-"I can't believe you did something like that! I am so disappointed in you, didn't you ever think about the consequences of your actions? Don't you understand the gravity of your situation? I don't understand how could you do something like that?"- Caleb yelled at his brother for the eleventh time. After the cops came up Caleb told the officers Malik was a victim of bulling and then took him to the hospital their foster mother worked for as a nurse. Even now as the obese Afro-American woman patched the young kid's wounds Caleb couldn't help from worrying over his little brother and also being angry at him.
Althea, their foster mother stayed quiet during Caleb's rant, when the older boy finally calmed down she spoke.
_-"Do you feel guilty?"- Her deep baritone voice held an imposing seriousness that was unsettling, both kids knew she was incredibly harsh and stern over criminal behavior, tall and wide as she was that woman didn't think twice before kicking someone's ass. Before Caleb had grown into an even taller and well built young man he had been almost fearful of her, almost.
-"About what?"- Malik feigned innocence.
-"About the fact that you killed a young girl"- Her voice was colder than the snow now falling over the New York streets.
-"I just sold her drugs that she asked for, if that stupid bitch got intoxicated that's not my business"- The younger boy said pouting and crossing his arms, it might have been cute if he hadn't disregarded the death of a human being so callously.
Caleb felt his blood run cold, how could his little brother think that way? What did he do wrong to allow this to happen?
Althea stood up after finishing with the stitches and sighed, she turned towards Caleb ignoring the little boy completely.
-"Aren't you supposed to be at work?"- She said crossing his arms
-"Yeah but I kinda got distracted when my little brother got beaten and bled on the street"- He said sarcastically and gave her an are-you-kidding-me look.
Out of habit she slapped him on the back of the neck.
-"Do not play wise ass with me cracker, you have a job to go to, we need the money"-
-"I'm not leaving Malik alone what if those gangsters come back for him? I don't think they'll settle with a beating if their bosses' daughter died. He is in grave danger and since he broke the law we can't go to the police for protection"-
-"Malik made his bed and now he has to lie in it, he is a waste of your time. Caleb you have a chance to do something with your life but you won't get far if you let others hold you down. Your brother doesn't have a conscience and it's a matter of time until he turns into a criminal like most. I have taken many children under my guard and I've seen them come and go, some made a decent life in spite of all the shit thrown in their way while others wound up in prison or buried or both, trust me when I say I know where this is going. Malik made a decision today, he is going to turn into a worthless criminal and he is no longer worthy of our love."-
He knew Althea was harsh but in the past deep down he thought she had some kindness hidden inside her, unlike Caleb's previous foster parents she wasn't an alcoholic, violent or abusive person. She kept them well fed, clothed and tried her best to keep them out of trouble but if she gave up on Malik then she couldn't be so good either. She had to be a cruel person in order to abandon a young child at Esteban's mercy.
-"Like you were able to love"- Caleb spat, took his brother by the arm and dragged him out of the hospital.
The kid made mistakes but back in the day so did he, they needed to get out of town as fast as possible before Esteban's buddies decided to finish the job. Hopefully once outside of the city's poisonous influence he might succeed in his duty to turn his little brother into a decent man.
…
Caleb's friend Ramiro was kind enough to babysit Malik while he went to work, if they wanted to get out of New York they would need the money, his boss was a good man he might give him a loan.
Ramiro was a tough guy and luckily he had guns a knew how to use them, he was also a tattoo artist and responsible for Caleb's ink filled skin since the teenager had often became the older man's favorite guinea pig when it came to practice new styles and colors. He even agreed to go with them since he had long ago wanted to visit his motherland Mexico, the foreign country would be a good place to hide.
-"No te preocupes Cally, yo te cuido a tu hermanito y de paso voy a hablar un rato con el"- he said looking at the younger kid menacingly, the boy hunched even more if that was possible.
-"Ya lo retaron bastante, déjalo." Caleb responded, after a year of living in "El barrio" Spanish was a second language for him, which was good since they planned to go to Latin America.
…..
His boss was very understanding on the reasons why he came late to work; it was difficult for the young man to ask for money since he felt he already owed the man a lot.
-"Kid you are one of the best guys I have on my workshop but the recession is hitting hard and cars are not excluded from it, I was already pondering on letting you go for the sole reason you're the only one that didn't have a family to support. Now it's obvious that situation has changed"-
-"I'm desperate mister Kannah, I wouldn't ask for this if I had someone else to turn to"- Caleb pleaded.
-"Finish your shift and pull some extra hours, I'll see what I can do"- The old Indian man said tired.
It was past midnight when Caleb finished fixing the old car Kannah told him to work on, a blue Valiant from the early seventies. He had seen that car countless times, abandoned and collecting dust over a shy corner, but didn't pay much attention to it. Now the engine purred beautifully and the brand new paint job glistened under the artificial light of the old light bulb hanging over their heads.
-"Beautiful isn't it?"- Mr. Kannah said proud
-"It is"- Caleb said wiping the grease out of his hands.
-"I bought it with the hope of taking my wife for a road trip over the country, just me Indira and the open road…"- His expression grew somber –"You know how it is, there are obligations that come first and your dreams are put on hold, before you know it time goes by and you realize that journey will never happen. Indira died last year and the diabetes took my right leg, driving by route 66 is not an option anymore"- He wiped a few stray tears from his sunken brown cheeks. –"But it might be an option for you, I cannot give you money Cal, I'm about to lose my workshop I have nothing. But this car… is made for the road and you might be the one for it, go save your brother and don't look back"-
The older man's words didn't sank in until a pair of keys were placed on his hands, he devoutly wanted to tell him he could not take it, that it was too much, but he couldn't afford to waste an opportunity like this so he gave the other man an enthusiastic hug.
