“Aw, here we go,” Ivan told him, walking away inside the room. He faced his brother again and said, “That’s a real convenient excuse for you, ain’t it; blame everything on Mom? Well, that’s bullshit to me, man, ’cause I’ve seen what you do. And if anything, you made Mom’s situation worse with the shit you kept taking her through. So don’t stand here and try to blame Mom for shit! You’ll make her roll over in her grave.”

Derrick heard that and went crazy. He rushed across the room toward his brother, hollering, “You little motherfucker! I’ll kick your fucking ass in here!”

Ivan skittered away and around the living room sofa to keep his distance. He then raised his hands to defend himself, but only after he had escaped his brother’s reach.

He said, “That shit won’t work no more, D. We can kill each other in here if you want, and it won’t change nothing. Mom was giving you money out of everything that I was sending her the whole time, and I know it. So now you gotta come to me for your living. And beating my ass ain’t gon’ change that.

“If you can even do it now,” Ivan added. “Because I really don’t wanna go up against you that way. But this shit is childish, D. We ain’t kids no more, man. So don’t fuck up the hands that’s gonna feed you unless you gon’ find another way for you and your kids to eat.”

Derrick listened to him and realized that he was right. But how could a grown man admit his economic dependency on his little brother? So he calmed down and nodded his head. Then he tried reverse psychology.

He said, “Okay, you live a nice fucking life now, Ivan. You a grown-ass man now, and I’m a grown-ass man. So I won’t bother you ever again. You hear me? You did this all by yourself.”

When Derrick rolled out the door to leave, he slammed it back so hard that every resident inside the complex could hear it.

BOOM!

“Shit!” Ivan cursed as his brother left. Derrick was famous for making scenes. He was the main reason why Ivan hated bringing unnecessary attention to himself. Nevertheless, he was his only brother, and Derrick was now in desperate need with their mother no longer there to help him.

I can at least find out how much he needs. It may only be a few thousand. But what if it’s more than that? Ivan questioned.

He went back and forth trying to decide whether to let his brother leave or to chase him down and figure things out.

Finally, Ivan told himself, “Shit, I’m an accountant. I gotta make this shit work somehow.” Mom would have begged me to, he realized. Otherwise, what is the point of my education?