Chapter 1 - Father and Son

"Daddy I sim!"

Justin smiled slowly, as he watched his two year son Kyle, swinging his arms back and forth, pretending to swim in the small bath tub. It was amazing how children could have so much fun taking a bath.

"You sim too?"

Justin laughed, taking a seat on the side of the tub. "No buddy, I don't fit."

"Is small?"

"Yeah, it's too small for me." He smiled, as he drained out the water. "All right kiddo. Bath time is over." He lifted him out of the tub, drying his small body.

"Tie go nigh?" He asked, as his father placed his pull-up diaper in place.

"Yep, it's time for bed." He placed his superman pajamas on him, as they walked into Kyle's bedroom.

"Daddy read boo?" He asked softly, picking up a Dr. Suess book from the floor.

Justin smiled, as he helped him into the bed, "You want me to read you a book?"

"Yea, tis." He said, handing him the colorful book.

Justin shook his head, a small smile tugging on his lips. He sat on the edge of the bed softly reading the childern's book. After four pages, he looked down to see Kyle snoring softly by his side. "I love you buddy." He placed a kiss on his forhead, shutting the lap off.

He shut the bedroom door softly, as he stepped into the bathroom, to get himself ready for bed as well. He switched on the light, looking at his reflection. He sighed heavily, as he stared at the blue eyes staring back at him. They were empty, soulless. He cringed at the thought, looking at the tatoos around his neck and chest. He stripped off his clothes, starting the shower, as he slowly stepped under the hot spray of water.

He breathed in deeply, listening to the sounds outside. The bass of the music rebreviating off the walls, the shouts echoing all around him. He lived in a pretty shitty neighborhood, drive-bys and drug busts were very common in this praticular area, but it was better than living behind a dumpster. Besides, his homeboys lived down the street, along with the rest of his gang.

He cursed silently, as the water flowed down his chest and back. 'His gang.' That was his only job. Leader of a powerful gang. It was all he knew how to do. Fight, steal.... And kill. And he was good at it. Having never been caught. Keeping the money he stoled, hidden underneath his hardwood floors. Thousands and thousdands of dollars. He cursed again, as he thought more about his life style, his head hanging low, as he thought about the one person that meant everything to him.

'Kyle'

He was lucky and grateful to have him. But he hated himself for having Kyle surrounded by violence. Kyle was everything to him, was the only one that kept him in check. The only person that 'loved' him. He wanted nothing more than to take him and the money and leave this place for good. But he couldn't. Not yet. There's still so much more to do around here. His job wasn't done. He cleaned himself quickly and dressed himself in some sweatpants and a wife beater.

Making a quick check to see if his son was still sleeping, he headed towards the kitchen. He opened the refrigarator, a wide variety of food and drinks in display. Liquor was out of the question, wine seemed tempting, a bottle of Heinken looked good, but instead he settled for one of Kyle's juice boxes. He popped the straw into the little hole and took a sip as he gazed out the kitchen window, when his cell phone vibrated on top of the kitchen counter.

"Sup?" He answered quickly.

"Yo Jay, where you at man?" It was his homeboy Tyler.

"At home dawg." He said quietly, throwing the empty juice box in the trash.

"Hey dude, you need to come out here. Party up at Fabians. Badass shit, with drinks, and hot bitches everywhere foo."

"I ain't going out tonight. I've got Kyle with me."

"So? Call up Nicole and have her watch him for a few hours."

Justin sighed heavily into the phone. "No thanks dude. She had a shit fit about leaving him here for the weekend. So, I really don't want to see or deal with her right now. She's not too happy about this joint custody thing." He answered softly.

"Anthony and Brandon are here." Tyler said slowly. "They're packing about five G's each."

Justin sat quiet for a minute. Anthony Richards was the leader of the rival gang and not to mention, Nicole's older brother. Brandon Wiles was Anthony's second in command and a pussy who always kisses Anthony's ass. "Is anything going down?" He asked quietly.

"Other than him talking shit? No. He's still pissed that you knocked up his sister, than dumped her two months after Kyle was born."

Justin snorted. "Not like she gave me much of a choice. Threatening to take my son away from me was something I wasn't going to tolerate."

"So, you coming?" Tyler asked, after a moment of silence. "All the soldiers are here waiting for your command."

Justin sighed heavily, running his tatooed hand across his face. "Tell them not to make a move until I get there." He said quickly, with alittle edge.

"Yes sir." Tyler said quickly, hanging up in the process.

Justin walked into his bedroom, dressing in usual attire. Baggy demin jeans, an XXL Titans jersey, along with his plantim Rolex and chain necklace, and his white lugs. He sighed heavily, walking into Kyle's room. He leaned over the bed carefully, as he watched his son sleeping peacefully. "One of these days, we're going to get the heck out of here. Just you and me buddy. I promise." He kissed the top of his head and left the room, blinking away the unwanted tears. He looked down the hall to see his mother walking in through the front door.

"Hey mom. Thanks for coming." He said softly, entering the living area.

"How long will you be gone?" She asked curtly, not bothering to look at him as she removed her coat.

"Uh, I don't know really. Hopefully not that late." He sighed deeply, knowing that she was upset with him. Not that he blamed her.

She looked at him slowly. Her eyes were empty. But her voice was sad. "You're going to go fight again aren't you?" When he remained silent, she knew the answer. She shook her head, her eyes teary. "Go." She said quickly, as she turned away, making her way to her grandson's room.

"I love you mom." He said softly.

"I know." She said, her voice cracking. "I love you too." A lonely tear creeped it's way down her cheek, as she heard the front door shut behind her.