Jayden's POV482Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzl2FIv5L16
482Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0z334u7hKN
It takes fifteen minutes to walk the three blocks from school to the basketball court. It's cold and the wind is picking up the dead leaves from the street and blowing them around as I walk crosstown. I can always tell when I'm getting closer to my neighborhood, by the music blasting from the cars as they drive by. The switch from English to Spanish is gradual. When all I hear is Spanish I know I'm home. There are a lot of people out today. Over in the park some guys are playing dominoes. The noise of dogs barking as they chase each other almost drowns out the shouting children on the playground. There is a girl trying to sell shirts but nobody is buying. She looks like a crackhead and I cannot help but wonder if my brother and I sell to her.
I can see the guys running a full court game. My eyes automatically search for my brother. The first smile all day breaks across my face when I see him. Tyler is so focused on the game, he doesn't notice me walk over to the bench and drop my backpack next to his. I wait until he gets the ball before coming up behind him and poking it out of his hands. Before he even registered what happened, I charge at the basket and dunk the ball.
"I was wonderen when your shadow would show up!" One of the older guys laughs, throwing my brother the ball.
"Nice shot, mano. You do that again and I'm gonna beat you." Tyler laughs. I do my best not to wince as my stiff shoulders protest when I drop from the basket. Tyler is a year older, although looking at us you would say it was the other way around. I have a few inches on him. Both of us take after my Latin father, much to our mothers disdain. We have his blue eyes and broad build. Everyone loves Tyler, like they loved my father. They are drawn to him. I see it in the way they hang on to his words. They want to be close to him just like I do. If he wanted to he could be friends with everyone, but for the most part he just sticks with me. Just me and him, it's been like that for a while.
Tyler's smile quickly disappears when he sees my face.
"Damn it, Jay!" He growls throwing the ball against the backboard. "It hasn't even been a few days, mano!"
I shrug my shoulders, keeping my eyes focused somewhere behind him. The disappointment in his eyes will make me feel worse, I refuse to look at him.
I hear a deep sigh before his arm comes around my shoulders. "Vale, hermanito. Let's see what you got!"
We break off into teams quickly, Tyler on one and me on the other. Tyler's team is leading and it's killing me. As soon as I get my hands on the ball, I go right towards Tyler. When he steps out, I fake left and drive around his right side. Another guy comes towards me a step too late. I go up, do a 180 and slam backwards. Before dropping from the basket, I give Tyler a cocky smile, knowing that shit is gonna piss him off.
We have one basket to win the game with the ball in my possession when all hell breaks loose. I see a guy push Tyler and I abandon the ball completely. I don't say anything. I just step between them and push the guy away.
"Put you hand on me again and I'm gonna mess your shit up." He threatens stepping towards me. I just stand there. I know if he throws on me I'm going to light him up like a firework.
"Mano, I can handle my own shit." I hear Tyler laugh lightly behind me. I feel his hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. Anger boils deep in my system. I know I'm overreacting, but I cannot make myself care. He is my brother. You don't put your hands on him. No one does. We've had enough of that shit growing up.
"I'm done."
I drop down onto the bench trying to rein in my frustration as the others awkwardly pick up the game. All it takes is a push and memories are flooding into my mind like water rushing into a sinking ship. The pain radiating through my face. His hands tightening around my throat. The sound of Tyler shouting at him until the abuse is directed at him. The memories are not that hard to recall. After all, this was our life for so many years. My mom's boyfriend enjoyed beating his fists into our faces. We always took the abuse together. Tyler tried to protect me and I tried to protect him. When we got old enough to pack power behind our punches, Leo kicked us out. My mom, high as a kite, didn't even look our way as he threw us out.
I can feel Tyler's eyes on me, but I ignore him and reach for my backpack. The book Principal Abrams gave me is old. It smells like the inside of an attic. I flip the first few fragile pages and begin. Reading is like an escape from reality for me. It's like I can create a little world in my mind away from this neighborhood, the drugs and violence.
By the time Tyler walks over to me, the laughter of the children in the park has died down and the sun is setting. He pulls his phone out of his backpack and sits on the bench beside me. "You eat at school today, before the fight happened?"
"Si, I ate." I assure him, bending one of the pages before I close the book. Tylers fingers dance across the keys on his phone. The only indication that he hears me is the slight nod. His smile alone is enough to let me know who the messages are from.
"You gonna tell me again there ain't nothing between you two?" I ask biting the edge of my smile, a bad attempt to keep the teasing grin off my face.
"Nah, mano. She aint my type. You'd like her though." Tyler glaces over, the corners of his lips fighting a smile, his eyebrows raise slightly. "She's smart as hell. Yall can read together."
