Business Before Pleasure MxM (Staten Krown)

7

Is it wrong to use they as a singular pronoun?

He doesn't like him. She doesn't like him.  I remember back in the day being on the bus with Clapper and Romelo.  I'd knew them before I knew Bron.  He was the new kid.  A lot of guys had problems with Bron.  He came on the bus and he was shy to the point he didn't give anyone a second look.  People don't really like you if you don't acknowledge them.   Bron always kept to himself.  He was always in his own world.  He had on his earphones and you would think this was another day, but everyone was wondering who he was.  The more he ignored them.  The madder they got.  You would think the good looks or the sweet disposition would make him popular in school.  That wasn't necessarily the case.  Bron didn't have a lot of friends.

Soon they start poking at him.  They try to find anything about him.  He was handsome so they talked about how he dressed.  They talked about his shoes.  They talked about his book bag.  They talked about the fact that he would go to chemistry class and sit in the very front of the class.   He was a threat to them.

The crazy thing is they included Romelo and Clapper.  Romelo wasn't that bad.  He clowned everyone and I think the only reason he picked on Bron was that people seemed to laugh the hardest when Bron was the butt of the joke.  Romelo just wanted an audience.  That's how he was.  It wasn't personal.  With Clapper though, it was personal.  Clapper made Bron's life hell from the very beginning.  People say girls are catty but Clapper was beyond that.  I knew Clapper enough to know that it was just his defenses.  He was a white boy growing up in a primarily African American school trying to fit in and when he finally felt accepted and finally felt like he was someone this new boy just came in and took the light.

It got so bad that one day Bron got sick of it.  And he swung on Clapper.  And they started fighting.  Romelo and our old friends at the time jumped Bron, but Bron just kept on swinging.  Just kept on going.

And that's when I jump in.  Not on the side of my friends.  But I jump in on the side of Bron.  That's how it started.  Me taking Bron's side in a fight and the others finally coming around to understanding they were being dicks.

That's when it wasn't acceptable anymore to do what they want.

They can be a singular pronoun.  Many modern English usage guides do list "they" as an acceptable singular pronoun and as language evolves "they" is an acceptable singular term to mean he or she.  And with some people who sit outside the gender binary taking "they" is sometimes a preferred personal pronoun.

I'm getting ready for my date.  I can't believe this is happening.  Weird.  After all this time, I never thought this is how my life would turn out.  It was a fairytale, I assume.  Some sort of happily ever after.  After all those years of being shit on by Vicorio and hiding from Waverly, I was finally getting someone who was promising to appreciate me.

I'm dressed in a suit.  It's my nicest suit.  Armani.  I bought it a year ago.   I feel this feeling.  El Corazon was a nice restaurant.  It was upscale.  One of the nicest restaurants in Philadelphia.

I stand in the mirror.

Over 30 and single.  But things were turning around. Finally.

I get a knock on the door.

"Uncle Nile, what's up?" the voice states.

It's Jr.  If Jr. was here then I knew his ain't-shit dad wasn't far. I peek out the door and see his father standing there.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping we can hang out tonight," Jr. states.

Now?  What was the chance?  I knew Jr. too well.  He liked hanging around with me but this was just random at this point.  It's the same night as my date.  I look over at his father.  Clapper really was shameless parading his son in front of me to stop me from going on this date.