Patriek had always been a part of Johnny and Aliona’s life. Before their birth, they were destined to be close because of the bond their fathers had created as grammar school kids. Their fathers grew up in the same neighborhood. They hustled the streets together, and by default, Patriek believed they were kin. Patriek and Johnny were always together, so much so that kids in the neighborhood thought they were brothers. Johnny and Patriek allowed them to believe it. Plus, correcting them only intensified their resolve.

       Patriek knew they didn’t have the same father and mother, but not being relatives was a shock. It wasn’t until Patriek’s uncle came to visit after a long stint in the penitentiary that he realized they weren’t cousins either. Patriek’s father was standing in the kitchen talking with Uncle Jerry. When Johnny’s father entered. Patriek’s father stopped to introduce his best friend to his brother. The look on Patrieks face during introductions was priceless. Patriek questioned why his father would need to introduce his brothers to each other. If children’s faces could tell stories on their own, it would have been a comedic version of ‘Is my father senile?’

       “That’s not my uncle?!” Patriek asked, flabbergasted, pointing to the older bearded version of Johnny. Johnny looked exactly like his father but with a little more melanin and a lot less facial hair. Patriek thought John belonged to him and his family. A man with whom he spent as much time as he did with his own father. The man who took him out for ice cream or looked after him while his parents spent a night on the town. He even referred to him as Uncle John. A man whose son was more like a brother than a cousin, to find out he was not family at all.

       “No, this here is your uncle.” Patrieks father patted his younger brother on the back and continued with his conversation as if he had not just dropped a bomb in the room. Patriek stood dumbfounded, trying to make sense of it. Back and forth in his mind, he replayed memories, things that he thought his father had said but maybe misunderstood. Then Patriek realized that Johnny might be in the dark as well. He took off quickly, out the front door and around to the alleyway. He ran to tell his ‘cousin’ the news. 

       “We’re not cousins!” He shouted, still shocked. He still hadn’t processed the information, but he knew it was impertinent for Johnny to be aware. Johnny was practicing shooting dice, making sure they hit against the wall. The goal was to roll them in a way that ensured he got the predetermined numbers in his head. Patriek was nearly out of breath. He stopped to pause and catch it. His hands rested on his knees for several seconds before he continued down the alleyway in a much slower motion. The distance from his house wasn’t far, but the effort he exerted in his sprint winded him profusely.

       “I know.” Johnny said matter-of-factly, never looking up from what he was doing.

       “What you mean, you know?” Patriek grabbed Johnny's shirt in a way that prevented Johnny from ignoring him further. Johnny had to turn to keep the top of his shirt from choking him. He snatched his collar from his friend and gave him a look to keep his hands off his duds. He straightened his shirt and wiped it down as if it had crumbs. 

       “I know we’re not cousins.” Johnny stood up straight and tall. A proud look that made other kids respect his style, and if you didn’t know him, it wouldn’t take him much time to show you.

       “Since when?” Patriek questioned, annoyed. He was beginning to feel like everyone was keeping a secret from him, although this was far from the truth.

       “Always.”

       “When was somebody going to tell me?”

       “I thought you already knew.”

       “Then what are we?”

       “We still family, just not by blood.” Johnny pulled Patriek into him as a big brother would. He smiled in a way that melted some of the frown lines from Patriek’s face. 

       “I thought our father’s were brothers?”

       “They act like it, don’t they? They’re just really good friends. They’ve known each other since they were kids like us. So it makes us family…sort of.”

       Patriek knew that his father was raised by his grandmother, not his mother. His mother was thirteen when she got pregnant and was shipped away to live with her uncle after giving birth. This was the way a family could protect and reset the life of their only living daughter. So although Patriek's father went to visit his mother and ten years later his brother, John never met his best friend's sibling. This was why introductions were necessary. 

       Johnny stopped to pick up his dice and put them in his pocket for later. He grabbed Patriek to give him a side hug with a noogie attached. These small moments of affection eased Patriek’s tension and got him to relax again. Patriek pushed away, and the two began to rough house. They never talked about the revelation again; it wasn’t necessary. Family was family, no matter how they were presented or evolved. It was a blessing. 

       A few months after Patriek’s revelation, the news of Johnny’s father’s murder came in whispers that crescendo until it became the echo in larger settings. It was all over the news and hard to escape. The attention caused Johnny to harden to the world, and he only had a soft spot for two people in his life: Patriek and his sister, Aliona. It didn’t help when, three months later, Patriek’s father had the same fate. Another blow hit the boys in a way that created callous feelings around both their hearts. As they grew, they both found it hard to connect with others in an authentic way, which kept their circle of trust very small. 

