Chapter 1: Then
Police sirens blared behind them as Ryan was sweating bullets in the passenger seat. This was his first time doing something this...... dangerous, crazy. He went from playing X Box this morning to being chased by the police in a stolen car.
"Pull over nigga!" Ryan panicked, shouting at his bestfriend, Cassius when he noticed two more squad cars pull up behind them.
"Hell nah, you crazy?!"
Ryan took out his phone and contemplated on calling his mama. He couldnt fake it or even try to pretend to be hard right now, he was shitting bricks! He swallowed hard and ran his hands through his kinky brown hair.
Cassius made a sharp turn into a dark alleywall and then another in a hidden passageway. Ryan looked out the window, confused. How did this nigga know this was here? Coming out the other way of the passageway, four squad cars sat waiting for them. Cassius smiled as he zoomed past them and into moving traffic, this was exhilarating for him.
Soon, the car bleeped indicating gas was low. Cassius cursed loudly and slammed his fist into the dashboard. Ryan looked at him then the police who were pretty far behind them. "Let's just jump out."
"Jump out?" Cassius surveyed his surroundings quickly then nodded. "Yeah, good idea. Come on."
They unclicked their seatbelts then jumped out in unison. Ryan tumbled onto the street, rolling down the hill feeling his arms and legs scraping up. He quickly gained balance on his feet and took off full speed through the neighborhood. "Hey, get back here nigger!" He heard the cop yell but didn't look back. Cassius was cool, he always was.
Ryan jumped a fence and tiptoed quietly out through the backyard as a sleeping pitbull laid out with no leash or chain. He hopped over the other side, letting out a relived breath and continued his job to his apartment.
The apartments that Ryan lived in was dingy. They weren't the absolute best but they also weren't the worst. He walked up the stairs that the manager kept pretty clean and made it to the fourth floor where he lived. He banged on door 405 and waited for an answer.
His thirteen year old sister, Ashley stood there already in her pajamas. "Hey... Mama bought pizza."
Ryan slipped off his shirt and threw it on the once white couch that was now stained and tainted. His eleven year old brother, Jade sat on it eating a slice of mushroom pizza. Ryan looked at his place in disgust. "Why she buy that shit? I don't eat that."
Ashley shrugged and sashayed back to the bedroom. Ryan let out a breath and sat beside his brother. This was the usual.
Ryan would wake up each day around seven, he would shower depending on if his mother remembered to pay the utilities and water, get dressed then meet up with Cassius and havoc shit around Seattle until about six. Then he would make his way home where his mother would already be out doing her late night shift at the burger joint two blocks away.
At seventeen, Ryan could had a lot going for him. He was good at football but his grades and the countless amount of fight he got into at school couldn't get him a spot on the team even if he pleaded. He would sometimes freestyle with Cassius out at the basketball courts, they would usually spark a crowd. Ryan also sold drugs, light weed, around school and in the complex he lived in. Nothing major, nothing to get him sporting new sneakers and fast cars, just enough to feed his siblings when his mother was on that shit.
"You watching this?" Ryan grabbed the remote, nudging towards Cartoon Network playing on the television.
Jade said nothing and bit into his pizza. Ryan sighed, switching it to ESPN.
