“You ready Young Blood?” Billy jokingly asked, tossing the ball from the Free-Throw Line to the Three-point Line for Tyrone to catch.

Tyrone shrugged and rotated his tense shoulders “I was born ready to whoop your ass!”

“The youngin got some fight left in him after all.” Billy joked “I thought your girl took your balls when she dumped you just now.”

Tyrone’s mood went a bit sour at Billy’s joke but it was not noticeable.

Without any further conversation, Tyrone attacked the rim with the ball, using a hesitation dribble to fake left and heading for the right-side layup.

Woosh

Tyrone didn’t even notice when his ball was held on the backboard by Billy who had soared over him to block the shot.

Tyrone maneuvered his body a little more to the right, securing a safe landing for himself while also clearing the area so Billy could also land safely.

Billy landed on the ground and turned around to recover the ball but all he saw was Tyrone shooting the ball into the rim quicker than he could react.

It could be considered a cowardly shot in basketball but Tyrone was known to work smart and quick.

Billy admired “That’s your strong game right there Ty. You are fast and decisive and you always gonna ball like that.”

Tyrone smiled reluctantly “You got more experience and can defend anyone, anywhere on the court bro… don’t sell yourself short.”

Billy shook his head as Tyrone passed the ball to him and they switched defense and offense positions. This time Billy was at the Three-point Line and Tyrone was at the Free-Throw Line.

“I am not like you…” Billy said, bouncing the ball leisurely as he looked for a gap in Tyrone’s defense “I ain’t smart like you and my ball skills won’t take me very far… on top of all that, I am a mutant… but you, little brother, can make it very far and make our family proud!”

“I – ” The moment Tyrone opened his mouth to speak, Billy had already whizzed past him and shot the ball into the hoop.

“A major flaw of your game is how easily you’re distracted and allow people to get into your head,” Billy stated, recovering the ball from the hoop and passing it to Tyrone.

“You mean with Tandy huh?” Tyrone asked and Billy nodded, not trying to hide anything.

Tyrone caught the ball, walked to the Three-point Line, and just pulled up for a Three-point jump shot.

Swish

Billy nodded his head “Now you finally getting serious, huh? All it took was to say a girl’s name”

“I just didn’t wanna hurt your feelings… you’re the oldest after all,” Tyrone replied smugly.

Billy and Tyrone continued with several games until it was almost seven-thirty, about thirty minutes before their curfew time.

The brothers sat on the bleachers for a while, just enjoying the cool breeze that felt even more fulfilling after a hard workout.

“So what’s the problem with you and your girl?” Billy asked nonchalantly but the concern in his eyes did not escape Tyrone.

Tyrone shrugged in defeat “Everything is so different when I am with her… I feel brighter and better as a person, but I also feel like she belongs to me and that trips me up since I feel like I own her and I have to protect her from everything.”

“That’s where you got it wrong little bro.” Billy said, causing Tyrone to raise his eyebrows questioningly “A man can ever truly own a woman. A man can only make sure that a woman feels like her heart always has a home when she is around him.”

“It’s too late for that anyway.” Tyrone said sadly “I know you saw her dumping my ass earlier but if anyone asks, I dumped her!”

“I’ll tell you the two principles that us, Johnson men, live our lives by every single day. When a Johnson man makes a mistake, the motto is: Everyone makes mistakes… so a man is only as good as the mistakes he makes and the lengths to which he will go to make up for those mistakes.”

“What’s the second one?” Tyrone asked curiously since he wasn’t really feeling the first one.

Billy rubbed his head in slight frustration and admitted “That one is a little harder to do… it’s for when a person you love makes a mistake instead of you… the motto is: If the world was coming to an end tomorrow, would you be able to forgive that person? If the answer is yes, then they are still worth loving… if the answer is no, then it’s time to let go!”

Tyrone was stumped for a reply since both mottos were relevant to his current conundrum.

“Ain’t there a third motto for when you can’t decide who made the mistake?” Tyrone asked jokingly.

However, Billy nodded seriously to his question “Yes there is… it’s called ‘A woman is always right… even when she is wrong… she is still right!’”

“I can see why mom and dad rarely argue… it’s because mom wears the pants in the house.” Tyrone added causing Billy to laugh.

“Then we should be heading home unless we wanna be put in skirts like dad!” Billy joked, picking up the basketball and hopping to his feet.

