Bros Before Hoes Pt 2

Scroll down for part one, or click the link

If this was a movie, this would be the part where Tony tried to get his act together while I provided support. But in real life, ain't nothing changed. He kept doing his thing, and I remained complicit in the situation. We had to switch it up, as Leslie had grown fond of calling my girl to pour out her heart. Couldn't use me as an excuse if I was over there at the time. But that's what Kareem was for, or the fake studio time, or late night study sessions. It was all just cover. No, this was no period of redemption, rather just the status quo. I started to hear more often about Leslie's suspicions from Lisa. I also steadfastly refused to get involved. C'mon, who's more stubborn than me? I'll answer that: nobody!

It all came to a head on a summer's night in June. The year was 1997. We were all going over to Kareem's mother's house to watch the second Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight. (Niggaz had bootleg cable so we couldn't get PPV at the crib.) All the usual suspects were there: Kareem and Chandra, me and Lisa, and Tony and Leslie. Before the fight began, we grubbed down heavily, while talking and laughing. Tony called me and Kareem to the side.

"Hey, I'm need to dip out for a few minutes."
"What's up?"
"I need to go check out this honey real quick. We gonna smoke one and then I'll be back"
"Damn, nigga! Your girl is right here, you sure you wanna do that?"
"Yeah, I had told her I was gonna fall through, but Leslie came and got me too early."
"What are you gonna tell Leslie?"
"Nothing, I'll be back before she notices I'm gone."

Famous last words. Tony rode out to go meet up with random girl, in Leslie's car no less. Kareem and I were blowed, but tried not to let it show. We went back into the den and watched the pre fight hype and preliminary bouts. Leslie looked puzzled, but never asked where Tony was. He more than likely gave some bullshit excuse. Two hours later, the fight was about to start and Tony was still incognegro. So much for a quick smoke. Kareem and I had another conversation.

"Kareem, what's up with your boy? He's taking this shit too far."
"I don't know. I tried to tell him to cool out.:
"Man, I don't know how much longer I can be his alibi. At first, shit was easy, but I'm starting to get to know and like Leslie. She don't deserve this shit."
"I know what you mean. This is the last time for me."
"I'm just saying. He's putting us in a fucked up situation."
"You ain't lying. My girl is looking at me like I do the same shit."
"Yeah, so what you wanna do. I think we should tell him if he ever gets his punk ass back here."
"I'm with you."

Round one passes. Holyfield is head butting Mike something terrible, but neither fighter is doing any damage. Round two.. more head butting and dirty fighting from Holyfield. Round three... Tyson fucking snaps. WTF? Son did you see that? Tyson just bit Holyfields ear. Oh shit, he did it again! Is that a piece of ear on the mat? The door opens and Tony comes in, obviously high and acts like he was there the whole time. The fight is over. Tyson got disqualified and I just lost $50 in a bet. In between yells at the big screen TV, and utterances of disbelief, I see Leslie and Tony leave the room, presumably to do what they did best: argue.

30 minutes later, Leslie comes back in the room, the obvious remnants of tears hanging from her eyes. Tony is nowhere to be found. Leslie and the girls huddle in the corner talking in hushed tones. We can't hear what they are saying, but it without a doubt can't be good. Kareem and I went outside to find Tony. He is sitting out in Leslie's car, cursing to nobody in particular.

"Damn, man she blowing my high!"
"Aw, nigga. Boo Hoo! What'd you expect would happen? You rode out for 2 hours and left her. She supposed to jump for joy?"
"Rashan, you don't understand. Leslie ain't cool like Lisa is. She always nagging me about something."
"You were gone 2 fucking hours! You don't get that shit?"
"I didn't mean to be."
"But you were. You can't be straight disrespecting her like that. Every woman has her breaking point."
"Yeah, man. Whatever!"
"You think its all a game, man. Girls like Leslie don't come around all the time. You just need to chill sometimes. You don't wanna mess that up because of some random chick."
"Nigga, don't worry about mines! I'll handle that shit."
"Oh, its like that? You really gonna try to play us? We've had your back since day one."
"Man, fuck you niggaz."
"I'm a pretend like that's the weed talking. But get in my face again, and its gonna be some shit."
"Fuck you, do what you gotta do!"
"Aiight, then."

Kareem interjected...

"Hey, Tony. We are your boys and we gonna give it to you straight. Maybe you need to just calm down for awhile before you say something you gonna regret."
"Man, fuck you too! Neither one of you niggaz know what I'm going through. Far as I'm concerned, you both are player hating." (that's what it was called back then. LOL)
"Just ride out and come back when your high has worn off."

Tony drove off and Kareem and I stood outside contemplating what just happened. Tony always was an emotional (read: bitchy) cat. It wasn't that serious. Or was it... Maybe, what he needed was a wake up call so he could finally grow up. It didn't take long before the ladies joined us outside. The serene Southside air held a feeling of foreboding. Something was about to happen that would change everything. Leslie spoke, flanked by Lisa and Chandra.

"I want to talk to you guys about Tony."

Shit... this was the moment I feared.

Part 3, which is the conclusion will be posted by 4:30 pm. It is already written and in my drafts. It just was too long to add to this same post.