Summary

Chapter 10, “Wedding Bells and Brawls” starts with the Nannyism: “Once you put the trash on the curb, you don’t go back and get it” (145). It was the summer of 1997 and a big fight was brewing. Summers for Matt and Garrett typically revolved around Nanny’s house and camp. A year earlier, Nanny had decided that their cousin Lil’ Kevin should move in with her. Lil’ Kevin never had a good relationship with his father - Matt’s Uncle Kevin. Johnson thinks there was resentment because Lil’ Kevin was effeminate like them. Johnson writes, “although Lil’ Kevin was taken from us too soon (a moment I’ll touch on later), we formed many good memories with him” (146-47).

That summer, Lil’ Rall, Rasul, and Lil’ Kevin wanted to do something special. Uncle Kevin had moved down to Atlanta and was doing well, and...