My Brother, the gangster

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I walked up to him. He seemed distressed about something. We normally keep to ourselves, but we always have each other’s backs when we are in trouble. There’s no way he was going to suffer alone as I watched.

“Yoh bro, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing much.” He tries to smile, but fails miserably. I keep looking at him waiting for him to break and tell me the truth.

“Nothing is wrong, OK?” Pause. “OK, I got into some trouble with some guys, but I will sort it out.” He looks at me. I’m still waiting for him to finish. “OK, I got involved with some shylocks. I borrowed some money from them which I used all of it, but I forgot to pay, now they are asking me to join their gang to work off my debt, are you happy now?”

“Of course I’m not happy. Why Tom? Why? Why couldn’t you just have asked money from me?”

“I knew you were struggling with your business, I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Really? Even if that was the case now look at the predicament you have placed yourself in. Who are they?”

“They are the Mean Gangsters.”

“Of all the people in the world, you went to the Meanies. How much did you borrow?”

“100,000.”

“100,000? For what?”

“I wanted to show my boys a good time.”

“The road trip you took last month?”

“Yes.”

“You borrowed money to go and enjoy yourself? Are you serious?”

“Listen if you don’t want to help me say so, don’t rub it in OK?”

“You are kidding me right? Do you know the Meanies and their reputation in this estate?”

“Yes I do.”

“You do know they will do anything to get their money back?”

“Yes I do.”

“They can even come to kill me, thanks to you.”

“OK, OK, what do we do?”

“First question, how were you going to pay them?” He keeps quiet. “You were going to pay it somehow, right?”

“Um … “

“Seriously? You borrow from some of the shrewdest people in this estate and you have no idea of how you are going to pay them? Thank you very much.”

“I’m sorry OK. You work all day; We never hang out anymore; I’m struggling at school; Mom is sick at home; Our relatives refuse to see us; I was stressed OK, and I wanted to enjoy myself. If you’re not going to help then I will do it on my own.”

“What exactly are you going to do?”

“I will join their gang and work the debt off.”

“You know once you join them you can never leave.”

“What other option do I have? Plus I’ve been a member for two weeks now. I’m going to be initiated tomorrow.”

“WHAT!!! Oh no, now that is a horrible joke.”

“Unfortunately it’s true.”

I was breathing heavily. I felt like I was going to explode. My own brother a criminal? I thought to myself this could not be happening. I looked at him. He looked down, ashamed of himself. I did not know what to do, but we had to solve this matter as soon as possible before my little brother disappeared because of the criminal lifestyle. I had lost so many friends to the Mean Gangsters. Some victims of their attacks, others members of the gang felled by the bullet of a gun or by the members of the public. I thought my brother would be next, and I would be called one day and asked to go and identify his body, from a ditch somewhere. No, we had to solve the issue right there and then. I had no other option. I had to go and see their leader to ask for my brother back. As for the money, we would work together to pay it off. As we left my brother did not feel it a great idea, but we had to do something.