“PlayStation 4?”

  “5.”

  JJ stared at him, “Bruh, you just got that gaming console.”

  “Ignore her. Do you think you can find me a gun?” Elijah said.

  “I don’t know, but I’ll ask around.”

  “No, you won’t,” JJ said.

  “Find me a gun,” Elijah demanded.

  “I’m gonna tell Auntie Khadijah,” JJ said.

  “So you’re telling now? Earlier, you were the one saying that snitches get stitches.”

  “Bruh, are you sure you want to get a gun? Because there is nothing like having a reputation for having a gun and not using it,” Kwame said.

  “Who says I’m not gonna use it?” Elijah said.

  “Do you even know how to shoot?”

  “How difficult could it be?” he said.

  “Loading and shooting a gun can be taught in five minutes.”

  “What about accuracy. This fool might shoot an innocent bystander,” JJ said.

  “Do you have the heart to kill is the question. I think you should think about that first,” Kwame said.

  “It’s not about my heart. It’s about taking this fool out for what he did to my dad.”

  “He’s worried about being soft,” JJ said.

  Elijah looked at Kwame with serious eyes. “Do you think you can get me the gun?”

  Chapter 7

  The neighborhood folks paraded in and out of the house carrying big pans of food—fried chicken, sweet potato pies, banana pudding, and pound cakes. People shared stories about how Virgil used to help people. He’d fix sinks, unclogged toilets, ran errands, and even coached the youth sports teams.

  The doorbell rang and when Khadijah opened the door, she saw Malik standing there wearing a black leather jacket, gloves, and a baseball cap.

  “Where are you going dressed in all black?” Khadijah asked.

  “You don’t want to know, believe me,” he said.

  “Just let the police handle it. I know you’re upset, but trust me. You don’t need to go back to prison. This is not something that Virgil would want.”

  “I haven’t been able to sleep since this happened. Word around the hood is that it’s some clown named Major.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “My cousin Rochelle that lives on Magnolia told me.”

  “I heard the same thing,” Khadijah said.

  “You heard that it was Major and you didn’t tell me?” Elijah said as if he didn’t know.

  “Because it’s not your concern,” Khadijah said.

  “Not my concern? You don’t think I need to know who killed my dad?” Elijah said.

  “Suspect doesn’t mean that it’s true,” Khadijah said.

  “But still you didn’t think that I would want to know?” Elijah said raising his voice.

  “Don’t talk to your mama like that!” Malik shouted.

  Elijah stared at Malik. He’d always had great respect for Malik, but Malik was not his father. Why was this man shouting at him?

  “Thank you, Malik,” Khadijah said. “Let the police do their job.”

  “Obviously, they’re not doing a good enough job. Major is still out here running freely,” Malik said.

  “So you are going to do it for them?”

  “No, actually, I’m not. I’ve been out all day and I came over here to just wait until night before going to look for this Major dude some more, but my pastor called me.”

  “Your pastor?”

  “Yeah, I called him and told him that I’d lost my best friend the day after Virg was murdered, and he called me to check on me. I shared with him what I was planning to do.”

  “What did he tell you?” Khadijah asked.

  “He doesn’t want me to go back to prison. He made me promise that I would come to his house to spend the night.”

  “Where is your wife?”

  “We divorced earlier this year.”

  “Virgil didn’t tell me that?”

  “I made him and Clarence promise not to tell anyone.”

  Malik glanced at Elijah. The boy reminded him of Virgil—not in physical form but in demeanor. It was scary how two people could be so much alike. Virgil wasn’t a violent man, but he would be ready to go to war for a person that he cared about, and Elijah is the same way. “I know it’s hard. It’s hard on me. I’ve cried every day since this happened. But your mom is right. We gotta let the police handle it.”

  Elijah shrugged and wondered why Malik was telling him this? Was it obvious that he wanted revenge? Did someone tell him that he was going to buy a gun?

  “Right,” Elijah mumbled.

  “Elijah.” Khadijah motioned him over.

  He stepped toward his mother and she stared at him face to face, “Remember what I told you.”

  He shrugged.

  “Boy I’ll fuck you up if you call yourself getting revenge. Do you hear me?” Khadija said.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Chapter 8

  Elijah sat on the porch playing Threes, a highly addictive math game, on his cellphone as he waited for Daniel and Brandon to return from school. An hour after the school bus dropped them off, the boys approached the porch. Brandon tossed Elijah a bag of Lil Yachty Cheese Fries. Elijah tore into the bag.

  “How was school?”

  Brandon shrugged. “School was school.”

  “Tell him about your girlfriend,” Daniel said.

  Elijah stuffed some cheese fries into his mouth then passed the bag to Brandon.

  “You got a girlfriend?”

  “Naw. I don’t know what Daniel is talking about.”

  “That girl Imani is looking at him or at least that’s what he thinks.”

  “Wait a minute! Imani Rogers is interested in you?”

  “You make it sound like it’s impossible,” Brandon said.

  Elijah shrugged. “Anything is possible. I just didn’t think she was your type or that you were her type.”

