I own nothing. Young Justice belongs to DC.
This fic was inspired by Less than zero by Kenchi618 and See no evil by Ideas-Guy
"Yeah, I know
You be posted up from Sunday to Saturday night
Started hanging with the members then you blew a few pipes
And you gone do the dash if you see them blue lights
A lot of people dying and it's a chance that you might
You got God on your side but it's hard to do right
Don't pay them haters no mind, you can be what you like
Tryna leave this in the past grinding for a new life
Hard headed I grew up resilient
It wasn't no heroes, so we look up to the villains"
-Polo G
Gotham city
October 1st, 2008
The courtroom was stuffy. How much longer were they planning on dragging this out? I tugged at my tie to loosen it and undid the top button of my dress shirt. My lawyer gave me a dirty look as I did this. Whatever. The only reason I wore the damn thing was to get him to shut up. He kept going on and on about how important it was to present a clean and respectable image to the jury. Ha! As if that mattered. They still found me guilty. It's not like anybody was surprised either.
I knew from the moment my lawyer informed me that I was being tried as an adult that this entire dog and pony show was essentially a formality. I killed a cop for fuck's sake! There was no way I was gonna beat this charge. They weren't just gonna throw the book at me, they were gonna beat me bloody with it. From their perspective that was the only option. Fucking pigs had to make an example out of me or else they would end up looking weak.
Protect and serve my ass! Those assholes were basically just another gang. Everyone in Gotham knew it. Apart from a few cops like Commissioner Gordon, it was obvious that most of the police force was corrupt. I didn't even really have a problem with that. That's just how it was in Gotham.
Besides it's not like I even meant to kill the bastard, I was just trying to get out of there. He shot at me while I was running away, all I did was shoot back. I guarantee that nobody would've given a shit if I had been the one that died. As far as I'm concerned I acted as any reasonable person would. He shot at me so I shot at him. The only difference was that he missed, I didn't. Which is funny since he was actively aiming at me, whereas I had just fired blindly in his general direction while running away. If anything he died because of his own shitty luck.
Movement from the front of the courtroom draws me from my thoughts. The judge has returned.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Morgan." The bailiff announces to the courtroom as we all follow his directive.
I stared at the judge as he took his seat. He was an older black man. He looked to be in his sixties or seventies. He was bald, but his face which had long since been marred by frown lines still sported an impressive bushy gray mustache. I saw the severe expression on his face and I knew that he would live up to his reputation. See, I had asked around while I had been locked up at the county jail. No matter who I asked, whether it was another inmate, a guard, or my own lawyer, they all said the same thing. Judge Morgan was a hardass, and he was a firm believer in being 'tough on crime'. So, yeah I knew I was boned.
I didn't care though. My lawyer had already informed me that my little brother, Miguel, had been placed with a good foster family. Once he told me that I immediately cut off all contact with Miguel. I told my lawyer that I didn't want him to write, call, or visit me. At this point he was better off without me, I didn't want to risk his new family having second thoughts about keeping him due to his relation to me. Did it hurt? Fuck yeah. But my pain was irrelevant. My little brother finally had a chance at a normal life, that was all that mattered. So long as my brother was being cared for, I couldn't care less what happened to me.
"Court is now in session," Judge Morgan said as he banged his gavel, "Samuel Dominguez, you have been found guilty on all charges. Is there anything you would like to say to the court before I pass judgment on you?"
My lawyer had told me this would happen. Apparently defendants were supposed to take this opportunity to apologize and spew countless generic platitudes about how remorseful they were and how they regretted their actions. Basically it was a chance for the defendant to kiss the judges ass in the hopes they would receive a lighter sentence. Too bad I wasn't like most defendants.
"As a matter of fact, there is something I'd like to get off my chest," I said in a mocking tone as I stood up and made eye contact with every member of the jury before I turned my gaze to the judge and proceed to stare him down, "Each and every last one of you can suck my dick, circle around to eat my ass, and then go fuck yourselves!"
