A nauseating feeling filled my stomach with every minute that passed by.
I sat in my room in complete silence, staring down at my bed cover. I tried to convince myself that there was some huge misunderstanding, and that tomorrow everything would be cleared up. But no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something horrible had happened.
The night continued on until the sun rose once again. I felt dead, my eyes were crusted and I didn’t even get the chance to shower. I looked over at the clock. It was 6 AM. I let out a frustrated grunt.
“What the hell happened…”
I reached over and rocked Kiana back and forth to wake her up. I had work in an hour, and Kiana had to get ready for school.
“Kiana, it’s time to get up.”
She grumbled and wiped the sleep from her eyes. Her eyes fluttered as she looked up at me, squinting.
“Did Clayton—?”
I shook my head, “Not yet. Give it some more time. Come on, you gotta get ready for school.”
She clenched the blanket in her hand, her eyes misty, “Day…”
“What?”
“What if something happened?”
I slipped out from underneath the covers and started walking toward the hallway, “Let’s hope that’s not the case. For now just get dressed.”
I slid open my closet door and Kiana shuffled out of bed, trudging her way into the bathroom.
I threw on my white dress shirt and fastened the buttons. Opening a drawer, I rummaged for a tie, finally selecting one I liked and draping it over my shoulder.
Brinnnnng.
I froze. The tie slipped from my shoulder and dropped to the floor.
Kiana’s head popped out from the bathroom door, her eyes alert.
I ran to the home phone, praying that it was Clay. My hand slammed on the receiver and flung it to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Daymond! I… I—”
“Clayton!” I screamed, “Where the hell have you been!?”
A mixture of relief and rage rushed over me like a thundering stampede. The overwhelming flow of emotions surging through me made me light headed.
“I–I–I don’t—oh no… Damn it! I can’t—” he was hysterical, and his breathing was scattered.
My eyes shot wide open. I glanced over at Kiana standing in the hallway then immediately jerked my head back towards the phone.
“Clay, listen to me! Just tell me where you are right now, I’m coming to get you.”
“I messed up, Day! I’m sorry! I messed up bad—really bad!”
“Where are you!” I demanded.
“I’m at Aunt Jenny’s Diner.”
“Stay there, I’m on my way.”
I pounded the receiver back into its holster and frantically scrambled for the keys.
“What’s going on?!” Kiana asked, “Is Clayton okay?”
“He sounded fine to me. I’m going to get him right now. Finish getting ready, the bus is going to leave soon.”
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“But I wanna go with you!”
I swung the front door open, “Go to school, Kiana! I’ll be back later.”
“W–Wait—”
I slammed the door behind me and flew down the steps to the parking lot.
—break—
Warm air brushed across my face as the doors to Aunt Jenny’s Diner swung open. Folk music played quietly through the speakers to help add to the comforting nature of this place. I knew the feeling very well—but at the time I wasn’t very comforted. We frequented that rustic old place quite often whenever we needed an escape to hide from the tourists—or the world. It made sense that Clayton would come here if he was distressed.
The diner invited a feeling of stillness and calm which caused me to slow down my pursuit. I peeked over the front desk to see Clayton sitting at the bar, and my heart melted. Aunt Jenny stood beside him with a cloth in hand, thoughtfully polishing a glass. She wasn’t really our Aunt, at least by blood, but she was the closest thing I had to one.
“Clayton! Are you alright?”
“Hey. Yeah… I’m fine. Sorry I didn’t call, I lost my phone.”
Aunt Jenny shot a glare at Clayton, “Go easy on him Daymond, this poor baby had a rough day.”
“Thank you, Jenny. We’ll be heading out.”
“Not a problem.”
Back in the car, Clayton sat silent for a moment, staring out the car window at the empty parking spaces. I waited there patiently for him to collect himself and finally speak. Physically, he had no injuries, but I could sense an immense burden weighing heavily on his mind.
As minutes passed by in silence sitting in the car, his body started trembling. Tears streamed down his face and his breathing became shallow.
“Daymond,” he cried, “I–I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to do.”
I placed my arm around his shoulder and pulled him into my chest, waiting for him to catch his breath.
“I… My friend told me he knew people that could help me get a lot of money. S–S–So I started hanging out with them after school. It was fine… at first. But after a while they started to scare me. They pressured me to do things I didn't want to do…”
My heart sank. I drew in a sharp breath, “Did they make you take drugs?”
“No—well… yea, but it wasn’t just that,” he wiped his eyes against his arm. “They—They gave me a choice… They told me I have to sell on the streets for them, or else they would do something to my family… They wouldn’t let me tell you or the police… I didn’t know what else to do…”
I wrapped him in my arms and drew him close with a warm embrace, patting his back gently, “It’s okay, man. It’s alright. You’re alright… you’re alright.”
“N–No… that’s not all, Day! I lost all of the drugs they gave me. Someone held me at gunpoint last night and stole it from me! When Kingsley finds out, he’ll kill me!”
I rhythmically rubbed my hand against his back, “That’s not gonna happen. I’m just glad you aren’t hurt. How much money did all the stuff they stole cost?”
“U–Uhh… probably around… $800 worth.”
My skin crawled. There was no way I would be able to afford that month’s rent if I had to make an expense like that. But still, if that Kingsley guy even had a suspicion that we went to the police, he would do everything he could to kill Clayton. I didn’t have many other options.
“You won’t be going back to Kingsley. I’ll go talk to him and pay him off.”
“Wh–What?!” Clayton’s eyes shot open. “Day, you don’t understand. Kingsley is extremely dangerous. His gang controls his entire neighborhood, his turf stretches for miles down on the East Side.”
“Let me worry about that. I’m not scared of some bitch who took advantage of my brother and thinks he owns everybody.”
“Daymond, I’m serious!”
“I am too. You know where he is?”
“Y–Yeah…”
“Alright.”
I slammed the gear into reverse and backed the car out of the parking space, “I’m going to drop you off at home, then I’m going to swing by the bank…”
“Please—Please don’t get yourself killed.”
“I’m just gonna talk to him, Clay. That’s all.”
Many minutes passed quietly as we drove home. Clayton nervously picked at his arm rest as I kept my gaze fixed on the road ahead. Eventually, we reached our apartment, and I put the car in park.
“How mad are you?” Clayton asked.
“Mad doesn’t really describe it,” I glanced over at him. “Don’t ever do some shit like that again. And where did your phone go? I told you to keep it on you and answer it at all times.”
“They took it from me…”
I gripped the steering wheel tightly, “You need to use your head, Clay! You shoulda never gotten involved with those guys in the first place.”
“I know, but I didn’t know they were gonna be bad… I just wanted to make money…”
“Your choices matter. Your choices are very, very important. I need you to apologize to Kiana as soon as she gets home. You need to apologize for all those days you left her alone; you need to apologize for not being more careful; you need to apologize for waiting so long to tell somebody; you need to apologize for not picking the right friends; you need to apologize for worrying her to death all through last night—”
“I know! I know…”
I leaned over to Clayton, clutching his arm with my hand. “I promised Dad that I would look after you. I promised that because you and Kiana… are all I got. And you both rely on me… You’re her older brother, I need you to promise me that from now on you will look after her…”
Clayton drew in a sharp breath and shot it out through his nose. He looked up through the windshield of the car, his hand cupped around his mouth. “...Yeah… I promise.”