Serenity

Ten

"What y'all boys on today?" I asked as I walked up the the guys who were chilling at the park on Southside.

"Shit, slanging these birds," Jamal answered, causing the small group to chuckle a little bit.

I had friends over in Lakewood, but my real homies stayed here on Southside. It wasn't the best side of town, in fact, people were scared to come on this side. It was pretty bad actually. I wasn't scared to go on no side of town though, so I really couldn't judge if it was that scary or not.

"Y'all still ain't heard anything yet?" I asked.

"Nah, Leeko, but you know we keeping our ears to the streets," Kelvin assured me.

"Maybe we just need to let it go. It happened a year ago, and we still ain't came up on no leads," I said, feeling discouraged.

"Nah, lil bro. Giving up is one thing we ain't gone do. Whoever them niggas was murdered ya father in cold blood right there in front of you. They didn't have no remorse, and we won't either when we find they ass," Cole said. "We gon' give em the same treatment."

Ever since my father was killed, me and the guys had been on a mission to find out who did it. The police wasn't doing they jobs, and the murder remained unsolved. Of course they didn't care no way, especially since it was a black man getting killed, so we decided to take matters into our own hands.

I looked around at the empty park. There were no children on the swings, or the seasaw, or the merry go round. There were no kids in sight. Parents didn't want their kids playing here anymore because it had been taken over by gangs, and too much violence happened in the park.

That was the whole reason my pops had moved us to Lakewood when I was a kid. I had seen too much in my young ages, more than a kid should see. It wasn't rare to see a store get robbed just as you was walking down the street, or maybe even a dead body thrown in a dumpster.

He didn't want me to fall victim to a gang life like some people that he knew. He wanted better for me and my mother, and better was supposed to be in Lakewood. I'll be damned if the same type of niggas that he tried to keep me away from was the niggas that took his life.

He'd probably be rolling over in his grave if he knew what me and the guys were planning. I know he'd be more than upset with me for trying to pull a stunt like this and avenge his murder, but I didn't care.

My dad was the backbone of our family. He was a good man. He loved me and my mother with everything in him. With him gone, things just weren't the same.

"How school goin?" Kelvin asked. He was the oldest of the group. The big brother.

"It's straight. I'm on the basketball team now. Tryna keep my mama off my back," I said, picking at the peeling red paint that was on the bench.

"Awe that's wassup," the boys congratulated me.

"Following in yo dad's footsteps. He'd be a proud man. You got yo talent from him," Kelvin said.

"Yea, but I only like to do that shit for fun. I never thought about competing in no real games for real wins that would mean something to a lot of people."

I still hadn't accepted the starting point guard spot because in truth, I didn't want people depending on me. I ain't someone that folks at school should depend on so heavily. Especially since I ain't exactly the best apple in the bunch.

"You got it, bro. Don't even sweat it. This might be yo chance to make it outta here," Jamal said.

"You don't wanna end up like us. No jobs, barely a real family or home to go to. Having to do this drug shit for money."

"But y'all making it just fine," I said, crossing my arms. I hated when they tried to talk some sense into me.

"But we barely making it, g. We gotta watch our backs and shit. We don't know what the next day gon' bring. We ain't got no bright future ahead of us, but you do," Kelvin said.

"You smart as hell. You make straight A's in school, even with you skipping days and barely showing up to class. I don't know how you do it, but you doing it, and you gon' keep doing. I ain't letting you go down this path," he said, sounding like my father.