The courtroom was silent for a moment as everyone processed what I had just said before they all started to mutter angrily to themselves. I, on the other hand, got to enjoy the sight of Judge Morgan's face turning a fantastic shade of purple. I, on the other hand, simply smirked at him before calmly sitting down next to my lawyer who had his face buried in his hands.
"Order! Order in the court!" Judge Morgan yelled as he repeatedly banged his gavel. Once everyone had settled down, Judge Morgan proceeded with his judgment.
"Due to the severity of the charges and the defendants clear lack of remorse, I feel no need to show any sort of leniency. Samuel Dominguez, I hereby sentence you to serve 30 years with no chance of parole. Due to your age you will be placed in Gotham's Juvenile Detention Center until you reach your 18th birthday when you will then be transferred to Blackgate Penitentiary to serve the remainder of your sentence." Judge Morgan declared as he banged his gavel. He looked at me with clear disdain as he passed the sentence. It was obvious that he didn't even see me as a person. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a piece of human debris he had been tasked with cleaning up.
I didn't say a word. I just sat there smirking at him.
One month earlier
Narrator pov
The first day of a new month means next to nothing to most children, but it does mean something to adults. It means that their wallets are about to get substantially thinner as they pay their rent and any other bills they might have. Samuel Dominguez envied those other kids. They got to live in ignorance, without all the stress and turmoil a simple day could cause. At 14 years old Sam was the sole provider for himself and his 7 year old brother Miguel Dominguez.
Sam had long since accepted that life simply wasn't fair. If it was fair then his mother, Eva Dominguez, wouldn't have killed herself 6 years ago. Her mental health was never the greatest, in fact Sam had very few memories where she was smiling. She deteriorated even further after Miguel was born, at the time Sam didn't understand why this was the case, but now he knew that his mother probably had postpartum depression.
After doing more research on the subject and learning that it can even lead the mother to commiting infanticide, Sam felt grateful that his mom had only killed herself and didnt harm Miguel. He also realized how truly fucked up the situation really was when suicide isn't even the worst possible outcome.
If life was fair, Sam wouldn't be stuck paying for all the things his deadbeat drunk of a father, Josias Dominguez, should be responsible for.
Which really sucked since he wasn't always that way. Sam could still remember how his father used to laugh, cook, work, and generally do whatever he had to to make sure the family was cared for. He worked construction so they were never rich, but they had enough.
That didn't last though. After Eva died he smiled less, laughs became infrequent, and his drinking saw a noticeable uptick.
It wasn't too bad at first, while he wasn't who he once was he still managed to hold it together. Then, around three months after Eva died, he threw his back out at his job and ended up on workers comp, which in and of itself isn't a terrible thing. However, now Josias was stuck at home, in pain, and grieving his recently deceased wife with nothing to help him cope except the pain meds his doctor prescribed and booze. Everything pretty much went to shit after that.
Now he was unrecognizable from the man he used to be. The muscles and tanned skin he earned working hard under the sun were long gone. Now he was lanky and potbellied with a sickly complexion. Sam couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his father smile, let alone laugh.
That's how Sam, in the span of a year, lost both his parents and became responsible for raising both himself and his little brother. That's how at the tender young age of eight, Sam essentially became an adult.
If life was fair his little brother would have actual parents to raise him instead of an older brother that barely managed to hold everything together.
Sam loved his brother. He truly did, but Sam knew he was constantly falling short no matter how hard he tried. And he really did try. Sam always made sure that his brother got to something to eat, even if that meant he had to go hungry. Sam always made sure his brother got to and from school everyday, even if his own attendance record was spotty at best. Sam always made sure his brother got his insulin and the rent was paid, even if that meant working extra hours and taking sheisty jobs. Sam did the absolute best he could, he knew that life wasn't fair.
Sam knew that all we get, is all we take.
