[Intro: saz drone, one hand drum, spoken] One [Verse 1: calm low male MC, slow and exact] His shoulder drops first. Right side, about an inch I know that dip. I grew up watchin' it from the kitchen bench Daddy had the same one right before the plates would fly Funny how a man's whole history fits in the corner of your eye Now the room goes slow, like somebody leaned on the tape Champagne hangin' in the air, the flower girl mid-escape I can count the sequins on my sister's dress from here I can read the lipstick on the rim of every glass, crystal clear [Hook: calm low male MC] I saw it comin', I saw it comin' Saw you squeeze her wrist at Easter, smilin' through your teeth Saw it in your toast tonight, you called her "mine" like a deed I saw it comin', so I'm standin' still. Go 'head. Reach [Count: spoken, calm] Two [Verse 2: calm low male MC, colder] Four seconds is a long time if you know where to stand I could step left, catch the wrist and fold it back across his hand Fifteen years of workin' doors, I could put that motherfucker in the cake Shrimp and confetti everywhere, a story Uncle Ray would make But if I slip it, he's the victim, I'm the brother with the temper Uncle Ray tells it wrong at every Thanksgiving till December If I hit him, she defends him. That's the rule, I know the deal So I do the hardest thing a hard man does. I stand. Still [Saz solo: fuzz bass under it, time nearly stopped, one hand drum] [Count: spoken, calm] Three [Verse 3: calm low male MC, almost a whisper] Her head turns slow as a church door, veil liftin' like a curtain Every phone in the room is up. For once, the whole room's certain She's seen me take a hundred hits for her and never seen one land Tonight she's gonna watch one from the man she gave her hand I been the wall between her and every fist since I was nine Tonight I'm steppin' out the way, so she can see the line I don't flinch. I don't blink. I just let my shoulders drop Last thing I think before it lands is, "Baby, this is where it stops" [Count: spoken, calm] Four [Verse 4: calm low male MC, the music snaps back to full speed] Contact. Left cheek. White light like a sparkler in the dark Taste of pennies, knees locked, and I don't give him the mark I don't fall, I don't swing, I just smile with a split lip Every scream comes back at once, the DJ cuts the beat and skips She looks at him. She looks at me. She looks at what he's done Twenty years I couldn't tell her. Took four seconds and one [Final Hook: calm low male MC] She saw it comin', she saw it comin' Saw the shoulder drop, saw the blood on my teeth Saw the man she married come with his own receipt I saw it comin'. So I let him reach [End]
