Page 13 of Adonis Gates

“And?” I frowned. “Fuck that gotta do with him?”

“Well, sir, if there’s a weapon on campus it’s everyone’s job to report?—”

“Naw, it’syo’job to find the shit,” I cut him off. “He’s not a sworn in officer, so it’s not his fuckin’ obligation to do your job.”

“So, if another student had gotten hurt, you’d be okay with that?”

“That wouldn’t be my problem as long as this one straight,” I spat, pointing to my brother. “I don’t give a fuck about nobody else.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate, sir.” He shook his head and slid a sheet of paper toward me. “I need you to sign this form then you can take him.”

“Naw, that shit’s facts.” I snatched the paper and read over it but still asked, “what’s this?”

“A custody release form,” he answered. “You’ll need to sign it to show that I released him into your custody. The school will be in touch about what happens next.”

I dropped the sheet back onto the table and grabbed a pen to scribble my name on it before I tossed it and waved to my brother.

“Come on.”

I waited for him to exit then I followed him. I didn’t say shit to him until we were in my car and rolling.

“Fuck happened, AP?” I snapped after snatching the Beats off of his head. “And don’t fuckin’ lie to me.”

He sucked his teeth and said, “he just told you.”

“Nigga, yo’ ass ‘bout to tell me, and you finna do that shit right now.”

He wasn’t happy about the shit, but he started to explain the story, which further infuriated me. He said two of his homeboys got into a lil’ squabble in the bathroom. Apparently, the shit was planned including one of them bringing the lil’ BB gun to school.

After they fought and the lil’ nigga shot the other one with the gun, they ditched it in AP’s bookbag. He foolishly allowed the shit then went to an area where there were no cameras with the same lil’ nigga that brought the gun and dumped the shit into a bush. According to him, the one that got shot ratted on all of them once the word started to spread.

Of-fucking-course he did.

“Let me get this straight,” I chuckled humorlessly, throwing my car in park since we were in front of the crib. “You mean to tell me that youletthis lil’ nigga put the shit in your bookbag?” I looked his way. “Like you actually unzipped ya shit and let him do it?”

“We had to move quickly because one of the teachers came in,” he argued. “I was the only one that had my bookbag on me.”

“And nigga?!” I snapped.

“How was we supposed to get it out of there, Donny?” He asked, calling me by the nickname only him and our mother called me.

“You ain’t take the shit in there, so it wasn’t ya fuckin’ job to get it out.”

I was fuming. He always did lil’ dumb shit, but this took the cake. I’d always raised my brother to be his own man and to stand on his own two feet, so I didn’t understand how he let some shit like that go down.

“It was my homeboy, Don,” he sighed. “You can’t tell me that if it was you and Zig you wouldn’t have done the same shit.”

“Got me fucked up,” I said as I got out the car and he followed. “My homies know not to put me in no shit that’s gon’ get me jammed up or it’s gon’ be some mothafuckin’ problems,”I assured him as we entered the crib. “Furthermore, I surround myself with real niggas. Zig would have takenhis owncharge and let the jakes know I ain’t have shit to do with it and vice versa. We don’t even play them kinds of games.”

“Yeah, I forgot, y’all the realest niggas on earth.” he mumbled. “Fuck outta here.”

He tried saying the last part so that I couldn’t hear him, but I heard it.

“Fuck you say?” I stopped him from walking away.

“Man, watch out, Donny.”

“Move me.”