/
I looked at myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth. I looked like shit. On a good day my medium length dark brown wavy hair had a healthy shine to it. Right now it could be best described as listless, oily, and disheveled. On a good day my hooded hazel eyes were bright and alert. Right now they were red and had deep bags underneath from how little sleep he had gotten recently. My caramel brown skin had a
peaky complexion and was marred by a thin vertical scar extending from just above my left eyebrow and ending just below my left cheekbone. I'm tall for his age standing at 5'4" with a lean and lightly muscled frame.
After finishing my morning routine and taking a shower to look more presentable, I got dressed in my "nice" clothes which consisted of a black polo shirt, blue jeans with a black belt, and black dress shoes I found at a thrift store and shined to perfection, and gold plated crucifix hanging around his neck.
After that I walked out of my room and checked on Miguel.
"Miguelito, are you ready yet?'' I asked as I entered the living room.
I wasn't surprised when I didn't receive an answer as I saw Miguel sitting in front of the tv watching cartoons with a bowl of cereal in his lap. I chuckled as I walked over and turned off the tv.
"Hey! I was watching that!" Miguel yelled from where he was sitting.
"C'mon buddy, you need to get dressed or else we're going to be late for church. I still have to stop by the landlord's place to pay the rent so we don't have any time to mess around." I said as I looked at my little brother. Thankfully I had given him a bath before I took a shower so he was already clean, he just needed to get dressed into the clothes I had laid out on his bed.
"Liar! We have plenty of time! You just want to get to church early so you can spend more time with your girlfriend!" Miguel immediately fired back in a teasing tone.
"Ha! Yeah, you got me. But can you blame me? You know how hard it is for me to find time to spend with Zatanna," I said as I chuckled at his response. Although I did feel a little bad about playing the time card with him. Miguel may have been young, but he was far more perceptive than anyone would expect a child his age to be. He knew that one of the main reasons it was so hard for me to see Zatanna was that I spent so much time working so I could provide for us. Another reason was that her father absolutely hated me.
He thought I was just some no good delinquent and a bad influence on his precious daughter. I mean, he wasn't wrong, I was definitely all that and more, but it was still annoying to have to sneak around because of him. And that was just because he thought we were friends! If he knew we were dating he'd probably blow a gasket or something. Zatanna complained about it a lot, and while I agreed I couldn't really blame the guy. He loved his daughter and was just doing what he thought was best for her. Zatanna was lucky to have a father that cared so much about her. He was definitely loads better than my deadbeat dad.
Thankfully Zatanna's mom liked me and was more than willing to run subtle interference for us every now and then. Take today for example. The church we both attended was throwing a small carnival to celebrate the end of summer. After church last week, Mrs. Zatarra had explicitly told Zatanna and I that Mr. Zatarra would be out of town this weekend and so he wouldn't be attending the carnival.
It wasn't much, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Thanks to her tip, I knew that I would actually be able to spend the entire carnival with Zatanna. That gave me a week to take some extra jobs to scrounge up some extra cash for us to properly enjoy it. If she hadn't told us we still would've been able to spend time together, but I likely would have been too broke to fully enjoy the carnival. Zatanna wouldn't have cared about that, and she likely would've just spent whatever allowance she had saved up to pay for the both of us to have fun. I always hated that though.
Over the course of our relationship there were numerous times when she paid for our dates because I was too broke at the time to do it myself. I loved her for doing it, and I appreciated it more than words could convey. It still felt emasculating though.
"Fine, can I at least finish my cereal first?" Miguel asked with a slightly somber expression on his face due to my indirect reminder of how much I sacrificed to take care of him.
"Of course, Miguelito," I replied with a smile to cheer him up a bit, "Have you taken your insulin already?"
