The morning started with a bang. Definitely not from the fireworks that sat idly in our backyard the night before. This particular sound came from our front lawn and it stilled the entire house. BANG! It went off again. My eyes peered through the blinders to see. The neighbours around scurried into their houses, shielding the eyes of their young from the macabre scene. Some of my friends, ten year olds like me cried upon seeing it, others ran into their homes or were whisked in by their parents. Whilst I, who had watched the scene unveil from the onset still had eyes on it. Not one part of me trembled. My eyes did not twitch and my heart skipped not even a single beat. My brother was dead. He had it coming. This we all knew. I could hear my mother sobbing gently in her room. She had not seen it but already knew what had happened. Soon after, sirens and blue lights invaded the solemn neighbourhood. The exhaust fumes from one of the beat down cop cars reminded me of a nasty habit of my brother's, and it came to me; the events that led to his demise.

   It all began on a Tuesday evening, three days earlier. Tony was in one of his usual moods. An unlit cigarette hung loosely on his lower lip, and he contemplated on whether or not he would light it.
'Doesn't that stuff kill you?' I had just walked into the room, my mouth opening with a yawn.
'Nigga, please. This stuff makes you stronger.' He picked up the lighter that laid on the table. He inhaled vehemently after lighting the cigarette and puffed the smoke into the air, and then unto my face.
'Hey!' I rubbed my eyes with bent fists. Still, tears came down.
'You better stop that crying before Mom sees.'
'You know I hate it when you do that.' I cleared my tears. Then looked up to his face with an expression that screamed for his pacification. It was favourite trick to make him stop being his usual repulsive self.
'C'mon, little man. Don't be like that. July fourth's coming around, and you know what that means? It means I can get some money from work and buy that new bike you've been begging for.'
'Really?' I smiled. My ploy had worked.
'Sure, little man. Now remember you can't tell Mom about this or the smoking.'
'I promise.' Beneath his grin and striding confidence, I knew he was scared. Almost jittery about something, and I assumed he had just stolen something that he needed to pay for. Just like the other times. The coming days would unfold something much more dire than that.

   The next morning, I overheard Tony and his best friend, Tyrone needling and jousting in his room. 'You boys keep that racket down!' Mom yelled from the living room.
'Sorry, mama.' Tony yelled back.
'Yeah, sorry, mama.' Tyrone chuckled, imitating the childish tone Tony had used.
My ear was pressed against the thin wall that separated our rooms, and I listened closely for what juicy secrets would be revealed.
'So on the fourth hunh?' Tyrone drank from his bottle of beer.
'That's when my dealer's gonna get here. You know how all those white kids living in their cozy little houses on the other side of city like to party. So me and Shane, we gonna drive there and see who's willing to score some molly. Last time we did it, we made almost three grand.'
'Damn! Those white kids sure like to party. I heard one of 'em drowned in their pool last Halloween.'
'So? That ain't my problem. Hell, we plan on making twice as much this time. That way I can finally pay off that damn coroner.'
'He really asked for two thousand bucks? Greedy bastard!'
'It's bullshit, man. If that kid wasn't white.........'
'Put your voice down, man. You don't want no one to know what we talking about.'
'Why you so scared? Don't no one know what I did. Besides, once the fourth comes along, I'll pay the bastard and ain't no one ever gonna find what really happened.'
'Aight, I feel you bro. But just be careful. Shit always seems to go sideways these days.' Silence rained through the last few minutes of Tyrone's stay. I had heard enough anyway. So my brother was selfish, arrogant and apparently, a drug dealer. Still, it wasn't much of a surprise to me. But was this coroner business, I wondered. The very enigma of it was all I could think about till supper came by evening.
   Even at the dining table, with Tony and my mother, my mind churned with the permutations of what it might be. Maybe the coroner knew about Tony's drug dealing and the white boy that was talked about had reported him. Maybe the white boy was being bullied by Tony and threatened to arrest him, and the coroner was some sort of mediator. Maybe the white boy was actually a secret agent. Like the ones undercover in those spy movies, and he was using the coroner as an informant.
'Boy, eat your food.' My mother's voice snapped me back to reality.
'Where's Dad?' Tony munched on a drumstick.
'You know your Dad's been working extra jobs lately. He's not gonna make it tonight.'
'So that's three nights in a row now. That's bullshit!'
'Boy, mind your language!'
'Sorry, mama. It's just that folks like us have to work twice as hard as white people and we get shit.......I mean little for pay.'
'That's the way things are. You know the system's rigged against us.'
'But God, I'm glad the fourth's coming. Once this delivery job pans out, I'mma finally buy you that new TV you've been wanting.'
'What you delivering anyway?'
'Just some stuff from Amazon. It's kinda like drop shipping.'
'Boy, you know I don't keep up with the new names you kids use these days.' She laughed. Tony turned me, waiting for me to drop my usual explanation of such terminologies, and I did know what drop shipping was and that he had used it wrongly in this context. To make things worse, I also knew that it was drugs he would distribute and not any Amazon deliveries, though I wouldn't make this known to my mother. Above all, I was still puzzled by the coroner's involvement in his vile machinations. No words came from my mouth regarding his implied request. I only stared at him, looking directly into his eyes, hoping I would suddenly be able to read his mind like the Jedis in Star Wars.

