Intro
Dinwood and Ferris, streetlamp humming like a ledger
Aunt Rosalind's clock set at nine, no minute better
Porch light was a warning, curfew was currency spent
Every hour past it, I was borrowing on interest
Verse
Nine o'clock bell rings and I'm still on the corner
Marcus need a ride, his momma's car got towed on him
I clock the time, weigh the cost like a broker
Fifteen minutes late means a week with no supper
Ran the four blocks home, sneakers slapping concrete
Porch light flickered twice, Aunt Ros counting my heartbeat
Walked in at nine-twenty, she ain't say a word
Just wrote it in the ledger, said the debt's been incurred
Two weeks no basketball, phone stayed on the hook
Traded my freedom for the time that Marcus took
Never told him what it cost me, kept it tucked away
Loyalty don't ask for change, loyalty just makes you pay
Learned the curfew wasn't only 'bout the streetlight
It was insurance she was buying so I'd see daylight
Every minute that I borrowed came back doubled, tripled
That's the interest on the block, that's the block's own bible
Chorus
Nine o'clock bell, and the debt starts running
Curfew interest, taking without warning
Every minute late, that's a minute I'm owing
Curfew interest, still collecting, still growing
Verse
Different night, different debt, Trevon called me twice
Said his brother's in some trouble by the store on Fice
I checked the clock, eight-forty, weighed it like the first time
Told myself just twenty minutes, wouldn't cross that curfew line
Made it home by nine-oh-five, thought I beat the interest
Next morning heard the sirens, heard they found him near the entrance
Twenty minutes might've mattered, might've been the difference
Aunt Ros never blamed me but I read it in her silence
She kept the ledger open, never crossed his name off clean
Some debts don't get forgiven, some just haunt the in-between
Started setting earlier alarms after that scene
Started answering the phone before the curfew intervenes
Now I pay it forward, keep a curfew for my nephew
Told him come home safe, let the interest go and teach you
Every hour he stays out I'm the one that's holding steady
Ledger's in my hands now, and my hands stay ready
Chorus
Nine o'clock bell, and the debt starts running
Curfew interest, taking without warning
Every minute late, that's a minute I'm owing
Curfew interest, still collecting, still growing
Bridge
Aunt Ros gone three winters, clock still on my wall
Nine o'clock it chimes and I stand up straight and tall
Wasn't punishment, was armor, wasn't rules, was love disguised
Every curfew that she gave me was a debt that kept me wise
Outro
So
