Close for Comfort
My friend, well I call him my brother
Our favorite saying is: we’re thicker than water
We grew from boys into men
Learning from mistakes and recognizing sin
We leaned on each other
And I supported him
Making moves late at night in a busted ass car
Fearing Johnny is gonna bust us with this work,
We can’t swerve because of the power steering
Wake up the next day, go to school
And we read for some children
This was life and we ain’t know no better
Trying to get better, chasing girls
Writing poems and seeing hawks prey on squirrels
It was the norm in our world
But not everything is so smooth
Kick it with a different circle
They’re telling me “watch your dude”
But it’s cool, not everyone will like your crew
It meant absolutely nothing to me
I knew I had haters somewhere too
We used to act like there was always something to prove
And say that they may have their own
But we don’t and never will stray from our truths
He knew I had love for him, so we wouldn’t stunt
In front of each other just to try and get what we want
If one started to sink, so did the other
It was part of the gig
The pigs try to break up the jig
So we both end up with bids
It was nothing plus he knew I would go to war for him
If pressure got to me and I started stressing
He would always be the first one to offer suggestions
Vice-Versa while life might be trying to teach him a lesson
I was there to help him out, it was my only intentions
We never trusted these hoes, but would still try to pull them
His game was better than mine
So he would be the one fooling
Swift with it
Silver tongued but he loved gold
And any new chick by the second week turned old
I think he liked how I stayed in tune with my soul
We both had our flaws but our belief was always bold
Our goals were different but our talent would mold
He could gamble it all
Sometimes I’d prefer to fold
Our paths veered off in different directions
And I wasn’t sure who turned first
But as brothers we stayed connected
Because shit could be worse
I searched for inner peace
He wanted the spoils of this earth
Old flames and new folks would say his name like a curse
I would jump to his defense saying they ain’t know shit
Don’t disrespect him in my presence
It became so frequent it sounded rehearsed
I caught up to him and we began to converse
About all the crazy stories of the past
My concern left out the door
He was still my homie from before
So I began to tell him about
How other people can’t keep his name out their mouth
So much for hospitality, niggas is cold in the south
He wanted to know the names as he got impatient
I tried to convince him they weren’t worth his frustration
He got silent then left
All I could do is sit and ponder on what made him dip
After that whenever we kicked it I would catch a hint of resentment
Guess he was going through some struggles
And he just needed some distance
Through it all his smile never changed
So I didn’t see a difference
Until one day a friend asked how I could be so ignorant
They said he’d been using me as a fall man from the beginning
Because he knew I was kind and forgiving
So while he would be out here tripping
I would be the one to catch him if he was slipping
He bad mouthed me for the sake of his gain
Whether it was for women or money it was all the same
He knew I was slow and wouldn’t catch up to his game
He said “it’s easy to stunt when you’re next to a lame”
I guess he was right; damn that’s a fucking shame
I should’ve known something was up
After we seemed to grow apart
But I thought we was close
I mean we were brothers at the start
He was cunning but I was smart
As he tried to stab me in the back
I was always looking him in the eye
Granted he could lie
But that knife could never pierce my side
I’ll give him this much though
He definitely hurt my pride
It’s sad I had to leave him behind
Guess my thoughts of a friendship ran out of time
I always knew he liked to take pictures
But I never knew he was a poser
I’m just glad I kept my brother close
But my enemy closer
III
