Page 9 of Lyric Squared

“Right, like Elle.” I caught on instantly, always loving how well her name conveyed their unity.

Bzzzz.

Bzzzz.

Eyes wandered around the room trying to find the source of the betrayal. Cells weren’t allowed at the dinner table on Sunday. It was the only two to three hours we were able to spend with each other monthly and wanted it to be uninterrupted.

“Babe,” Ever tried whispering after she realized he was the culprit.

“Tonight is an exception, love,” Luca assured her as he slid a finger down her cheek.

“Tonight’s an exception,” she repeated with a smile after Luca lifted the phone for her to see who was calling.

He slid his hand across the screen and then placed the call on speaker. When the operator’s voice sounded on the line, my heart’s beating halted. It was far too loud to hear anything beyond it. I needed silence to comprehend and digest every word that was spoken from this point moving forward. She continued speaking as I listened intently, hanging on to every syllable.

“You have a prepaid call from,” there was a slight pause.

“Keanu,” his voice, like molasses, slowly graced the line.

“To accept, press three. To decl?—"

Before she was able to get anything else out, Luca pressed the number that would connect us to the awaiting caller. There was static on the line before it cleared. I waited with hiked breaths and curious eyes until he finally spoke, bringing peace to the chaos that had quickly swarmed me.

“What’s up, nigga?” Ken greeted Luca.

“Shit,” he responded, “I got to send messages through niggas to get you on the line. What part of the game is that?”

“The same part you played when you were down.”

“Fair enough,” Luca chuckled, “but it’s been three weeks since I sent the message.”

“I’m still waiting for your point, big dog.”

“Why you calling now, nigga? I needed to holler at you three weeks ago.”

Luca smiled, knowing that he was going to get under Ken’s skin if he kept at it. He knew exactly why Ken was calling. We all knew. It was the only reason he’d brought his phone to the table and it was the only exception.

“I’m calling so you niggas can tell me happy birthday,” Ken admitted. “Call Laike ass. I need him on the line, too.”

“He already here.”

“Happy birthday, black ass nigga!”

“LAIKE!” my mother yelled.

Because everyone was an adult, she and my father didn’t trip much about the profanity that they used. As long as they kept it to a minimum. Words like damn, ass, and shit were among the few they were allowed to say. Otherwise, my mother and father found it disrespectful. Any hardcore profanity was not permitted. They didn’t care whose home they were at, they’d cut into the guys swiftly. I hardly exercised the privilege they’d given us. In so many ways, I still felt like I was the baby of the bunch and wasn’t allowed to do everything my older brothers were.

“What happened?” my father turned to ask her.

“Happy birthday, Keanu,” my mother said, ignoring both my father and Laike.

“Happy birthday, nigga,” Luca followed up.

“Happy birthday, Ken. We love and miss you.”

“Happy birthday, son,” my father told him.

“Appreciate that,” he replied, his smile obvious on the other line.