"Not yet, but I will when I finish eating, I promise!" Miguel was quick to reply
Miguel was a type-two diabetic, and I always made sure to keep a close eye on his health. We didn't have any sort of health insurance, so at times it was difficult to afford his medication but I always figured something out. Most kids would do anything to avoid needles, but not Miguel. He knew how much I worried about his health, so when it was time to inject his insulin he always took it like a champ and never even complained.
"Alright, that's fine," I said before I was interrupted by a knock at the door, "That must be Artemis" I mused as I walked to the door and opened it.
And sure enough, standing there was my best friend and upstairs neighbor: Artemis Crock. Truth be told, the term 'best friend' didn't really do her justice. She was basically my sister in all but blood. She knew everything about me, and I knew everything about her. We didn't keep any secrets from each other. We didn't need to. We both had such shitty home lives that there was no way we would ever judge each other for our respective living situations. She knew about all the less than legal activities I got up to in order to pay the bills, and I knew all about her family's situation. Including what her own father got up to.
Although, admittedly, Artemis had a much lower opinion on her father, Crusher Crock, than I did. Yeah, he wasn't exactly a role model, but he was still a better father than my own so I could never dislike him the way Artemis did. At least her dad made sure the bills were paid. Plus, he had treated me reasonably well during the few interactions we had with each other and even helped me out once or twice. So yeah, while Crusher Crock definitely wouldn't be winning any father of the year awards, he wasn't all bad.
"Aww look at you! All dressed up for your date!" Artemis teased as she walked into the apartment.
"Ha! Yeah, right! You know damn well that I wear this outfit every week for church! They're the only 'nice' clothes I own!" I immediately shot back even as I laughed at her comments, "Besides, I'm not the only one looking nice! Look at you! Is there a special someone you've neglected to tell me about?" I said as I gestured at her own outfit.
I was exaggerating of course. While she did look good, she wasn't wearing anything special. She was dressed in a simple emerald camisole, a pair of form fitting blue jeans, and a pair of green converse high-tops.
"What can I say? Some of us don't need to dress up to look good." Artemis said as she laughed and struck a pose like she was a model in the middle of a photoshoot.
"Yeah, I guess I can't argue with that. Thanks again for doing this, Artemis, I really appreciate it" I said in a sincere tone. Artemis had agreed to come to the carnival and act as Miguel's babysitter so I could spend the entire day with Zatanna.
"Don't worry about it, Sam. I'm happy to spend the day with this cute little guy!" Artemis exclaimed as she skipped over to where Miguel was sitting and proceeded to hug him and mess with his hair.
"Hey! I'm not little! I'm 7! I'm gonna be in the second grade this year!" Miguel was quick to object at Artemis' classification of him.
"Oh my gosh! Really!? The second grade!? Well, my mistake, clearly you're a big boy. Pretty soon you'll be all grown up and running around with a girlfriend of your own! Just like your big brother! And then you'll forget all about your big sis Artemis!" Artemis exclaimed in the most over the top tone of voice as she mercilessly teased Miguel.
"Eww, no! Girls are yucky!" Miguel scrunched up his face as the prospect of a girlfriend was unthinkable to him at his current age.
"Yes, they are! So you be sure to keep them all away. The only girl in your life should be your big sis!" Artemis said as she continued teasing Miguel.
"What about Zatanna? Do I have to keep her away too?" Miguel asked with a frown since he rather liked Zatanna.
Artemis tapped her finger against her chin as she pretended to think about it.
"Alright, I suppose we can make an exception for her. But no one else, ok?" Artemis said having seemingly come to the conclusion that this was an acceptable compromise.
"Okeedokee" Miguel replied with a smile that showed he was perfectly satisfied with how the negotiations had played out. I couldn't help but chuckle at the whole thing. It was moments like this that made all my efforts worthwhile.
"Well, I'm glad we got that all sorted out. Artemis, you actually got here at the perfect time. I have to go see the landlord to pay this month's rent. Would you mind helping Miguel get dressed and giving him his insulin while I do that? I shouldn't be gone long, and when I get back we can all head out to the church." I said as I made my way to the vcr under the tv to grab some money from the stash of cash I had hidden away in there.
