Collateral Loyalty (Version 4)

Intro

Cousin on the corner, winter coat worn thin

Knew him since the basement, knew him since we'd begin

That's the kind of knowing that don't need a word

Verse 1

Marcus had a pager, kept it on his hip

Seven-digit code meant somebody lost a strip

I was sixteen, hungry, didn't have a job

He said come see me Tuesday, bring your steady nod

Wasn't moving weight, nah, he just kept the line

Between the ones who owed and ones who paid on time

I held the ledger, memorized the names

Thirty-eight accounts, all with different claims

He trusted me with numbers that could end a man

I was just a kid with a Bic pen in my hand

One night he asked me, "You could run this solo?"

I said nah, 'cause running solo means you're broke and hollow

Loyalty's a contract that you sign in blood

Either way you're bleeding when the pressure comes up

Chorus

I keep my word like it keeps me whole

Every debt I hold is a debt I owe

Loyalty that costs you is the only kind that's real

I keep my word like it keeps me whole

Verse 2

Marcus caught a case, fifteen months at most

I was sitting at the lawyer with his mother, ghost

Said the books would hold him, said I'd run the weight

I was twenty-three, thinking that was fate

First three weeks I'm good, third week I'm tight

Fourth week the Feds is asking questions in the night

They knew my name, knew my mother's address

Knew I had a choice between my soul and what was left

I went back to Marcus, told him straight up

Said they want your operation, want to lock me up

He said walk away, that's the real test

Love ain't worth a life spent under arrest

I turned state's evidence, I became the ghost

Lost the only person that I needed most

Verse 3

Now I see him at the corner, he just looks away

We both know the reason, know the price we paid

Loyalty don't heal when you're the one who breaks it

Even when the reason's that you couldn't take it

His sister says he's good, says he's doing time

Says he understands, but understanding don't align

With the way my stomach turns when seasons shift

With the way I'm still collecting all this debt

I got a job now, got a lease, got a name

But I'm still the man who put my brother in the chain

Some collateral you can't afford to lose

Some loyalty you carry like a scar that bruise

Outro

Pager sitting silent on a shelf somewhere

Loyalty that's broken still lives in the air

I keep my word like it keeps me whole