Intro
Otis kept his ledger in the shape of a scar
Said the tale don't need words when the skin already talked
Verse 1
Vermont and Loyola, gym over the laundromat
Steam on the window like the block was holding back
Heavy bag patched with electrical tape and rust
Liniment and chalk dust, that's the smell of trust
Fifteen years old, caught a jab I never saw
Split my brow open, Otis smiled, said that's the law
Fishhook scar over my eye, first bill I ever paid
Reggie owed me forty from a bet we made
Wouldn't meet my eyes, kept talking to the wall
But he wrapped my hands the night my father crawled out the door small
Gauze pulled tight, said breathe through your nose, kid
So I let the forty go, kept the ledger closed lid
Otis says trust gets carved, not given like a loan
Scar on my knuckle from a job, one on my shin from chrome
Corner boys read marks like tickers on a board
Mine stayed quiet till the day that forty got restored
Chorus
Scars don't lie, they keep the count
Every line's a receipt for what I didn't back down from
Scars don't lie, they hold the weight
Of the ones I earned and the ones I gave away
Verse 2
Ten years later I'm the one behind the tape
Dante's sixteen, quick hands, restless with his shape
Told me Marcus offered him a corner and a phone
Said the money's faster, said I'm tired of being broke and known
I showed him my brow, said this here bought me nothing fast
Every stitch a bill collecting interest from the past
He laughed it off, said old man, times have changed
I said the block's the same, just the prices rearranged
Took him to the pawn shop where they know my face
Vouched for him on credit that my own scars had to grace
Owner looked at Dante, looked at me, said your word's good
Said in this neighborhood, that's the only thing that should
Dante ran it straight, paid it back in nine
Came back to the gym, said Otis, wrap me one more time
That's the currency nobody counterfeits or steals
The kind that shows up honest when the wound reveals
Chorus
Scars don't lie, they keep the count
Every line's a receipt for what I didn't back down from
Scars don't lie, they hold the weight
Of the ones I earned and the ones I gave away
Bridge
There's one scar I never explain, small, behind my ear
Where my father's ring caught skin the last November here
I could tell Dante that one too, let him see it clean
But some receipts you keep, some stay between
the mirror and the man who's paying still
Not every mark's