  “Have you seen this girl?” Daniel said excitedly.

  “Yeah, she seems kind of shallow. Pretty girl, though. But hey, if that’s what you like, that’s what you like.”

  “And what kind of girl is Bria?”

  “I don’t know. All I know is she laughs at my corny jokes and that’s enough for me. Looks are important but last on my list. If she’s smart and I can make her laugh, life will be a lot easier.”

  “Sounds like a Virgilism,” Daniel said.

  “A Virgilism?” Elijah said.

  “A Virgil saying,”Daniel said. “Brandon and I was just talking on the bus about all the things that Virgil taught us and Brandon came up with Virgilism. I thought it was pretty cool.”

  “I like it but you know that’s not original.”

  “What do you mean?” Daniel asked.

  “Meaning you’re not the first to put ‘ism’ behind the name of a person to attribute a saying to them.”

  “What difference does it make? I like it.”

  “I like it too,” Elijah said.

  As they were talking, Kwame approached carrying a blue and white overnight bag. He stopped on the bottom step and set the bag down then glanced at Elijah. Elijah cut his eyes at Daniel and Brandon. He really didn’t want them to know that he was buying a gun, but it was too late.

  “You got the money, right?” Kwame asked.

  Elijah dug into his pocket and handed him $150.

  “Where is the PlayStation?”

  “You want that too?”

  “That was the deal.”

  Kwame removed a small chrome handgun with a pearl white handle from the overnight bag.

  “What is going on?” Brandon said. He stepped back, his eyes on the gun.

  “What kind of gun is it?” Elijah asked.

  “It’s a little 380 and it’s easy to shoot.”

  “I thought you said you were getting a 9mm or a .45?”

  “No, I asked you if you knew the difference.”

  Daniel turned to Elijah. “Bruh! Are you fucking nuts? What are you doing?”

  Elijah turned to Daniel. “What does it look like I’m doing?”

  Daniel crossed his arms and frowned. “So you’re gonna throw your life away just like that, huh?”

  “I’m tired of you, Daniel, and this goody-two-shoes talk.”

  “You’re tired of me because I’m trying to keep you out of jail! And I’m just as upset as anyone, but I know Virgil wouldn’t want this.”

  “Well, Virgil ain’t here now, is he? And neither is your father.”

  “What!” Daniel said. Daniel couldn’t believe what Elijah had just said. Elijah knew talking about Daniel’s father was a touchy subject. Daniel had never really know his father, he’d left the family right before Daniel’s fourth birthday.”

  “I’m sorry, Daniel,” Elijah said.

  “You meant it or else you wouldn’t have said it,” Daniel said.

  “Brandon, I’ll see you at school tomorrow. I gotta get out of here,” Daniel said to Brandon.

  “I’m really sorry, Daniel,” Elijah said.

  “You said what you said. I’m out of here.” Daniel began to walk home.

  Kwame said, “Look, I didn’t come here for all this whining and bickering. Go get the PlayStation and the gun is yours.”

  Elijah faced Brandon. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “Bruh, I don’t want to get involved in this.”

  Kwame said, “What kind of weak-ass friends do you have?”

  Brandon cut his eyes at Kwame.

  Elijah turned to Kwame. “Can you just chill?”

  Kwame threw up his hands. “I’m just saying.”

  Elijah turned back to Brandon. “All I’m asking you to do is to keep my mom occupied while I run upstairs and get the console.”

  “Okay, but I’m not going to sit here and watch you buy a gun.”

  “Understood,” Elijah said.

  Once they were inside, Khadijah called out to Brandon. “Hey, Brandon.”

  “Hey, Auntie.”

  “Elijah, why don’t you fix Brandon something to eat?”

  “He can get his own food,” Elijah said.

  “He’s so rude,” Khadijah said. “Brandon, you want something to eat? We got chicken, fish, steak, and ham. The food from the neighborhood has been pouring in all week. Your mama made a banana pudding and she sent some pizza.”

  “Pizza?” His face went blank.

  “Hey, I was confused too, but I was actually glad that she’d sent something different. I’m so sick of chicken right now.”

  “Ma, quit trying to feed everybody,” Elijah said.

  “You shut up and mind yo’ business.”

  Elijah dashed upstairs.

  “I’ll take some chicken. You know you cook the best chicken in the neighborhood.”

  “I didn’t make it, but Miss Connie made it and it’s pretty good. White or dark meat?”

  “A thigh, whatever that is. I don’t understand all that white and dark meat stuff.”

  Khadijah laughed. “Well, Imma tell you today.”

  “I’m listening.”

  “White meat is breast and wings and dark is everything else.”

  “Doesn’t sound too complicated.”

  “Not at all.”

  “Auntie, Mom wanted to know the date and time of the funeral,” Brandon said.

  “Tell her the funeral is Saturday at one o’clock at Mount Zion Baptist Church. Can you remember that?”

  “I think so.”

  “Well, tell her the information is posted on my Facebook wall. You know what? I’ll just shoot her a text. You kids can’t remember anything nowadays. Where did Elijah disappear to?” She asked as she washed her hands in the sink then, snatched up a thigh from a bowl of chicken and placed it on a paper plate along with a napkin then passed it to Brandon.

