I Am Your Brother

by Jaimy Reynolds

  Monty pointed up to another man near the surrounded Seven. That is when the two men lifted Seven on their shoulders. Seven arose higher to the sky and could see the top of a crowd of cheering people. Seven could see how the north side guy was backing away after being confronted. They began to walk with Seven on their shoulders away from the north side guy. The most gratifying feeling that Seven has ever experienced was happening. The group of people below the elevated Seven began to chant, “I AM YOUR BROTHER, HEYYYY! I AM YOUR BROTHER, HEYYYY! I AM YOUR BROTHER HEYYYY! A priceless feel of energy that caused chill bumps throughout his body. He looked up to the sky and thanked God. “So this is what King felt when he was being carried high in the air for doing a good deed.” Pure joy from the smiling Seven.

  Monty and the other man carrying Seven let him down. Seven shakes Monty’s hand and thanks him before he took off running. The crowd was still chanting, while the few who knew his plans waved bye. He ran to the car he came in, opens the trunk, and takes out the black backpack before hurrying into the driver’s seat. He put the keys in the ignition and took off towards Destiny who awaited his arrival. Seven couldn’t believe it. Everything he planned was happening right before his eyes. It was all happening. It wasn’t even a mile from the apartments while sitting at a red light and a Lincoln Town car pulls up next to him. Seven looks to his left and sees that Cash was the driver. The main drug supplier of the apartments, the only one that refused the book and chose not to hear the offer.

  Before the light turned green, the two just stared at each other before Cash signaled Seven to roll his window down. When Seven rolled his window down, Cash raised a pistol towards the face of Seven. “Pull over right now before I put holes in your face,” Cash speaks aggressively. Seven froze with his hands up. “Put your hands down and pull over to the side right there,” Cash yells from the other car. “This can’t be happening right now,” Seven thought to himself. All he could think about was getting to Destiny. He thought about driving off before Cash yelled, “pull over right now before I let this thing loose!” Seven fought to fight another day and did as he was told.

  Seven pulled over on the side of the street and Cash parked right behind him. He then sees police lights in his rear view mirror. A cop car pulled up and parked behind Cash. A side of relief from Seven, thinking the cop was there for his rescue. While staring through the rear view mirror, he could see a policeman get out of his car. It just so happened to be the cop with the eye patch. Seven couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The cop walked up to the side door of the Lincoln and he and Cash shook hands. Cash began to slowly drive off while looking at Seven as he passes by. Seven looked back at the rear view mirror to see the cop just standing there looking towards him. Then it all came to Seven. That was why Cash wanted no parts of him or the deal. He was working with the cop, paying the cop in order to sell his drugs, and not be bothered with.

  The cop began to walk towards the front door of Seven. He approached the door while still facing forward. Then slowly looked down at Seven. He takes the knuckle of his middle finger and taps on the window, knock.. knock.. knock.. knock.. knock. Seven rolls his window down and looks at the one eye that stares back. The two just stare at each other before speaking.

  Chapter

  13

  THE SACRIFICE

  OFFICER: You almost made it to her.

  SEVEN: How did you know that?

  OFFICER: Your willingness to care. An undercover who needed some clinical assistance. We need to talk. Get out the car.

  SEVEN: I can’t do that officer, not today. I have somewhere I need to be. Besides, I know my rights.

  As Seven began to recite the rights that pertained to him, the officer looked to his left and right to see if any cars were driving by. He pulls out his gun and presses the barrel on Seven’s neck. “Do as I say boy, or else your road stops here,” the officer speaks. “And bring that backpack with you.” Seven reaches over and grabs the bag before slowly getting out of the car. The officer puts his gun back in his holster and took out his handcuffs. The cars passing by slowed down to a nosy speed. He walks Seven to the police car and assists him into the back seat. He closes the door and steps inside the driver seat. The officer checks to make sure the camera remained off. He then turns around and stares at Seven through the clear shield that divides them.

