This past week was extremely difficult to get through, going to Pittsburgh talking with my grandparents and aunts, my stepdad just everything..... I didn't even remember the funeral because I was still trying to process what happened. But I think the absolute most difficult part was talking to the family of the sixteen-year-old who ran his truck into my mom's car; I couldn't tell you what pissed me off more the fact that they were making excuses for their son's actions by saying 'he's just a kid he doesn't know any better' or the fact that they saw little to no issue with the fact that this 'kid' was drunk as fuck during the middle of the day or the fact that after he ran into my mom's car instead of trying to help her he decided to go to a fucking batting cage with his other drunk friends. Nah the icing on the cake was them trying to pay me off and them asking me to testify on their son's behalf because 'he had a bright future and we don't think one incident should ruin that' as if my mom's death was a minor inconvience for them. So after politely telling them that I would do everything in my power to make sure their son never gets out of jail, I took my ass back to Texas to be with my family.
"Noah.... you haven't left the house in three days." Jade said walking back into the bedroom while I sat throwing a rubber ball against the wall. "Noah, baby I know you're hurting right now but you could at least go check on your little brother.... Marquise, he's not doing to good." Jade said and I looked up at her but avoided her eyes.
"I'll stop by there later today...... where are the kids?" I asked quietly.
"They're over your dad's house, which is exactly where we're about to so get dressed." Jade said walking over to me and offering me her hand, I looked at for a second before pulling her to the floor with me. "Noah it's okay to cry....." She said touching my face and I shook my head.
"Nah I'm going to wait until I'm alone.... I know when I get to my dad's house it's going to be hard to keep my emotions in check but I gotta stay strong." I said kissing her before we both got up. When we got to my dad's house it was pretty quiet, despite kids outside laughing and playing on the inside it seemed like..... it was depressing. "Where's Marquise?" I asked Dad Two who was sitting on the couch staring at a blank television screen. "Dad?" I asked because it seemed like he couldn't hear him, I don't think even we realized I was standing there.
"Oh wassup Noah....." He said quietly. "Did you say something?" He asked and I shook my head it was clear he was out of it so I walked up to my brother's room and found him laying on his bed looking up at the ceiling.
"The last thing I said to her was 'I'll call you back, I love you'...... I was trying to rush her off the phone so I could fuck this girl that was rubbing my dick....." Marquise said quietly. "I never got to call her back....." He said as tears started to build in his eyes.
"Quise..... mom, she thought the world of you, it was like every time we talked she was saying something about you 'my baby is going to change the world' or 'my baby is smart just like his daddy' she loved you, you were her pride and joy." I said sitting on the bed.
"I just wanted her to see me graduate......" Marquise said wiping his eyes quickly.
"Umm I get it Quise..... but I'm about to go check on the kids, I'll be back in a second." I said getting up; I'm not going to lie, I came up with that excuse to leave because I didn't want to start crying in front of my little bro. I walked into the bathroom and got myself together before going out to the backyard where Dad One was chasing Jakari and Troix around, they were completely oblivious to what was going on around them and I wished I could be that innocent again.
"Your coach called and team owner called...... they said to take as much time as you need." Dad One said as Troix picked up a basketball and started trying to dribble it. "Looks like Troix is trying to break the tradition." Dad One said and I walked over to Troix, took the basketball, threw it across the yard and then handed him a football.
