A Losing Game

"Consequence"

            Roderick opened his eyes to a beautiful Sunday morning that had all but erased the downpour from the night before. He looked over and noticed Reece wasn't in bed with him, so he quickly rolled off the bed and slid on his sweatpants before hurrying out of the bedroom. He descended the stairs into the living room and immediately smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen. He made his way inside and saw Reece taking food out of delivery bags.

            "What's all of this?" he asked with a smile.

            "Breakfast," Reece replied. "I had some delivered."

            Roderick picked up a biscuit and took a bite out of it before asking, "With what money? You're broke as fuck."

            "Nigga, fuck you." He laughed and explained, "I asked my momma for money before she got drunk yesterday."

            "Oh, okay."

            "I can't get over how nice this house is. What does your brother do for a living?"

            "He owns a car repair shop downtown with his homeboy. I actually haven't been by there yet to see what it looks like."

            "Are they hiring? Because they must make a lot of money for him to afford a place this nice."

            "Reece, what do you know about cars?"

            "I wasn't askin' for me. You need a job, right? Because you ain't dealin' anymore and I know you're tired of bein' broke."

            "Money ain't everything, baby."

            Reece sat down at the table and gave him a look before asking, "What happened to you while you were locked up? Because the old Rod wouldn't dare let some bullshit like that come out of his mouth."

            "I grew up in there, Reece. I grew the fuck up. Maybe it's time that you do, too." He sat down across from Reece and finished his biscuit before pouring himself a glass of orange juice. After drinking some, he asked, "You sure you want me and not the money I used to have?"

            "You ain't got shit now and I sucked your dick and let you up in my bussy last night, so that should answer your dumb question."

            "Damn, I see you got a lot of mouth this mornin'."

            "Yep, and I'm gonna run it while I eat this food, too." He took a bite from one of his sausage links and stared at Roderick while chewing.

            "Anyway, my brother ain't gonna be back until late in the afternoon. What do you wanna do today?"

            "Shit, I just wanna lay around and watch TV and text my friends. It's Sunday." His phone vibrated and after picking it up and unlocking it, he rolled his eyes and said, "Sounds like Jacory's lame ass birthday party at Apollo's Secret was lit. Somebody I'm cool with was there and he said it was fun. Whatever."

            "What did you do for your eighteenth birthday last month?"

            "See, if you would've read all of the letters I sent you when you were locked up, you'd already know. I had dinner with my momma, my aunts, and some of my cousins at Cassandra's and then we went to Club Adonis."

            "The strip club? They took you to see niggas shake their asses and dicks for some change?"

            Reece laughed and answered, "Yeah."

            "Man, your moms and them are wild. But I'm glad you had fun. I spent my birthday locked up with gang members and other young drug dealers."