3 The Hard Way

We Aint Brothers, We're Dead To Each Other!!!

2010

Horus Dominic

Horus leaned back against his brother's car with his arms folded. Leonardo or Lennox was going over "the rules" for the hundredth time. It was already bad enough he drilled me the whole way down here, this was to be our last moments for a while. "Act like you don't hear me bro, I swear man if I have to come back down here it's gonna be some shyt". Lennox barked on, thank goodness for Austin. Thanks to him I didn't have to say anything because he had my back. "Come on Nox, u know I got this. I'll be right over in Norfolk so please stop bitching". Austin said as he watched a group of girls walk by, surprised he even replied cause he can't see around, behind, over, under or thru a BoFa✓. "Like a trust you white boy" Nox spat then smiled wide, knowing Austin hated when he called him that. "Word bro, that's how you coming thou, aite then" Austin said offended & walked off as Nox called him back over. I watched as Austin put some distance between us then finally spoke. "That white boy shyt is played, & you gonna stop disrespecting my bro forreal". "Oh shyt, after all these hours Horus finally speaks" Nox returned and continued, "But so what you saying, if he ya bro then what am I"? "You my brother jackass, don't you need to get back on the road yo". I said, I really didn't want him to go dude is my hero but I'm mad as hell at him right now. "You still tripping off that, man grow the hell up". He said as he started scratching his beard, he already knew where this was going & he absolutely right cause I may just go left. "It's not bout being grown or not, you forbade me from coming home & you know that's not cool" I said with a lot of aggression in my voice "Austin can go home..." I started as he cut me off "Austin may be like family but at the end of the day he not my lil brother, YOU ARE". The last part he said louder as he poked me in the chest, not a good move & he knew it. I looked down at the at my chest where he poked me, I just stared at it. "Don't start your bullshyt 'H.D' (Horus' nickname), this the shyt I'm talking bout. What you wanna fight now, cause I'll bust your lil ass out here in front of all these people". He said flexing on me, everything in me wanted to fight but we here in front of all these people that I have e to go to school with. Now if we was home, it would have went down so instead I just replied. "You just gonna abandon me now too right"? A tear rolled down my face & i saw that fire ignite in Nox's eyes & quickly die. Normally if that fire came alive it wouldn't end well. Normally that fire came when someone was messing me and Nox had to put his hands on someone. It's not necessarily that he is an overprotective older brother but the fact that he still views me as a kid. His stance instantly calmed and he stared me straight in the eyes, "I'm not abandoning you bro, I just need you to get the education I couldn't get. To follow your dreams & make something of yourself, you can't follow the family legacy. Look where it got Ma & Dad! Look at me, yea we got enough bread to do almost anything but I can't lead a normal life, I can't become anything really other than what I am. I chose to step into Dad's shoes and this my life til I die. I don't want that for you, I saw you becoming me & this the only way I could stop that". This guy, as much as I wanted to black on him I couldn't because he was talking truth. I have been acting out, Nox did his best to keep me out of the streets but it's in our blood. Luckily I kept my grades & attendance up. My 3.9  GPA and other school achievements awarded me with a full academic scholarship but I'm on behavioral probation because I punched a kid when we did our previsit back in April. He called me 'Hor' & anyone who knows me knows not to call me that. It's cool thou, I can eat probation for a year because I really wanted to go to school here. What I didn't like was the fact that I couldn't return to New York unless I had a bachelor's degree in hand.

Austin

"Fuck that nigga Leonardo" I said as I heard him call my name again. He knows I hate when he calls me white boy but he does it everytime he wants to piss me off. He won't let noone else call me that but he does to prove a point. He lucky he makes my sister happy otherwise I'd have to get at him. Naw let me stop id get my ass beat for sure, not just by him but by H.D & by Mariah Lynn. Damn I miss my sister already & I wish she could have came but my niece Le'Mera (La-Mare-A) is sick and noone wants to travel with a 3 year old sick toddler. That aside it's hella ass out here man, im probably only gonna see half as many BoFa's over at ODU (Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA). I glanced back for a second and watched as Nox started to flex on Horus but I paid it no mind, for all the shyt he talked he'd never put his hands on him. "Excuse me, could you help me please". As i turned towards the voice i laid eyes on the most exotic beauty i'd ever seen in my life. "Sure, I can help. What you need". I said in my most confident  voice possible, but the next thing I know she is asking me to carry her bags for her over to one of the carrier carts they provided for the new freshmen. I scooped up the bags & carried them to the carts, when I turned back towards her she was smiling a me which made me smile as well. "Thank you so much, you are a life saver." She said as moved the jet black hair from her face. "It's no problem, glad I can help" I replied as rubbed my stomach. "Are you going to school here" she asked as she placed the last of here items in the carrier cart. "Naw, my people's is, I'll be over at ODU in Norfolk" I returned as I sized her up, she was truly beautiful. "Oh ok, that means I'll see you around then" she said as she started to head towards the campus. "I hope so, I'm Austin by the way" "nice to meet you Austin & hopefully I'll see you again, & my name is Aubree". I walked off heading back towards Nox & H.D, they still we're going at it just by their body language. "Cool, so u don't want me to come home until after I graduate. I can deal with that but since u can make demands I can to" Horus was saying as I walked up "You not in a position to make demands, why can't you just chill out and respect my wishes" Nox returned as he stuck his hands in his pockets. We both knew that once Horus felt slighted he becomes a different person & Nox knew that part of his baby brother was bout to surface in one form or another. " Oh I'm chill, & I'll respect your wishes if you respect mine" "aww man" was all I said cause I knew this could go either right or all the way to the left. "I won't come back to 'The Town'(NYC) but I also don't want you to come back here" H.D said in the calmest voice I ever heard him use, "I don't want you to call, text me or nothing. Consider me dead until I show up with my degree" was the last thing he said to Nox as he turned and walked off. Nox & I both stood there with the well damn face, not only did H.D dismiss his big brother but he basically told him they are dead to each other until he had a degree to put in Nox's hand. "All this cause I don't want him to follow the same path as me" Nox said as he stared down at his feet. "It's more to it than that & you know it" I replied as I walked off behind H.D leaving Nox to ponder in his own thoughts!