Beg For Mercy

1455 Words6 Pages
A short story by Jay Kalirai. Beg For Mercy Bang! Bang! It’s just another day in South Sac! A man getting blasted is a part of everyday life here. Drive bys, shootouts, stabbings, street fights, drugs, it’s all about the ‘gang’. Smile at the wrong person and that just might get you killed. Welcome to Hell. Starting as far back as I can remember I always wanted to escape, to follow my dream and become a professional basketball player. My father gave me my first ball when I was 5, ever since then I have never let the dream go and became a star player for my school. It was my only way of getting free, of not being dragged down. In between, years passed and times changed. The economy hit rock bottom and so did dad’s job. My family needed cash. The only way to get a rapid credit line in my neighbourhood was to sell drugs or join the gang. What other option was there? My family needed food on the table. That’s when I started selling drugs at my school. Soon enough the Head Teacher saw me dealing and I got an 8-week exclusion and kicked off the Ball team. By then I didn’t care much because I was making enough money to support my family and plenty spare to by designer garms and box fresh sneakers. At the back of my mind, I knew this couldn’t last, didn’t want it to last. This was not supposed to be my life. Sure I had money, but what about my dreams, had I given up on them so easily. I also knew, sooner or later, that the local gang were bound to find out about my dealing and its impact on their business. Sure enough, as I was walking home one afternoon, the six members of the neighbourhood gang jumped me, beating me furiously. They gave me an ultimatum, “Either join us or die.” What could I do? I had no choice, I accepted the ‘offer’ and that’s when it all started to get worse, to go devastatingly toxic. I had to go back with them to the gangs
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