Six Hours

Six Hours

He walked faster and took the short cut to the right. By this time, he just knew he lost the police. As he crossed the sidewalk and begin to catch his breath, he saw him. Their eyes met and exchanged glares that could replace any weapon known to man. That’s when it happened. Everything he had known was taken away in a flash. He always knew his destiny but never mentally acknowledged this would ever be a part of the process.

Let me back up and tell you how things got to this point...

Rayshaun is a sixteen year old boy who lives in a shotgun house with his three sisters, older brother, and mom. He cares for his sisters by making sure they are ready for school every morning, get picked up from the bus stop, and fed in the evening. This is his daily routine except, every night, it ends with him standing on the corner until 3AM as he likes to call it, “putting in work.” His sisters have to be up for 530AM, dressed and at the bus stop for 615AM. They eat breakfast at school so the only thing he has to do is make sure they get dinner when they get home. His older brother, Rayneal is nineteen and works at the local grocery store in the neighborhood. He used to deal but had a wake up-call that allowed him to quietly slip out the game.

“Aye, I told you this s*** would catch up to you, son!” Rayneal tried to grab his gun from his waist but was three seconds to late. He was shot twice, in his stomach and left leg. Rayshaun was around the corner by his friend when he heard people outside yelling. He and Tylin ran around the corner to see what was going on when they realized it was his brother. Ever since this day, Rayneal turned his back on the game because of the fear he saw in his brother’s eyes. He doesn’t make much working at Everything You Need but it pays the bills. He and Rayshuan split the bills to make things even since their mom lives on Welfare and still has never been able to properly take care of them. Rayneal never wanted to deal but he grew tired of watching his siblings go to bed crying because their stomachs are in knots from hunger.

Rayshaun’s bus comes for 630AM so he only gets three hours of sleep every night. Though his lifestyle is rough, he is the complete opposite of what people assume of him. He’s articulate, well mannered, and hungry for success. He had plans on going out for the football team this year but his schedule won’t allow him to practice at the time his school’s team does so he plays park ball. His skills and inifinite abilities gives him leeway to where he doesn’t have to practice a lot because he’s just that good. Nevertheless, he always keeps his ego in check; he knows that just how God gave him his talent, it could all be gone in the blink of an eye. Football is his first love, his passion, what he knows will take him and his family out of the hood. Although park ball has been getting him recognition, it’s not close to the kind he desires such as being scouted by multiple D1 universities. Rayshaun knows that with his grade point average which has never fallen below a 3.0 and his skills on the field, he will be somebody but life has its foot in his neck right now. He often thinks about the opportunities that would come from joining his school’s football team and decides to go talk to Mrs. Netta after school.

“Hey baby, how’s your mom doing?” Mrs. Netta asks as she unlocks her screen door to let Rayshaun in. “She’s good. I have a question, Mrs. Netta,” Rayshaun says nervously. He knows how much this will help him if Mrs. Netta says yes. “What’s going on, baby? Everything alright with you?” she asks looking him in his eyes. “Yes, ma’am. I was just…wondering if you… could watch my sisters after school. See, I want to join the football team and, I already play park ball, but” before Rayshaun could finish, Mrs. Netta cut him off and reassured him she’s fine with that. “No need to explain, baby. You’re young. I’m proud that you’ve been able to keep it up this long. You deserve to make something out of your life. Get yourself together so they can benefit from you one day. Now go on and talk to that coach. Maybe you’ll this will force you to get off these streets,” Mrs. Netta said in 100% confidence and using her hand to send him off as if it hold the magical vibration needed to secure his future. She’s well aware that he deals but has not one judgmental bone in her body. Mrs. Netta is the grandma of the neighborhood. You run out of sugar, need a few eggs, have a stubborn stain, need a quick-cash loan, she’s there. She treats everyone as if they are her own flesh and blood and doesn’t think twice of it.  

Rayshaun leaves feeling both anxious and relieved by Mrs. Netta’s answer. He goes back to the house and gets his things together for practice and begins to make dinner for everyone. His mom is in the front room watching Jerry Springer, smoking a cigarette when Rayshaun comes in and asks her where the white beans are that Rayneal bought yesterday. With little to no response, he shakes his head in aggravation at her negligence and goes back into the kitchen to search again. As he searched, it dawned on him that Rayneal said he would put the groceries away last night so he sent him a text. After a few minutes, Rayneal responds and Rayshuan finds the white beans with ease and continues to prepare dinner. He knows that if he doesn’t, no one will. His mom never did anything for him nor his siblings. She’s never shown concern for their safety, issued a curfew, or had the “big talk” with either of them. All they knew was things had to get done so everything ended fallen upon he Rayneal’s shoulders which is how Rayneal got in the game. Without the drug money, the girls would have been taken away by child protection services. And when Rayneal got shot two years ago, Rayshaun felt the need to pick things up in his place. His mind has never been on revenge because the guy who shot his brother was taken in a few months later on other related charges without parole.  Even so, Rayshaun safety has yet to be jeopardized so he feels like it the right thing to do; after all, he refuses to allow strangers to come in and break him and his siblings apart. They created a system that works for them and he and Rayneal intend to do whatever it takes to keep things together for the sake of their younger sisters.

