Paid in Full

I have a friend.
We call him Brick.
It suits him.
Why?

He's the dead weight draggin' ya down.
Not that he isn't a good person.
We wouldn't have become friends if he wasn't.
...
But that was a long time ago.

People change.
And it so happened that I owed this particular person.
Quite literally I owe him a pound of flesh.
My left hand to be exact.
... But that's another story.

So anyway, yesterday he came calling.
I had work to do. I had school to go to.
But I owed him. A matter of pride and honor.

We didn't talk much.
He didn't want my words.
He wanted my fists.

- - - - -
Three hours later I'm sitting at Starbucks.
I see an old high school friend.
I meet some of the staff.
I sketch on some yellow paper.

It seemed so surreal.
Especially with the pain in my back.
Courtesy of my friend, the two-by-four.

But this is the last time.
All debts are paid in full.

---

Pft. Maybe I'll erase this later. But for now I just want to warn you kids.

Hang with your homies.
Hook up with a gang.
Bust up in the alley.
Go out with a bang.
I got lucky.
Maybe you won't.
Watch yourselves.