Clifford Nunu Swan III.
He was just thirteen, but Clifford Nunu Swan III was afraid of death. Three of his cousins had been murdered in the past two years, and, unwilling to be next, Nunu told his older brother Donald about plans to obtain a gun.
An ex-weed dealer who d spent his teenage years dodging north-city trouble, Donald, then twenty, rebuked him. You don t need a gun, he counseled. You got your hands. You can fight.
Donald always strived to protect Nunu, the soft-hearted prankster of the family. Neither of their fathers was physically around, although Nunu s dad Clifford Swan Sr. says he had a relationship with his son through the phone and Facetime. In St. Louis, the older boy helped raise the younger, orchestrating bowling and go-kart outings. When Nunu had questions like when he wanted to mess around with a girl for the first time or needed a new joke for school a conversation in Donald s bedroom ensued. As his kid brother s rapping skills developed, Donald