I wake up at nine. And walk in the kitchen. No one else is awake just yet. I decide to make breakfast for Tyreese, Carol, and Sophia.

Sophia walks in as I start cooking. I look at her and say, "Hey Soph, do you wanna help? I am making pancakes." She nods her head and walks over.

She gives me a hug and says, "I miss you. You are never home anymore." I start to tell her that I am sorry but then she notices the eggs and asks, "Ohh! Can I crack the eggs? Mom never lets me!" I laugh and hand them over. I grab a chair and pick her up and put her on it. She points at the bowl and I nod.

I watch her crack the eggs as I get out the pan and start getting ready to pour them in the pan. Sophia asks me, "Can you make a piggy?"

I laugh and say, "I can try Soph."

Carol comes in the room when we finish. She comes and looks over Soph's shoulder and points to the pig and asks, "What is that?" as she laughs.

I laugh nudging her with my elbow and say, "Oh, um, well Soph wanted me to make a pig." Soph broke out in laughter and so did I. It was a really bad pig pancake. The nose was bulbous and the feet were no longer hooves, but more like a snail stomach. How do people make good artistic pancakes?

We all ate as they all made fun of my pig pancake. We ate all of the pancakes and I was helping Carol wash the dishes when the phone rang.

I walked over to the phone and answered it. I hear a familiar voice on the other end of the phone saying, "Hey there baby brother." I knew it wasn't going to be long before I got another one of these calls.

I open the door and walk up to the desk. I tell the officer at the desk that I am here for Merle. He looks at me and shakes his head.

He says, "Follow me." He walks down a hallway as I follow him. I talked to Carol about what to do. I do not have the money to get him out of here right now. I just got my job two days ago.

I ask him, "What is he in for?"

The cop just looked at me and rolled his eyes. This is why I hate cops. They are judgmental pigs. Just because I am here for Merle, he thinks I am just as stupid s him.

I tried a couple of the stuff Merle is hooked on, but I never got hooked. Merle was just so wasted he made me try it. That's when I left him. I didn't want to end up like him and Paw.

The cop stopped and opened the door. He lets me walk in, and then he follows me in. I see Merle sitting handcuffed behind a table, opposite of me.

I shake my head and say, "Merle what did you do this time?"

"Aww, come on now baby brother. I don't get no hello or anythin'?" He asks laughing. He drives me crazy. I am about tempted to just turn and leave him in the room.

"No, Merle, no hello or anything. I had to drive all the way out here to see you sitting up in another jail looking for help. It's Sunday, my day off, do you really think that I want to be here? No. I don't! " I spit out angrily.

"Oh, is mister big shot here? I see how it is. You done growed up and got you a job and now you are too good for your own kin? Is that how it's gonna be, baby brother?" He laughs but I can see he is irritated.

"No Merle, that isn't how it is. I got a job because I knew you would be back in here again. I don't have the money to get you out of here. Carol doesn't have it either and I am not gonna ask her for it. She has been too good to me. You are just gonna have to sit this one out, Merle."

"You can't just leave me in here!"

"Yes I can. I am I don't have a choice. You should have already learned to stay away from that shit, Merle. How many times have you been in here? You don't even know. I bet he does," I say angrily turning around to point at the cop.

"If you leave me here, you will regret it Daryl." He says.

I shrug at him and say, "No, you will. I should have left you in here the first time. Maybe you will realize what you are doing and get your head on straight and stop being so damn stupid. Get help Merle. Come see me when you got your shit straight. I'm tired, Merle. I'm tired." Turn around and leave the room,

I drive around Atlanta, not wanting to go back home now. My day is totally ruined. I let my mind drift thinking about everything. I think about my old life.

I was eighteen, not caring what is right and wrong. I just follow my brother. Everywhere. I left paw two years ago and I don't regret anything about that decision. I decided it was my turn to decide what happens to me from now own. No more beatings that I didn't bring on myself, no more yelling because he was drunk, no more him. I thought I was happy.

Merle and I are running in the woods. Merle just punched a guy in his face for some heroin and knocked him out. Because Merle knocked him out, he took the whole bag.

He gets loaded while we are laughing in the woods. We are sitting down and he tells me an old story of when he was in juvie. Merle is twenty now, been in and out of jail, so he has plenty of stories. He looks at me, his little brother, who does no wrong in his eyes and asks, "Do you want some?"

I shake my head no, I know to stay away from that crap. I have seen Merle almost OD and go through withdrawals. He is now high, and let me tell you, his temper is not normal when he's on heroin.

I see his forehead scrunch up and he says, "Here try it. It feels great." I still just shake my head no. He gets upset and says, "Now, baby brother, I am being polite, now take some."

I say, "Naw, Merle, I don't want to mess with that stuff," As I shake my head. He grabs a needle that is already fixed up and walks over to me. I say, "Merle, leave me alone ok? I said I don't want it." I stick my arms out toward him.

He pulls my arm towards him. He sticks the needle into the crook of my elbow and I yell at him. I try to jerk away and make him stop, but Merle is a lot stronger than me. He injects the heroin in my arm and smiles. He walks away, leaving me in the woods. I run after him and yell, "What the hell Merle? Why did you do that?"

He turns to me and says, "Because little brother, I wanted to." He turns and walks away. I huff and punch him in the head. He turns around and punches me back. I fall to the ground and try to crawl away, instantly regretting my decision to hit him. He gets on top of me and just starts hitting me over and over.

When my face is covered in blood and I can't see out of one of my eyes, he stops hitting me and gets up. He walks away and leaves me there. I lay there for hours before I can get up and find my way out of the woods.

I find a gas station and ask the cashier if I can borrow her phone. She sees my face and realizes I need to call someone important and hands me then phone. That's when I call Carol.

I realize that I have parked my truck outside a bar when I start paying attention to what I am doing. I shake my head and back out of the parking lot and head back home.