Trash bags lined up heavily against the sidewalk edges, and food wrappers blew past Kladae's feet as she made her way back to her new home gripping the bag of clean laundry. The wind blew mercilessly and the clouds were moving in signifying the rainy day that was about to emerge. The sun was shining but it was starting to move behind the clouds signaling to her that it was time to put some pep in her step.
Gang bangers claimed their territories against boarded up homes, trap houses to be exact, on opposite ends staring at every single car that drove up and down through the neighborhood. As most expected, neither of the gangs liked one another however what people didn't expect, was for both gangs to respect each other.
Kladae felt eyes on her as she walked past both gangs clutching her iPhone 7 in hand. Her hand grazed over the cracked screen pieces as she kept one hand in her pocket, and the other tightly hanging onto the bag not wanting to get jacked. Gang bangers from both ends recognized her to be the new track star everyone was hyped about, however, they chose to let her be and continued to mind their business.
The Meck family had just moved to the new apartment after spending two and a half months partly homeless and motel hopping. All while they hustled on the streets scrambling for money, they managed to keep their conditions on a hush so Kladae could still practice for track. After experiencing for the first time, what it was like to be homeless, Kladae's goal to become one of the best track stars in the county and hopefully one day become an Olympian.
Kladae waved hello at Ms.Perry, an old woman who was her neighbor and continued walking down until finally she made it to the entrance of her apartment. She walked to the elevator and read the Out of service sign and sighed looking over at the door that shielded the stairs. She shifted the bag in her hand as she hauled the bag up the flights of stairs to the eighth floor where she lived.
"Momma I'm home!" She yelled out and was met with no response. She sighed closing the door behind her, figuring that her mother had left for work —her mother was a hustler like no other and in order to secure her, Shadae, and Kladae's future, her mother worked two jobs to keep both the lights on and money in both Kladae's and Shadae college fund in case Track didn't work in their favor. Little did Kladae's mother, Kesani, know that both her daughters were determined to make it and gain scholarships so that their college funding money would be hers to own.
Kladae pulled off her beat up sneakers and sighed once again when her stomach growled letting her know that she was hungry. She dropped the bag on the couch that had came with the apartment, and walked to the kitchen to find something in the fridge to eat. All there was in the fridge was leftovers from nights ago and a almost empty milk carton. She grabbed the carton deciding that she'd do the honors and finish it with some cereal and grabbed the off brand frosted flakes.