  OFFICER: Well, well, well.. we cross paths once again. And there goes that same black backpack you wore on that very night. Perhaps, handed down from the infamous King. The one who has robbed nearly half of the dealers out here. One being the Northside boys. I guess you could say, who I have a little partnership with. And your friend robbed one of the Northside boys for a pretty good penny and a part of that money just so happened to be mine. Which makes it my business. And just when I thought they got rid of the King here comes his clever sidekick. I’ve been putting it all together, going into a great deal of research on you and King. And I must admit, you guys are good. I’m willing to bet you took a great deal of that money and used it to clean up these streets. How heroic of you. I’m debating if I should get your autograph, or maybe a selfie, just to let the people know that I met the guy before he was no more. That is if, I get my money back. (Turns back around and drives off) Oh, my apologies, I happen to be officer Romanowski. And you have the right to remain silent, anything you say, can and will be held against you in a court of law. No.. I am the law today. I’m an eye for an eye type of guy. (Looks at Seven with his one eye through the rear view mirror) You know what I mean.. and who might the ghost man’s name be?

  SEVEN: My name is Seven.. and I ran out of money.

  OFFICER: (Long pause before taking out his baton and lying it across the passenger seat) Well, that’s just too bad.

  The officer’s phone rang and he didn’t bother to not take the call off speaker phone. “Did you get him?” “Yes, I have him in my possession as we speak, thanks to Cash,” the officer replied. Seven could recognize the voice on the speaker. He realized it from the time he was in the bathroom stall on the night he first met Destiny. Then it all came to him. It was indeed the big husky guy from the Northside on the phone. Officer Romanowski was being paid from both Cash and the Northside boys to allow them to hustle without being messed with.

  Seven noticed they were driving further away from the police station when seeing this red, white, and blue painted stand that sold fireworks for the 4th of July. He didn’t have a good feeling about the intentions of the officer, not to mention him feeling sick about not being with Destiny right now. He could feel his phone vibrate inside his pocket nonstop. It was mental torcher from knowing it’s Destiny wondering where he was at. He totally regretted not making Destiny tell him where she planned on moving to. His only way to get of hold of her was by phone. He had to think fast on how he could escape. His mind raced with options. Why would a cop keep him alive to tell his story of the corruption. Or could the cop be driving towards the North so the Northside boys could finish him off. Or what did he plan on doing with his baton out. Despite the nightmarish situation, his only option were to lean towards his faith and trust that God would see him through.

  OFFICER: All you had to do is take the money and get lost. Move out of the ghetto and go on a vacation. But no, you had to go clean up the streets and give back to people who has never did anything for you. Not realizing that you were hurting my business. Less drug dealers to lock up. Less prostitutes walking around leading me to who is doing what. Less action out here in the streets you know. Less of a war zone. So just recently, I was in a meeting full of police officer’s. And the sergeant says out loud, “whatever officer Romanowski is doing out in the Sunset Terrace area, it is working.” Then he pulls up statistics so he could compare last year to the first half of this year. And the crime rate has dropped drastically each month. They are hardly getting any calls from the schools in the area for violence. As matter of fact, each school from the elementary, Jr. high and high schools, all three of the schools grade point average has
increased ten points. Each month the grade point average increased. I even hear the doctors in this area are seeing less and less patients come in for checkups. And I get a good deal of the credit for having a helping hand in the crime rate going down. Little do they all know, it was one man orchestrating this whole thing out, and he was nowhere to be found.

