I Am Your Brother

by Jaimy Reynolds

  KING: Are you involved in their lives?

  MIKE: Yes I am, they’re everything to me.

  KING: Are you still with their mother?

  MIKE: Yes.

  KING: I see. So what’s the deal with you trying to get with the woman in the Cadillac?

  MIKE: I just thought she was fine as hell and wanted to see what’s up.

  KING: Do you and your woman love each other.

  MIKE: Yes, she gets on my damn nerves.

  KING: Look at me through the rear view mirror… I’m going to cut you a break today because I have a feeling you are a good guy who just out here being a young man. Otherwise, if you would have told me that you are not involved in your kid’s life, today would have been a bad day for you. I would have took your car, have you empty your bank account, and knocked your ass out if you were to give me any problems in the process. You see, I was that child who didn’t have the father and that’s all I really wanted. Your taking what you have for granted. You were willing to throw away what you have, because you may think the grass is greener on the other side. You saw a fine woman and just had to see what’s up. Little do you know, that woman could have got you caught up and you could have lost the woman who does love you. Over what? Because your selfish, and you are not thinking. You already know, all hell will break loose if she finds out about this new number in your phone. You think she hasn’t evaluated that phone while you were sleep or in the shower? Maybe not. That can break you two apart and there you have it, two more black boys growing up without their father living in the same household. All because your weak behind a little piece of ass. Man there ain’t shit out here. Don’t take that love you have at home for granted. It’s not all about you, it’s bigger than you once you have kids. I don’t know your situation, but if you love each other, try cherishing your woman, and watch how her getting on your nerves changes.

  King gets out the car and stands there for a moment. He pulls his shades from the collar of his shirt and puts them on. He walks over to the Cadillac and drives off. Seven witnessed the whole thing.

  SEVEN: (Looking at the brother and sister in disbelief) It’s that easy. Just like that huh?

  DESTINY: When dealing with so many lustful spirits and a lack of loyalty by a man, it’s just that easy.

  SEVEN: You could have took his money and his car. Well, did you get anything from him?

  KING: Just his attention. Left him with a message.

  DESTINY: Just a little practice.

  KING: Remember, we only hit up people who have it coming to them or need a little wake up call.

  SEVEN: That was crazy! It’s like you two know what the other one is thinking. You two are some smooth operators.

  King smoked his black & mild cigar and was cool as a fan. He showed no signs of worry, fear or doubt after he just pulled out a gun on someone. Seven knew King had the juice. He was a cold-blooded smooth criminal, who just happens to have a big heart. Destiny sat without a care in the world, as if she didn’t just easily use her power to get what she wanted on a man. She glances back at Seven in the back seat and gives him a little smile. All Seven could do was smile back and take it all in. The young humble author was in a calm shock from just witnessing a real live scene in a movie.

  They cruised the highway and conversed all the way until reaching their destination. They wasted no time hitting the beach. People on a boat passing by waved at the three sitting on the shore. The beech house was about thirty yards behind where they sat. Destiny dug her toes in the sand. Seven wrote in his note pad while King sat looking ahead with his elbows rested on his bent knees.

  KING: Seven, I bet you could write for hours out here.

  SEVEN: I believe so too my brother. Destiny was right, I love it out here.

  DESTINY: What are you thinking over there?

  SEVEN: Why me? Why allow me to come along and be a part of this experience. It all feels real. That is all I’ve really been searching for.

  KING: To answer your question, ever since you came into the picture, I been thinking about God a lot. How we all came together, it had to been orchestrated by a higher power. There has always been this void in my life. I believe there is a God, I just haven’t been cool with God. I don’t understand why my life has been full of strife sorrow. I have anger in my heart and I can’t seem to remove it. You two are the only pure hearts that I know. I already feel like I can do anything, but ever since you came around, I feel like I can walk on that water. That has to be God. I know the bible very well, I’ve read it a couple times and studied many scriptures, but my faith hasn’t been there. You give having faith a chance.

  DESTINY: You are a breath of fresh air. Seems like you were chosen to come reach us, and us to reach you.

