Legacy
LEGACY
Bless had come home so drunk. I hadn’t seen her that slapped since her first drink when she was sixteen. She passed out.
The kids were asleep as well. So, I slipped out of the house. I was driving around the city, high off pills and stewing in my misery. Since I'd left to pick up the kids from daycare, I hadn't been able to shake the defeated feeling that swelled up inside me. I had been feeling like a failure for a while now, but looking at Bless' face that day, I knew she finally felt the same way too.
She had lost faith in me.
I was desperate to make her happy again, to be the man she deserved. I needed money, and I needed it fast. As I drove through the dimly-lit streets, a desperate idea formed in my mind, and before I knew it, I was heading towards Aesop's trap house. Aesop was a hustler under the same network as me. I knew the crew would be at a birthday party for the head of our organization, Smoke, which meant the house would be empty.
I parked my car in the alley, pulling up my black hood and mask. The chill of the night air bit at my skin, but the adrenaline pumping through my veins kept me warm. I got out of the car, scanning the area to make sure no one was around. The alley was dark and silent, providing the perfect cover for what I was about to do.
I knew this place well enough. I had been here countless times. I moved quickly, my steps quiet as I approached the backyard. Then I hopped the fence and landed softly on the other side.
I crept towards the back door. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small toolkit. I had done this before, but never to someone I knew. Smoke no longer trusted me to move his product. I had been coming up short too much, and he saw the change in me. So, I had resulted to stealing cars and breaking into cribs to get money.
The lock on the door was old and rusty, so I knew it wouldn’t take much to get it open. I inserted the pick into the lock, feeling for the familiar click. It took a few tries, my hands shaking slightly from the drugs and nerves, but finally, the lock gave way.
The door creaked as I pushed it open. I stepped inside, my eyes adjusting to the darkness. The house was eerily quiet, and for a moment, I felt guilty for robbing my own crew. But I shoved it aside. I needed this. Bless and the kids needed this.
I moved through the house with purpose, my footsteps light on the old wooden floors. I knew where Aesop kept his stash. I headed to the back room, the one that doubled as an office and storage. I pushed the door open and slipped inside.
The room was filled with boxes and bags. The smell of weed lingered heavily in the air. I went straight to the desk and pulled the drawers open. My fingers sifted through papers and small bags of drugs until I found the cash. The stacks of cash secured with rubber bands made my mouth water. I stuffed them into the bookbag on my back so quick that many of them fell to the floor. Scrambling, I took everything that I could fit into that bookbag.
The weight of the money felt both comforting and damning. I had reached a new low, but I couldn’t stop myself. I needed to make things right with Bless to prove to her that I could still be the man she had fallen in love with.
With the bookbag full, I made my way back through the house, my heart pounding in my ears. I slipped out the back door, carefully locking it behind me. Then I climbed back over the fence and headed to my car.
As I drove away, the reality of what I had just done started to sink in. The money felt heavy, like a constant reminder of what I had allowed myself to become.
I had crossed a line, one that I wasn’t sure I could come back from.