"Why can't we go to the police Devin?" I asked. I paced across the empty room while he sat calmly against a wall. How could he just sit there? I couldn't believe our sister was kidnapped and we were just here, doing nothing.

"We can't go to the police Darius. What are we going to tell them huh? That we were making an illegal drug exchange when a black van rolled up and took her?" he said sarcastically.

"You told me you weren't going to do that anymore," I whispered but it was loud enough for him to hear. 

Devin looked up at me, wide-eyed, then hung his head realizing his mistake. Despite the situation we lived in, I didn't want my brother to get caught up in anything like drug dealing. He didn't directly join a gang but sometimes just to make a quick buck, he'd do a pickup and drop off. Still, it was dangerous to even be associated with that business.

"It was the last time Darius. We just needed the cash to get some food and supplies. It is getting colder and your jacket is torn", he conceded.

I looked down at my dark blue jacket that had a gaping hole at its hem. It had gotten caught on the fence, I was crawling under, trying to get away from Mr Wong. He was the owner of the convenience store I often stole from.

I didn't believe him. He may be able to lie to those girls just to get a quickie, but we were brothers. I could see right through his bullshit.

I didn't say anything though. It wasn't worth it to argue, we had bigger problems. I went and sat beside him.

"So, drugs? That's what you delivered to those guys?"

"Yes, and in turn, we got some cash and two untraceable phones," he said taking out the phones and the roll of cash from the front pocket of his jeans.

"What kind was it?"

"I don't know, some kind of pills or something" I could tell he was getting irritated as he rolled his eyes.

"How much cash did you get?" I ignored his irritation. He sighed heavily.

"$500, but not all of it is ours though. Marcus gets a percentage." He said. 

I jumped up then the realization hit me. Marcus.

"Wait! Marcus!"

"Yea, Marcus. He's the one that brought me the deal last ni-" he furrowed his brows at me, confused at my sudden surge in energy.

"No! Marcus! We don't have to go to the police. We can go to Marcus he's still an officer right?" I was getting excited as my voice went up a few octaves. 

"Yea, he must have just gotten off his suspension by now. And keep quiet" Devin agreed. He got up and walked towards one of the window openings. He took out one of the phones from the bag and tossed one to me. He used the other to call Marcus.

Marcus Nicholson was Dahlia's boyfriend, or at least, one of them.
When they met, he was a young police officer, fresh out of training. He had arrested her for shoplifting just over a year ago.

She never made it to the police station though. The two ended up banging on the back seat of the police car. She had done it to avoid being sent to juvie and leaving us.

I'm not sure why Marcus did it. They had an interesting relationship. He was a good officer until he got involved with Dahlia. It meant he had to keep her secrets. He helped to get rid of videotape evidence of her shoplifting. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
Whenever the police got called on her, he was the first to show up. We would even get a heads up if they were looking for Dahlia or Devin.

Things were great in the beginning until Dahlia got involved with Berlington's biggest drug dealers'  second in command, Juno.

He's a vicious guy. He treated women like his possessions. When they disobeyed, they'd get beat up. If they straight up dissed him, they'd go missing.

She was being beaten by Juno's henchmen, when Marcus rolled up on the corner, out of uniform. They knew he was a cop, but they didn't know he was involved with Dahlia.

Juno decided to exploit this and now Marcus was doing work for them, getting rid of evidence, similar to what he was doing for us. He eventually started to get involved in the drug movement aspects, making his own small mark in the city's drug trade. I didn't like that he sometimes involved my brother. They never really got along, but Devin would work with him just so we could eat. 

Eventually, the chief of police caught wind of what Marcus was doing, but Marcus was so good that all they really had was hearsay. But as a show of authority to the other officers, the chief had him suspended.

Devin decided to call Marcus for them to meet up. He got up and walked towards the window as he whispered. What kind of secret were they keeping?

The waning moon was illuminating his face and black hoodie. I was only 14, but I knew something didn't feel right. I just didn't know what it was.

Devin was anxious which in turn made me feel insecure. He was usually the strong and protective one. Whenever we did end up going to school, he was the one who portrayed the big tough guy that all the other "tough guys" were afraid of.

He may have been smaller than the typical jocks but he was quicker and more agile.

I remember once, we had been going to school steadily for 3 weeks; which was a record for us. Devin had decided to try out for the football team. I knew he would be a natural at it, and the coach saw it too.

The coach loved him, but the other guys were jealous. It didn't help that every girl wanted him too. But I ruined it by being me. Being Devin's little brother didn't make me immune to bullying; it made me a target. No one dared to mess with Devin so the braver ones went after me.

The captain of the football team, Brock, was threatened by Devin and his natural abilities on the field. So as high school jocks do, he wanted to teach Devin a lesson about coming into a new school, that already had an established status quo. To make it worse, Devin was caught giving back shots to Britney, Brock's girlfriend behind the bleachers.

One afternoon I was reading in the courtyard waiting until his practice was over when Brock and his balloon head buddies jumped me. They got a few kicks in until Devin leaped in over my head seemingly from out of nowhere and drop kicked Brock in the chest.

He went down immediately. The friends saw this and decided it wasn't worth it to fight, but Brock got up and tried to swing on him.

His punches sliced through the air as Devin dodged them easily. He landed a few punches that caused blood to spew from Brock's nose.

The fight went on long enough for a crowd to form. Brock went down again from a punch to the cranium that would knock him out but Devin kept going.

He stood over him, grabbing his jersey and kept delivering hits until his knuckles bled, and mixed in with the blood from Brock's face.

It was an awful sight. A sight that got him expelled and then we were shipped off to live with Barry and Margaret.

"The old train station? Yea I know it. Um, I can be there in an hour, 15 if I drive" I heard Devin say after whispering for some time. After he hung up I spoke.

"We going?" I asked barely above a whisper.

"No, I'm going. You are staying here with the stuff and our half of the money."

"Come on, I heard you say you were driving. You can't hotwire a car without me."

"I remember how to do it." He snapped, pulling the hood over his head. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a 3 star.

He flicked it open to reveal a freshly sharpened blade about 3 inches long then flicked it closed. He flipped it over and handed it to me. I took it flicking it open myself to inspect it, the moonlight caught the blade through the window.

"You remember how to use it right? If you come upon a larger opponent stay low and move fast. Go for the abdomen and legs" He reminded me. That was the main advice Devin gave me, how to defend myself. I guessed that's what he knew.

"Yes, I remember." I flicked close the blade. I didn't like knives that much. They reminded me of Barry and Margaret too much; a dark place that no child should be subjected to.

That's where they stuck us for 6 months. It was torturous, and I had the scars on my arm from cigarette burns to prove it. On Barry's drunken days, he'd find it amusing to call me over and put out his cigarette on my arm. It often resulted in Devin defending me, but he often got his ass handed to him by Barry and his friends. 

"Good. Be right back."