  “I think he went upstairs.” Brandon bit into the chicken.

  “How do you like it?”

  “Pretty good.” He licked his fingers. “But not as good as yours.”

  Khadijah shrugged. “Well, we can’t all cook like me!”

  “Bashful, just like your son.”

  “Hey!” she shrugged and laughed.

  “Brandon, I know you and Daniel and Elijah sometimes wish you lived somewhere else, but we have a good community and good people here.”

  “Why do you say that?” Brandon asked.

  “Well, I know Elijah has expressed that he wished he lived in the Valley, and he’s always talking about what this kid has that he doesn’t have.”

  “He does?” Brandon raised an eyebrow. “Elijah seems content with what he has. He doesn’t even like Jordans. I mean what kid doesn’t care about Jordans?”

  “Well, it’s usually academic things, like one of his friends went to a computer programming camp in Silicon Valley that cost ten thousand dollars for three weeks. Virg and I didn’t have that kind of money.”

  “I’m sure he understands. He never brought it up to me and Daniel, so he couldn’t have been too disappointed.”

  Khadijah smiled. “He’s a really good kid. I’m so proud of my son. Proud of all of you.”

  “Thanks,” Brandon said. He thought about the transaction about to go down. He thought about telling Khadijah to stop Elijah from buying the gun. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if something were to happen to Elijah.

  “So how were your grades this semester?” Khadijah asked.

  “I didn’t make the honor roll this semester. I made a D in chemistry but I still had a pretty good GPA. I was hoping I could make the A honor roll for once.”

  “You’ll make it next semester.”

  “I’m happy, though. I didn’t even believe I could pass honors classes, but I did.”

  “We can always do more than what we think we can do.”

  Brandon chomped away on the chicken and Khadijah passed him another paper towel.

  “Clean those greasy lips,” she laughed.

  He wiped his mouth before glancing at Elijah atop the stairway holding a brown paper bag. Brandon assumed that the game console was inside. When Brandon spotted him, he said, “Auntie, can I have a bottle of water?”

  Khadijah stepped into the laundry room and grabbed a bottle of water from the case that sat on the floor next to the washer.

  Brandon shot Elijah a hand signal. Elijah darted down the stairway, with the bag in hand, and then slipped through the front door.

  Khadijah stood with the water in her hand and asked, “Did somebody just go out the door?” She tossed Brandon the water.

  “Yeah, Elijah said that he was going to help JJ with her homework.”

  “Oh.”

  “Thanks for the food and water, Miss Khadijah. I gotta be going now.”

  “Brandon, you know better than to be thanking me for food or water. Tell your mom to shoot me a text if she needs directions to the church.”

  “I will, Miss Khadijah.”

  Brandon stepped outside and saw Kwame and Elijah marching to the back of the building. Elijah passed Kwame the PlayStation. Brandon really didn’t want to witness this, but it was too late.

  “This thing works, right?” Kwame asked.

  “I just played this morning.”

  “What did you play?”

  “2K and Fortnite.”

  “Give me the Fortnite game and I’ll give you some bullets.”

  “So I don’t have any bullets?”

  “Yeah, you got six.”

  “Do I need more than that?” Elijah asked.

  Kwame laughed. “You really are a square. Six bullets should be fine.” Then Kwame demonstrated how to load the gun and then showed him how to use the safety catch to make sure he didn’t accidentally let one off.

  “How do I know that it will shoot?”

  “Fair question.”

  “Follow me into the woods and I’ll shoot it, but you’re only going to have five bullets.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “If you decide to shoot it and if it doesn’t work. I’ll give you your money back. That’s how confident I am that it’ll work.”

  “If it doesn’t work and Major’s works, then what?”

  “I’ll give you your money back in the afterlife,” Kwame laughed.

  “That’s not funny,” Elijah said.

  “It works, cornball.”

  “Thanks, Kwame,” Elijah said then he unloaded the gun and put it on his waist.

  Kwame walked to the front of the house.

  Elijah said, “Kwame, can you take the back way home. I don’t want my mom to see you with my game console.”

  “Unless Miss Khadijah has X-ray vision, I think it’ll be okay, but I understand.”

  “Thank you, Kwame.”

  “Nah. Thank you. Remember what I showed you.”

  “I will.

  “If you want another lesson, I got you.” Kwame took about three steps before turning around to face Elijah and Brandon. “So, you really got it in you?”

  “Huh?”

  “Maybe we’ve been wrong about you.” Kwame walked away laughing with Elijah’s PlayStation tucked under his arm.

  “I can’t believe you just sold your PlayStation.”

  “I didn’t sell it. I traded it.”

  “For a gun.”

  “Bruh, I want to get a gaming laptop.”

  “Not the point. Your parents paid for that.”

  “Don’t lecture me bruh!”

  “So you’re really gonna do this?”

  “Uh…yeah.”

  “You don’t have to do it. You shouldn’t do it.”