The Hood Ain't For Everyone

Chapter Two

I walked into my apartment still thinking about Tyrone. It had been years since I'd seen my brother. My mother never bothered to visit him and I never wanted to go to a prison alone.

Would he sleep here tomorrow, I thought to myself. I highly doubted it. Tyrone hated living here as much as I did. He would practically go anywhere else. He was set to be released at nine in the morning and we weren't even the ones picking him up. I'd see him for the first time in five years at the kickback tomorrow.

I made a beeline for the kitchen and began rummaging through the fridge. I wasn't surprised to find it as depressingly empty as it was before work. I scanned the kitchen looking for a note and food money, a regular sign that my mother was gone for the night and won't be back until morning. There wasn't one. She'd most likely be home soon with food or some leftovers for me from some date she went on.

I blew out a sigh of frustration. I had finally found a job just so I could avoid situations like these and it was still another week until my first paycheck. My stepfather had been gone a little over two months and she was already dating. A loud thump drew my mind away from my thoughts and towards the hallway. All the lights were off when I came in except the light over the stove.

"Mom?" I weakly called out. It wasn't unlike her to take a nap before going out. I waited a moment but didn't hear a response. I walked towards the hallway, hearing voices and movement.

I know I heard something now and we lived in a bad enough neighborhood that I didn't want to be the victim that hears a sound and ignores it. I crept along the hallway slowly praying that I was wrong. There was a soft crunch under my foot the further I went. I bent down and felt the floor.

Glass.

I gently held the shard in my hand wondering what in my house was broken. I didn't realize I was holding my breath until my hand was on my mother's bedroom door. I took a calming breath and pushed open the door and flipped the lights on.

The scene before me horrified me. My mother was strapped to the bed with a gag in her mouth and fear in her eyes.

Her clothes were ripped apart barely hanging onto her body. Her arms were stretched apart against the four poster bed. My stepfather, Jason, sat at the foot of the bed with a bloody chain wrapped around his fist."Hey there Carol. Long time, no see right? Look, me and your mom need to finish talking and then I'm gonna come get you. We have a lot to discuss as a family, don't we Mary?" He raised his fist at my mom before she frantically nodded yes. "You disappeared for six weeks, then you come back and do this?" I screamed at Jay. If he thought I was leaving him alone with her he was greatly mistaken. "You told her that I just disappeared?" He asked, staring at my mom with eyes full of hate. Bound and gagged on the bed she couldn't respond. There was so much sweat around her face that it was easy to tell they'd been alone for a while. "I guess you couldn't bear telling her what you did, huh? Couldn't you tell her the truth? Tell our daughter that her mother is a whore!" Waiting on an answer but realizing he wouldn't receive one Jason turned back to me and continued on with his rant."I tried switching you and your mother over to my new insurance but when we gave them your DNA you were rejected as only biological children are eligible." "Yeah so what-" It was at this moment Kevin burst through the door with a gun pointed straight at Jason. "I don't know what the fuck is going on but you should get the fuck outta here!" Shouted Kevin . He looked pretty serious about shooting Jason as they never really got along. I made a mental note to ask where that gun came from later but at the moment I was glad he had it.

"What the fuck?" Said Jason in utter astonishment.
"I said get the fuck outta here!"

Jason seemed to weigh his options then turned his attention back to me.

"Carol get your-"
"Naw she ain't going nowhere you just get up outta here!" Interjected Kevin .

Jason looked between me and Kevin's trigger finger before skirting around us and out the door.

"Were you actually gonna shoot him?" I asked once we heard the front door close. My voice shook as I spoke and I wanted to scream.

"No, the gun ain't even loaded. I figured he'd just leave if I flashed it at him. Besides, I'm kind of tipsy. Didn't wanna accidentally shoot him." His eyes wouldn't meet mine as he quickly put the gun in his waistband in a clearly familiar way.

I shook my head as I walked over to my mom. Kevin was lying, I could always tell. Pushing hair away from her face I look down at my mom's tear streaked face. Her wrists were red and the knots seemed ridiculously thick. I laid the glass on the nightstand next to her.

"Looks like she fell unconscious. She'll probably have a few bruises but I think I came home before he could really do anything. He tied her up with some weird knots. I'm gonna go get a knife from the kitchen. Can you lock the front door for me?" He nodded his head before following me out of the room.

Heading into the kitchen, making sure to turn all the light on as I went, I grabbed the sharpest knife I could find. I couldn't believe the mess that was in the hallway and led into the living room.

"He locked it already when he left. Does he still have a key?" asked Kevin walking towards me. He placed the gun on the kitchen counter before taking the knife from me.

"Yea, I mean how else did he get in? My mom wouldn't have opened the door." We walked back into the bedroom where my mom was still asleep. He cut her wrists free while I just stared at her from afar.

"I can't believe he did something like this. He said he found out I wasn't his daughter." I say looking down at my fingers, suddenly finding them the most interesting thing in the room.

Kevin took a long breath before looking my way. I could feel the burn of his gaze on me, urging me to lift my head. My eyes meet his, and like most times recently, I found them sad and comforting.

"I think he genuinely thought you were his. It's "grown folks business". He said rolling his eyes as he put up air quotations. "But I think the timeline of your dad being with Mary and Jay meeting her are muddled. I think she let him believe what he wanted to believe."

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