A Losing Game

"Regrets & Major Debts"

            "Let me go, Rod! I'ma kill that bitch! You put your fuckin' hands on me? No, let me go!"

            "Calm the fuck down, Reece," Roderick demanded. "Chill!"

            "Get in my face again and see what happens," said Jacory. "You fucking gutter rat!"

            "I'm writing the three of you up," Mrs. Tillman informed them. "After school detention for all three of you!"

            "Wait a minute," Roderick said to her while still holding onto Reece. "I'm just tryin' to break this up! Why I gotta get detention?"

            Jacory grabbed his backpack and moved to a desk on the other side of the classroom as Reece finally calmed down. After handing them their discipline slips, Mrs. Tillman began teaching that day's lesson. The whole period, Jacory would look over at Reece and Roderick and get angrier. He didn't know what drove him to hitting Reece but he didn't regret it. It was actually a surprise to him that they hadn't gotten into a physical altercation prior to that day. Their feud barely cooled while Roderick was away.

            Everyone at school had heard about the altercation and Roderick knew Nate was going to say something to him about it in their gym class. Since it was Friday, the boys in the class did weight training while the girls played volleyball. Roderick was in the middle of changing into his gym clothes when Nate approached him. The other boys had already changed and left the locker room, so it was just the two of them in there.

            "I ain't start that shit," he immediately told Nate before Nate could say anything. "Reece started with Jacory and Jacory pushed his head back to get him out his face. All I did was keep it from gettin' worse."

            Nate shook his head and said, "It wouldn't have happened if you kept your nasty bitch on a leash."

            "Yo, you need to watch your mouth."

            "Nigga, you need to handle your shit. What, you not fuckin' that bitch right or somethin'?"

            "I said watch your mouth, nigga!"

            "Or you'll what?" He got in Roderick's face and dared him, "Hit me."

            "I'm not gonna hit you, bruh."

            "Why not? You scared I'll fuck you up, right?"

            "No. I ain't gonna hit you because I love Jacory too much to hurt him again."

            "What the fuck did you just say?"

            "I said, I love Jacory. I'm always gonna love him, and he's always gonna love me. And somewhere in here"—he poked Nate hard in the chest—"you know it."

            Nate pushed him away and told him, "You leave him alone. Do you hear me? Because if you do anything to hurt him again—"

            "Nate, you need to fuckin' chill."

            "If you do anything to hurt Jacory, I swear to God I will kill you. Just like you deliver death to the people you sell drugs to; I will deliver death to you. You got that?"

            Roderick laughed as he asked, "So, you're gonna kill me?"

            "With my bare hands if I have to. Because he ain't for you. Jacory is not for you. To be real about it, he shouldn't have ever been with you. You're nothing. You come from nothing and you won't ever be shit. You belong in prison just like your bum ass dad."