Tyrone did the same but both brothers frowned the next moment when a new group of ballers arrived on the basketball court.

The basketball court was a private court and none of the members of the new group attended the school so it didn’t take a genius to guess they hopped the fence to enter the school grounds.

Of course, Tyrone and Billy didn’t particularly mind since such occurrences were common in Southside Boston.

“Tyrone and Billy… the two black-white bitches that can’t hang no more cause they better than us.” The teenager in front, Aug, said loudly.

The five guys following behind him laughed at the remark but Tyrone and Billy just kept a stoic face as they walked out of the outdoor court and towards the gate, heading home and avoiding conflict altogether.

∞∞∞

Aug (Local Gang Leader)

“What’s up with those bitches?” A kid behind Aug, Justin, asked roughly.

pa/ta

Aug spun around and slapped Justin across the face, sending him stumbling back into the bleachers.

“Those bitches used to run with us back in the day before we started dealing for the gangs. When the police rolled up on us with the drugs, those bitches were the ones that hid us in their house so their lawyer mom could stash the drugs and that’s the only reason we ain’t behind bars doing 10 - 20.” Aug yelled at the teens around him and then walked off.

Tyrone and Billy were a sore spot for Aug since they all used to be close friends but he chose drugs while they chose to go to school.

Simon walked over to Justin and patted him on the shoulder for comfort “Those guys are some real ones. We just pick on them because we bitter that they don’t hang with us anymore but their family has done a lot for a lot of n*ggas walking these streets. Don’t disrespect them anymore, a lot of guys out here will merk you if they hear it.”

“Man, look at how they walk… they feel like they’re better than us!” Justin propped himself up and shot a disdainful glance at the disappearing backs of Tyrone and Billy.

“You can talk smack about em but don’t think of doing shit or Aug will fuck you up!” Simon warned, walking onto the ball court to get some hoops in.

Seeing that Simon and Aug were busy shooting ball, Justin called two of his friends over and whispered “Let’s go see how real these black-white boys are!”

∞∞∞

Tandy Bowen

Tandy stormed out of the school after her confrontation with Tyrone. Truly, Tandy knew that her outburst was unfair to Tyrone since he has been the best thing that ever happened to her life.

Still, it scared her to admit to Tyrone, the awe-so-perfect Tyrone, that she used to be a party girl who had sex all over the place with whoever she wanted to and even rich-people orgies were involved.

Of course, she never went as far as to sleep with the entire Football team or anything so absurd but she had to admit that she had slept with her fair amount of toxic guys in the past…

Guys so toxic that it made her scared that Tyrone would not look at her the same ever again if he knew the types of disgusting guys she dated in the past.

Sure, the guys she dated seemed all rich and perfect but someone as simple as Tyrone was the truly perfect guy amongst them all.

Ever since meeting Tyrone, her life had been turned upside down. She threw her old phone away and got a new one specifically for his number alone, she traded all her skimpy dressed for the floral ones he liked.

She even secretly funded the partial scholarship that paid the surplus of Tyrone’s and Billy’s tuition when their parents couldn’t afford it.

Tandy wanted as much control over Tyrone as she could have and that scared her to no end. She felt like she was going crazy just to be near him every day.

“Why does everything have to be so hard?” Tandy yelled into a pillow that was on the car seat next to her.

“Madam?” The windows from the front of the limo rolled down to reveal Tandy’s best friend and a long-time driver for her family – Stan Lee.

Stan was nearing his fifties but could still pass for a thirty-year-old.

For as far back as Tandy could remember, Stan was the person to raise her since her mother was always modeling and her father was always doing who knows what.

Tandy stopped asking questions about her father after a gunman broke into their home one day attempting to kill her father but her father just picked the man up and slammed him to death on the ground.

“Rich people problems huh?” Tandy whispered, thinking about what Tyrone had said earlier… that he would kill to have her problems but she doubts he would because her problems were life-threatening.

“May I offer some advice, madam,” Stan asked, speaking carefully but also sagely.

“Well, I am all out of ideas over here!” Tandy exaggerated, rolling her eyes and knocking her head to show it was empty.

“I have seen many people who belong together never get the chance to be together because they missed their moments. The world is made up of moments, and a single moment could last a lifetime if you catch it at the right second. I think you should take the chance and try to catch that moment no matter where it leads you!”