  The more I did my undercover work, I began to discover more and more. But he was good, somehow he got so many people who knew, but did not spill the beans. From that moment on, I knew I was going to have to play rough, because it was bigger than money with this ghost I was looking for. He was winning the people’s heart, which comes the real power. I had to prey on the weak, and threaten a couple drug addicts, fix them up a little, slap them around a little until they spoke. I threatened to take people to jail. I started asking around, putting that deadly eye on them, and intimidating. Coming to lie, steal, cheat and destroy, until I find this hero. And they began to speak and tell me what I needed to hear. You should have seen their eyes after talking. Poor things, they looked so sad. And I’ll have you know, once I knew who the ghost was, and your whereabouts it got strange. The oh so many times I had you right at my finger tips, with my eye on you, and for the first time before being conditioned, I started to wonder if there was a God, because you just seem to slip through my fingertips somehow, some way, without even knowing I was on your tail. And so, after I received my little award plague for doing such fine work in the community, I got after you boy. I became obsessed with you. I thought about you more than my wife. Cause you were really starting to hurt my business. The other ghost, King, put so much fear in a lot of these drug dealers who paid me a percentage. I relied on these dealers, junkies, and these worthless humans who were just taking up space. I needed to catch you and make you pay. I believe in your bible it reads, “seek and you shall find.” And I finally found you. And so I have something for you to see (holds up the award plague with one hand and steering the wheel with the other) Isn’t that something?

  SEVEN: I think it’s a shame.

  OFFICER: (Looking at Seven through the rear view mirror) How so?

  SEVEN: It’s a shame how one man, with a little money can do to help make a big difference in a community in so little time. And our American government who spends millions a day to fund war. Our group of intelligence have yet to put together an intelligent game plan to improve the lower income communities all across America. All these people with degree’s and making big decisions have yet to come up with a game plan to bring about real change. They have yet to figure it out. When really, there is not much to figure out. You just have to have the right kind of heart to do it. One who possesses true love in his heart, one who is not about greed, or driven by the force of pride, control and power. It takes one who has God in their heart and genuinely wants the best for all the people of this country.

  OFFICER: (Slowly begins to clap his hands with a grin on his face) Bravo, and the Oscar for best drama goes too, Seven. The one on the run, on a path to glory, nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, no one cares. It’s a game out here, and if you don’t play the game, the game will play you.

  SEVEN: (Scoots up to the edge of his seat to where his face was just inches from the clear shield) I understand officer Romanowski. I understand your pain. This world has turned you heartless. On top of that being a police officer. I bet you have seen all the crazy things this world has to offer. You get to see the worst part of us people. You see death, you see people killing each other, rapist, men sexually abusing kids, having to lock people up, corruption, and strife in this rat race. You witness all that on top of your own personal fight. On top of not having God in your heart. That has to be a lot on you officer Romonowski.

  OFFICER: Lean back in your seat boy.

  SEVEN: Oh trust me, I understand. I’m praying for you officer. I pray that God touches you like never before, and may Gods will be done.

  OFFICER: Oh, he’s good everyone! (He shouts while he stares at Seven through his rear view mirror) Will see where your God is at here shortly.

  SEVEN: God, touch this man, come into his heart and have him turn from his wicked way. In the name of Jesus I pray.

  OFFICER: Sit back and shut your mouth with all this God shit.

  SEVEN: (Moves back in his seat) Cover this man dear Lord. May the Holy Spirit touch his mind.

  The officer made an exit from the highway and turned on the next available road. A road that lead closer to an area with a lot of trees. Seven realized the turn off was not where the officer attended to drive. Seven could feel that he struck a nerve to where he made his matters worse. He could sense the officers blood boiling, covered by his solid and evil eye. Seven prepared in his mind for the worse, although not losing one bit of faith. The officer pulled in an area where no one could see them and parked the car. He turned off the engine and lit a cigar. He got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side door and leaned back up against the car. He stared straight while puffing his cigar. He took one last puff and burned it out on the ground. He opened the passenger door and placed his cigar in the ash tray before grabbing his baton. His one eye stared at Seven from the outside the car while lightly pounding the baton in his fist.

