The Visit

A smile came to Mike’s face as his homeboy Shawn approached from the parking lot, carrying a forty. It had been over six months since he last saw his homeboy, and he had wanted company for some time.
“What up Big Shawn? Long time, no see!”
“What’s up m'dude? Ain’t seen you for a while,” Shawn sat on the bench in the shade, next to where Mike rested, “I meant to come by sooner, but, you know how it is.”
“Man, don’t even trip! I’m just glad to see a friendly face. Heaven knows muthafuckas ain’t thinkin’ about me these days.”
“You’ll never guess - I ran into your baby’s mom the other day.” Shawn cracked open the forty, took a sip, and poured some out.
“Right on,” Mike smiled, “How they doing?”
“Your baby got big these last six months – he looks just like you. Yolanda’s hangin’ in there – still doing her thing; workin’ and goin’ to school.”
“That’s Yoli for you - trying to get ahead in life. It’s part of why she left me in the first place.”
Shawn took a joint from behind his right ear and sparked it, “I wish you could hit this with me”.
“Shit, who are you telling? I wish I could hit that too, but,” Mike trailed off, “you know.”
“Well, since you can’t hit it, I’ll hit it for you” He took a drag, and then continued, “anyways, I keep in touch with your mom. She’s still pretty broken up about what happened. I told her I was gonna visit you today. I asked her if she wanted to come, but she didn’t think she could take it. I’ll try to convince her next time, but - we’ll see,” Shawn took another drag, sipped his forty, and spilled some more. He sighed as he looked up, and tears swelled up in his eyes, “Fuck, man! I miss your ass. I wish you could come home, but –” he shook his head, and tried to compose himself, “Damn.” Shawn paused, “I guess you got yourself into something you just can’t get out of, huh?” He wiped away tears with the back of his hand.
Mike shed silent tears with Shawn until a cool breeze came in from the west, and Shawn finally got up.
“I gotta go Mike, dude, but I’ll be back. You stay up, okay?” He poured out the rest of his beer, and put the doobie at the top of Mike’s tombstone. He threw up the neighborhood sign, and said “Peace”, as he walked away.
Mike watched his homeboy as he left the parking lot and disappeared into traffic. He looked up at the sky, and sighed, swallowing the lump in his throat. Hoping to see his mother again, he thought, “Maybe next time”, and wiped his tears away. He felt a buzz as he went back into his grave, and awaited the next visit.