   My curiosity peaked the day after, when I once again placed my ear on the thin wall upon hearing what sounded like a heated conversation between Tony and Tyrone.
'The damn coroner moved moved up the deadline. He said if I don't pay him today he's gonna go to the cops.'
'I told you he was a no good greedy bastard. Just tell him you gonna double the money or something.'
'I can't! He said that if he stalled the autopsy for more than today, then he'd be violating some rule or something like that.'
'Tony, the problem's not the autopsy. The problem's he saw you kill that boy, and he lied to the cops that he didn't see shit 'cause you promised him that money.'
'So? The kid deserved it. Always calling me "Africa", and I thought we were alone when I took that crowbar to his head. How was I supposed to know that the coroner was passing by that alley?'
Someone knocked on the front door. 'Who the hell is that?"
'I don't know. My mom's at work, and it definitely ain't my Dad. That bastard is probably in between some bitch's legs by now.'
'Thought your mom said he's working extra jobs.'
'That was the same excuse she used when I was a kid before I caught the bastard in town with some bimbo in his arm.' Tony and Tyrone headed for the door. The banging grew more and more until Tony unlocked and swung the door open. 'Michelle, what you doing here.' Worry lines encroached his forehead.
'You son of bitch!' She wiped her tear filled eyes. 'You couldn't pick up your damn phone.'
'Listen, girl, I don't got time for this shit.'
'I didn't come to play girlfriend. I just want you to know that this baby's gonna need money.'
'This what?' Tony exclaimed.
'You knocked me up, Tony.'
'What the fuck, Tony!' Tyrone shook his head. 'This is Jerry's kid sister. That nigga's crazy.'
'You sure it's mine?'
'The fuck you mean if I'm sure it's yours?' She flared up. 'You the only man I've ever been with.'
'Shit! You know what? We gonna get rid of it.'
'I'm not killing this child, Tony.'
'It ain't even a baby yet. We gotta get rid of it before your brother finds out.'
'He already knows.'
'He already knows? Why the fuck did you tell him!' Rage coiled in his insides, and I felt that he had the urge to hit her as he had done before. 'We're getting rid of this thing once I get my money tomorrow.'
'I'm not killing this baby, Tony.' Her decision was final.
'Just get out.'
'What?' Michelle was in awe.
'I said get out!' He yelled in her face. A few damp seconds crawled past before he slammed the door shut.
'You're in some deep shit, man.' Tyrone sighed.
'Don't worry 'bout it. Once tomorrow comes and I sell all that molly, I'll pay that stupid coroner his money and get Michelle to abort that thing. Shane told me that he's bringing a couple more packs. So I was thinking that maybe you could join us tomorrow.'
'You want me to sling drugs for you?'
'Don't worry 'bout your cut. You know I got your back.'
'I'm not worried about my cut. I can't do it, man.'
'Why not?'
'I just got early acceptance to Brown. My Dad's finally saved up enough for my college fund, and everyone's......like literally everyone's rooting for me to make it in college. I can't screw that up. I'm sorry, man, but you on your own.'
'Fine, I don't need your scared, punk ass anyway.' Tony went into his room to stow away in self pity. I curled up in a ball in my bed, regretting knowing what I now knew. My brother was selfish, arrogant, a drug dealer, had impregnated a girl and was a murderer. I'm never going to eavesdrop on anyone ever again, I told myself.

   Tony didn't leave his room until the first rays of light touched the flying flag that was hoisted in the neighborhood. The fourth of July had come. Tony met my mother and I at the dining table having breakfast.
'Grab a plate and come join us.' Mom said.
'I ain't hungry, mama.' Despite his apparent scowl, I saw in his eyes, flickers of hope of what that day might bring.
'Come out, Tony! I know you in that house.' We heard a man outside shout. The flickers of hope vanished, leaving dreadful darkness.
'Stay inside, mama. 'You too, little man.' Tony said before venturing outside. 'Get out my property, Jerry!' He yelled.
'No way you getting away with what you did to my sister.'
'And what you gonna do 'bout it? You think you scare me?'
'Nah, I think I can kill you.' Then it happened. The first bang. My mother ran into her room, holding herself in fright, and I ran to window. Then came the second bang, after which, Jerry took off as my brother's body landed on the ground.

   The police never investigated the murder. It was ruled as another pointless murder in the hood. My father never showed up to the funeral. Actually, he never showed up to anything again. I guess Tony was right about him.
   When the next independence day came along, I stood by those same blinders, staring at the front lawn. Though everyone had forgotten what happened what happened, I never did. So I looked and looked at the empty lawn, awaiting the next big bad bang.