”
Keith’s face changed. Anger began to rise. “Fuck that nigga. Ever since he got to the Cove. When Samara told me about him, I should have—”
“Wait, so you and this nigga got beef over a female?”
Keith dropped his head and tried to walk off, and I pulled his shoulder back, “Nah, little nigga, answer my question.”
He swatted my hand away. “Kareem, nigga, don’t touch me. Ok, maybe it’s over a female, but the nigga violated. Coming around on some big ego shit, so like I said, fuck him.”
I couldn’t believe this shit. This entire time, I thought Keith was moving because there was some real shit between them, only to find out it was because he had fallen for some girl that clearly chose Dio.
“Keith, my nigga, you can’t be serious. So, what now, you want the nigga gone over a girl you will never have? Make it make sense.”
Keith stepped closer to me. “That’s the problem, Kareem.
We always get whatever is left. We always get the short end of the stick.
We get treated like fucking trash and never get to have something we can say is ours.
Samara was mine before that nigga came skipping around and when I checked him on it, we caught the fade.
It doesn’t matter, though, because I will be seeing him on the other side.
I’ve been meaning to tell you, but now seems like the right time. I joined a biker crew.”
I ran my hand through my hair, “What the fuck! Nigga, is you cool? I’m starting to think that you’re losing your fucking mind.”
Keith shrugged. “Maybe I am, but remember, Kareem, it’s my life, not yours. Let me move how I want, you did, remember. I love you, bro, but what’s done is done,” he finished and walked back toward his dorm.
Something in me told me my brother had joined the wrong side of the tracks. I didn’t know what the fuck was happening, but what I did know was that my brother was playing a game he was bound to lose.