A BROTHERS DEATH [ A SHORT]
THE MUSIC...
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'Damn man, Wanda is fine as fuck!'
' Hell yeah bro, dat ass is so phat'
Jaylen looked at the ass of the girl as she walked down the sidewalk. He was standing on the corner with his friend Demarco. They had met in the band back before Demarco had moved into the same projects as Jaylen. They were pretty much inseparable. As they stood there Jaylen thought back to when he had met Wanda they were kids, he was 10 and she was 8. All snotty nose and long thin legs, shit sure had changed since then. Jaylen was 20 and he worked in a restaraunt, he was the head nighttime grill cook and it paid pretty good, he also hustled a little weed on the side to supplement his income. Demarco worked at the restaraunt also. Jaylen had hooked him and a couple of other brothers from the projects up with jobs also.
Jaylen had not finished school, he was the oldest son his mother had so he started to do odd jobs when he was about 12 and had a full time job when he was 15. He had done all sorts of things to get money in that time. The winos, drug dealers ,and his friends had helped him to make it on the streets. He and his mom were close and he had a good relationship with his dad, most of his friends had never even seen their dads. Yet Jaylen loved the streets and what they represented. He was no dummy he liked to read and he would read anything. Books about history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology were devoured by his questing mind.
He had been shot at and he had shot a couple of motherfuckers, survival was of the utmost importance on these streets. He always had a couple of women who had his back. Life was good. It was friday tonight so the hood was live as fuck.
'Whats up Jaylen. Can I get a dime sack?'
Jaylen turned around to look at the short man who stood in front of him. 'Aw shit shorty man, whats up?' They dapped each other as they continued to talk. 'Man you see how fine Wanda done got?'
'Hell yeah dog.' Shorty reached in his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill.
'You say you need a dime sack?' Jaylen looked around quickly before going over to a crumpled brown bag on the ground. He reached inside and grabbed a bag of weed out of it.
'Hell yeah nigga, I'm going to the hill.'
Jaylen looked at him and said 'You know I dont go for that nigger shit Shorty.
'Oh yeah, I forgot about you and Demarco and that africa shit.'
'Thats cool' said Jalen as he handed him the weed. 'Just keep that shit to yourself.'
'So you going to the hill' Demarco asked as he stood up from the bench where he had been sitting.
The hill was a popular place with the guys from the projects it was like their spot. Almost all the guys in the projects were members of a tightly wound group called The Boyz. At the hill you could buy beer at the store and drink it at the club which was attached on the side. Most of the boyz had started to drink when they were 14 or 15.
'Man you got some blunts?' Shorty asked as he shook the bag in his hand.
'Hell naw Shorty, I look like a damn store to you?' Jaylen asked as he sat down on the bench.
'Naw man I was gonna smoke one wit yo crazy ass.'
'Oh thats allright Shorty I just burned one a little while ago.
'You wanna burn one Demarco?'
'Naw shorty, thanks though bro.' Shorty paused for a second before he said 'Man I though you was goin crosstown?'
'Naw man I'm waiting for my woman to come through so I can drop her off at the house. We bout to go to B's.' B's was the club that the boyz were going to tonight. They were celebrating the fact that two of the boyz had just signed a recording contract.
'Oh yeah I was gonna go but Janice wants to hang on the hill.'
'Damn yo ass is pussy whipped.' Demarco said and Jaylen laughed in agreement. They talked for a minute before Shorty left.
As they stood on the corner people came and went. Some of them stayed and they hung around and talked. Pretty soon there were about 6 guys standing around and Demarcos woman pulled up and scooped him. After his best friend left Jaylen and the boyz sent some one to the liquer store to get a bottle. Jaylen broke out a couple of bags of weed and the fellows started to drink and smoke. After about an hour a brand new suv pulled up at the corner and all the boys went into alert mode. The police drove vehicles like this. The truck stopped and a tall skinny young man got out and all the boyz said 'AW SHIT!' It was John, a brother who lived with his grandma in a nice brick house in a nice neighborhood, he liked to hang in the projects much to the dismay of his family.
'Man who truck you done stole?' The brother who asked this was Curt he was Demarcos half brother, they had started to hang out about a year before, they had the same dad but different moms. Yet they were as tight as hell.
'This is my shit, my grandma bought it for me' John answered.
'That shit is tight as hell!' Down Low said. He and his brother Sky were the ones who had signed the recording contract. Down Low was a good fighter and thats how he got his name. His brother smoked a whole lot of weed so they called him Sky cause he was always high.It was at this time that Demarco pulled back up and he got out and made small talk about the truck. The boyz started to split up there were only 6 of them going to the club tonight. John asked Jaylen to ride with him and Jaylen was about to get into the front seat of the truck when Demarco said. 'Man I just bought some hydro from the dreads over on fourth ave. That did it, Jaylen climbed into the car with Demarco and his brother and John and the other two brothers were in the truck.
