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Teyanna Crystal Wilmore
Here I am, at a place I thought I'd never be, for my best friend, my other half, my brother Tyreek.
He was taken from us at 18, shot and killed. The hardest part was knowing that in a month, I should have been sending him off to college instead of seeing him in a casket. I had been so excited to see him achieve his goals.
Most stories end with someone important dying; crazy that's exactly how ours started.
"Tryna' take a walk?" my older cousin Ja'shawn asked, a knowing grin on his face, hinting that we weren't just going to be walking.
I turned my attention from a childhood photo that portrayed me and my brother at our purest, to Ja'shawn.
Tall and muscular at around 6'3", with a red hoodie bearing the phrase "trust no one," his black dreads were pulled into a high ponytail. His arms bore a full sleeve of tattoos that connected to his chest as well.
I didn't really have friends for real besides my brother and my cousin. All three of us used to chill together every day.
"Uh..." I hesitated as I looked behind him to see three other people seeming to be waiting on him. One boy had on a hat making it hard to see his face; he stayed on his phone, not looking at anyone.
As soon as I looked at the other boy, he put a goofy grin on his face. I furrowed my eyebrows, slowly looking away from him.
Then there was Kasani right next to him. I've always seen her around at family events, but I honestly don't think we're really related. I found her really pretty; we just never spoke.
"Aight, I guess," I shrugged, putting my hands into one of my brother's old hoodie pockets, then followed the group.
"Surprised to see you ain't actin' antisocial," Ja'shawn joked, but I only shrugged in response.
We all began walking down a familiar street. Me and my people had so many memorable moments over here when we were younger. I guess that's why my dad picked this church to hold the funeral.
"People be weird. Ion' see why I gotta talk to anybody," I replied, giving him a late response as I watched the guy with the hat in front of us light up a blunt and take a puff.
After a while, we ended up walking to a nearby park and sitting on some of the playground equipment while the rotation of the blunt continued.
I put my hood on and popped in my headphones. I wasn't going to listen to no music for real. It's just a way of telling niggas I ain't here to talk and won't talk. It always worked like a charm but not when...