I had to hide it there to keep my father from finding it. I was pretty proud of this hiding spot since my father had yet to find it despite me using it for over a year now. I used to hide my money in my room, but I had to stop since that's where he always looked for it and would eventually find it.
"Yeah that's fine," Artemis said before scowling as she saw how much money I was pulling out, "No matter how many times I see it happen it still pisses me off."
"Me too, but there's nothing we can do about it." I said as I was just as annoyed by the situation as she was.
What had the both of us upset was the amount of money I had to pay for rent. Officially, rent was only $2,500 dollars, but I was currently holding $3,000 dollars. The reason for this? After the landlord found out about our living situation, he started charging me an extra $500 bucks a month or else he said he would call social services on us. So yeah, I had to pay our landlord hush money to avoid ending up in foster care.
After I had the money sorted out, I walked back to my room and pulled a hoodie from my closet and put it on before then grabbing my gun out of my nightstand and putting it in the pocket of my hoodie. The landlord only lived a few blocks away , but this was Gotham, I wasn't taking any chances.
After informing Artemis and Miguel that I would be right back I stepped out of the apartment and then the building.
I smiled as I got my first taste of the day. The weather was fantastic! It was hot but not scorching, the sun was out and there wasn't a cloud anywhere in sight. It was the perfect weather for the end of summer. If the weather was any indication, then today should be a perfect day. I started walking towards my destination, all the while keeping a keen eye on my surroundings before I heard a voice call out.
"Yo, Sammy! Lemme holla at ya' right quick!"
I looked for the source of the voice and found it came from a guy across the street leaning against a silver mercedes. It was Isaac Sanchez, my boss and the leader of Los Diablos, the gang that ran this neighborhood. Even though I had several odd jobs like washing dishes at a few restaurants when they needed an extra hand, the bulk of my income came from selling drugs or running errands for Isaac. I wasn't officially a member of the gang since that would require me to take riskier jobs and spend more time doing it. It would definitely pay more money, enough to solve all my financial struggles almost immediately, but it was more of a commitment than I could handle at the moment.
The time commitment was negligible, I had no problem dropping out of school, but having to take riskier jobs? Yeah, that was a deal breaker. I was the only caretaker that Miguel had, if anything happened to me then there was no telling what would happen to Miguel. I'm sure Artemis would try her best to take care of him, but there was no guarantee that Crusher would let her.
Isaac didn't have a problem with my decision, although he made sure I knew that I had a standing invitation to join the gang. I appreciated Isaac, despite being a gangster, he was a decent guy. Absolutely ruthless towards his enemies, but he took care of his people. And while I wasn't officially a member of the gang, Isaac had made it clear that I was one of his people. He was only 24, but he ran a tight ship, and the neighborhood was lucky to have him.
There was still crime everywhere, but under his rule it was controlled. The prostitutes didn't have to worry about getting robbed or their customers treating them too roughly. The dealers who got their drugs from him didn't have to worry about them being laced with fentanyl or some other dangerous crap. He also made sure they weren't lacing the drugs themselves in order to earn a little extra cash at the expense of their customers. Hell, he even passed out turkeys on thanksgiving and was known to give out cash during Christmas time to any family that needed a little extra help paying the bills.
The neighborhood wasn't large, only around six blocks in any direction, so his gang wasn't particularly rich or powerful especially when compared with other criminal syndicates in Gotham City. It didn't matter though. Isaac's kingdom may have been small, but he ran it like a good king should.
Truth be told, he was the only positive male role model I had apart from Crusher, and it's not like Crusher was setting a particularly high bar.
"What's up, Isaac?" I said as I walked up to him and the small group of higher ranked gang members around. I was forced to take a step though, as one of the people with him had taken a hit off a blunt as I was walking up and ended up exhaling a cloud of smoke in my direction right as I arrived.
