Intro
Bell above the door don't chime, it clicks like a safety
Ontero's been the only ground where both sides come in and act right
Verse
Ninth Street on the left rack, Colton on the right
Same fluorescent hum but they don't share a light
Ontero built the aisle wide, said keep your business outside
Inside these walls we all just customers, no sides
I seen Marcus buy a soda next to dudes who wanted him gone
Both counted out their change while the radio hummed a slow song
Store's got one rule wrote in Sharpie on the wall
Leave your set at the door or you don't shop here at all
I was fifteen first time I broke up a stare-down by the chips
Told both sets, y'all can beef outside, not over my chips
Ontero slid me a job for that, said you got the ear for peace
Been running that counter since, keeping the war down to a crease
Bulletproof glass got a crack shaped like a river bend
Splits the register but never splits who I call a friend
Every scar on this block got a story it won't tell
I just make sure nobody adds another to sell
Chorus
Leave it at the door, that's corner store diplomacy
Same bread, same line, corner store diplomacy
Guns check like coats, corner store diplomacy
Peace got a price and it's corner store diplomacy
Verse
Tuesday, Colton's cousin came in limping, blood on his shoe
Ninth boys watched him buy a wrap like it's nothing new
Nobody said a word, just nodded like the old days
Ontero rang him up, slid a bag of ice, no delay
That's the treaty, never signed, never spoke out loud
Just a counter and a clerk keeping both blocks proud
I learned diplomacy ain't soft, it's a harder kind of steel
Takes more to hold your tongue than to make a scene real
Watched a war almost start over a stolen lighter
Talked it down with a joke, made the tension lighter
Told 'em outside these doors do whatever you decide
But in here we all just neighbors trying to eat and survive
My uncle used to say the block remembers who kept it fair
I keep that ledger in my head, not written anywhere
Every face that walks in, I clock the ones with grudges
I ain't the law, I ain't the judge, I'm just the one who nudges
Chorus
Leave it at the door, that's corner store diplomacy
Same bread, same line, corner store diplomacy
Guns check like coats, corner store diplomacy
Peace got a price and it's corner store diplomacy
Bridge
Ontero retired last spring, handed me the keys
Said the block don't need a hero, just somebody who sees
Now I'm the one behind the glass watching both worlds collide
Learning peace ain't a moment, it's a shift you gotta ride
Some nights it's quiet, some nights I hold my breath
Every truce in this store's one bad day from death
But I still open at six, still sweep the same tile floor
Still tell 'em all the same thing standing by that door
Outro
Leave it at the door, that's corner store diplomacy
Been the only peace treaty this whole block's ever seen
Bell still clicks like a safety every time it opens wide
