No Justice No Peace (31 page)

            Desmon and me finished up and left.  He complained about being chilly, so I tossed him my leather jacket to put on.  He threw it over his back and we got inside of the car. He reached in my pockets to warm his hands, and when he pulled them out, he pulled out the picture I had of Myles Stein. He looked at it.

“Say, man,” he said. “Who is this?”

I’d forgotten I put the picture in my pocket to hide it.  I stuttered a bit and then asked Desmon if I could see it. I looked hard at the picture and passed it back to him.

“That’s, uh, one of my boys from way back when. Myles.”

“Aw,” he said, continuing to study the picture. “He kind of look like family, especially all up in here.” Desmon circled his hands around Myles upper face.

“Fool, don’t nobody look like me but you.”

“You mean…you look like me. I don’t look like you, you look like me.”

“I was born first so you look like me. So there.”

“Okay, but even though I might look like you, I don’t act like you.”

“Good.  I’m glad because I don’t want you to be like me. I never wanted you to be like me.”

“And, I don’t want to be like you either,” we both said and laughed together.

I hit the nearest highway to Los Angeles, California and told Desmon to blow the picture of Myles out of the window.  He did just that, and my life as it was today, couldn’t have been any better.

Epilogue

For at least the next five years, I’ll sum up Kiley’s and my life in three short words: OFF THE CHAIN!  The moment we arrived in LA it was the bomb.  Rufus had everything set out for us: houses, cars, money, money and mo money.  We didn’t want for a damn thing and I couldn’t understand how or why Kiley wanted to stay away from so much love.  For him, though, it wasn’t so much of the money he enjoyed, but the thrill of being back at home with his partnas turned him into a completely different man.  One would have thought that LA would’ve destroyed him, but it didn’t.  It gave him peace, and that allowed our relationship to get stronger and stronger each day. 

At first, sometimes he seemed a lil homesick. I knew it was because of him missing Anna, but he soon made that an issue of his past.  He’d hooked up with several drop dead, gorgeous ladies from time to time that I was sure he’d liked. Even Jada brought her ass to LA a few times to visit, but after realizing no one could feel Anna’s shoes, Kiley went back to the Lou to get her. He’d disappeared for two whole weeks and when he got back, she was with him.  Eventually, she moved here with us and they became husband and wife. The day they got married, I think he was happier than I’d ever saw him in my entire lifetime. Antonio, though, he came for the wedding, but he made his way back to the Lou.  He and Michelle got married right after high school, and sooner than later, had a baby on the way.  We kept in touch all the time and he’d come down to visit on occasion. 

Me, well, I sort of made a few mistakes. No doubt, my football career was on the rise, however, LA had so much going on that sometimes I didn’t know whether I was coming or going.  My downfalls were the clubs and the ladies. Kiley all ways said the Abrams men were weak when it came to women and he sure as hell didn’t lie.  I couldn’t control my sexual appetite for them, and because I couldn’t, I too had a baby my last year in high school.  Kiley was furious with me because he wanted me to be different.  He griped over and over about me not focusing on the important things in life and tried to encourage me to change my life around.

One day, though, his advice sunk in. That wasn’t until the day he died. I’d been out for two days, running the streets. When I walked into the house and called his name, Anna told me to be quiet because he was still in bed asleep.  She was in the kitchen cooking and since I wanted to tease him about his long lecture, about my life, the night before, I went into his room to do just that.  I’d noticed a grin on his face, so I hit him with a pillow to wake him. He didn’t move.  I’d panicked and thought about his choice of words the night before: “life is too short, you reap what you sew, nothing in life is promised, live for today and not for tomorrow.” Lastly, he told me he loved me.  Not wanting my friends around me to hear me say, “I love you too” in return, I hesitated. He said it again, and embarrassed, I returned the love. They joked with me about it, but knowing that those words were the last words I’d spoken to him, I couldn’t be mad. The funny thing about it all was, I think he knew his day was coming. He’d complained about chest pains, but we all didn’t think much of it.  It was confirmed that a heart attack had taken him away during his sleep. I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted to go any other way.

For his home going celebration to join Papa Abrams, Kareem, Quincy and Rufus, who had been gunned down a little over a year before Kiley died, Anna and me had his body cremated as he’d requested.  His ashes stayed at his home in LA and remained in the urn he’d gotten from London, England while on his honeymoon.

Less than a week after he passed away, I continued to play football for UCLA.  Even though I had scholarships lined up from the east to the west coast, Kiley encouraged me to stay in LA and take care of my son.  At first, I was being selfish and thought only of myself.  Then, he reminded me of what life could be like for a son without his father, or for that matter, without his mother.  Thinking hard, I decided to accept UCLA’s scholarship. And, as I sat in my chair thinking hard about my father, I wished like hell he could be here to share this moment with me. I wanted him to see this new legacy he’d help me create for the future Abrams men.

I nervously twirled my thumbs together and sat with my elbows resting on my knees.  I was suited up in a black Gucci suit and took a quick glance over at my wife, Alexandria, and my son who sat between her and Anna at the round elegantly decorated table.   Alexandria could see the tears welling up in my eyes and she reached over and kissed my cheek.  When they called my name to accept the Heisman Trophy Award, I stood up and the applause drowned out my ears.  Every thing moved in slow motion as I made my way to the podium to give my speech.  I waved at the crowd, thinking about my plans of getting drafted by the NFL. Many teams wanted me, and never did I think I’d have so many opportunities. The flashing lights from all of the cameras, along with the tears pouring profusely down my face, made it difficult for me to see. For, nobody knew what I’d been through to get to this point, but me. I gradually shook the presenter’s hand and he placed the trophy in mine so I could hold it.  Before saying anything, I dropped to one knee, and placed my lips on the trophy.  I looked up and held my arm up as high as it could go. 

“This is for you!” I yelled out loudly. “I love you, Daddy, this…this is for you!”