Alphabet City 5 by Jamell Crouthers

Author:Jamell Crouthers
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jamell Crouthers
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Jermaine-Protecting My Sister

My life is not as easy as a lot of kids,

I have to constantly be protective of my sister Shameka.

My mother I protect too but she holds her own,

She’ll fight someone over me so I totally get it.

For me, life is about passing the torch to others,

I’ve been putting my sister on the game of Alphabet City.

We as young kids have to make decisions every day,

Whether to walk down that block, to cut through certain buildings to avoid danger.

To know who’s carrying a gun, who’s the drug dealers, gangsters,

The killers who have no regard for human life and have no conscience.

Knowing that at any given moment, we may have to duck,

To dodge and evade bullets flying in our direction.

Yup, that’s life as a teenager in Alphabet City,

I managed to avoid gang life even though I still get recruited to be part of it.

I keep my distance, I speak to them from a distance,

Whether it’s across the street or at least a few feet away.

With law enforcement around, government officials,

They’re snapping pictures from iPhones, Androids and cameras.

I want no involvement with what they’re doing and Shameka neither,

It’s why I tell her to watch herself, even the nice pretty girls who walk the neighborhood.

They’re involved in gang life too and will sucker you into some crazy mess,

Things I’ve seen when I was younger don’t sit right with me till this day.

I’ve watched young girls get suckered into gang life,

Then get kidnapped and trafficked to never be seen again.

News reports will report a young girl is missing,

Months later be found by the river under the bridge with her body floating naked.

It’s why I’m annoying with Shameka, it’s what she tells me I am,

But I know deep down, she loves me and understands that I care and don’t want anything bad happening to her.

There’s too many bad things going on around us daily,

To protect her is to keep one young woman from being scarred for life.

She sees the drug addicts fall victim to a drug that deteriorates their inner and outer beauty,

The good thing is I know she’ll never head down that horrible path.

It’s teaching her the right things, how to manage situations,

Dealing with men in this neighborhood who mostly have no respect.

Let’s just say there have been a few situations I had to step up,

Be in a gang member’s face who could literally shoot and kill me and tell him, there will be no disrespecting my sister.

Where I’ve brought a knife to a gun fight and walk away unscathed,

But those are the things you don’t tell your mother but you just know, it’s how we have to protect our family.

While I do care about getting home safely every night,

Shameka is more important to get home safely than me.

If something ever happens to me, she knows how to survive without me,

I don’t want her to survive but it’s what we have to do living in Alphabet City.

Of course we all want change but it’s a collective effort,

Life in the hood isn’t easy

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