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Ty
"Yo!" I yelled, using a language my brother understood.
He walked up to the edge of the sidewalk to meet me, emerging from the darkness of the park. "Hey bro."
"Hey bro? What the hell are you doing here, Mike?"
He looked confused and a little hurt at what I guessed was the wrong question.
"Calm down man, I was waiting on you, hoping we could talk."
"Why? I’ve been trying to call you for over a week. Why not answer your phone if you need to talk to me? How did you know I was here?"
Mike smiled and shook his head, clearly finding me amusing. "Dude, the way you looked talking about the ballerina? Yeah, I knew exactly where to find you."
I started to shout things like, "How did you know when I would be here?" And “Why do I always find you on this side of town?” But it didn't really matter, Mike always had a flair for the dramatics. If he wanted to talk to me, especially about Giselle, then this was where he would want to do it. Catching me so I couldn't deny how I was feeling.
"So, what is it you wanna talk about?"
He smiled again, this time looking almost proud. "I knew you liked her. Just wanted to see for myself."
"You couldn't knock or call like a normal human?"
"Calm down man, what’s up your ass?" He slid his hands casually into his pockets and looked back at Brisé. My eyes followed his, noticing the door was still closed and all was quiet over there.
"Look, Giselle has had some people breaking into her place, we are all on high alert on this side of town."
His eyes got wide in disbelief and he looked back and forth a million times. "No shit?"
"Yeah, so, when I saw someone out here, I thought it may be whoever was busting in on her."
"Man, I’m so fucking sorry, little bro. Shit I was just trying to catch you when you left, I swear." My brother was a liar, but not usually to me. He chose to not say anything if he thought he needed to lie. So, like an idiot, I instantly believed him.
I still wanted nothing more than to see the good in my brother. Now that Marc and Dev were gone, I wondered who he was hanging with, or if he was alone.
Guilt raced through me thinking of him being alone. "Why haven't you answered my calls?"
He reached in his pocket and lifted his phone into his hand. The glass was dark and I could barely read what the screen said, so he turned us a little so the light from the sidewalk shined down onto the phone.
"Inactive?" I questioned. "What happened?'
"Times are a little tough, bro. I'm wanting to make a life here in Atlanta and I know you don't always agree with my business, but making Marc and Dev leave meant business slowed."
I eyed him, lost in his story as he kept quietly explaining. "Phone went out sometime last week and I’ve been too proud to stop by. I guess tonight, I just got too curious and wanted to catch you while I could."
For some reason, I laughed—hard. Mike shook his head and started laughing too. For all the bullshit we faced in our lives, my heart was breaking thinking of Mike not having a fucking phone.
Shit, the irony.
I pulled him into a quick hug and stepped back to look at him. "Fuck that. You need me to get the phone turned back on? You fucking come ask. You need anything, you ask. We don't live on those streets anymore. We don't have to live together for me to care about you."
Mike was laughing and play-punching me, trying to shake off his somber story. "I know man, but I will get it back on. I’ll get things going."
"Well to answer your question, yeah, I’m crazy about Miss Ballerina in there." I started to look back at Brisé but Mike pulled me into another hug.
"Fuck yeah, man. Not gonna lie, I was hoping you broke her heart so I could pick up the pieces."
I pulled from him and punched his shoulder, laughing some more and feeling good about this chat we were having. It took a weight off my shoulders knowing he was ok and that the only problem he had—his phone—was one I could fix easily.
