Free Only the Strong by Jabari Asim

I ever said anything to you about coming in and out of my house through the back door? About keeping the shades drawn?”
    â€œYou know I got good reasons for all that.”
    â€œUh-huh. And I got good reasons for pouring gasoline on your stuff and setting it on fire! That’s what I’m going to do next if you don’t hurry up and get it from under my window.”
    â€œPearl. I take care of you. I buy your groceries. I help you pay your rent so that you can save up and open that dance studio one day. Isn’t that enough?”
    â€œObviously not, Lorenzo.”
    â€œOkay, Pearl, what more do you want?”
    â€œI want to know that you’ll carry me through the fire.”
    â€œWhat fire?”
    â€œSometimes you are so dense. Not a real fire! Through whatever I might have to face.”
    Pearl slammed her window shut. Guts gathered his things and tossed them in his trunk. One wrong move and everything’s shot to shit , he thought. Maybe I overreacted about the unlocked door. No, I had to be straight with her. She thinks she knows these streets but not really. I guess I could have said that better. He was still second-guessing himself when he got back to the cabstand.
    Inside, Trina waved a fistful of phone message receipts. “That ballplayer’s been calling and calling,” she said.
    Guts sighed and dialed up Crenshaw. “Hey, this is Guts,” he said.
    â€œThem bitches took my shit!” a voice yelled through the phone.
    â€œCrenshaw, is that you?”
    â€œDamn straight it’s me! Find them bitches and get my shit back.”
    â€œSlow down. Take a sip of whatever it is you’re holding and—”
    â€œHow did you know I was holding—never mind. Let me hit this right quick.”
    Guts heard the sound of a bottle being tilted and slurped.
    â€œThat’s better.”
    â€œGood,” Guts said. “Now let’s try it again, only slower. All right?”
    â€œAll right. Them. Bitches. Took. My. Shit.”
    â€œThe girls you partied with last night.”
    â€œThat’s right. April, May, and June.”
    â€œYou mean Summer, Spring, and Autumn.”
    â€œThat’s what I said!”
    â€œOkay. They robbed you?”
    â€œI woke up and my wallet had been cleaned out. My chains are gone. Worst of all, them bitches took my World Series ring. I need you to find ’em, get my ring back.”
    â€œDo you know their real names?”
    â€œUm, no. We were partying and…well, there just didn’t seem be any need to catch those details. But you can find out. You’re a problem solver. Go out and ask around. Break some legs, goddammit.”
    â€œYou want me to risk my neck for a bankroll and some chains?”
    â€œI thought you ran this town.”
    Guts scratched his nose. “I never told you that. Besides, it’s not like it used to be around here. When King died, people set their own streets on fire. Burned down the biggest grocery in the neighborhood. People will do anything. I used to be able to draw a line and dare a man to cross it. He still might not cross it, but he’ll give me lip now.”
    â€œSounds like you scared.”
    Guts paused. There was that word again. “Naw. Just alert.”
    â€œLook, I know it was Goode or Washburn who paid you to take me around. Just add this to the tab. Might even be a bonus in it for you.”
    â€œYeah, what’s that?”
    â€œMy friendship, baby. I know we clicked. We’re like two peas in a pod.”
    â€œI could see that your chains weren’t cheap, Crenshaw. But they’re just trinkets. You can get some more.”
    â€œI don’t care about the chains. It’s the ring. It really means something to me.”
    Guts could almost swear that Crenshaw’s voice faltered. Was he choking up?
    â€œThat ring gives me strength,” he continued. “They can fine me, suspend me, make me look bad in