Bread: A Hood Love Story

Michael (XXVIIII)

Michael
August 1st
10:42am

Damn, my body hurts.

I finally wake up, feeling groggy. Letting out a groan, I try to stretch without opening up my wound again when I hear someone yell in my ear.

"Mike?! You awake?!"

I flinch and turn over and see Nelson sitting in a chair by my bed, looking at me with so much disbelief on his face.

"Damn, nigga, don't shout! I'm right here! You act like I died or something." I joked, but his face set into a frown.

"That's because you DID die, Michael! I don't even know how you awake right now! Jesus Christ!" Nelson says, getting up and pacing around the room, running a hand through his hair.

I was in shock. Did I seriously pass away just now? I just felt like I was sleeping, not actually dead.

'Heh, guess I owe you one, God.' I chuckle to myself.

Nelson whips around to face me. "The hell are you laughing for?! Didn't you hear me just now?! You DIED, Mike! And your ass could've stayed that way! I was worried as hell, dammit!"

My smirk dropped into a frown. Of course, he doesn't know what I prayed about, but still. In all the years I've known him, Nelson rarely ever loses his cool.

"What's really up, hm? I've been shot before; you've seen it, and you ain't never acted like how you acting now. So what is it?"

He doesn't say a word for the longest, and goes over to sit back in the chair by my bed with his head in his hands. I give him time to get hisself together, and I pat his back. Once I do, he looks up at me, and I see his eyes glistening.

"You've been my nigga since preschool, Mike, and watching you fight the other day was the best thing I had ever seen you do. Even when that bitch shot you, twice, you kept going just to make sure we wouldn't get hurt."

He took a breath, and I stayed quiet.

"I'm pissed, aight? I'm pissed that you fought literally to the death for all of us and I couldn't do a damn thing. It's like I sat and watched my best friend die right in front of me, and I wasn't strong enough to do anything about it. It seems like its always been that way."

My eyes widened. I had no idea Nelson felt this way all this time. Didn't he know he was the strongest one I know?

"Nigga, stop. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, so quit all that feeling sorry for yourself."

He looked up, confused. "How can you --?"

"Wait, let me finish." I said. "Who was it that stood up to the baddest gang in the 6th grade all because they said I had a high pitched voice?"

Nelson chuckled a bit at the memory. "I got a black eye for a week from doing that."

I laughed with him. "And you didn't even flinch! Who was it that kept his cool, even when I did some dumb shit, for all the years we've been partners?"

Nelson ran a hand through his hair. "Me, I guess."

"Damn right. And who was it that basically helped raise a naive church girl from West L.A at one of the lowest points in her life? Who got almost all of Compton to be loyal to not just me, but him? Who is the only nigga I know who turned a hoe into a ride-or-die?"

I smile when Nelson lets out a laugh. "Don't call my girl a hoe, now. But that was me."

"Aight then! I don't want to hear you doubt yourself again. Physical and Mental strength are two different things, and I think you got a good amount of both. You got the power to change people. You and Gabi got that ability, actually."