My dad taught me from a young age that it was better to have a small group of REAL friends than it was to be surrounded by 'yes men' because yes men would be the first ones to turn on you the second they found someone more powerful that they could leech onto. So I kept my circle small I probably only had four real friends outside of my family; first was my boy Andrew.... he was a bitch ass nigga and public enemy number one, well at least he would be starting next year since he decided to go to UNC and I was going to Duke but forreal he was really coo, laid back but very blunt. Next up was my boy Mason... he was the clown of the group, then there was Sherrod, he was like my big brother in the sense that he kept me from crossing the line that I was always dancing on... finally there was Emory, let's just say we were more than friends.... Y'all will probably learn about them later but there's a point to all this and I'm sure y'all wanna know what it is but every good story needs to build up and I was the best one to tell how two best friends ended up nearly killing each other...... When I got home from visiting my big brother Jakari in North Carolina, my house was empty.... well no one was home which was weird because someone was always here.
"Ayy Nasir, where's mom and dad?" I asked as my little brother walked into the house with a whole host of my cousins, Nasir looked at me and his jade green eyes turned a dark shade of brown.
"Fuck off bitch ass nigga....." Nasir said which got the reaction he was looking for as my cousins started laughing then instantly stopped once I had Nasir pinned up against the wall with his arm twisted behind his back. "GITTHAFUCKAWFME!!!" Nasir said as I pressed my forearm into the back of his neck and applied a little more pressure to his arm.
"You know lil' bro you've been talking a lot of shyt these past few months and I've been giving you pass after pass, but I think my patience has finally worn out. Now all I did was ask a simple question, you should've shrugged and kept it moving...." I said quietly. "You know what I just might beat your ass because I've been itching to engage in a little fisticuffs....." I said letting him go and taking a few steps back because Nasir was unpredictable.
"Stop it both of y'all....." Another voice said and I felt my anger melting away as my little sister Khaliah walked into the house looking at me and Nasir, with sadness in her eyes, I knew she hated when any of her brothers fought and trust me we've had some battles over the years... but as quickly as my anger disappeared I was right back on ten as her boyfriend walked in right behind her.
"Liah where mom and dad?" I asked watching Nasir closely, but he had already walked off with Zuri, Cameron, and Mykel; I turned my attention back to Khaliah who was also watching her twin brother before repeating the question.
"I don't know they were packing some bags this morning but they wouldn't tell me where they were going.... but if you need me I'll be up in my room." Khaliah said walking up the stair and as Brandon started to follow I put my hand on his chest stopping him.
"Leave the door open.... open, not cracked." I said and Brandon rolled his eyes before walking up the stairs, obviously, he was feeling some type of way but I honestly and truly didn't give a fuck because that was my sister and I would kill over her. "Ayy Nasir... watch them." I said and he nodded, Khaliah was probably the one thing we agreed on and I knew that Nasir had no probably running interference if the need arose. I left the house and drove across town.... there was someone I needed to talk to and it was of the utmost importance.
"Wassup Uncle Saint....." I said walking into his office and he looked up at me and smiled. "You know where my parents are? They aren't answering their phones and I'm kinda worried." I said looking into his eyes.
"That's probably because they're probably fuckin..... I'm sorry nephew but your parents are worse than teenagers. Or they could be on a flight I knew Noah had some business to take care of and you know he doesn't go anywhere without Jade, so how was your trip to North Carolina?" He asked.
"That's kinda why I'm here..... how much time do you have?" I asked because there was something that I needed to talk to him about and he was the only person who could give me the answers I needed.......
"Troix why are you fuckin with that nigga?" Emory asked from my bed, I turned around and looked at him and of course, he was focused on the game. "Brandon is coo and you act like he's some new nigga that just started coming around Khaliah they've been together for a while now and I feel like you should just accept the inevitable."
"Because I don't like that nigga." I said pushing his leg out the way.
"And when did this dislike of Brandon come about?" Emory asked with a smirk on his face.
"When that nigga hit puberty..... But seriously I know he's a good dude but what do I look like making shyt easy for him, I need for him to prove that he's worthy of dating my sister, so this is sorta his test phase if he can make it through this then I know he's not going to hurt Khaliah.... and when you think about it Jakari kinda did the same thing to you." I said laughing.
"Jakari didn't like me because of yo ol' 'I'ma get my brother' head ass. You had a way of changing the story to make it seem like I was the aggressor when in all actuality you were the one always starting the arguments.... I'm glad you grew outta that shyt." Emory said shaking his head.
"Nigga I never started our arguments, you'd get salty because I always beat you in basketball and you'd really get mad when I started talking shyt after I won.... so in my eyes you were the one who started it." I said pacing around my room. "Ayy I talked to my Uncle Saint earlier.... he uhh he seemed pretty apprehensive about telling me all the details of what happened that day, it's mostly faded from my memory all I remember is being trapped...." I said quietly.
"I don't see why they won't tell you why you're claustrophobic..... I mean it's pretty important and it may help explain why you are the way you are." Emory said and I nodded. "It must've been bad if no one in your family is willing to talk about it, look we'll figure it out right now I gotta finish packing before my mom gets home, every time she catches me she starts crying and shyt so I try to do it whenever she's not home." Emory said, after walking him outside I went back inside and went to sleep........
When I woke up I was in a small room.... nah this wasn't a room, this was a tomb. There was no windows and it was so small I could barely turn without touching a wall. Okay, Troix.... don't panic, the more I told myself that the heavier I began to breathe, my pulse quickened, I began to sweat, and then I started searching for an escape. I found a door handle and tried to open it but it wouldn't turn.... then I started banging on the door trying to escape.
"NASIR LET ME THE FUCK OUT!!!!!" I said banging on the door. "MAN I SWEAR TO GOD I'M NOT FUCKIN PLAYIN WITH YOU LET ME THE FUCK OUT!!!!!" I said trying to kick the door but there wasn't enough room for me to get enough power behind my kick..... Okay I'm not going to lie I started crying because I hated being trapped, I felt myself reverting back to my three-year-old self and then the door opened and I realized I was looking at my Uncle Cori.... then I saw my little brother and all I saw was red.
Me and Nasir fought for about five minutes before I punched him so hard he fell into the wall leaving a big ass hole, I knew my parents were going to be pissed but he had gone way too far.... he better be lucky that Uncle Cori was holding me back otherwise I'd still be beating his scrawny ass.
"Troix are you trying to kill him? That's your little fuckin brother and I know what he did was fucked up but you won already......" Uncle Cori said as I struggled to get out of his grip.
"I DON'T FUCKIN CARE.... AND DON'T SIT HERE AND TELL ME THAT YOU AND MY DAD OR UNCLE MARQUISE HAVE NEVER FOUGHT BECAUSE I KNOW Y'ALL HAVE!!!! THAT BITCH ASS NIGGA HAS BEEN FUCKIN WITH ME FOR WEEKS AND I KEPT LETTING IT SLIDE BECAUSE HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER BUT THERE ONLY SO MUCH PUSHING I CAN TAKE BEFORE I SNAP!!!!" I yelled and I felt Uncle Cori's grip loosen a little bit and that caught me off guard because I wasn't expecting it.
'Troix.... it's my fault you're like this..... I was the one who dropped the ball and that's still something I've never forgiven myself for. Saint told me that you came by asking questions and I figured it's about time you learned the truth.... what happened to you almost destroyed this family and it all started with me.... I'm to blame Troix so sit down and let me tell you how everything happened and maybe you'll understand....." Uncle Cori said sitting next to the pool and as he began talking things began coming back to me, piece by piece and I was taken back to about fifteen years ago to the moment my family was ripped in half..............