Tandy slid forward so she was near Stan and pressed her hands against his forehead to check if he had a fever.

“That statement was profoundly deep for someone who speaks only about five sentences per week,” Tandy said, relaxing back in her chair as Stan pulled up to the mansion and the gates automatically opened.

About an hour later, Tandy had taken a bath, eaten some food, and then descended the stairs to pay her mother a visit in the Hospitalized Room.

Knocking twice, a weak voice answered “Enter!”

Tandy entered the room and immediately frowned, her mother, Melissa Bowen, was looking even thinner than she was the day before.

Melissa used to be a top model but a couple of months ago, she contracted a sickness that no top medical professional could properly diagnose.

Since then, Tandy’s father has been coming home a lot but she was never particularly close with her father and he tended to keep her as far away from his businesses as possible.

The father-daughter relationship was strained but Tandy was working hard to repair it since she wanted Tyrone to meet both her parents before it was too late.

“Are you feeling okay today?” Tandy asked though she was not too caring.

Melissa smiled sadly “You’re such a good daughter… for years, I neglected you to pursue the fickle things in life and now, on my death bed, you’re the only one who is at my side…”

“You have a lot of friends who would visit you if they knew.” Tandy comforted.

“We both know that you sent the invitations but nobody came to see me… you don’t have to make me feel better… you being here is enough to make me realize a lot of things.”

“I don’t feel anything… to me, you might as well be a stranger,” Tandy whispered, looking at the ground, feeling guilty for her statement.

Melissa slowly raised her hands and handed Tandy a document “My will… of course, everything belongs to you...”

Tandy instantly gave a reply “I don’t want it!”

“But you will need it for the days to come...” Melissa struggled to say as her breath grew hurried “Tandy… there is something I need to tell you about your father. He is -”

Before Melissa could continue, Tandy got a sinking feeling in her gut and somehow knew something had gone terribly wrong concerning Tyrone.

It was as if something had pierced through her heart and her gut twisted inside her stomach for a moment and before she could process anything else, Tandy found her feet already through the door, jumping into the car and urging Stan to drive immediately.

∞∞∞

“Man, your jump shots were killing it today son!” Billy admired, patting Tyrone on the head like he always would.

Tyrone laughed “You were always passing me with that one-two hesitation dribble… I don’t even know where you learned that shit. Dad sure as hell can’t play no basketball.”

“Well you know, there is this little thing called ‘youtube’ today and a magical box called a ‘phone’ that can take you there… but you wouldn’t know about that since all you use your phone for is to message that white chick.”

“And my ball game still tighter than yours.” Tyrone shot back “I am guessing it must be something about these white chicks.”

Billy laughed at the remark and considered getting a new girlfriend before Selena stabbing him to death entered his mind and he shook the thought away immediately.

As if Tyrone can read Billy’s mind, he said “There ain’t no cheating on Selena bro… she would maim you!”

Billy laughed “You got that right!”

The brothers entered the store they would usually visit after a tough day of workouts.

“Come to replenish the fluids boys?” Mr. Wardo, the store owner, asked.

“Got any of those Nades left Ed?” Tyrone shouted after searching through the freezer to no avail.

Billy raised his hand from the other side of the store “Got it, little bro!”

Finished with selecting their energy drinks, the brothers paid Mr. Wardo and exited the store immediately.

∞∞∞

Justin (Lackey of Aug)

Justin and two of his friends had been feeling a bit outraged after Aug gave them an earful for disrespecting Tyrone and Billy.

From the moment Justin saw the brothers earlier today, he felt an innate dislike for them both. Could have been jealousy… could have been hate… but he definitely didn’t like them one bit.

Hence, Justin and his two friends decided to teach them a lesson.

Jessie gave a hoodie matching the black one Tyrone had on to one of his friends who was roughly the same size and build as Tyrone.

Justin started explaining the plan to his friends “Here is what’s gonna happen. You’re gonna get this hoodie, head to the store, and just take a couple sausages or something off the shelves until Mr. Wardo chases you out. We do this all the time so he won’t mind, we’ll drop the money off for him later. When you come out with the stuff, just drop it by Tyrone’s feet and we watch them shit themselves in fear thinking you rob the place… Here you do the video.”

Unknown to Justin however, his two friends had creative plans of their own.

