Goddamn Right, You Should Be Scared Of Me

[Latin For Dragula]

((Ty Yazzie Continued From Time To Open Up))

The thick arm tried to wrap around his neck the moment he walked through the door. The big, dumb motherfucker had been waiting for him to come home. Of course he had. That was just the kind of shit he did. It took a big chunk of the self-control he'd been cultivating over the last few years to simply grab and hold his wrist firm instead of leveraging it, twisting it until his brother yelped and using that surprise to pin him down. He could do it. He could do that and a whole lot worse, but Ty didn't do things just because he could anymore.

Ty wasn't his brother.

Obinze looked at him over his shoulder with that wide smirk of his that never seemed to touch his eyes. "Chill, little bro. I just wanted to say hi." They both knew that it was a lie, and that if he could he would have held that arm tight around his neck until Ty had begged enough to satisfy him. Not enough to hurt him, really, that'd be too obvious. Just enough to make him feel helpless. Just like when they were kids.

They weren't kids anymore, though, and Obinze wasn't his goddamn boogeyman. He was just a fat, angry burn-out who liked to pretend he was still on top, and Ty wasn't in any mood for his nonsense. He kept the arm in his grasp and smiled back politely. "Sorry Beans, just instinct and all. Gotta stay sharp for the team." With one more firm squeeze, he let the arm drop and turned around, arms crossed over his chest. "What're you doing around here so early? Last I heard, the old man said you weren't coming until the weekend."

Obinze seemed to flinch a little at that question. Seems he had a little bit of a raw spot about skipping down early. He just shrugged his shoulders. "Can't a guy spend a little extra quality time with his family? I figured I'd just stay here a couple days, help out with Mom and Dad, what with you being so busy with school and the team and all." Ty understood that by "help out with Mom and Dad," Beans probably meant drinking Dad's beer and getting Mom to cook for him. He also couldn't help but notice his wife hadn't come up in any of the texts his family had sent him so far.

"Mary coming down later, then?"

Another flinch, this time with a slight frown. "Mary's not gonna make it this time. She's, uh, visiting family."

Mary ended up "visiting family" a lot. Wouldn't you know it, it always seemed to correspond with Obinze getting an urge to reconnect and spend some quality time with the folks. Over the years, Ty had come to piece together "visiting family" as code for "we're fighting."

The crack in his friendly visage didn't last for too long, though. He gave Ty a pat on the arm. "Women, what can you say? Not that I need to tell you nothin' about that, from what I hear. Heard you've got a real sweet little gal around here lately. Might just have to introduce myself to her, since you don't seem to be jumping at bringing us together."

Ty's face darkened as he leaned in closer and caught Obinze's hand. He'd managed to push the needle right past his breaking point, so fuck it. They were airing everything right here, right now. "Alright, Beans. Let's lay a couple ground rules real quick, since you're hiding out here and all. One, you mind your Ps and Qs with Ma and the old man. They're not your fuckin' servants.

Two, you keep things real polite with Atsa. Your little stunt with him this morning? He told me all about that. That's your one freebie. You don't wanna know what happens if you try to take another.

Three, and I wanna make this crystal goddamn clear, you don't fuck with anybody outside this house. Not my customers, not my friends, and sure as hell not my girlfriend. You don't touch my life, I don't call Mary and tell her your cowardly ass is hangin' 'round here shootin' the shit. You understand me?"

Obinze let the moment hang in the air for a little while. Maybe he was stunned, or trying to control himself so he didn't escalate, since he damn well couldn't afford to. Ty didn't care. He just wanted an answer. Finally, that fake smile drifted back, a little weaker than before, a little tenser. "Hey, hey. No need for all that, y'know? I'm sorry about Atsa, it was an accident. I'll be more careful, I know he's testy. I'm just trying to spend some time with my family. Let's keep it friendly, yeah?"

When he offered his hand back out, Ty couldn't hold back a disbelieving snort. "You must think I've got a real short memory, man." He picked his bag up from the floor where he'd dropped it and turned up the stairs without looking back to see if Beans was still putting on his show.

"You're not my friend. Just my brother."

((Ty Yazzie Continued In Mad Dewey Dash))