Isaac noticed this, but he simply raised an eyebrow to show his curiosity at my actions. Unfortunately, the person who had just exhaled wasn't as understanding as Isaac.
"The fuck was that? You got a problem, bitch?" The gangster said as he scowled at me. His name was Ricky and he was known for having a temper. I decided to explain myself before he actually got offended.
"Nah, no problem here bro. It's just that I'm going to church today, so I can't really have my clothes smelling like weed when I show up, y'know? Would you mind not blowing the smoke in my direction? I'd really appreciate it." I said all this in a respectful tone, but I made sure to maintain eye contact the whole time I was speaking. I couldn't afford to look weak here, even if I was speaking to a high ranking member of the gang.
For most of the people present, my explanation was enough to pacify them and assure them that no disrespect was intended so they relaxed their postures which had become tense after Ricky had spoken. Unfortunately, Ricky wasn't among those who relaxed.
"The fuck you say to me, shorty? I don't give a fuck where you're going. You're out of your fucking mind if you think you can just walk up and start telling me what to do!" Ricky said as he passed the blunt to the person on his left and started to step towards me. All the gangsters present only sighed and shook their heads in exasperation as Ricky went out of his way to find offense where none was intended. Thankfully Isaac stuck his hand out and stopped Ricky before he could take more than a single step towards me.
"Chill, Ricky, chill. There's no need to get all worked up over nothing? Sammy, didn't mean any offense, and he wasn't giving out orders. He made a polite request, that's all. And in case you're forgetting, he didn't 'walk up', I called him over because I needed to have a quick chat with him. So just chill, alright?" Isaac said as he and Ricky stared each other down. For a second it looked like Ricky might press the issue, but he eventually backed down. "Good, now that that's settled, what are you doing right now Isaac?"
"Not much, just heading over to see my landlord and pay my rent." I answered honestly. Was it dumb to let a bunch of gangsters know I was currently carrying a large amount of cash? Not really. I knew Isaac wouldn't rob me, and the amount I was carrying was nowhere near enough to be worth pissing off Isaac if they decided to rob me.
"Ah, so that's what it was. I thought you looked tenser than usual when I saw you leave your crib. You packing?" Issac asked as he looked me up and down.
"Yeah, in my front pocket." I replied as I gestured towards my sweater. I was careful while I did so, even if we were cool I knew Isaac wouldn't hesitate to put me down if he thought I was about to pull a gun on him.
"Good. Don't ever let yourself get caught lakin' on these streets. The second you get comfortable and let your guard down is the second you die," Isaac said and the group surrounding him all nodded in agreement, "Hop in, I'll give you a ride. It'll give us a chance to talk."
Isaac didn't wait for me to reply before unlocking his car and getting in. I was quick to follow and get in the passenger side since I knew it hadn't been a request. After giving Isaac directions to my landlord's place, I settled in and waited for Isaac to start talking, but he didn't. He was silent the entire way there, it was only after I had paid my rent and we were driving back that he began to speak.
"So, listen, I got a job coming up tomorrow night and I could use an extra set of hands. It's definitely above your pay grade, but it shouldn't be dangerous. Just a standard meeting with one of my suppliers to pick up some more product. If all goes well, you won't have to do anything but hang back and act as back up in case anything does pop off. Which it shouldn't. We've done business with these guys before so it should be a routine operation. We don't even really need you, but I rather not risk showing any sign of weakness by showing up with less people than I usually do." Isaac said before looking over towards me to try to gauge my reaction.
I was tempted. I really was. Isaac wouldn't lie about something like this. If he really thought there might be trouble he would be asking someone far more experienced than me for backup. However, just because he didn't think there'd be any trouble didn't mean that would be the case. Jobs like these could turn insane at the drop of a hat. All it took was one idiot thinking that another one was reaching for a gun when they were actually scratching their ass for all hell to break loose. Even so, I was tempted.
