Weight in the Pocket

Verse

Rosedale stoop, Tuesday, envelope taped shut

Miss Odell's rent money, told me hold it, don't touch

Fourth month running, I'm the vault on the block

Combination's trust, and my word is the lock

Pocket's heavy but my stomach stays light

Skipped the bodega sandwich, kept the numbers right

Denim jacket, inside seam I sewed myself

Never spent a dollar that ain't mine on the shelf

Pre-Chorus

They say a man's worth what he's willing to hold

Not what he takes when the winter gets cold

Ask me what's in my pocket, I'll tell you the truth

Chorus

Weight in the pocket, not mine to spend

Weight in the pocket, again and again

I carry what's theirs like it's carrying me

Weight in the pocket's the only receipt

Verse

Junior needed sixty for his mama's insulin

I had forty of my own but I couldn't touch what wasn't his

Called three people, pieced it together by nine

Never dipped in the envelope, never crossed that line

Some nights the hunger argues louder than the code

Two hundred folded heavy like a second overcoat

But the day I spend a cent that somebody else earned

That's the day the whole block learns what trust never returns

Pre-Chorus

They say a man's rich by the debt he don't chase

Not by the numbers he flashes in your face

Ask me what's in my pocket, I'll show you the proof

Chorus

Weight in the pocket, not mine to spend

Weight in the pocket, again and again

I carry what's theirs like it's carrying me

Weight in the pocket's the only receipt

Bridge

Once I broke the seal for a bullet in Marcus' leg

Ambulance fee upfront, made that call myself

Paid it back double before that Sunday check

Never told a soul, kept it out my own neck

Lighter for a minute, heavier again

Some weight you set down just to pick back up, my friend

Chorus

Weight in the pocket, not mine to spend

Weight in the pocket, again and again

I carry what's theirs like it's carrying me

Weight in the pocket's the only receipt