  SEVEN: (Looks out into the ocean. Then looks at the chill bumps on his arms) You two are giving me life. My eyes have opened even more. Much love and respect.

  Destiny tells the boys to scoot in closer so she can take a picture. They move in closer and she holds the phone out and snaps a picture. The ocean water arises up further on to the shore, surrounding the three. King jumped to his feet, “come walk on this water with me,” and started running into the ocean water. Seven and Destiny followed behind. The birds of the air sang while the clouds painted the blue sky. A surfer rode a wave not far from the crew. King dives into a current wave that pushed him closer to the shore. Seven tasted the ocean water for the first time. There was a couple walking in the sand while holding hands. Destiny wiped the water from her face and stood in the water watching the couple pass by.

  The two men quietly creeped from behind, King lifted one foot of Destiny and Seven lifted the other foot close to the water’s surface. Destiny went up in the air with her hands stretched out towards the sky. She tilted her head back while crying out a quick prayer in her mind, “God have grace and mercy on my soul,” before they tossed her in the air. Once she lands under water, she stays a moment before coming back up for air. She rises out the water as if she had been baptized. The water slicks her hair back. Her smile was bright as the sun. “Oh it’s like that huh, okay,” and swims towards the boys who were in laughter. She splashes water in their direction. After their brief swim, they sat at shore and ate fruit and sipped wine. No one spoke for twenty minutes until King speaks.

  KING: What is it Seven, how do you do it? How do you move so sinlessly? So graceful in a world full of chaos. Not having your family or your parents like us. How did you manage to become pure? What is the key, you can see what it did to me. I don’t know what it’s like to be happy.. I’m a savage.

  SEVEN: I would have to say for me, mastering the two main commandments. Everything else seems to fall in place. Love God with all my heart while putting God first. And love my neighbors as myself. The common denominator of the two commandments is the key word, love. Love drives out fear and hate. What you put out, will come back. The only thing with that is, why haven’t we experienced so much of that love to come back in return? Or, how can we know how to love when being deprived of it for so long? How can one know how to love, when they haven’t learned how to love? Maybe we have been set apart for a task designed by God, and within that task, it isn’t meant for us to experience so much love at this point of our lives. I haven’t got that far yet. I don’t think you are a savage, I think you are just a different kind of disciple. If a man like you were to give his life to God, it would be a powerful thing. Ground shaking, spell breaking, and history making.

  DESTINY: An unstoppable force that could bring about change.

  It hits home with King, although he doesn’t show it on the outside. He put his shades on and stares out into the ocean to masks his emotions. No more words were spoken by King. Seven wasn’t sure if he offended King, but was okay if he did, so the blood would be off his hands. Destiny lays back and stares at the sky and feeling the sand in her hands. Seven left all his worries back home and chose to live in the present. While caught in the moment, he felt something crawling on his foot. Seve
n wiped the beetle off and watched it crawl towards Destiny.

  King and Destiny’s thoughts quieted them down the rest of the evening. Seven sat on the balcony and watched the world in front of him. The tag team duo got dressed to impress and set out to see what fish they could fry. You could feel a tension in the car with the brother and sister when driving to the exclusive night club. A straight faced, marvelously dressed to impress Destiny rode in silence. King was sharp as a blade but didn’t have total tunnel vision. He parks the car and turns the engine off. Before Destiny gets out of the car, she puts on a wig and adjusts it in the mirror. She looks at King while putting her hand over his hand.

  DESTINY: I hate knowing my big brother doesn’t know what it feels like to be happy. Maybe you never will until you fill that void. Only you know what that is my brother.

  She gets out of the car and walks towards the front entrance. King watches for a moment and follows her move. Once he was inside the club amongst the crowd, he sees himself in the mirror on the wall. He stood there in the middle of the dancing crowd and watched himself in a daze. He snaps out of it after being bumped into by a woman who looks him up and down like he was a tall piece of candy. She dances in front of King before he spots out Destiny in the corner of his eye. He immediately follows her trail, leaving the woman left hanging. He finds a spot to keep an eye on her. He found himself disgusted by seeing his sister operate. He knew she didn’t feel like working tonight. His thoughts have altered over the last hours. He doesn’t care to see all these men in his sister’s face.

