“We’re blood.” Devonne Williams leaned across the small kitchen table and stared into the scared face of the boy in front of him. “You hear me, nephew?”
Kamal nodded. “I hear you, but I said I won’t join you.”
Devonne narrowed his eyes and sat back in his chair. “Oh, I think you will.” He grinned. “I’ve seen how much you care for your family, especially your little brother. What’s his name? Lincoln, right?”
“You leave him out of this.” A trickle of dread skittered down Kamal’s spine. Would his uncle really hurt one of his own to get Kamal to join his gang? “What is so important that you would harm your own blood? With my father in jail, I’m the man of the house. I can’t be running off doing what you want. I’ve got responsibilities.”
“What’s important is the fact I say so.” Devonne steepled his fingers under his dark chin. “You can provide for your family easier and make more money dealing for me.”
“I don’t want that kind of money.” Kamal stormed from the apartment and down the stairs. Outside, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
This wasn’t the first time his uncle had threatened his family. He meant business, which meant Kamal needed help. As if drawn by a magnet, he turned and headed to the center of town and stopped in front of the red brick building that housed Upton Falls’s police department. If his uncle found out what he considered doing, he’d kill Kamal and his family.
“Can I help you, son?” A tall man in cowboy boots stepped out of the glass doors. “You look as if you’ve got a lot on your mind.”
Kamal recognized the new chief-of-police from his picture in the newspaper last year. He swallowed against the mountain in his throat. “Uh, no, just walking.”
The man cocked his head. “You sure? I don’t bite.” He smiled.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Kamal shoved his hands into his pockets and hurried away. He needed to really think this through. If he decided to snitch, there would be no turning back. Consequences would be severe.
Lincoln sat on the cracked stoop of their rundown house when Kamal got home. He scratched in the dirt with a stick.
Kamal sat next to his eight-year-old sibling. “What’s up bro? You look down.”
“Mom’s drunk again, and I’m hungry.”
Kamal sighed and put his arm around his brother. “Come on. I’ll fix you something.” There had better be food in the house.
Nothing but a swallow of milk and crumbs in the bottom of a cereal box. Kamal handed what little they had to Lincoln, then marched to the living room where his mother lay sprawled across the sofa. “Where’s the food stamp card?” He shook her awake.
“Purse,” she slurred, not opening her eyes. “Don’t take them all. I’m going to sell some.”
No, she wasn’t. Kamal fished her card from her wallet and took Lincoln’s hand. “We’re buying enough food for the month, buddy.” If, and it was a big if, there was any leftover then their mother could sell what was left.
At the store on the corner, Kamal filled a shopping cart with all the items he could get with WIC for free, then started on other things. Mom could get her liquor money somewhere else.
“When Dad gets out of prison, we’ll never be hungry.” Lincoln hung a six-pack of lemon-lime soda on the cart.
“We can always hope.” He paid for the groceries and pushed the cart home. He’d return it the next day. Once the groceries were put away, he made Lincoln a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He glanced around the dirty room.
The sink overflowed with dishes. His mother’s drunken snores drifted from the living room. If Kamal joined his uncle’s gang, they could get out of that dump, find someplace nicer.
He looked back at Lincoln. No, he couldn’t subject his brother to the gang lifestyle. He patted his brother’s head. “Stay home. I’ll be back soon.” He was going to do what he had almost done earlier.
Again, he stopped at the steps. Once he walked through those doors, there would be no turning back. He squared his shoulders and pushed open the door. “I need to see a cop.”
- ASIN : B0BCDGYLXP
- Publisher : Independently published
- Publication date : August 30, 2022
- Language : English
- Print length : 195 pages
- ISBN-13 : 979-8849175003