-"That is sooo heartwarming"- A deep voice said from behind in false sweetness
Caleb and Mr. Kannah turned their heads to find a tall man with jet black hair, fair skin and hazel eyes. He was dressed in a suit that was worth six times their monthly salary combined; by his side seven large men dressed also in suits came from behind them, all of them obviously armed to the teeth.
-"I am sorry sir but we are closed"- Kannah said placing himself in front of Caleb but one of the henchmen ran behind him and knocked him out. Before the boy could even try to help his boss, he found himself in the middle of a circle made by the gangsters and their large caliber guns.
The only thing that kept Caleb from panicking and trying to escape (which by the way was impossible) was an inner voice he often heard within himself when in violent trouble, as if a guardian had taught him what to do when facing combat. "The most dangerous situation you may face is when surrounded and outnumbered, if your enemy is calmed and focused the chances grow even scarcer since your biggest asset on your enemy is their rage. If you ever find yourself in such a predicament use your brains and your mouth, not your fists. The moment you lift a finger against them you'll die". Feigning nonchalance, Caleb raised an eyebrow and said: -"I'm listening"-
-"I assume you heard what you little brother did to my daughter Liliana"- Only the faint glint of insanity in his eyes broke the mask of calmness on the drug lord's face.
-"Yes I did"- Caleb was afraid of saying anything else.
-"Good then you'll understand that such an action should bear its consequences"-
-"Our entire actions do"- Caleb remained as neutral as possible while thinking and discarding plans to escape.
-"I am a very reasonable man; it was him the one that killed my daughter you had nothing to do on that fact. But you are the only one who seems to care about him and the only one he trusts, so I believe that the proper way to handle this is by killing Malik in a slow and painful way and you should be the one who delivers him to me. Betray your brother's trust the way he betrayed my daughters and you will be left alone to do with your life as you please, deny my humble request and all your friends will die; I'll begin with poor Mr. Kannah in here."-
Caleb's heart was beating so hard within his chest he felt sick and light headed but he forced his brain to come up with a way to save both his brother and his loved ones, words bursted from his mouth before he could process them properly –"You are after the wrong man, the responsible for your daughter's death is Ronnie. He sent one of his goons to sell her that hot shot, that foolish goon was Malik. It is so easy to blame a thirteen year old instead of another grown man with resources that match your own!"- Then the teen ager saw nothing but stars and for a brief moment the world turned red, as he regained consciousness he realized he was on the floor staring at Esteban's fancy Italian shoes, his jaw was in pain but he could move it and none of his teeth were missing. One of the henchmen was pointing his gun at the fallen form of Mr. Kannah.
-"I'll give him to you all right? Just leave that poor man alone!"- Caleb said in despair.
-"Good, bring your brother to central park by tomorrow night. Be there at twenty three hours, are we clear?"-
The boy lifted himself from the floor and managed to hide his shaking hands by clenching them into fists -"No, I will never give my brother to you, but I can give you Ronnie"-
-"What?"-
-"You heard me, leave my brother alone and I will give you the one who is really behind all this."-
-"And what makes you think you could take on someone like him?"- Esteban laughed incredulously.
-"I'm smart and Malik is someone he trusts, I could use that to my advantage. But I will need time"-
Esteban laughed hard, the maniac crackle echoed in the otherwise silent workshop.
-"You know what kid? I'll let you try just for the fun of it. I'll give you a week and in fact I can even give you all the supplies you need, if you manage to pull it off not only I'll leave your brother alone but I will take you under my wing and make you one of the most powerful men in New York, after me of course. But if you somehow are stupid enough to try to fuck me in any way then whatever I planned for Malik will be nothing compared to what I'll do to you, and of course anyone that ever dared to be nice at you will die in front of your eyes"-
The boy could only nod.
-"One last thing, if you think you can take down someone like Ronnie then fighting with, let's say…"- Esteban browsed at his stock of henchmen –"Jimmy and Dylan would be a walk in the park"-
Without a word both men charged at Caleb but he broke Jimmy's nose with the back of his hand in a fast swift motion and elbowed Dylan on the face so fast none of the larger men saw it coming. With both of them distracted it was easy for him to punch Jimmy right between the ear and his jaw, altering his center of equilibrium and knocking him out without the need of excessive force. Dylan was faster to recover so while Caleb was busy knocking Jimmy he grabbed him from behind and slammed his head to a nearby wall, when the boy fell limp to the floor Dylan laughed but before he could wipe his brow Caleb opened his eyes and kicked him hard below the belt. Not an honorable way to fight but two against one wasn't that fair either. While Dylan bent over screaming in pain Caleb rose, grabbed him by the shoulders and rammed him head first into the very same wall he had collided a few seconds before. Now both goons were unconscious by his feet.
He heard clapping behind the deafening sound of the ringing in his ears
-"Well done Caleb, you have one week"- And with that Esteban left, the rest of the henchmen carried their fallen comrades out leaving the teenager to help Mr. Kannah.
Caleb had only one week to figure a way out of this mess "I'm fucked" he thought sadly.