Little Sis, these times are hard

Prologue

"Get out." Allen Jones said bluntly to his younger sister, her dark brown eyes looked up at him before turning her attention to the passenger door. She was just about to open it when he said: "If anyone picks on you, tell me. I'll break their skull in."

Alma looked back at her older brother, his own red eyes looking seriously into her own. She knew he would do it. Even though sometimes he had a twisted way of showing it, her brother cared about her deeply. Sometimes that way of showing it was sheltering her or scaring the crap out of kids that were rude to her.

"...okay." She replied. Unlike his rough and anger filled voice, hers was soft and monotone. He expected nothing else. That was usually how she responded when he spoke about violence to her.

He watched the reddish-brunette open the door of his run-down car and walk up to the elementary school. She was skinny and small, despite being eleven she looked like she was nine. She also got sick very easily. Anything that Allen dealt with every day, a blow to the head, a wound from a knife, a shot from a gun....it could all easily damage the fifth grader......

As Al started the car as soon as his sister was out of sight, he tried to swallow down his worries once again.

He knew that if the others ever found out about his younger sibling, they'd use it against him.

___________

Before Alma was born, Allen was an only child with two parents who fought nearly all the time. Truth to be told, they mostly fought about who was to blame for Al's behavior, He was a trouble child. He got into gangs when he was in middle school and into street races before he was legally old enough to actually drive a car.

Everything changed, however, when Allen's mother became pregnant when he was fifteen. She became sickly and never left bed. When his little sister was finally born, he's mother was gone.

Allen was forced to raise his sister and watch his father sink into depression. Their father always got drunk and would come home that way. Al would then hide Alma as he received the full brunt of his father's beatings. Things became a little easier when Alma was old enough to understand what was going on and would plead with their dad to stop. Her tears and sobbing pierced their father's drunken heart and he would stop beating Al for the night.

When he was finally old enough to leave, Allen didn't. He stayed behind in fear that Alma would start getting beaten instead of him.

That was when the day that Allen knew was coming came. He got the call that he was now in custody of his sister since his father had died coming home drunk while driving. Alma was the only one that really cried for him, though Al knew their father wasn't worth his little sister's tears.

Sadly, he had no good money to provide for them both, He tried his best to get a good paying job, rising suspicion in Oliver and the others. He told them that he was sick of living in the dump and was trying to get money to get out of there. Truth to be told, he wanted to get Alma out of the dark and cruel apartments and alleys.

And he almost had the money to do so.