"What's my cut?" I asked to get a better idea of the risk/reward ratio involved. Isaac just laughed at my question.
"That's why I like you Sammy! You're smart! Other people would either immediately agree without taking the time to properly think about it or they'd be too chickenshit to even consider it and refuse outright!" Isaac exclaimed as he laughed, "Usually the payout for something like this would be five-grand, but since it's short notice and I know this is the type of job you usually avoid, I'll double it and make it ten. I'm nice like that."
By this point we arrived back to where we were earlier and Isaacs people were standing nearby waiting for him to get out of the car.
"Can I think about it? You kinda caught me off guard and I don't want to rush into anything," I asked hoping that he would agree since he had already said the job was tomorrow night. Isaac just smiled at me.
"I thought you might say that. Sure, you can have some time to think things over. The job is tomorrow night, so as long as you give me an answer by tomorrow afternoon we're good" Isaac said with a smile as he granted my request.
"Thanks, Isaac. I really appreciate it." I replied earnestly
"Don't sweat it, Sammy," Isaac said before getting a pensive look on his face, "There was something else I wanted to ask you. How come you never asked me to help with your landlord? I know he's ripping you off. It's not like it would be any trouble, I'd just send some people over to set him straight."
"You really wanna know? You may not like the answer," I asked him and waited for him to nod before I continued speaking," It's not like I never considered it, because I did, but in the end it wasn't worth the risk."
"What do you mean by that?" Isaac asked, genuinely confused by my words.
"I mean, you and I both know that in this line of work living to see tomorrow is never guaranteed. So what would happen if I took you up on your offer and then later on something happened to you? The moment you were no longer a threat he'd stab me in the back without any hesitation or even a shred of remorse. Does it suck getting ripped off every month? Fuck yeah! But that's the best option I have right now, and that's all there is to it." I replied showing that I had considered all my options and unfortunately this was my best one.
"I guess you're right. You'd essentially be risking guaranteed long-term stability for uncertain short-term gain," Isaac said as he nodded, "but there's something you're not considering."
"What's that?" I asked
"If you joined my gang then it wouldn't matter if I died, you have enough support to keep him in check yourself," Isaac said before quickly holding up a hand he saw I was about to object. "Sammy, do you honestly think I haven't thought about what would happen if I died? To the gang? To the neighborhood? Have you ever considered why I wanted you, specifically you, to join my gang?"
I didn't say a word and just shook my head.
"Sammy, I want you to join up because I know you could hold things together if anything ever happened to me. You're smart and you've got your heart in the right place, but you're not afraid to get your hands dirty. Don't think I don't know how you got that scar on your face."
Without any conscious thought on my part, my hand had moved to trace the scar he was referring to. I was so focused on his words that I hadn't even realized I was doing it. I'd never forget that day. How could I? That scar was a permanent reminder of the day when I killed a man for the first time. I was surprised he knew about it. Apart from Artemis and Crusher, I'd never told anyone how I'd gotten it.
"You know how to consider all your options and avoid unnecessary risks. I know that if I died tomorrow then my gang would eventually fall apart because none of my guys have what it takes to run things around here like I do. Like you could. Don't get me wrong, I understand why you haven't joined up, and I respect your decision. All I'm saying is that you've got potential, Sammy. You're meant for greater things than just being some random cornerboy slingin' dime bags." Isaac said before taking a breath, "Just something to think about, Sammy. Now get out of here before you end up late for church.
I just nodded dumbly as I got out of the car and walked back to my apartment. I wasn't expecting any of that. I was flattered that Isaac thought so highly of me. I tried to picture myself in his shoes as the top dog in the neighborhood. I could see it. I really could. I'm not sure why I never considered it before. I suppose I was so focused on trying to just survive week to week that I never really stopped to think about any sort of long term plans. Less than half an hour had passed since I left my apartment, but Isaac had given me a lot to think about.
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