by Chunichi
“What’s on your mind?” Breeze asked, noticing I was deep in thought.
“Breeze, let me start by saying, that I love you so much, and have for a long time.”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, wondering what was coming next.
“Well, I owe you an apology.” I took a deep breath, then continued. “Look, I’m the reason all that beef started on the streets. I told Mannie you had a new connect, and you were working with other people, and you were gonna take the streets over. I was so hurt that day we got into it that I let my emotions get the best of me. I wanted you to hurt like I was hurting, so I figured the only way to hurt you was to hit you in your pockets. I had no idea it would go this far. Will you find it in your heart to forgive me?” I asked.
This time Breeze had done to me what I’d done to him a week before. He placed his index finger across my lips and said, “Shh…say no more.” Then he gave me a soft kiss on the lips.
That kiss seemed almost magical. It was like no other kiss we’d ever had. It gave me the courage to tell him what I’d needed to tell him for some time. So, without even thinking, I began, “Breeze, I have one more thing to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
“Junior is—”
“Freeze! Don’t move! Get on the ground!” Before I could finish my statement, eight police officers had come out of nowhere and ambushed us.
Breeze and I did as they instructed and got onto the ground.
“Byron Miller, you are under arrest for the murder of Jonathan Stevens, also known as Mr. Biggs,” the cop blurted out.
“No, he didn’t do it. Let him go! Please!” I begged.
“Yes, I did. I confess to the murder. Please take me away,” Breeze stated, and the cops quickly handcuffed him. I was in shock. I felt helpless as I watched them walk Breeze toward one of the cop cars and put him in the back seat. As they drove away, Junior and I held on tight to each other and cried.
Epilogue
Had I made the right choice, taking the rap for Trixy’s murder? It was all I could think about that night I was arrested. When I heard those cops say my name, I knew it was all over. I said a quick, silent prayer, and asked God to forgive me for everything I had done. I had messed up so many innocent people along my journey, and I was tired of the life I was living. I felt like taking the rap was my own way of paying for all the pain I’d caused everyone. Now, as I lay up in my bed, all I could think about was if I had made the right descision.
It didn’t take long for the news to spread that I was locked up. The letters and visits started pouring in after a couple of days of me being back in here. My first letter was from Tanisha. She’d been on my mind since the incident at the crib, but I never had the courage to hit her up. I didn’t know what to say. As I opened her letter, I already knew what to expect. I read the first line. As I expected, she was very concerned about my well–being, but after expressing her worries and concerns came the words, “I’m sorry.” What followed was an explanation of why she could no longer be with me. I truly loved Tanisha and I knew she was a good woman, so that’s why I knew I had to let her go. After reading the letter I threw it away. I didn’t even bother to write her back.
Letters from my mom, grandmother, and kids followed. Realizing I was about to be away from my kids again really fucked me up. My mom never told me she was disappointed in me, but I knew she was. She said in her letters that she didn’t have the heart to come and visit me yet, because she didn’t think she could handle seeing me locked up again. Grandma, on the other hand, told me straight up she wasn’t coming to see me. She said she would never stop loving me and she would pray for me until the day she died, but until I got right with the Lord, she couldn’t do much else for me. She told me she was holding the necklace Moses had given me, and when I was ready to where it again, she would send it to me.
Trixy and Junior were the first to visit. I had to admit, I was excited as hell to see them, and they were just as happy to see me. At our visit I got some unexpected news. I found out Junior was my son. I didn’t know if that was good news or bad news considering the situation I was currently in.
After our visit I headed back to my cell in a daze. It was time to reevaluate things. As I lay on the bed in my prison cell, I wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself into. It seemed like just the other day I was released from prison, and now I found myself right back in jail again. No, this wasn’t the plan I’d had, but it was the life I’d lived. The streets were all I knew. Live by the game die by the game. The game hadn’t killed me physically, but sitting in my jail cell I wondered if I could consider myself to still be living.
Urban Books, LLC
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Deer Park, NY 11729
The Streets Keep Calling Copyright © 2010 Chunichi
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-59983-162-6
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living, or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
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