Intro
Ms. Odell kept a black marble book behind the counter glass
No interest, just pencil names and how the debt would pass
Verse
Loaf of bread for the Simms twins, penciled light, erased by June
Corner store bulb buzzing yellow like a dying moon
She'd say pay me Friday, mean it, never raised her voice
Said a debt ain't shameful long as you circle back by choice
I was ten, stacking crates, watching her check off the sheet
Watching who came through hungry, watching who paid it complete
Some names stayed crossed for years, ghost ink under the tape
Some got erased so soft you could still see the shape
When she passed nobody claimed the store, city boarded the door
I climbed through the back window, found the book on the floor
Cover warped from the flood, pages curling at the spine
Half the names still breathing, walking these streets of mine
Took it home in my hoodie, hid it under the bed
Didn't know yet I'd be the one adding up what's owed and said
Didn't know a paper trail could weigh more than the debt
Didn't know that keeping score meant I'd never forget
Chorus
Everybody's got a line in the ledger of the block
Some pay it back in dollars, some pay it back in time they got
I don't forget who showed when the whole street went cold and locked
Ledger of the block, only clock that I still trust
Verse
Dontae's name three pages deep, circled twice in red
Fifty for the bail bond back in ninety when his brother bled
I could knock his door tonight, remind him what the paper say
Watch him scramble bills together, watch the pride drain off his face
But I remember he's the one who drove me to the ward
When my mother's pressure dropped and nobody else could afford
Gas money, waiting room, four hours on a plastic chair
So I took the page out clean, folded debt into the air
Marcus different story though, he burned the trust in half
Took the tools I lent him, sold em, laughed it off like static laugh
His name stays inked in bold, I ain't erasing that for pride
Not out of spite, just balance, gotta keep the ledger tied
Block don't run on cash the way the corner store did
Runs on who shows up, who ghosts, who kept it hid
I'm the keeper now, the judge with pencil steady in my hand
Every mark I make or spare gotta help somebody stand
Chorus
Everybody's got a line in the ledger of the block
Some pay it back in dollars, some pay it back in time they got
I don't forget who showed when the whole street went cold and locked
Ledger of the block, only clock that I still trust
Bridge
Flipped to a blank page, wrote my own name at the top
Circled twice, no due date, cause debts like this don't stop
Ms. Odell fed me on credit when my pockets stayed thin
Never asked me once when, just told me come back again
I owe this block my walking, my breathing, my second chance
Every name I ever cr
