Derrick closed his cell phone and went back to his smoking and driving. He clicked on his stereo system to blast his latest Snoop Dogg CD. He sang along with the chorus while enjoying his late morning drive down the San Diego Freeway:

“Beautifuuulll / you’re my favorite girrrlll…”

BACK AT THE OFFICE, Ivan went into panic mode. This mother…He needs more money already. That’s all it is, he suspected. Why else would he want to see me out of the blue?

Ivan was ready to take an emergency break outside of his office to call his brother back and tell his ass not to come. He wanted to let Derrick have it. But his efforts would have been meaningless. If D. was on his way, he was on his way, and that was that. Nothing would make him turn back.

I should just ignore him once he gets here, then, Ivan told himself. But he knew better than that. Derrick knew where he lived, and he was an impossible man to ignore. That would only make things worse. The best solution was to hear his brother out and get his checkbook ready.

Needless to say, with so much on in his mind, Ivan couldn’t possibly get much work done.

AT A QUARTER AFTER SEVEN, when Ivan arrived home from work, Derrick was already waiting for him on the second-level walkway. He was socializing there with Julio.

“What took you so long, Ivan? You still letting that job control all your time, hunh?”

Ivan took a breath and kept his poise as he approached them.

“It is what it is,” he answered. “What’s up, Julio?”

“What’s up, man? I didn’t bust your groove last night with the smoke, did I?”

Ivan shook his hand and said, “Nah, she was cool with it.”

Derrick shook his brother’s hand next and frowned at him. “You had a girl over here last night? What was she, your first one? Let me see the sheets,” he joked.

He understood Ivan’s hesitancy with women. He didn’t want to get any of them pregnant.

Julio chuckled with Derrick, but Ivan wasn’t in the mood. He led his brother toward his apartment with no comment.

“I’ll catch up, Julio,” Derrick told Ivan’s neighbor. “I wanna try some of that weed you was telling me about.”

Ivan looked back at Julio and stopped himself from saying anything. He thought, Yeah, I need to get D. out of here as quickly as possible.

As soon as they walked into his apartment and closed the door, Ivan looked his brother in the face and asked him, “How much do you need from me, man? And I’ll see if I can do it.”