'Man I got to stop by Big Ds house and then we will meet you at the club.' John said as they got ready to leave.
'Allright' the other guys said as they pulled out.
Demarco stopped by the liquer store and they bought a bottle of Jim Beam before they got to the club. When they got there they stood outside and drank and hung out with friends and females before they went inside. The club was packed and they quikly forgot about their friends who never showed up. Jaylen met a girl who he had been talking to for awile and she begged him to come to her place, yet for some reason he chose to go home.
The next morning he was just waking up when the phone rang, Jaylens sister gave it to him. It was Demarco 'Whats up dog?'
'Aint nothin, man you goin over to Big Ds house?'
'Yeah man, we need to see what happened to them fools last night.'
Jaylen hung up the phone and took a shower and got ready to meet Demarco outside. His sisters and little brother were all over the apartment doing their thing. His mom was in her room. Demarco pulled up in his moms car and blew the horn. Jaylen walked out and lit a blunt as he walked out of the door. Demarco got out of his moms car and they smoked the blunt. Demarcos mom didnt know he smoked, she would have blew a gasket if she did. They finished and Curt walked up. They climbed in the car and went down to Big Ds house. They pulled up and jumped out.
'Whats up fellas?' Jaylen said as they walked up to the other guys who were standing in Big Ds yard. 'Big D looked up and his eyes were red. 'Man y'all aint heard?
'Heard what?' Demarco replied as he walked up.
'Man Down Low and Sky died last night'
All three of the guys who had pulled up said 'WHAT!'
'Yeah man, John flipped the truck and they got thrown out into a storm ditch, He's in the hospital. His arm is broken and he's in stable condition.
'Aw shit' Demarco remarked. Jaylen just stood there with a stunned look on his face.
Big D continued 'We bout to go to the hospital to see John.
6 DAYS LATER
'Man I dont know what the fuck to think' Jaylen and Demarco were standing on his porch and they were smoking a blunt, 'shit is all crazy.'
'Hell yeah' Demarco said agreeing with Jaylen.
'I hope dont no stupid shit happen at this funeral' Jaylen and his friend were standing on the porch of his apartment and they were smoking a blunt.
'Yeah'
One of Jaylens girlfriends was the sister of Down Low and Sky. Some of the members of her family were blaming John for the death of their family member. The boyz thought differently, they knew that it could have been any of them. They had all gotten drunk together. They had been quick to point out that Jaylen was about to get in the truck.
'Damn this was fucked up' thought Jaylen as he walked to the car with his homeboy. They went and picked up Curt and another one of the boys who was called Hammer and headed to the church. On the way no one really talked and Jaylen thought about what his dad had said to him that week.
'Son you got to figure out what you gone do.' Jaylens dad kept his ear to the ground so he knew what his son did, yet he let him make his own bed. 'Them boys aint gone be with you forever boy, you got to decide what you wanna do with your life.' He talked to Jaylen in the bar where he hung out everyday. 'That could have been you. How yu thank yo mama a be feelin if it was?' Jaylen just listened, his dad had that effect on him. 'And yo brothers and yo sisters. boy you got to walk the straight line, not veer to the left or the right, just stay on that straight line.' Jaylen had taken the conversation to heart.
They got to the funeral home and went inside before the funeral started. When it was time for everyone to file past and view the bodies one of the dead brothers sisters jumped up screaming and hollering at John and the boys took her to the back of the church as she kicked and tried to break loose. John went and viewed his friends and left the building. When he walked out he let out a wail that sent chills through Jaylens bones.
After they left the graveyard all the boyz were going to Big Ds house to hang out. Jaylen was not feeling that shit so he said 'Man drop me off by my house.' He got out and walked in and his mom and his sisters and baby brother were in the living room doing different things. He walked in and laid his tie on the table and started to play with his family. He loved to make them laugh. They played and talked until everyone went to their rooms exept his mom and his older sister. 'How are you doing Jaylen,' his mom asked.
'I'm okay mom'
'Allright' she said as she stood up. 'Yo dad told me he talked to you.'
'Yes maam '
'Allright, you turn off these lights before you come upstairs.'
'I will ma.'
After everyone was gone Jaylen tok his time and then went to his room. When he got in it he lit an incense and rolled a blunt, he turned on the stereo and smoked about half of the blunt before he let it burn out. He listened to the music for awhile and picked up the pad and pencil that lay on the table beside his bed and started to write.
'Damn man, Wanda is fine as fuck!'
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