  The officer opened the back passenger side door and aggressively threw Seven out of the car on to the ground. He put his foot on Sevens back. “If you try to get away I’ll put a bullet in your back,” he speaks before removing the black backpack. He reached in the pockets of Seven and pulls out his cell phone. He places the phone in his right hand and throws it deep into the area of trees. Seven could see the phone land deep in area about 30 yards away from laying on his stomach. Seeing the phone flying through the air instantly discouraged the spirit of Seven. Knowing that his cell phone was the only way of contacting Destiny. The officer gripped his baton and raised it in the air aiming for the back of Seven. A light brush of wind began to shake the leaves on the trees. He paused right before swinging down. He was yet to swing although he had all intentions on doing so. He froze in swinging position and staring at the back of Sevens head. He lowered his baton and placed in its holster. Seven could hear the police officer draw his gun and remove the safety switch from behind him. “You better pray to your God there is money in this backpack.” Seven closes his eyes and remains without a peep. He hears the officer unzip the backpack while still standing with one foot on Sevens back.

  After hearing the officer unzip the backpack, there was a long pause. It was like birds stopped flying, the wind stop blowing, the trees stop flowing, and the cars from the distant road stopped moving. Silence and stillness was the sound of the officer who stood over Seven while staring into the backpack. The officer reaches into the bag and pulls out one of the health packet books. He looked at the faced down Seven, and then back at the book while realizing that Seven was the author of the book that read, written by: “I am your brother.” Seven knew there wasn’t any money inside, and so he closed his eyes and tightened his body up from not knowing if he was taking his last breath or not. The officer removed his foot from Sevens back and dropped the backpack to the ground. He dropped to his knees while still staring at the book and taking deep breaths with Seven still laying faced down on the ground and his eyes closed.

  OFFICER: There was a man I helped out by just doing my job. It was some time ago. I ran into him at a coffee shop in the neighborhood you live. And we spoke. He asked me about my wife and I told him that she was dying of cancer. She was in great pain. The chemo just made her worse. The treatments and all the medicines were supposedly keeping her alive. I ran out of money trying to keep her alive. I got myself in debt. And this is when I turned into a corrupt cop. That is when I began getting the money, by any means, in order to keep my wife alive. And this man gave me this very book to give to my wife. And so I did. And just as I was losing hope and spending long hours at work, she read this book. When I got home from work I would see this book by her bed side. And before my eyes, slowly but surely, month after month, s
he became better. I no longer had to spend so much money that we didn’t have on fighting to keep her alive. She says this book is what saved her life.. why do you do it? What makes you do all of this for people who wouldn’t do the same for you?

  SEVEN: Because, I am your brother.

  OFFICER: (Long pause) Well, I guess that explains it. I guess that kind of love does exist after all… You and Destiny have been cleared of all debt with the Northside boys and myself.

  Seven feels the officer stick a key inside the handcuffs and unlock them. He removed the handcuffs from Sevens wrist and stood him back up on his feet. He gets back into his police car and drives off. Seven turns over on his back and looks up at the sky. He lifted his hand towards the heavens. He remained in that position for a moment while thanking God.

  Miles away Destiny sat alone on a bus getting ready to take off to a new location. Her worry grew after each time she called Seven with no answer. She tried talking to the bus driver to wait another ten minutes before leaving but he informed her that he could not wait any longer. She began to worry herself sick from not being with the man who was changing her life. Destiny walked back to her seat and grabbed her bag, there was no way she was leaving without Seven. Right before she began to walk away from her seat, she noticed the man who attempted to rape her on the party bus was outside the bus. Destiny hears the bus door close and the engine prepare for takeoff. The Northside guy standing outside the bus looks around amongst the crowd. She knew he was there looking for her. Right before the bus began to slowly take off is when her and the Northside guy made eye contact. He immediately began to take off running towards the bus. He began shouting, “stop this bus,” while pounding the side of the moving bus. The bus driver speaks, “sorry my man, we are behind schedule and we gotta go.” Destiny and the Northside guy make eye contact while he continued to beat on the bus where she stood staring back. The bus picked up speed and drove away. A relief, but sadness all over again for Destiny June. She instantly had regrets and wanting their getaway spot to be a surprise. She wished she would have just told him. Now he has no idea what part of the country she would be. She tries to call him again but now his phone was going straight to voicemail. Defeat and worry got the best of the now drained Destiny.