Shoes On A Wire

Troy - Between a rock and a hard place

The wail of sirens hurtling past his window woke me from a not so deep sleep. Landsdowne apartments were 7 story buildings that looked like someone built it with their eyes closed and one hand tied behind their back. I didn't exactly live in the ritz hotel. I glance at my younger twin brothers Jamar and Shawn, only 10 years old sharing the blow up mattress.

I'm the oldest at 17 yet I still had to share this cramped, desolate room with them. The cold of October had seeped in through the broken window seal and made me shiver pulling my thin cover up over my neck and off of my feet.

I sighed. I could hear my little sister Tanisha crying in the other room. I groaned inwardly If Mom wasn't home I'd have to check on her.

Thankfully I heard the creak of a door and a soft voice whispering. Eventually Tanisha quieted and I settled back down in his bed. I needed a new bed ,I knew that but I wouldn't pressure mom for that when she couldn't give me that.

*-*

The next morning I was awoken when a large object that was giggling and making a lot of noise fell on me .

"Jamar get your ass off of me or I'll beat you" I grumbled.

"It was Shawn's fault , don't blame me, Troy" Said Jamar as he rolled off my bed. Shawn was in the closet sifting through old clothes.

"Clean that shit up well find the ball later, y'all need to get to school" I said as I got up and went to the kitchen.

The milk was off.

I could hear Jamar groaning "but I don't wanna go to school, it sucks" from the other room.

Shawn had followed me out and was staring at me.

"What are you lookin at" I said with a grimace as he crunched on his dry Cheerios.

"Jimmy and Walter don't go to school everyday and they just fine . Why do we have to go?" Shawn murmured.

"First of all, Jimmy and Walter are not going to be fine because they won't be able to keep a job, and second of all, Jimmy and Walter are 2 years older than you" I sighed.

Shawn rolled his eyes but he went and got his shoes on. Jimmy and Walter were two twelve year olds from down the hall who would always like to brag about their freedom to the twins but I had seen there house before. A welfare funded shack like apartment full of mice. Not something to brag about.

I had forgotten to pick up the laundry the day before so I'd slept in my clothes, I made a mental note to pick it up after work.

I pulled on my frayed sneakers "Shawn get your shit let's go" I shouted as I opened the door.

I trotted down the staircase in silence while Jamar and Shawn ran around in front of me. We lived only two blocks from school but mom always worried about Jamar's heart condition so she made us  walk together.

Floor 4 of Landsdowne apartments we usually avoided since there was a Old town royal drug dealer there and one would get accidentally shot if they stayed too long.

We walked out of the heavy swinging doors in an eerie silence around the block, dodging broken bottles. The clouds were thickened above us like pea soup, warning of rain.

It wasn't always so depressing but more often now I would see the negative side of things. It definitely seemed better when dad was still alive.

It was harder to notice the bottles and the broken street lamps.

We were once a normal family. We had barbecues and a pool and awkward relatives that would visit. We weren't those stereotypical thug families. I knew that. But those things stopped becoming normal a long time ago. Dad's death was engraved in every family norm that we would do. Those barbecues after that felt empty. They sold the pool for money. The relatives? They were at the funeral and such but were they really there after that?