Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rewrite)

Chapter 120: Fall & Rise of Grove Street

When CJ finally made it back to Grove Street through all the riot, Steel and G-Dub exited out and thanked CJ for the ride. CJ then thought about what Cesar said earlier. The only reason Cesar went to take back his old neighborhood was because he wouldn't let the Vagos disrespect his territory, and his family lived there. It didn't mean he was planning to stay there for life.

It came back to CJ, and he realized exactly what he was doing. He wanted to get out of the hood life, sure, but what kind of person would he be if he let some Balla Dope Pushers disrespect his home street and leave his families to suffer in their hands?

So he hopped out of the vehicle and walked up to Sweet's house. He wanted to have this discussion with his brother about the choices he was making since the wake of his return. As he walked inside, he went on a search for his brother and finally ran into him in the living room. The two brothers stared at each other for several seconds.

"Hey look, bro, I– " they both said to each other simultaneously, then they both stop.

It was CJ's turn to start speaking first. "Listen, Sweet," he started to say, "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for– "

"No, bro," Sweet interrupted silently. "Don't apologize. You had every right to call me out on my attitude. I was just being too provincial, too short-sighted, too attached to my principles, that I never got a chance to actually see the bigger picture. I was the one thinking about only myself during this time. I guess the reason I behaved like this was because when you decided to leave the hood to live in the mansion, the dreaded memories after you left when Brian was killed brought it all back. It felt as if you were repeating history when you decided to leave the hood, that I let those memories bring it all back to me."

Sweet then walked away a few inches and leaned against the couch. "Truth is, I ain't in no position to call you out," he conceded. "I'm actually just as responsible for Grove's downfall after everything that happened last year. I got three of my homies killed. I trusted a loan shark to help the families. I worked for another gang that came out here. I got Lisa shot. I let Moms die. It's mostly my fault I let all this shit happened. I'm supposed to be the leader of the gang, and I let them down just as much. I never took responsibility for my own action, which makes me a genuine hypocrite. I never even thanked you for getting me out of prison, especially after all those things you told me you did to bail me out. I was an ungrateful piece of shit that tried to drag my brother in the hood life, and I deserved what you gave me. So I just wanted to say, I'm sorry, bro."

CJ felt his heart warming. It was the first time that Sweet had ever admitted his faults and took responsibilities for his own actions. Sweet had been so stuck-up about his position as Grove Street's leader that he never wanted to admit when he was wrong. But with Los Santos in a chaotic riot thanks to Tenpenny, it was time for Sweet to stop putting down his brother and start appreciating him.

CJ finally spoke up. "I accept your apology, bro," he told Sweet as he gave him a handshake. "I'm glad you're finally starting to see the world around the hood, and I've also been thinking – when I was rolling with Cesar, he told me that even though he wasn't living in El Corona, he only took it back because his family stay there, and he wasn't going to let some Northside Vagos disrespect his home. That's when I realized that with all my success, the homies in my 'hood are still around, and I gotta make sure they still on my side and share my success with them as well. I been so busy letting this ghetto life go that I totally forgot about the other homies who were practically my family. So that was my bad for forgetting that. I've also been thinking about when I first went over to San Fierro, me and the others eliminated every gang around to make a business there and did the same thing when I went over to Las Venturas. So I was thinking to myself, if I can take out every last gang in Fierro and Venturas to build an empire, why can't I do the same for my home city? If I helped most of my new friends in San Fierro and Las Venturas, why can't I do the same for my old homies from the 'hood as well? I may be a successful businessman with a cool garage, a car dealership, and a fly casino, but I also have my place to think about too. So I should also apologize for not thinking about any of that either. That's it. I needed to balance out my new lifestyle with my old lifestyle. Sorry for not thinking about that too, bro."