This is a story about my best friend, Tony, who died. We both weren’t the best people back then. Occasionally, we would snake each other or do some pretty bad things, but he still had a lot of heart and integrity. At the time, I had a job, so I could buy the things I wanted, dress well, and look nice. Tony didn't have a job, so he didn’t always look his best and didn't really keep himself up. But despite all of that, he was still my brother. One casual weekend, we were just chilling in my den playing Madden. I was wearing sweats, an old, disheveled shirt, and my hair was a complete mess.
Out of nowhere, I got a call from my girlfriend Shalonda saying she was on her way to my house—and she was already almost there. I didn’t really feel like getting completely fixed up, so I just threw on a cleaner shirt, sat back down, and waited. When she pulled up to the back door, she brought a friend with her. Tony could see them through the window and noticed right away that they were looking fine. As I got up to go answer the door, Tony stopped me. "Hold up, man," he said. He ran into my living room, grabbed a hat, and handed it to me so I could cover up my messy hair. I remember looking at him, confused.
Why was he so worried about me looking good in front of these girls when he wasn't even looking right himself? Still, I put the hat on and opened the door. The girls came in, and it wasn’t long before they started clowning Tony and making fun of his appearance. Out of respect for me and my house, Tony didn't say a word back, but I could see the anger in his eyes. Even though my girlfriend was already irritated with me, and even though kicking them out would make me look bad, I couldn't just sit there. I looked at them and said, "You can't come into my house and disrespect my friend.
Ayo..pause, bro didn't rest his hand on my back like that. lol
Y'all need to leave."The girls cursed me out, furious, and stormed out the door. After they left, I sat back down, unpaused the Madden game, and we started playing again in total silence. I looked over, and Tony was staring at me with pure appreciation and adoration. He was genuinely shocked that I had stood up for him like that. Even though I stayed quiet, his look actually made me a little mad. I felt terrible that he was so surprised, because to me, that is exactly what a true friend is supposed to do. Sadly, outside of our friendship, Tony didn't have the best people in his corner.
The funny thing about it, though, is that I don't even remember how we became friends. I just remember a time back in the day when I started dating a girl who used to date Tony's brother. His brother was furious about it. One day, that girl was over at my house. Tony saw her walk in, and he went right back to her father and brother to tell them a lie—that she was trapped in a house with a whole bunch of boys trying to take advantage of her. Furious, the father and brother rushed over to my place and started violently banging on the front door. Now, you have to understand, my uncle lived with me, and he was built exactly like Mike Tyson. My uncle snatched the door open aggressively and demanded to know what they wanted. The second they saw him, their tough acts completely vanished.
They got terrified, stuttered out, "I'm sorry, sir, we just heard my daughter was over here," and completely backed down. My uncle marched downstairs to the basement where the girl was hiding, told her she had to leave immediately, and then walked past me. He gave me a look of pure disgust, clearly wondering why I was bringing this kind of drama to his doorstep. After that, Tony and I became friends somehow. I don't even remember why