Growing Up

Chapter 4

Caleb began to walk down the street as the street lights came on, illuminating the empty street. Chris stayed at an apartment down the road, so Caleb went there to see if Chris had anything for him to do. He took out his phone and texted Chris. "Hey, u busy boss?" "You good, lil man?" "Nah. Need to mess some shit up, pissed as hell." Caleb stood in front of McDonalds next door to the apartment building waiting on Chris' reply before he went in the building. "Where u at?" "I'm at Mickey D's by your place." Caleb heard shouting, and turned around to see Chris on his balcony. "Come on up."

"Lil man, you good?" Caleb was trying to fight back the tears, he knew Chris would beat the shit out of him for crying. "I just need something to do. Got some steam to let off." Chris was slightly confused, as Caleb never came looking for trouble to cause. "Aight, lemme make a couple calls. Give me a sec." Chris went into the bedroom and returned about 5 minutes later. "Ok, got a guy on 45th St. His baby mama's family runs with us. He beat the shit outta her and she lost the baby. Make him disappear, don't really care how you do it. Just make it clean." Caleb felt the rage begin to return and his heart began to race. "Got it." "Cool. How many you get tonight?"

Caleb had to think, so much had gone on since that afternoon. "Uhh, 4. 3 dudes on 32nd and some chick that works at that corner store at 33rd and Cherry. Real thick, big tits." Chris grinned "Nicccee! Get this done tonight, and we will call it even. Deal?" Caleb nodded "Deal. You got anyone I could borrow a gun from?" Chris chuckled "Come with me." Caleb followed Chris into a dimly lit bedroom, where Chris opened a false bookcase to reveal a fully stocked gun case "Take your pick." Caleb examined the choices, and settled for a rifle with a long range scope. "Where on 45th does this asshole stay?" Chris looked at Caleb, shocked. "Whoa, breathe. You gotta get a plan first."

Caleb was seeing red and really didn't care if he had a plan or not. "Have I ever failed you before, boss?" "Nah, but you don't ask for trouble either." Chris watched Caleb for a minute, then smirked. "I can tell you got some fire in you. He stays in the Market Towers. You know where that is?" Caleb knew exactly where Market Towers were. The girl that initiated him stayed there. "Yea, I got an idea of where it is. How do I know what apartment he's in?" Chris showed a picture of the guy "He never closes the curtains. It's kinda warm out, so the window will be open most likely. No AC there."

Caleb nodded and turned to leave "I'll stop by when I'm done. I used my last minutes writing you." Chris shook his head "You need a better phone, dude. I can work on that. Just let me know." Caleb left and began walking towards the apartment building. Caleb started thinking of the girl that initiated him, Sabrina. She had long, curly black hair and perfect bronze skin. Her parents were from Puerto Rico and she had the body of a goddess. His initiation was to have sex with her. He lost his virginity to her that night.

As he approached the high rise, he crossed the street. He knew exactly where to stake out. There was an abandoned office building right across the street that Jamal and his friends would go to for meetings and to get drunk and high on the weekend. Caleb stood outside the office building and spotted the guy almost immediately. He was hard to miss, nude in the 6th floor window.

Caleb went into the office building and climbed the stairs to the 7th floor so he had a little bit of an aerial view. Caleb steadied his gun, and watched the man pass back and forth by the window for about 5 minutes. Finally, the guy stopped directly in front of the window. Caleb pulled the trigger as the man stood in the window looking at the hookers on the corner below. He saw blood go shooting in the shadows and knew the deed was done. The guy was hated by most of the city, so no one would really investigate anything when they found him. Caleb cleaned the gun and walked back out of the office building as if nothing happened.

Killing the man felt good, and the voices in his head told him to kill his mom "She killed DJ, she doesn't deserve to live." Another chimed "DJ was your only reason to live. She doesn't need to be around anymore." Caleb began to sprint, as if he could run from what he was hearing.

He made it back to Chris's apartment and handed Chris the rifle. "Done, boss." Chris grinned "Knew you had it." Chirs counted $200 in $20 bills and handed it to Caleb. "Hey, you remember Sabrina?" Caleb's heart dropped, he was afraid she spotted him. "Uh- Uhh, yea, the one who initiated me, right?" Chris laughed "Yea. What, you scared of a girl?" Caleb nervously laughed "Nah, just caught me off guard with that." Chris handed Caleb another $40. "Look, Sabrina is looking for a good night. Take her on a date, she hasn't stopped talking about you since initiation. You got rubbers?"

Caleb looked down. He had stolen one of his brothers' Magnums before just to see, but it was too small. "Nope. I, uh took a magnum once just to see how it felt but it wouldnt fit." Chris's eyes widened "Didn't fit? Damn, you are packing. I'm sure Sabrina will show you how to do her raw. Don't worry. Pick her up tomorrow at 6, ok?" Caleb smiled and was excited to take her out "Yep, her place right?" "You got it."

Caleb began to walk out "Night, boss." "Night, man. You got somewhere to stay?" Caleb wasn't planning on going home. "You know where I be staying." Chris raised one eyebrow "I hear shit. I know what happened with your mom and that Derek's sis won't let you in herself. Where you staying?" Caleb really was gonna wander the park all night and probably just skip school the next day. "Dunno, I'll manage." 

Chris became stern "I can't have you out wandering, especially with Demons stringing us up all the goddamn time. Crash on the couch." Caleb sighed "I guess." Chris threw a black t-shirt at Caleb. "And take that bloody shirt off. I'll get that shit taken care of." Caleb changed shirts and the next thing he remembered was Chris yelling at him the next morning "Hey, get your ass up. I do have a real job, ya know. Can't have you here if I'm not home." Caleb got up and put his shoes on. "Where am I taking her tonight?" Chris shrugged. "Wherever her ass wants to go. Just please don't bust in her. Her daddy has an AK and will light your ass up" Caleb nodded. "Thanks for letting me crash here." Chris looked around "Don't mention it. And don't tell no one I'm nice. Ruins my image."

Caleb went to the park down the street and just sat on a bench. The fact he wasn't going to be a big brother hit him hard. He thought about what Chris said. Caleb and Sabrina had 3 classes together and she always made an effort to talk to him. He looked at all the pregnant girls at his school and wondered how much that changed their lives, what would happen if he got a girl pregnant? He would have a baby, just like he would've had DJ. Someone to watch over and make sure they take a good path. 'My pops ain't been around since I was 2 and my mom's gonna get locked up for sure. How could I possibly fuck up worse than that?'

He had fantasized about Sabrina so many times in that pink lace bra and matching panties she wore when he got initiated. "Nah, I'm reading too much into this shit." He muttered as he watched a group of young kids playing on the jungle gym across the way. 'What the fuck, I'm 15. Why do I want kids?' His thoughts were usually fucked up, but this was just bizarre.

Caleb spent the day wandering the town and thinking about all the things that happened in the last 24 hours. At 5:30, he began to head towards Sabrina's. He passed a man on the corner selling flowers. "How much?" The man looked at the various arrangements and grabbed one "$5 for this. Not the prettiest, but still nice." The flowers, the same ones that grew around the tree the night he met Sabrina. "Deal."