  Destiny dazzles as usual. She was a master at putting her feelings aside, and doing what she came to do. And that was taking care of business. A shark bit her bait and fell into their trap. Destiny texts King the play and gave the signal when to leave. She gave him enough time to go have the car started up and prepared to follow. Minutes later he watches his sister get into the car with a stranger. King was in conviction while following the car with his sister inside. He followed them into the motel parking lot where he could see the room from the outside. He watched how the man put his arm around Destiny as they walked up the stairs to the second floor. He could sense how she was faking it. After seeing her enter the room is when his peace became disrupted with a bad feeling.

  Once inside the hotel room, Destiny always texts a thumbs up to let King know she felt comfortable. The signal on her phone was low to where she couldn’t make a text. She hears all the locks on the door being locked behind her. She moves to a different spot in the room to see if she could catch a good signal. She holds the phone up in the air but no luck. When she raises her arm down and turns around, the man named Lloyd, was standing right in front of her. Lloyd was a thorough man who didn’t have much of a personality. An uncomfortable charm with little to say.

  DESTINY: Whoa! You snuck up quick.

  LlOYD: Hopefully I didn’t scare you.

  DESTINY: No your fine, I just can’t seem to catch a signal is this room.

  LlOYD: No need for a phone right now, stay awhile. You say your name is Gloria right?

  DESTINY: Yes

  LlOYD: Right. Gloria, short for glorious. That, I thought you would be before knowing a little bit about you. I saw potential in those eyes. I guess looks can be deceiving, because you are a home wrecker. Willing to run off with a married man to go have sex in hotels. You make me sick, but my flesh desires you, and my soul needs you. I say that I am married, but really I’m not any more. My wife died over a two years ago. I’ve tried to sleep with women, I get to this point and just don’t feel it. I’m still not ready. I’m not going to waste your time. I’ll pay you if you just stay and talk to me. Maybe even letting me hold you in the bed.

  DESTINY: (Holds back tears but plays it off well) Sure, we can do that, you can hold me, just let me go to the bathroom first and I’ll be back.

  Lloyd watches her closely walk to the bathroom. She walks in and closes the door behind her. She looks in the mirror and stops herself from crying. She checks her phone and still has no signal. She knew King was thinking all kinds of thoughts right now. Too much is going on in her mind. She feels scared and lost at the time. While trying to get herself mentally together, she sees that Lloyd has turned off all the lights outside the bathroom. A sick feeling came over her from not wanting to be there. She even thought about just running out of the room to her brother.

  A moment later, she then feels the presence of Lloyd standing outside the bathroom door. Lloyd put his ear to the door. He lightly pressed the palm of his hand up against the door and begins to massage the door. She could hear him breathing. He then calls Destiny by name of his deceased wife named Angela… “Angela, are you okay in there sweetheart?” Destiny put her hand over her mouth in fear, while tears filled her eyes. “Angela… Angela… come out of there.” “I will be out in a second” she replies. Silence and darkness was the feel outside the bathroom door. She wipes her face and checks her phone. Still no signal. She looks in the mirror and doesn’t see the woman she wants to be, but now wasn’t the time. She gathers herself by taking a couple of deep breaths. Soon as she opens the bathroom door, Lloyd was standing there.

  DESTINY: (Jumped from being scared) My goodness Lloyd, you scared me!

  LLOYD: Do I make you nervous?

  DESTINY: No, your fine. I’m just feeling light headed. I’m not feeling well. I think I need to go.

  LLOYD: (Facial expression changed) So you are ready to leave me? Just like how Angela left me.

  DESTINY: I’m sorry, I just need to go and get some rest. I think I had too much to drink.

  LLOYD: That’s odd… I don’t remember seeing you having a drink tonight.

  Lloyd stands in front of the door blocking the entrance way. He massages his forehead with one hand and waves his finger no with the other.

  LLOYD: You see, women like you need to be taught a lesson for being bad. Willing to sleep with a married man, then plays with my emotions, to now trying to leave me. (A forced laugh while staring into her eyes) What did I do? TELL ME! WHERE DID I GO WRONG THIS TIME?

