"Kaemon I'm not feeling well," a young Sade croaked out, today made the third day out of the school week she had missed. She was throwing up, coughing, and having cold sweats.
"Here eat these saltines," Kaemon responded stressed trying to think of what he could do to help her recover. He sat there on the side of her bed with his chin on his knuckles trying not to focus on the disdain he held towards his mother but on his sister who had gradually gotten sicker.
Their mother had gone out on Tuesday and hadn't been back since so that left Kaemon to fend for them. This wasn't the first time Athena had decided to leave Kaemon and Sade alone for days at a time, but it would be the last.
Athena had Kaemon when she was just a child herself, everything was built against her from the start. She grew up in a household where it was normal for men to hit women, where women were jealous of children who weren't even in their teens, and men who were supposed to protect you destructed your life. But she overcame the odds, and once she got a taste of freedom she couldn't let anything hold her back, not even the sweet face of her baby boy Kaemon who was half her and half her uncle.
"I'm gonna have to go get you some medicine, "Kaemon quickly stated standing up and stuffing his hands in the loose pockets on his grey sweats feeling the wrinkly cash.
"Please don't leave me," Sade squeaked between the fit of coughs.
"I'll be right back sugs, you'll feel better in no time once we get medicine in your system. Don't get up, just stay right there and ill be back soon, okay?" He watched as she weakly nodded.
He walked out of the room going toward the front door closing it behind him and double-checking to lock it. He started towards the drugstore seeing all the old heads throwing dice and young kids on the sidewalk in front of brownstones. "Yo Kae," Ricky called across the street causing Kaemon to check before jogging across the street holding his sweats up in the process. "How you doing youngin?"
"Shit you know," Kaemon shrugged off.
"Hmm," Ricky mumbled handing him a few hundred. "Head up son," Ricky said looking down upon his umber-colored eyes that reflected nothing but pain and hope. Ricky had run the streets for decades now and he was someone everyone looked up to, when Kaemon had been in search of a come-up at the young age of fifteen, Ricky knew he deserved more than the life he had grown accustomed to, so he did the best thing he could and decided to help him out.
About ten minutes later Kaemon had made it down the block, he quickly got out of the cool weather and made it into the dimly lit store. He walked back searching for the sinus section in the aisle, "maybe this," he mumbled clutching the cough syrup and Nyquil, then he walked towards the cooler grabbing a liter of sprite. He paid for the few items and started on his way back to the house.
Abruptly, masked people holding guns emerged from the car window as the sound of screeching tires rattled him out of his reflections. He began towards the kids one second before the gunshots corroded the street. "Get down! Get down!" he cried. He pushed them to the ground utilizing himself as a human shield.
His ears filled with the gunshots that pounded off the car's metal as it dashed away. "Youngin get up," Kaemon faintly heard as he was maintaining what little strength he had. He tried to lift himself up by putting his hands above the children's heads when he acknowledged it was a struggle he decided to roll over.
The movement caused the wound in his back that Kaemon didn't even know was there to gush out the darkened ruby red blood onto the light grey cement. Ricky instantly noticed the erratic shaking of Kaemons left arm causing him to run over. "Kaemon,- oh man" Ricky painfully sighed out, Kaemon could only stare above seeing the grey sky and Ricky. Tears blurred his vision and the sirens clouded his ears. "S-s-s-sa" Kaemon croaked out causing blood to sputter out.
"Shh shh shh, I know, I got her," Ricky replied rubbing the lone tear that had finally fallen down the right side of his face. Tears ran down Ricky's face as he knew time was about to be up.
HERO TEEN IDENTIFIED AS VICTIM IN DEADLY SHOOTING
"Police now have identified yesterday afternoon's shooting victim as 18-year-old, Kaemon Rivera. Rivera laid over three children when a blue sedan drove by shooting, it is reported that only he was injured. At this time the police are ruling his death a homicide and are actively pursuing an investigation. No more information has been given at this time."
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"My brother was my everything, he took care of me for the majority of my life and he never disregarded me like most older children. My dad passed away shortly after I was born, so it felt like my brother and father were being taken from me." She started slightly pushing me off her beginning to pace in front of me.
She inhaled sharply, "If you don't want to, you don't have to," I began getting up from the sectional and walking towards her.
"He was getting something for me when-" the tears poured out of her doe eyes and rolled down her pouty face. "When they killed him, it was my fault," She concluded. I opened my arms and securely embraced her. I felt her warm tears as she cried on my chest and clutched the bottom of my tee.
"You could not have stopped him from getting killed. I know one thing, he wouldn't want you to blame yourself." I cautiously got out as I soothingly rubbed her back.
After she had calmed herself she went to the bathroom to wipe her face, shortly after she emerged back into the room resuming her position right next to me. "I'm sorry about that, I don't talk about him much and when I do everything comes out," she explained.
"You don't gotta be sorry about a thing, I'm sorry I asked,"
We sat in comfortable silence absent-mindedly moving closer to one another as the plot thickened and night fell.
