Life hasn't been fair to anyone, same goes for my case. I didn't turn out to be the rich heir of a multimillionaire who is famous with girls, instead I became quite the opposite.
My name is Andre but people call me 'dre. I live in Philadelphia; the home of high rated criminals and gangsters. It's kinda funny how I ended up here. I know the streets of Philadelphia like the back of my palm. Everyone knows me...why do they know me? I've been living in the streets of Philadelphia for over ten years... eleven to be exact, and what do I do for a living? Like every other kid, I sell drugs. I wasn't born this way but circumstances led me into it.
Like every average kids I had parents. They weren't really wealthy but averagely rich. My father was a public worker and my mom had a shop downtown. My Life was perfect. I was attending school and I had a lot of friends. Soon my peaceful days came to an end when my parents died in a car accident. We were on our way back from a party when our car got hit by a truck. The impact made our car turn upside down. Surprisingly I wasn't hurt but when I looked at my parents they were unconscious and covered in blood. When the police arrived they confirmed that my parents were dead. As a child I was shocked. Human life is fragile yet we humans do the most dangerous things.
I was taken to the orphanage since no one wanted to take me in.There I thought I could find refuge and get over my parents death but it was the opposite of what I expected. I went through hell in the so called orphanage. I was bullied by the other kids for being so weak, my whole life was miserable. Untill one day that I decided to escape. It wasn't easy but with the help of the only friend I was able to make Maddison, she helped me escape. I thanked her and promised to come back for her.
I got into the streets of Philadelphia not knowing where to go. I wandered around like a stray cat. I slept anywhere nightfall catches me. I hate remains from the dumpster every night. I was scared and weak. Day by day I grew lean. Days became weeks, weeks became months. I tried to stay out of trouble until one day I saw a gang of older boys harassing a girl of my age. I approached them and asked them to stop nicely. Little did I know that I was making a terrible mistake. The boys stopped and faced me. They were obviously displeased. The girl ran to safety and I was rooted to a spot not knowing what to do next. I was so scared and I tried pleading
" Please I'm sorry...
" You're talking to us?" one of the boys asked me quickly. I was frightened just by hearing his voice.
" I was just saying....what....you are doing is wrong " I said trying to explain.
" Who are you to tell us what to do?"another boy questioned me. I wasn't given the chance to talk when another boy talked.
"Otis... I guess he's new in town"
" Oh really...then we must teach him a lesson" the boy named Otis said with a mischievous smile on his face.
They started hitting me. I cried out for help but no one answered. They just looked at me and walk away. I was already covered in blood and I wished they would just stop but they didn't. I was cloy to losing my consciousness when I realized that they stopped. Apparently a boy who was older had showed up so the gang of boys ran away. I looked up to see who it was and i saw him staring at me before looking away.
"What's your name?" he asked without looking at me.
"A..Andre" I answered immediately.
" You gotta learn to mind your own business out in these streets or else you will get yourself killed" that was all he said before walking away.
" Umm...wait! I haven't thanked you yet and.... I don't even know your name " I said but he didn't answer me. He just walked away until he was out of sight.
That incident taught me a valuable lesson and I wasn't planning on making the same mistake. Weeks passed after that strange boys saved me. I kept his warnings in mind and minded my business. Although a lot of things happened but I turned a blind eye to it, that way I didn't get into trouble until one day I saw him beside a building standing with a bag in his hands. It looked like he was waiting for someone so I rushed to meet him and he wasn't happy to see me.
" What the fuck are doing here?" he asked me quickly.
" I wanted to thank you for the other day"I said with a smile.
"Yeah whatever...now leave" he said looking around as if he was looking for something.
" Are you deaf kid? I said leave" he yelled at me. I was surprised and I had no idea of what I've done wrong.
" Did I do something wrong?* I asked.
"Get the fuck out of here and quit blabbing" he said angrily and pushed me on the floor. I stood up and walked away dejected. After walking some meters away, I looked back and I saw this strange boy giving a man the bag he was holding. I felt something was suspicious going on.
"What was on that bag?" I asked myself.
Weeks later, I saw the boy again and I rushed to meet him. I expected him to be annoyed like the last time but he wasn't.
" What do you want again?" the boy asked me.
"I wanna talk to you"
"About what?"
"I need your help" I said.
" With what?"
"Please, take me in" I said quickly
" Are you out of your damn mind?" the boy asked looking at me.
" Please I'll do anything.....
"I live on the streets like you do...I barely even know you" the boy said.
" I know but please can I be your friend? I hardly eat or find somewhere to sleep.. I'm dressed in rags" I begged him. At that moment I didn't know why i was asking him to help me maybe I was feeling a sense of gratitude towards him, that made me look at him as my guardian angel.
"I should have let those boys beat you to death" the boy said to himself.
" Please". The boy looked at me for some time before looking away.
"Follow me" he said and I followed. He led me deep into the streets of Philadelphia. Finally we got to the place he stays. Although it was in the slums bit it was better than where I used to stay. The boys there looked older than me , only a few were my age mates and a girl was there. She looked really tough.
I was scared as I followed the boy closely. we finally got to a room and he told me to sit.
" You are 'dre right?" the boy asked.
"Yes,I am" I replied quietly.
