Strong Back

1| Beginning

Sincere Sinclair

My parents got us out of the south projects the moment they had enough money saved up to purchase a spacious home for our safety in a new environment, across the city in Tribeca.

The public housing wasn't bad.

Except for the area we once lived and the move to a more spacious area was a dream come true.

The four bedroom, three and a half baths, in the 2,500 lot.

Graduating community college, I ended up teaching at the community center as a coach in basketball and an assistant to the owner of the gym there.

Another change was my music, my passion and skills in the art of Trap or Rap music.

Juggling work, family time and my personal life in a whole day to get everything completed.

I had to quit my old jobs due to booking gigs all over the city and I didn't mind when triple the money I used to make started pouring in and I could finally help my family with the move.

The move was better as my manager saw it as an opportunity to go further with my new career.

Only for a year later, things went south when I ditched a huge performance to visit a friend who got shot and was admitted in the hospital.

That was how I knew that on visitation, I could be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Full on ghetto.

There was yet another shooting in the hospital and I was taken into questioning by the cops which was bad for my image.

The news and photos blew up just as the gossips and I was thankful to be out the next day.

A whole month went by without a tour, gig or studio time. My manager Mugga was focused on a new face that he forget about me but he learned from it the moment the next guy was arrested and sued for copyright.

I hired a new manager and a much better one who kept me busy.

Khalid wasted no time and for the next three years I was known and in the spotlight.

It was also time to move out of my parents house and into my own as I was tired of all the places I have been renting all over the states and places I've visited.

It was a waste of money to do all that, so I called up my pops, Daniel Sinclair, to find me a perfect home in a certain price range.

He worked his magic as a great real estate agent and we made it a small trip as a family, to the place I was to rest my head if it spikes my interest.

Pops started taking about the neighborhood and space before he even opened the doors.

They didn't question how I spend my money since they taught me the values and I saw first hand of what poverty is and I never wanted to be there.

Even to the point of spending a good twenty eight million on a whole six floor town house in Brooklyn.

Mama asked one question before I purchased it and it was; 'Do I see myself having a family here?'

She didn't have to ask since I told Pops to show me the best that he would see my family in whenever they came to visit and he didn't disappoint.

All that needed to be done then was small renovations to modernize and decorate the space for my future lover and unborn children.

For now I was enjoying my life as a bachelor and the house made for my future family was a hang out slash chill spot. There was a party here after every tour since I wasn't use to the silence and emptiness of my home.

Mama then replayed the question about family, but was I ready?

I wasn't sure.

_____

Krysceal Empress Miller

I always hated the way some guys flirt or the gesture they do as they try to look attractive.

I was minding my own business as I sat in a diner booth waiting for my best friend to return with what he ordered for us.

That same moment, I was looking around and what caught my attention were the different guys looking my way.

Dem instantly sick mih stomach.

One was about to be bold and approach me but Terrell's arrival. Stopping his flow. "What chu' looking at?"

"Some boys." I admitted and his brow rose in question.

He looked in the direction I was looking at the first guy who was bold enough to stare back while the others looked away.

It was just a group with four friends and they fail to read my uninterested expression.

"You ain't ready for no lil boyfriend." He warned aloud as the guy looked away but he gained the attention of plenty others around us.

"I wasn't interested." I told him loud as it did and he scoffed.

"Then why you looking? You probably think I was born yesterday but no matter how that big head is grown, you not street smart so mind your own. This ain't the island Jamaica. And New York's the concrete jungle so chill and don't melt."

"My head is no bigger than yours and you misread the situation. I'm just wondering why they're mimicking a house fly." The drink in Terrell's mouth spewed out as he coughed and I laughed.

Terrell and I aren't related by blood but since my mother or my parents were his godparents back when they attended university, I consider him a brother.

He was the older brother to me and my deceased twin brother Kris.

The death happened during our early childhood years but it got us closer than before.

Terrell Banks and his parents, have kept my family's secrets for years but they had enough evidence on my father's wife.

Meeting with a complete stranger that I might have to live with and get to know wasn't something I would ever see myself doing.

I've lived my past twenty years in a single parents household with my mother and grandmother.

Now they made a plan that I would have to abide by so they would stop pestering me.

I took this opportunity to eat my very first America hamburger combo with a cup of sprite. I didn't know what to say except for the fact that I couldn't eat much of it but the fries were great.

Just as I was about to complain to Terrell about the food, that's when his parents walked in with a look of determination on their faces.

It was time to finally meet my father and possibly ruin his happy marriage or family.

I came here from Jamaica with Terrell or Terry as I've always called him and he was there to drag me here.

His job was to transfer me to his parents and that was the exchange as they all plan my future like Barbie in a doll house.

Problem.

I was not barbie, though I'm petite as a doll.

And I've never believed in dream houses because nothing is perfect.