The Reluctant King by K'wan

Author:K'wan [K'wan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Akashic Books
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Shadow took the long way to their destination, cutting in and out of various blocks. He could’ve made a straight shot up Nostrand, but he wanted to be seen. He knew how gossip traveled, and he hoped all the local chickenheads and jealous niggas would spread the word that he was in the hood and riding as clean as the Board of Health.

Fresh and Pain traded jokes and war stories, as was their way when they all got together. Shadow only half listened. He was focused on the landscape. Between his mounting workload in school and his demanding family life, he found that his trips back to the block were becoming less and less frequent. In fact, had his mother not sent him on a mission that day, he probably wouldn’t have come down here at all. He still had a bunch of paperwork to do for college. Between the FAFSA applications and working with his guidance counselors on financial aid applications, the process was kicking his ass. He knew that if his father wanted to, he could bankroll the tuition for any school Shadow wanted to go to, but Chance wanted him to experience the lumps and bumps of a regular high school senior. Further complicating things was the fact that his parents insisted he attend an HBCU, which not only limited his choices but the amount of aid he could get. The HBCUs were notoriously cheap when it came to academic scholarships.

All this thinking brought Shadow back to the task his mother had sent him on. “Yo, y’all seen Millie around lately?”

“Not in a few weeks, at least. Why, everything okay?” Pain knew Millie’s backstory and how the family kept her at a distance. If they’d sent Shadow, of all people, to look for her, then maybe something was wrong.

“Everything’s good,” Shadow said. “My mom just wants her at her function tonight, though I don’t know why.”

“Maybe because she wants all her kids with her on her birthday?” Pain suggested. “Shadow, you know I know what time it is with your big sister. I see her out here lurking and shit. That girl is a whole trip with no luggage, but she’s still your mama’s baby. Ain’t nothing short of her drowning a bag of kittens is gonna change that.”

“I know, but I just don’t understand her. Dawg, Millie could have anything she wanted if she just did right. There is nothing my parents wouldn’t do for that girl.”

“Who says she isn’t getting everything she wants?” Pain said. “Respectfully, a friend’s greatest joy is a blast. No amount of money or gifts you shower them with can even come close to the feeling of a good high. I ain’t speaking on some hearsay shit, these are facts. Y’all know my story—both my parents and half my uncles were all out there on that shit at one time or another. You think they gave a shit about what they were doing to their families? Hell no, because an addict only cares about one thing! I understand better than most the sickness of addiction.

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