The Kick Back

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Stephanie and I didn't depart until later on that night, or morning rather. We managed to doze off despite the risk of someone we knew finding us there with each other, in one another's embrace. I smiled the whole walk back to my side of town, thinking about the time we had spent at the edge. However, I knew I would soon be brought back to reality by the smell of alcohol seeping from underneath the front door of the house me, my mother, and my wild younger sister shared.

I pulled my key from my back pocket, and carefully unlocked the door. My biggest concern was waking my mother up and having to deal with her drunken requests. I was tired and all I wanted to do at that point was go to bed. I stepped inside and found my mother laying on the couch, drunk and passed out. That was the norm, so I threw a blanket over her and proceeded to my bedroom.

As I walked down the hallway, something caught my attention. I heard slight moaning and a little bit of bumping coming from my sister's room. I felt like my mind was playing tricks on me so I moved a little closer to the door to get a better listen. I figured that what I was thinking was going on was impossible. My sister was barely 15, a year or so younger than me, and sex was the last activity I thought she was partaking in. Before I could stop myself, I busted through her bedroom door. What I saw sent a rage through me that I had never felt before. There she was, on top of a man that looked to be about twice her age. I didn't recognize him at first and then I realized who he was.

Vince was an Italian cat who lived around the way. He stayed about three blocks down from us our whole lives. He was a few years older than me and he sold drugs for a living. He was known for cutting into girls who were younger than he was because he felt like he could control them. Still, he had older women on the side who could frequent clubs with him and make him look and feel like he was the man. I never really paid him any mind, we spoke when we saw each other but I never asked too many questions. I felt like his business was his business and mine was mine. I never thought we would end up formally meeting like this...

"What the fuck is goin' on in here?!" I screamed, waking my mother from her drunken slumber. I ran over to them and damn near jumped into bed with them. I snatched her fast ass off of him and threw her to the floor without even thinking. I had snapped, rage fueled me. I didn't think about the ties this dude had in the streets at that point, I just wanted to snap his neck to ensure that he never put his hands on my sister again.

"Don't do it, lil' man!" he shouted, before he could finish his sentence, I struck him. As soon as he fell to the ground, I started stomping the shit out of him. Gabrielle screamed as she watched the blood pour from Vince's mouth and pool on the floor beneath him. That's when my mother came into the room. She stumbled towards me and pulled me back, only to be elbowed to the floor. She started screaming along with Gabby for me to stop, but I was too far gone. It felt like I couldn't stop striking him, I felt like I wanted him to die right there in front of me. He had taken my sister's innocence in my eyes and I wasn't having that. Before I could do too much damage, one of my neighbors ran in. I guess he thought there was something going on between me and my mother again so he came in to intervene.

Marco grabbed me and hemmed me up against the wall. "Calm your ass down! Don't do this in front of them, mijo!" Marco was a cool dude and he had gotten me out of lot of shit involving Mike and the rest of the fellas. He always encouraged me to keep a cool head, even during times when keeping a cool head was the hardest.

"Stop! Breathe!" Marco told me, trying his best to calm me down. The tears immediately began to run down my face. Vince managed to stand to his feet and grab the rest of his clothes. My mother helped Gabby up off the floor as she held her elbow. I didn't mean to hurt her, all I wanted to do was get to Vince. I never wanted to hurt Gabby. Marco turned to Vince, still holding on to me.

"Get the fuck outta here!" he yelled. Vince took his time and remained calm, cool, and collected. He glared at me on his way out the door. "This ain't over. You'll see me again and when you do, it's gonna be you who bleeds, you got me? You fucked up, boy!" he threatened. He made his way out of the front door and Marco didn't let me go until he heard his car pull off. Gabby ran out of the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I looked at both Marco and my mother and threw my hands up. "I'm done with this shit. I'm goin to bed. Don't bother me, don't ask me for shit. You on your own!" I yelled. I stormed out of the room, into my bedroom and once again, cried myself to sleep.

I was in hot water and Stephanie was on my mind heavy while I slept. I didn't know what to tell her the next time we met up. But in order to keep her safe, I would have to let her know what happened...