The Guard To My Sanctuary

Chapter 28

I felt an enormous amount of pride as I stood in front of the television my high school diploma in hand. It felt like I was so much closer to people who had started the rat race without all of the complications that I had to drag along with me. Nobody in the room could tell me shit about myself at that moment, I felt like the male version of a hybrid Beyoncé and Rhianna, both of whom I've grown to adore. I don't know how but in under a year I managed to prove that I was intelligent enough to get my diploma due to my hard work and love for reading books with facts in them. My Dad was so proud of me and kept telling people that he knew I could do it like the stereotypical black parent which was enough to make me walk around with a permanent blush. He explained to everyone that I was in gifted classes since pre-pre kindergarten when they had me in private school. If anyone let him tell it I was destined to excel before everything happened. He was so elated that my situation didn't deter me from coming back stronger and picking the educational ball up where I left it and carrying it to the finish line. At one point earlier in the day he wanted to throw me a mini prom to celebrate the event but thankfully I was able to talk him down from that ledge of potentially embarrassing photographs of me and Marco in front of the mantle smiling like lunatics in the middle of the house. My brothers took it upon themselves to handle the celebrations and threw me a little dinner to celebrate my accomplishment even though in the big picture it was just a high school diploma which was like the most basic requirement for success in our society. I could tell that Alder had ulterior motives for setting up the dinner and knew that he would be coming to me with the question he had to ask sooner or later. It was in his eyes and he was being way too nice to me. I had even tripped earlier and he didn't make a joke which was a dead giveaway.

Marco couldn't stop smiling at me as we sat at the table eating and sharing stories about the past. I loved hearing about my brother's lives while I was gone they were reluctant to tell the stories around me but I actually genuinely liked hearing them. It was depressing at first but I also didn't want to feel like there was such a big gap between us all so while I was hearing the stories felt like that metaphorical fissure was closing ever so slightly with every word.

"So Dad walks up the stairs and Alder's room is locked and all you can hear is music playing loudly because he is a whole entire dumbass that doesn't know how to be discreet. So Dad tells me to knock on the door and say that it is me and I do it because it's not like I'm going to risk my life and tell him no. So Alder opens the door all sweaty and you could smell the weed on him, but this is after like my twentieth knock. The moment he opens the door  Dad barges into the room and on his bed is this Latina tied to the bed with some neckties and if I'm remembering correctly braided shoelaces spread out with a blindfold on. She had whipped cream covering her um... unmentionables," Pine said remembering Cartier was in the room even though she was playing on her iPad not paying us any mind," I've never wanted to be removed from a situation so bad in my life. I learned way too much about my brother that day. So anyway moving along past that, Dad flips out and just starts cussing Alder the hell out and he unties the girl and locks her in the bathroom till her parent's come to pick her up which would have made me die from embarrassment. Her mom speeds into the house just so she can beat the hell out of her half naked ass on the front lawn of the old house. Everyone in the neighborhood is watching and I'm doing my best not to die from laughter. Then Alder has the balls to start laughing like he skating on thin ice at the beginning of summer. Dad snapped and just starts beating the hell out of him along besides the girl with her mom I mean Dad was boxing this nigga and that's how we have this picture of Dad knocking Alder out," Pine said holding up a picture of Alder sprawled on the ground half conscious with a set of knots in his forehead. I started laughing harder than I should have which caused everyone else to start laughing.

"Haha, great story. How about we talk about that time you," Alder began.

"Al calm down you're so sensitive, it must be your time of the month do you need to borrow a tampon," Thalia said rolling her eyes at her spouse.