"I'm Jackson " the boy finally said his name. "About the favour you asked me, I don't usually help people but I don't know why yours is an exception " Jackson said. " By the way, how old are you?"
"Eight! I'm Eight " I said.
"I'm Eleven .....you see out in these streets no one cares if you are a kid, everyone is looking for a way to survive. If you're not careful, you will get not only yourself killed but those around you killed as well. Like what happened when those boys beat you up" Jackson said.
"I was trying to help a girl...they were harassing her" I defended.
" Well that almost cost you your life....out here you mind your own business" Jackson said.
"Okay"
" Look around...this is where you will be staying, don't get into trouble. Stay here I'll be back before nightfall" Jackson said and stood up.
When he left I went outside to take a look at the surroundings but it was just to unfamiliar so I decided to just stay put. I sat down looking at everyone. Two boys walked up to me.They were the same age as me but I was still scared.
" Yo what's your name?" the first boy asked me.
"Andre" I replied slowly.
" Cool name" the second boy said.
"I'm Matt" the first boy said.
" Nice to meet you"
" I'm Diego" the second boy said.
"Diego?" I asked.
"I'm not American" Diego confirmed.
"Ohh"
"So you are Jackson's friend?" Matt asked.
" Urr...kinda" I said shyly.
"Nice... that makes you our friend too" Diego said.
" Thanks" I smiled. it was nice making new friends. it means I had a chance of fitting in.
"How did you end up here? " Matt asked.
" Ummm I ran away" I said
" From home?" Diego asked.
" From the orphanage....my parents died in a car accident" I explained.
" That's sad.....I didn't even know my parents. I lived with my aunt. She made my life miserable so I ran away. She's probably happy I left. Since then I started living here" Matt said.
" For how long? " I asked.
" Three years"
"What about you Diego?" I asked
"I have parents, they are alive.....I was trafficked from Spain but I ran away on the docks but they shot me..... thinking I was dead, they left. I then made my way here".
"With a gunshot wound?" I asked in surprise.
" Yeah" Diego said showing me the scar on his left shoulder. "I was five then" . I was shocked. A lot of kids are out here struggling to survive.
" So what do you guys do for a living?" I asked them.
"Thanks to Jackson, we don't worry about what to eat" Diego said.
" Jackson must have helped a lot of you here" I observed.
" He has" Matt said and I caught sight of the girl who was my age at a distance so I asked Matt about her.
"Who's she?"
"Cassandra?" he asked and I nodded.
"Tough.... quiet.....angry...mean....scary....I don't know what to call her" Matt said.
" Why?"
"Well she has been here since she was a baby" Diego said.
" A.. a baby?" i asked in surprise.
" According to what I heard, she was abandoned out her by the trash by her parents" Matt said.
"How did she survive?" I asked.
" Well one of the kids out here found her. Her name was bliss. She took care of her" Matt said.
" Bliss was twelve then" Diego added.
"But bliss was killed by the cops when Cassandra turned four....ever since she has been cold as ice"Matt explained.
"She's really scary" Diego said
"Have you tried talking to her?" I asked
"No" the both them echoed at the same time.
" She must be lonely....
" Stay away from her... she's a devil" Matt said and I smiled. I looked at her sitting in the corner and I somewhat felt pity for her.
Jackson was back by night just like he said. He bought chicken and chips for dinner. it had been ages since I've ate good food. That night I slept peacefully.
The next day I tried talking to Cassandra but as expected she was cold.
"Hi Cassandra....
" What do you want?" she asked quietly without looking at me.
"I'm Andre but you can call me 'dre...
" I don't care. Just tell me what you want and get the fuck....
" I'm not here to fight" I said quickly.
"So you are here for?" she asked
"To be your friend" I said and she looked really surprised.
" You want to be my friend?" she asked again to be sure and I nodded.
That was how we became friends....no...we became best friends. She became like a sister I never had.
A few months after I started living with Jackson, Jackson decided to show me the ropes
" Dre..." he called.
"Yes?"
"You have been here for awhile now and I think it's time to show you the way"
"What do you mean?" I asked confused.
"I can't always be around and you can't depend on me forever" Jackson said and brought out a gun. " You see this, it's your guardian angel" he said and placed it in my hands. "Have you heard of drugs?"
"Yes"
"That's what we do for a living" Jackson said.
"You sell drugs?" I asked
"I'm glad you are catching up" Jackson said.
"I never knew you were a pharmacist" I said and Jackson bursted into laughter.
" I don't mean that type of drug dummy, i mean cocaine" he said showing me a bag. I opened my eyes wide as I saw it.
"I thought it was illegal" I added.
" It is ....but we smuggle it so the cos don't find out. Most kids do it, Matt and Diego sell it too" Jackson explained.
" Ohhhh..." I exclaimed.
" So what do you say?" Jackson asked and I looked at him. There was no turning back.
"I'm in"
FUCK SHIT!!! I'm officially a drug dealer. I sold drugs for twelve years and I kinda became good at it. Cassandra was also selling for Jackson. Within those twelve years, Jackson grew Large. He became known across Philadelphia. Although the cops wouldn't leave us alone, we lost some of our friends before we moved undercover.
This was how I became a drug dealer and how it changed my Life.....