Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
a week later ..
"Ma, I don't think I can do this shit." Khalil's voice cracked as Krystal worked on Kylanii's hair.
"What you mean you can't do it, Kyrin? Baby, other than yo' daddy, you the strongest person I know. This your last time seeing him before he's put away forever," she said, watching her son run his hands over his face and blow out a heavy breath.
Today was Khalil's funeral, and Kyky didn't know how to feel. He never thought he'd have to see his best friend in a casket, and he didn't want to. Everyone was blowing up his phone, but he ignored them; he wanted to be left alone.
The past few days hadn't been easy at all for him. He'd been smoking and crying more than ever, flipping through his photo album, seeing old pictures and videos of them, just to end up in tears. Hurt was an understatement.
Every time he closed his eyes, he could see himself holding Khalil's dying body. He couldn't shake the fact that his brother, his day one, his best friend, was gone and never coming back. It felt so surreal.
Khalil was never supposed to give his life up to the streets. He had dreams that stretched far beyond the hood they grew up on dreams of going pro, making it to the NBA, and taking his mama out the hood. And he was good too, real good. Coaches had been eyeing him since his freshman year, and he even went D1 with a full ride.
But one fight changed everything. Just one mistake, one bad night, and all his scholarships disappeared. It was a fight he wouldn't have been in if it wasn't for Kyrin. Kyrin had always been labeled the "bad influence," the one who kept Khalil in the most trouble, and now, the weight of that guilt was suffocating.
Khalil was a young soul with talent and promise, another child whose dreams were stolen by the streets. And Kyrin, every time he thought of his homeboy, he couldn't shake the feeling that it was his fault. If only he hadn't dragged Khalil into that mess, maybe his brudda' would still be here, still fighting for his dream instead of becoming another tragic loss.
"You look so pretty, bald head." He managed a slight smile, looking at his three-year-old sister in her black and white dress. "Tank you," Kylanii smiled, playing with the bows her mom had recently placed in her hair.
Krystal stepped out of the bathroom, drying her hands after washing off the hair products. "You ready, baby?" she asked softly, knowing her son was hurting.
The ride to the funeral was quiet. Kyky sat in the passenger seat, watching as his mom passed all the streets he and Khalil used to tear up.
Krystal drove in silence, occasionally singing the lyrics to "The Best in Me" by Marvin Sapp. Kylanii was in the backseat, blissfully unaware, watching Gracie's Corner on her iPad. Kyky glanced back at her, wishing he could go back to that innocent time.