"Miss me with that shit." I look away before that mischievous look of his spreads.
"I'm sorry about today."
"No estoy enojado contigo mano." Tyler smiles softly. "I just wish things were different.. I know you hate the Kings, but I can't protect you without them. If the bastards that brought us into this world stuck around maybe things would be different for us both."
"We're better off without them." I say after a long silence. Our grandparents gave us a great life until our mother got custody. She moved us as far away from her parents as she could manage. It was all downhill from there. She started using again, becoming dependent on her abusive boyfriend because he was her hook up. The phone vibrates between us, pulling my attention away from my dark thoughts.
"Mi Sol, qúe tal?" Tyler answers quickly. "I hate talking to you like this. You can' text?"
He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Yea, I understand. Si, we are still at the court." Another pause. As soon as I open my book again, Tyler says. "His Steve Urkel ass is reading."
"Oye, what ya reading?" He asks, nudging my shoulder.
"The Grape of Wrath." I tell him dryly going back to my reading. He is always trying to include me in their conversations. I briefly wonder if I'd like her like he says I would, then shake the thought away.
"As punishment for the fight today, she wants to tell you that Jim dies." Tyler tells me, the corners of his lips fighting a smile. Assholes, both of them.
"Anything you don't tell her, TY?"
He gives me a wink and continues his conversation. I act annoyed but I'm happy he has her. Their friendship makes him happy.
I notice a girl coming towards us. She is brown-skinned and skinny. Her eyes are shiny and desperate and her lips are drawn back from her teeth. I nudge Tyler with my elbow.
"Oye mi sol, I gotta go. I'll text you tonight when I get home." Tyler tells her, hanging up before she can reply. I get up when he does and sling my backpack over my shoulder.
"Can you help me?" She asks, holding out money in her shaking hands.
Tyler takes a few steps towards her. Taking the money with one hand, he opens the other showing a plastic vial. I've seen those vials a hundred times in the gutter, in the park, in the bathrooms in school, everywhere in my life. The girl quickly grabs the vial and brushes past us towards the streets.
"Vayamos, I'm done for tonight." Tyler says rubbing his hand down his tired face. We walk in silence back out of the park and across the street. The corner store comes into view and with it two Kings standing at the corner.
"Jay, go inside and get me something cold to drink." Tyler tells me, giving me a small shove towards the entrance door.. I feel like a kid getting sent away while grown folks take care of business. Giving both Kings a nod, I step into the store. Remembering the homework waiting for me, I got straight back to the fridges and grab two red bulls. I'm halfway back to the cash register when I hear the first gunshot. My hands give out and everything falls to the floor. Five more shots ring out. People passing by rush into the small store for cover as I charge out. One of the Kings lay dead, a single bullet to the head blood pooling on the sidewalk beneath him.
"Tyler." My hands tremble and my eyes water as I collapse down on my hands and knees beside him. I cannot bring myself to look down at his chest. It doesn't matter.
His breathing is labored and his hands grabbed at me in a panic. Blood soaks through his shirt radiating outward. "I can't breath." He croaks sending himself into a fit of coughing. His eyes fill with tears as his grip on me tightens.
"I'll lift you up, okay." I tell him in a panic. Quickly, I grab his arms and prop him up against my chest hoping he can breath better. The pained cry that comes from him tears through my heart. Doors and windows open from the buildings around us. The store clerk and the customers stand at the door. I could hear their voices and screams but I couldn't make out the words. Tyler's body gets heavier against me causing my chin to tremble.
"You're not leaving me, Ty." I growl, shaking his body. Tyler winces in pain but doesn't open his eyes. "You have to stay strong for me. Please, Ty. Don't leave me here alone. You're all I know. Please don't leave me here by myself. They're coming. Can you hear the sirens? They're going to help you. Just don't leave me."
He opens his mouth to speak but starts choking, blood spilling from his mouth. Tears run freely down his cheeks. I can see the fear in his eyes until it fades. Until he fades and his lifeless eyes stare back at me.
The knowledge that I now exist without him shreds my soul. I don't break quietly, my gasping wails echo around the street. Even the eyes of the strangers around me are wet with tears. The grief surges with every breath I take. For the first time in a long time, I turn to my Lord and beg him to take the pain away.
Spanish:
Mano - Brother
Hermanito -Little brother
No estoy enojado contigo - I’m not mad at you.
qúe tal - how are you 482Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrxTcodv6X
482Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE3KjNcTawc
Oye - hey
Vayamos - lets go
ns 15.158.61.6da2
