“Are you trying to piss me off?”
“You think I give a fuck if you mad? I’m just giving you the energy you givin’ me. I pick up on everything, Sawyer—your moods, your energies. I might play dumb, but don’t get it fucked up. Nothing gets past a Gemini.”
“This is the thanks I get for helping you?”
“I don’t know why the fuck you’re helping me. Maybe you’re scared, or maybe deep down, you do give a fuck about a nigga. Whatever the case, we can be cool, or we can be silent. Just don’t push me,” I warned, knowing my temper could go from zero to life in prison all in a matter of seconds. “I’d rather fuck you than fight with you.”
She drew in a sharp breath, ready to combat me further. “I?—”
“Hold up! Slow down. Slow the car down, Sawyer.”
“What? Why?”
“Up ahead. You see those red and blue flashing lights?”
“Shit. The cops.”
“Just be cool, aight? Drive slow but not too slow.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Just relax, Sawyer,” I said calmly while resting my hand on her thigh.
I felt her muscles tense up underneath my grasp before slowly relaxing. Sawyer continued to creep just below the speed limit with her eyes wide as saucers. The closer we got to the police car, the more her hands started to fidget. Unable to settle them, she rubbed her palms against her thighs while drawing in audible deep breaths.
“Oh shit,” she mumbled, slowing down even further. “It’s not moving. It looks like they had an accident.”
“Must’ve hydroplaned during one of those harder showers and lost control.”
She slowed the car to a snail’s pace, edging closer to the accident. “Should we call for help?”
“Just keep going,” I responded, keeping my eyes glued to the road. Just as we started to pass by, I thought I saw someone in the back seat. “Hold up! Stop!”
I rolled the window down to get a better view of the damage. The police car had veered off to the right side of the road but was facing our direction, indicating that it had spun around before hitting a guardrail. From the passenger seat, I could see a brown figure in the back seat. My heart somersaulted in my chest. Could it have been my brother, or was it just wishful thinking?
“Pull over!”
“What? Right here?”
“Pull over, Sawyer. I gotta check.”
“Are you serious, Kareem? You’re willingly about to walk up to a police car right now?”
“I can’t explain it, Sawyer. I can just feel it.”
Instead of wasting time talking any further, I figured it was better to show her. Kadeem and I had a connection like no other. I jumped out of the car into the rain and eased up to the back passenger side of the police car. I gripped the handle and pulled.I shot thanks up to God when it opened on the first try. My heart nearly vacated my chest when I saw Kadeem inside.
His head was slumped to the side, and there was a bleeding gash on his head from what I suspected happened during the accident. The officer in the front was also knocked out cold. To God be the mothafuckin glory. He had cuffs around his wrists, and to my surprise, he was wearing regular street clothes. Without hesitation, I pulled my brother out of the back seat.
“Don’t worry, twin. I gotchu.”
I put him in the back seat of Sawyer’s car as quickly as I could before hopping in with him and telling her to speed off.
“Oh my God, you found him? I—I can’t believe it!” she shrieked, glancing up at me through the rearview mirror every few seconds. “Is he okay? Do we need to go to the hospital? Oh shit, what am I saying? We can’t go there.”
“The only place we need to go is back to your crib. Once we’re there, I can assess the damage, but I think he’ll be fine. Nigga gon’ have one hell of a headache when he comes to, but he’ll be aight.”
I held onto him tight as she drove. The only thing that mattered was that we were back together—double the trouble, double the fun.