       Both men were taken too soon. The ills of the streets were hard, but the lessons learned could make or break the souls forced to endure its harshness. It was a norm that many understood, especially those who lived in the same quarters, but those outside could not fathom or understand its reverberation. What made their deaths almost unbearable was the local news clips that became frames for national news because of the war on drugs. Outlets coined their fathers as Kingpins to dismantle the trade through misinformation and instead allowed it to flourish behind the scenes. The police and news anchors spun the truth into lies. The war on drugs became harder to control as with the death of these leading men, it became more accessible, and even children were on the corners making money from the poisons. 

       It was a hard pill to swallow that they no longer had their fathers as protectors, but Johnny lost the only breadwinner in his household. Patriek’s mother was a nurse, and although they had to tighten their belt significantly with the loss, they could maintain. Johnny’s mother was a young mother who had not finished high school and had no skills to secure employment. She did odd jobs, but stability was unattainable. Johnny tried his best to fill his father’s shoes, which could’ve predetermined his fate, but with him being book smart and good with numbers, completing school became his top focus. The results of hustling were apparent, so although it put money on the table for now, he knew there was more to life. He spent his days in school and nights hustling to help his mother make ends meet.

       Patriek was great on the ball court. He did well in school, but he excelled with a ball in his hand. Every now and again, he would help Johnny sell, but he didn’t have to make income for his family. Occasionally, he would make money for himself, but mostly, he was out there, especially in the beginning, so Johnny had someone by his side whom he trusted. His ability to take some of the smoothest down with ease, whether on or off the court, coined him the nickname Spanky. His family moved into the area near Johnny’s mother's apartment building. They could no longer afford the rent on the single-family home and moved into his grandmother’s house. The goal was to move in with Meemaw until they found a place they could afford, but they stayed there permanently. No one here really knew his real name, and even his teachers complied with this nickname when it came to classes.

       Aliona was book smart like Johnny, great with numbers, and even better with a pen and paper. She loved to write poetry and often shared her musings with the people closest to her. She dreamed of becoming an architect and only used poetry to escape her circumstances. Her mother was difficult to deal with, and the apartment was so crowded that she found it hard to think. She pushed her brother to become a legitimate businessman and was his number-one fan when he began making moves toward buying and selling property. Their shared goal was to move out of Champaigne’s apartment, another reason for their close bond.

       The three friends found refuge in one another, holding secrets, solving problems, and troubleshooting together. They were their own unit within two separate families, and if you saw one, the others were not far behind or at least always knew of the other's location. It was how they coped with missing pieces of their families. No wonder the boys resulted in non-conventional ways of making ends meet. They were taught by an older generation who did their best to provide for their families and guided their children by the codes they lived by.

       Even now, Johnny and Ali found it hard to say goodbye to Spanky. He was such an integral part of their every day that they knew they would feel the effect of him leaving. Spanky was heading off to college to create a better life, which was understood but did not make his departure any easier. Johnny and Ali stood next to the driver’s side door, which sat ajar, as Patriek said his last words of goodbye. They tied up a few loose ends about when he would begin to visit home again. Johnny told him he would be in his new place when Spanky returned for winter break. Spanky would check in at the end of October to see if there was a status update with a new address.

        The early afternoon sun was beaming down brightly, although its radiated warmth made it a beautiful and comfortable day. The beams of brightness were confusing because they looked hot, but it wasn’t. There was a mild amount of cloud cover to divert the direct sunlight from time to time. Aliona wore her sunglasses, although even without the brightness, they were needed. She knew she would cry. It was inevitable. It was time to say the words, but Ali could not bring herself to say them. Johnny looked at his sister, who turned her head as if she could avoid Spanky’s departure by not saying the words. She thought that part of her world was about to ride away in his vehicle — maybe forever. What was really here for him...nothing. She couldn’t take it.

       It would be the first time that the three would not be together on a daily basis. A normal that soon would be long gone and placed with memories of what was. After time, these memories would become nostalgic. Damn, why did things always have to change? Aliona’s eyes pooled with tears that she refused to let drop. Luckily, her sunglasses masked any feelings she had welling up behind them, but the rest of her face was a giveaway. Truly, she wasn’t hiding a thing. Goodbyes were always so bittersweet. People had hoped to maintain relationships, but that was not always the case, and she hoped that this would not be another relationship that fell between the cracks and blended into the background as if it never existed at all.

