Do Better Blues (Urban Fiction)

Intro

Kareem and Rakim both lay in their beds as the familiar bangs and yells echoed through the thin walls.

They were fighting again

It had been days since the last time his mom and step-dad fought. Wishing that the argument would just end, Kareem turned on his side, covering his face with his pillow.

Taking a deep breath he tried to calm his nerves, but before he could even exhale a loud crashing sound took over followed by an ear piercing scream.

Kareem shot up out of the bed locking eyes with Rah. The older brother stared at Kareem as his mother's cries turned into plea's. Kareem just stared back, fear in his eyes. Rah, on the other hand had a different look in his eyes.

A look of pure anger.

He was tired of his step-dad coming home and taking all of his frustrations out on his mother's face. He was tired of acting like everything was normal for the sake of his mother. He was too old and too fed up to just listen to his step-dad slowly but surely kill her.

"Fuck this shit, yo." The older brother mumbled as he threw the covers off of him. He quickly walked into the closet and grabbed the shoebox on the top shelf.

Kareem sat on the edge of the bed watching with wide eyes as his brother tucked the weapon into his pants.

"Kareem I want you to stay in here and lock the door. Don't come out here for nothing aight" Rah said just as another bang sounded off.
Kareem saw something flash across Rah's eyes as his jaw clenched something serious.

"Aight." Kareem whispered. He couldn't even find his voice because he'd never been this scared in his life. The fights happened all the time but they were never this bad. He knew what Rah got out of that shoe box and he knew the tragedies that could take place when he walked out of that door.

What he didn't know was that he'd have to live with the flashbacks of what he saw that night or live without his brother for the next several years because NYPD did everything they could to get the young man off the streets. They couldn't pin Rah with the drug charges they've tried so hard for since he started coming up in the game, so they got him for manslaughter.

Now that his brother is locked up and his mother is trying her hardest to move forward from the past, Kareem feels he has nothing to lose.

He vowed he'd never feel the pain of that night again and he'd do anything to keep the thoughts from resurfacing.

Anything