  Destiny tries to walk past him but he grabs her arm aggressively and pulls her close. Before she could scream, he put his hand over her mouth and tells her to be quiet. Destiny knees him between the legs. Lloyd lets out a painful grunt. He grabs on to Destiny so she could fall to the ground with him. Two shots were fired at the front door, followed by a loud bang from the door being kicked in. King walks inside with his gun pointed at Lloyd who was folded up in pain. King walks over and lifts Destiny up from the ground. She embraced her brother before they both ran out of the hotel room. People began stepping outside their hotel rooms from hearing all the loud ruckus. King and Destiny raced through the parking lot and got inside the Cadillac and burned off before allowing more witnesses to identify their car.

  KING: Are you okay, did he hurt you?

  DESTINY: I don’t want to do this anymore!

  KING: No more, were done okay. No more of this.

  DESTINY: That’s two close calls, those are signs.

  KING: I’m ready to give my life to God.

  DESTINY: (Forgets what just happened and looks at king) What did you say?

  KING: I’m tired of running. That’s the only thing I haven’t tried. Maybe it’s the void I have been missing. I always believed, but never accepted Jesus as my lord and savior. Not the white washed Jesus, but the actual son of God. I can’t keep going on without at least giving it a shot. I think now is the time before it gets too late.

  (Ten miles away, Seven was sitting on the beach while on the phone with his girlfriend)

  GIRLFRIEND: A surprise visit to Vegas and Cali?

  SEVEN: It’s more like a business trip. I’m getting so much work done.

  GIRLFRIEND: You sure you’re not out there with a woman?

  SEVEN: No. It sounds odd, but you do not have anything to worry about. This is all good news, I’ll explain everything when I get back.

  GIRLFRIEND: Good news, seems like I haven’t heard
good news from you in quite some time.

  SEVEN: What does that supposed to mean?

  GIRLFRIEND: Come on Seven, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.

  SEVEN: What, since I’ve been waking up.

  GIRLFRIEND: If that’s what you call waking up. Quitting your job, basically throwing everything you worked for away. For what? To wake up? Wake up what Seven? What happened?

  SEVEN: Do you believe in me?

  GIRLFRIEND: (Long pause) Yes I do.

  SEVEN: Do you still love me?

  GIRLFRIEND: …yes, look somebody is calling, I have to take this call. I’ll talk to you when you get back.

  Seven ends the call with a weird feeling in his gut. He wonders if he has been overlooking the fact that his girlfriend may not be going where he is headed. His love for her doesn’t stop her from being conformed to the ways of this world. He leans back in his lawn chair that sinks in the sand. He hears the sliding door of the beach house from behind him. It was Destiny walking to the edge of the balcony. She was looking at Seven and smiling. King walks out from the balcony and downstairs to ground level. He walks towards Seven with his grill shinning and his sister by his side.

  SEVEN: What happen?

  KING: Will you baptize me?

  SEVEN: Right now?

  KING: Right now, here in the ocean.

  SEVEN: Yea man, I don’t know the correct way, or if there is even a correct way, but shoot yea!

  DESTINY: Skip the standard way, were having church at the beach.

  SEVEN: Right on. God knows our heart.

  KING: I rather it happen out here in nature, than at a church. I’m ready to give up all this shit man. I’m tired of hustling, robbing, stealing and selling drugs to my people. I can’t be free doing all of that. I’m ready to rest, your boy is tired man.

  DESTINY: Thank God!

  King takes off his shirt and kicks off his $600 dollar pair of shoes. He walks into the water, while other two followed. Once the ocean water reached waist level is when Seven took over from there. All three held hands while Seven prayed. Destiny stood on one side of King, while Seven stood on the other side. After Seven prays, he asks King the question, “do he accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior,” and he replies, “Yes I do.” King leans back into their arms, where they bring his body under the water. Once they lifted him back up from the water, he didn’t open his eyes right away. King tilts his head back and let out a shout into the sky. A shout of years of pain, frustration, guilt, and suffering.