Home in the Hood Part 1

This place I call Home has been known by many names, which are not always positive. Names such as Ghetto and Asphalt Jungle have a way of demoralizing and desensitizing some people who have accepted their environment as a comfortable way of life.

Then there are those other people who don’t have the resources to move away and are forced to deal with the sometimes deadly behavior of those who have no respect for the Home they must live in.

On certain corners around Home, you can see young men peddle their deadly products of dope, smoke and crack to anyone who would buy or try. I have seen young girls fall prey to the power of addiction and sell their precious bodies to anyone just so they can relive getting high again.

Home: A place where I venture to and from at a speed known only to the wind because relaxing around here, can lead to fatal consequences. Slowed down one day and as I approached my neighborhood, this young man I’d often seen selling his death tools made the mistake of asking me, “What you need brother man, cause I got it?” I responded, “That’s okay, but can I ask you a question?”

I must have caught him a little off guard because he had that startled look on his face as if he wasn’t use to questions that didn’t concern business. “Make your question quick Slick because I have business to attend to,” he said. “Do you ever feel guilty when you see the damage done to those who use your deadly products?” I asked?

The young man's face reacted before his lips did and he said with venom dripping from his raggedy mouth, “They’re going to buy it from someone, why not me? You work, I work and this is my J-O-B homeboy.”

By his body language, I knew that he thought he had invoked some logical street language on me, so I smiled, looked him in his blazing red-eyes and said, “My brother, a man who sells death to his own kin is a man whose soul died long ago.”

As I sauntered away and finally reached the corner of my home, I could still hear his last words ringing in my ears as he said, F### You!!”

The story continues ...

Home in the Hood Part 2;
Home in the Hood Part 3