∞∞∞

Bang

Bang

Tyrone and Billy heard gunshots like it was right next to their ears. Both brothers ducked behind a nearby car.

A kid around the same height as Tyrone, wearing the exact same hoodie, ran past Billy and Tyrone as they hid behind the car.

Unluckily, a police vehicle was also passing by at that exact same time.

The kid that robbed the store, seeing the police, abandoned the money he had stolen right next to Tyrone and Billy who hid behind the car.

Everything moved so fast after that – neither Billy nor Tyrone could remember anything other than shouting for them to exit their hiding spot.

Two officers jumped out of the police car that had come to a stop.

“Hands up! Freeze!” The Officers yelled causing Tyrone and Billy to instinctively raise their hands in the air.

Billy was the first to recover his senses, knowing things had gone to shit.

“It wasn’t us man! That kid just ran past and dropped it over here!” Billy shouted back, inching closer to Tyrone to shield him from the Police men’s eyes.

“I said, Freeze! Better stop fucking moving!” The Officers yelled again, this time cocking their guns.

Tyrone stepped further away from Billy to show himself clearer and allow the Officers to see that he was unarmed.

Being black with White Police Officers pointing a gun at you was never a good thing, so Tyrone didn’t want to give them any reason to shoot.

“It’s not me man! The kid had a gun and I don’t have anything… search me please!” Tyrone pleaded, the ache in his stomach telling him that something bad was going to happen… and so it did.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” An angry scream came from inside the store, Mrs. Wardo had found her husband, Edward, dead and lying on the floor.

Earlier she was in the backroom during the altercation and caught a glimpse of the person who had killed her husband.

Mrs. Wardo darted out of the store with a shotgun in her hand and before anyone could react, Mrs. Wardo locked eyes with Tyrone who had similar attire to the person who had killed her husband.

Bang

Bang

Two shots were fired from Mrs. Wardo’s shotgun and Tyrone closed his eyes, expecting a swift death where his head was instantly blown apart but after three seconds nothing happened.

Tyrone opened his eyes only to see Billy with his hands up, a rain of sparks dancing around his fingers as the bullets from the shotgun were frozen in the air.

Billy’s nose bled and his eyes looked ready to burst but the barrier protecting Tyrone didn’t falter even once.

But that’s when it happened…

“Mutant!” The officers yelled in fear – a fear that most of the world’s populations had towards mutants… even mutants as weak as Billy.

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Bang

Billy had protected Tyrone with his limited mutant ability, never once thinking of himself. Everything Billy had was put into creating a small barrier that protected Tyrone from the bullets.

Billy’s body fell to the ground lifelessly and Tyrone felt the world slow around him as if waiting for his heart to process the pain of losing someone he loved… someone he treasured… someone who meant the world to him – his brother, Billy Johnson.

“Billy! Billy! Billy!” Tyrone yelled, falling to his knees and shaking Billy with all his might, hoping to get any sign of life but there was none to be seen.

Billy had two shots to the head, three through the chest and one through the stomach.

While shaking Billy, Tyrone felt a gun pressed behind his head but could care less about his own safety when Billy was bleeding out in front of him.

“We have to kill this one too or we’ll be in trouble!” The First Officer whispered to the other.

The other officer nodded in agreement “Madam Wardo… we will handle it from here. Please enter your store and wait for a report briefing!”

Mrs. Wardo was reluctant to move but the officer flashed his gun and she immediately complied. After all, if the truth of the matter was to be investigated, she would be charged as well for attempting to kill Tyrone.

Click

Just as the first Officer was about to put a bullet through the back of Tyrone’s head, Tyrone heard a startling cry from the distance that returned life to his lifeless eyes.

“Tyrone! Tyrone!” Tandy yelled just as her car spun around the corner.

Tyrone slapped the gun from behind his head just as the Officer shot causing the bullet to ricochet off the ground and drill through the eyes of the second Officer.

Tyrone spun around and wanted to attack the First Officer but the latter just fired his gun without aiming, sending a bullet straight through Tyrone’s stomach.

Tyrone passed out immediately and the last thing he heard was Tandy’s horrified scream.

∞∞∞

Justin’s friend dropped the phone he was using to record the incident and darted away. Justin remained at his location until Tyrone’s body was loaded into an ambulance truck and crowds began to gather before he also darted away, leaving behind the phone with the video that held the entire sequence of events.