       Patriek’s school was only an hour and twenty minutes away; his goal was to remain on campus until the first major break. Four months was a long time, and he might decide he didn’t want to return after getting a taste of a better life. Spanky wanted to get used to his new life and schedule before trying to figure out if more frequent visits home were possible. Ultimately though, he may not want to live his life of notoriety. Spanky preferred to see his family outside of the confines of the neighborhood. The haunting memories of loss, close calls, and traumatic experiences were not something he desired to address. The only good thing about where he came from was the ball he palmed in his hands. It was the reason that he, himself, had not succumbed to the same fate as his father and his eldest brother.

       Aliona diverted her glance again, trying to force the tears to remain cupped in her eyelids, but the movement caused them to fall. The cry welled up inside of her. She couldn’t avoid it the undeniable eruption any longer. Spanky was not only like a brother to her but so much more. He was a kindred soul, a spouse she had never been physical with. He cared for her in every way that her brother had, and she had longed for him for the past three years. She yearned to be his girlfriend, but now it seemed she would never get the opportunity. The missed opportunity overwhelmed her. Aliona began falling for Spanky when she was around twelve years old. He was fifteen at the time and really hot stuff at the high school because of his ball-handling skills.

       Aliona licked the tears from her lips before wrapping her arms around his neck. A prolonged hug, and before they parted, she kissed him on the cheek and held her lips to his face a little too long. Immediately thereafter, she felt embarrassment, her cheeks flushed red. It was an awkward moment because they never had any contact like that before then. Aliona regretted outwardly showing affection towards him, especially if it was of that kind. It was subtle compared to the nightly dreams she had of him, but nowhere in her thoughts was her brother standing beside them. Spanky was thrown off because the kiss had excited him in a way that never crossed his mind. It was the first time he saw her as more than his best friend's little sister. The seed had been planted at that very moment. Johnny was appalled and outwardly questioned why she would do such a thing.

       “What was that?”

       Aliona shrugged her shoulders, wishing she could crawl into a hole and die. Johnny’s reaction solidified that she had overstepped her bounds, but in her heart, it was just too little, too late. The juxtaposition was confounding to process, and her inner dialogue began to speak negatively, causing her to act as a coward instead of speaking up for herself.

       Spanky saw the look on her face and came to her rescue, “I’ll miss you too!” He kissed her forehead innocently, and before Johnny could react to another kiss between the two, he grabbed the back of Johnny’s head as if to plant one on his forehead, too.

       “You want one too!” He jousted, playfully forcing his mouth to Johnny’s forehead. Johnny balled up his fist and shadow-boxed with his good friend. Johnny’s face immediately settled. He let it go. Aliona faked a smile while they ringed each other in circles for a little bit. The time allowed Aliona to get herself together before saying a half-hearted goodbye and retreating to her brother’s SUV parked a few spaces ahead. She needed to cry it out without Johnny’s disapproving stares. The boys continued to talk for a few more seconds as Ali sat in the car, drying her face and gaining composure.

       Spanky jumped into his SUV, closed the door, turned on the ignition, and took off. Aliona only shyly waved as he passed her going down the street. He paused to look, smiled at her, and blew a kiss which made her feel all the better. Spanky disappeared around the corner after slightly pausing at the stop sign. Aliona was happy for him but sad for herself. All Aliona could think about was if she would see him again. Would he go off to college and still call and check-in, or would life break the bond they created all these years?

 Aliona silently punished herself for letting down her guard in front of Johnny. She tried her best to convince Johnny that he was overreacting to the vibe he felt between the two during the goodbye. He immediately began to question everything, and it made Aliona uncomfortable. Johnny was in tune with Aliona. It sounded as if he would be upset if they tried to be more than friends as if they were truly brother and sister.

        It wasn’t until Johnny entered the vehicle and grabbed her around the neck lovingly to show that it was all good. Ali played it off and was able to loosen up some. She mustered up a genuine smile. Johnny dropped her off at Champaigne’s apartment while he handled some business. He had begun closing on his apartment and stayed at one of his girl's apartments until completion. He needed Aliona to hang in just a little longer, and then she could move in with him and begin her life on better footing. Their dreams were just in reach.