Amnesty | Book 4

o n e

BRUCE
PAST
"Hey, bruh! Remember when we were climbing up the tree in my mama's backyard and she caught us when you fell off one of the branches? She pulled the branch you fell off of and beat me with it."

Gabby and I were more so in a joking mood since we were smoking our lives away. I couldn't help but laugh at that. I was in pain then, but now that I look back on it and saw Gabby getting a whooping while she was a sophomore in high school, it was the funniest shit ever.

"And remember when we was going to play ball with Lesley and Chris them and we got chased by that big ass dog?" She laughed.

"Hell yes. That bitch looked like that dog from off of Sandlot. That shit was creepy." I laughed.

"It was drooling and shit." She laughed. "And remember when you got dumped by your first girlfriend?" She laughed.

I shook my head, not even wanting to go back to that day. The girl broke my chain and spat on my shoes when she found out that I fingered her best friend at prom. I guess that's what I get for messing around with older girls. I was only fourteen. I really didn't have enough sense to know that the shit was foul and dead wrong.

See, I had been feeling older girls since I was even registering what having a girlfriend meant. I didn't really fool around much with girls my age. Keira is one of the reasons why but I had made an exception before I realized how childish she was.

"Man, she broke yo chain and spat on your Jordans. That bitch would've had to die." Gabby laughed. "Like bitch, how you spit on a nigga Jordans, liiiiike... They cost more than yo weave, my nigga." I couldn't help but laugh.

"And her weave stayed stiff." I joked.

"You liked it though." She laughed.

"No I didn't. I was just turned on by the fact that she was an older chick. That weave ain't have shit to do with a damn thing." I laughed.

"If it wasn't for me, she would've broke more of yo shit, man. I had to stand up for a little nigga one time." She laughed.

"Shit, even though that shit happened like four years ago, I wanna thank you for that." I smiled. "I was a lil runt getting all the hoes. But that ain't stop you from fucking somebody up about me."

"That's what I'm supposed to do. You my best friend, man. I wasn't gonna let her keep standing on her toes and disrespecting you like that." Gabby shook her head. "And I know if push came to shove, you would have my back too. I'll only do what I know."

We clapped hands with each other and gave ourselves the head nod because the shit was true. No matter the circumstances, we will always have each other's back. Gabby means the world to me and she even knew that.

Honestly, Gabby and I are a perfect match for each other. We were both in denial but the attraction was there. Only thing is, it's just not the right time. And I don't think there will ever be a right time. I know that I'm just going to have to dead any of the hopes that I have of being with her. None of that shit is going to come true. Not with how I'm feeling Tereny now.

I'm just gonna have to let that shit ride. It's only fair.

****
NOW
I sit out on the hotel balcony, staring at Gabby's obituary. Reminiscing on old times. The fun times. The times when shit wasn't complicated between us. The times when things were just easier. When feelings were all that involved. Before any of that shit came into play, our bond was too unbreakable.