“I’m telling you son, it’s simple. You drive and I jump out and hit ‘em up. They won’t know,” Tylin was saying in a serious low-voice as they stood on their corner waiting for drop-bys. He and Tylin have been friends since the second grade. They became friends on the cause of a bag of M&Ms. One day, Tylin came to school late and went to put his snack in his bag before he went to his seat. At recess, Tylin noticed his bag of M&Ms were gone and begin to approach everyone in his class, asking them if they took his “stuff.” Everyone in the second grade knew not to mess with Tylin except from Rayshaun, their attitudes naturally clashed. When Tylin approached Rayshaun by the swings, he saw him eating his M&Ms and said, “Those are my M&Ms, I’mma beat you up!” Rayshaun stood up and dropped the bag and pushed Tylin. And without any more exchanges of glares and verbal threats, Tylin threw the first lick and things escalated from there. The fight didn’t last long; it was soon broken up by their teacher, Ms. Tessen.

Ever since this day, they have been best friends, or “brothers,” as they like to call it. They were forced to sit next to each for the remainder of the school year and eat lunch together, and even play with one another at recess. They soon realized how similar they were and begin to start a lifelong friendship. They do everything together, even football. Blood couldn’t make them any closer. So when Rayshaun told Tylin he was getting into the game, Tylin, without a thought about it, did the same so his “brother” wouldn’t be alone. The only thing that stood in between them having a complete understanding of each other was the difference in the way they were raised. Rayshaun’s mom failed to be a mother and raise her children; she has neglected them and forced them to use each other to survive. On the other hand, Tylin comes from a single-parent household, too but his mom is very present in his life and provides him whatever he needs to survive except her time which seems to affect his decision making. If his mom knew what he was doing late at night instead of being inside doing HW or studying, she would break down. And as badly as he wants to stop and make her proud, he’s upset about neither his dad nor mom being there for him emotionally and releases this anger when he and Rayshaun have to hit someone up over money or a bad deal.

Tylin and Rayshaun have only gotten into a heated argument once over Tylin’s girlfriend a year ago. Tylin and Ky dated for over a year and were very seriously committed to one another. It was puppy love but they Tylin wanted a future with her. After a party last summer, Tylin needed to go do a job so he asked Rayshaun to take Ky home so of course he reassured him that he “got his back.” As Rayshaun pulled up to Ky’s house, he notices she was more out of it then at the start of the night but so was he. Though they’re too young to drink, they still do and reap the repercussions later. Ky turned to open her door but forgot her purse was on the back seat so she reached over the seat to grab it, exposing her curves to the night air stuck inside the car. Rayshaun wanted so badly to ignore it and pretend he didn’t see anything but his eyes wouldn’t let him deny the sight. Ky then went in to hug Rayshaun and thank him for being so nice by driving her home but their embrace never broke. With the toils of alcohol along with their relentless hormones, their heads took a wrong turn and their lips danced to the song in the background, reveling in every loop that was made. They didn’t care about boundaries. There weren’t any consequences to contemplate on. Tylin was tucked away in Ky’s mind with desire in the forefront. There in Rayshaun’s backseat is where they both fell into a pit mixed with the unknown and temptation won. After the escapade, they both dressed themselves and regained their discipline, failing to bid one another good night. Ky walked swiftly into her house with her head hanging down in guilt. Rayshaun felt agony and disgust take over his body as he drove home and sent a text to Tylin confirming that Ky got home safely.

Rayshaun wasn’t sure if he should go through with the plan because they would have to use their guns this time instead of fighting how they normally would. He knows that if they do a drive-by, they will be someone’s target soon. “Alight, son. But none of that talking. We don’t need anyone recognizing your voice. Just yeah and go,” Rayshaun said with a lot of aggravation and distress. He knew things would get serious as time goes along as they seem to in such a short period of time. He had only been on the block for a year and most of that time he’s spent working under Kaz. Kaz has been in the game since he was ten and he’s in his late forties now. His rep is fused with a mass string of bodies attached to his name and a few baby mommas who find it hard to move on. Rayshaun knew that once he vowed to work for him, his life would change drastically but he has been determined to not let that be the case until this night.

This night was different than any other night. Kaz would normally call or text just to check in but he didn’t today. He had his second man to check on Rayshaun and tell him his job for the night before he goes inside. Rayshaun didn’t think much of it, especially because of how much his earnings have gone up within the last couple of months. He has been making numbers rise so much that he’s been interfering with everyone else’s numbers in their clique and in all the others in the state. He hasn’t heard of anyone in Kaz’s crew trippin’ about this but he feels like it’s only a matter of time before everyone shows their true colors. Meanwhile, he manages to maintain his football lifestyle by not smoking, drinking, and working out twice a day.

As he walked out of the store with Tylin, his phone rang and noticed it was his brother. He picked up and heard, “nigga, you got six hours to get me my money. Meet at 706 Xec Drive with it by 4AM with all twenty thousand of it. Don’t and you’ll see since you want to play a big man’s game.” Tylin knew something was up by the way Rayshuan dropped his head. It was without question that he couldn’t call Kaz to help. There’s no rules in the game; anything goes by all means to get money. After a couple minutes of silence, he felt every emotion rush through him at once and hit the brick apartment with a balled fist behind them that’s infamously known as the Cedarwood Housing Project, busting his hand open. He raged in torment and fell to his knees. All he wanted to do was get his family out the hood and get a scholarship to play football at UC. Now everything he worked hard for and tried to attain was gone and slipped through his hands in the matter of months.   

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