Sleepers of Hell's Kitchen

1.

HELL'S KITCHEN SUMMER

SHAKES POV
My four friends and I were inseparable, happy and content to live in the closed world of Hell's Kitchen. The West Side streets of Manhattan were our private playground, a cement kingdom where we felt ourselves to be nothing less than absolute rulers. Hell's Kitchen was populated by an uneasy blend of Irish, Italian, Puerto Rican, and Eastern European laborers. Hard men living hard lives. We lived in railroad apartments inside red brick tenements. Few mothers worked and all had trouble with the man they married. Domestic violence was a cottage industry in Hell's Kitchen, yet there was no divorce and few separations. The will of the church was forceful, for a marriage to end someone usually had to die. Yet, despite the harshness of life. Hell's Kitchen offered the kids on its streets a safety net enjoyed by few other neighborhoods. Crimes against people of the neighborhood were not permitted. Hell's Kitchen was a place of innocence ruled by corruption.

The temperature was currently at 76 degrees, in the summer in Hell's Kitchen. By the way, the name is Lorenzo Carcaterra, ''Shakes''. I live here alongside four of my closest friends that I have known for a long time.

''Hey throw me another soda over here will ya?'' John Reilly, the smallest of our group. A dark-haired, dark-eyed charmer. He is our heart, an innocent surrounded by violence he could not prevent. John lived with his mother and all the boyfriends she brought home. He was a talented kid who had a real apt in art.

Lina tossed John a soda from the ice bucket next to her. Lina Carson, a beautiful part Asian, part Italian girl raised by her foster mother and her boyfriend. Never knowing who or where her real parents were. The unwanted attention she gets never got to her, Lina was a fierce girl, who was not afraid to stand up for herself. Nevertheless, she almost got raped by a group of drunk boys in the fall of last year, ever since all four of us and Father Bobby feel protective about her, after all she was one of our closest friends.

''I'm literally fryin' like a little sausage up here, I think I am even able to cook an egg on my stomach.'' Thomas Marcano, ''Tommy''. Raised by both his mother and father, his father works as a mine worker so he was away a lot, but he brings in a steady wage. Tommy was considered one of the 'lucky' ones compared to other families in Hell's Kitchen. However, every family has its downfalls, right?

''There is still a lil breeze up here, can't ya feel?'' Michael Sullivan, ''Mikey'', ''Mike''. Lina Carson's boyfriend, officially became a couple after Mikey had liked her for a very long time already, and let's just say they are both the most sexually experienced of our group. Mike, part Irish, lives with his gambling addicted father, who often forgets he even has a son, his mother was remarried living someplace in Brooklyn. The best student among us, Michael was a smooth blend of book smart and street savvy. His black Irish eyes bore holes through their targets, but his manner was softened by a wide, expansive smile. He was our unofficial leader, a position he valued but never flaunted.

''What breeze? We are surrounded by a wall genius.'' Tommy replies by throwing his shirt at Michael.

''Shakes, you want one too or nah?'' That only leaves me, ''Shakes''. I am the youngest of the group, and yet they treated me as an equal. We had so much else in common that once I was accepted, my age never became an issue. A sure sign of their acceptance was, when less than a week after we met, they gave me a nickname. They called me Shakespeare, because I was never without a book. I live with my mother and father raised by both. My mother, being Italian, was yet another victim of Domestic Violence.

''Nah, I'm good thanks.'' I replied, deep in thought.

The five of us were at our usual spot, a flat roof of Hell's Kitchen Restaurant, catching the rays of sun. Currently in our summer break, we enjoyed our free days doing whatever we felt like doing that day.