I can sit down and lie to you, tell you my life is great and splendid. I am living the best life, but I won't. Imagine life was good and beautiful, imagine you had everything you ever wanted, be it the cars, the money, affluence, you name it. Like it was all there, life was good and beautiful. Until it was all gone in the blink of an eye.
Normally you would try getting it back because everyone wants a shot at happiness, when I mean everyone, I literally mean everyone. But then imagine you can't get it back. It's far beyond your reach. No matter how far you stretch, no matter the pain you feel in your joints, with them aching you just can't seem to reach it. Everyone has a breaking point, right? Now, what if it wasn't your fault, you lost it. You didn't make wrong decisions or mistakes that cost you that thing but it was actually stolen.
What would you do then? Would you cower and let them take it? Leaving you in the rumbles maybe bleeding? While they laugh and scorn at you. Well, you may but I wouldn't.
Looking at the man cowering in the corner, he's body shaking, his mouth dyed red from his blood.
"Please spare me" the man muttered.
"You should have thought about that before you took something from me" I said before sinking my hand into his head. His screams echoed through the alley ways as I left him to die. His death as a warning to all those who have crossed me. I am coming for you all. Death searches for you all.
Going through the quiet alleys, my nose was assaulted by the smell of the suburbs, with rats crawling all around. The rats didn't shy away when they saw someone approaching, instead they continued their scavenging of food, as any minute they waste, is just them drawing close to their end, dying of hunger and so every minute counts.
This the reality of Raccoon ridge, a place which is disconnected from the rest of the world. In this place it's survival of the fittest, where the weak is prey and the strong predator. To survive here one has to be ready to be despicable and ready to feast on others if not you are going to be the next meal. Apart from protecting one's self from other people you also have to be careful and always be on the right side of the law. And the law here is the laws placed by the gangs, who are the law makers, interpreters and enforcers of those laws.
Most people are trying to run away from these gangs and be in their good books, but me, I am different. Instead of running away, I am running towards them. They have something they owe me, a debt I have waited years to collect. Passing some homeless people, who had their hands stretched out begging and asking for something to it. But don't fall for that, as these are the tricks they use to lure unsuspecting prey, before they assault and mug them.
Still walking down the dark streets of Raccoon ridge, I could see two person's having an argument over a game of dice, it seemed as though one had cheated the other and so the issue was going to be sorted out the usual way things are sorted out here. With fists, teeth, and blood. Yes, a whole lot of blood. With the way fights happen a lot here and with how blood flows here, it will be alright for one to say that Raccoon Ridge was built on blood.
Getting home, I walked into building that had many apartments, the building looked like it was a stone away from getting knocked over. The building was made of hot red bricks just like every other building in Raccoon ridge. Here most people leave in apartments as that's the only cheap way to afford a home and have a roof under your head. Unless you want to be in the streets, sharing dumps and sewers with the rats and other large rodents.
Going into the building and reaching my apartment was a bit of a chore as the flight of stairs were a bit numerous. Having reached my room which was on the fourth floor of eight, I got in to be met with the darkness. Lighting up a candle, I found my way to my bed, sitting and looking out the window. Out there just like in there, there is no electricity but dim lights of candles. Down here in Raccoon ridge, electricity is not a luxury the masses can acquire but is left for the very few of the few, as it is quite expensive to afford, as just being able to be alive in Raccoon ridge is expensive.
Laying down, I picked the picture by my bed side, it contained 3 persons. A woman and two young boys, with one of the boys being around 16 and the other being around 9. The sixteen-year-old was my brother Conan and the nine-year-old was me. I remember the time we took that picture, mum had spent close to a month's salary to be able to get us a session with the photographer, as taking pictures wasn't a luxury just anyone could afford.
The picture was taken just few months, before Conan was killed. I could still remember what happened like it was yesterday, a normal day in raccoon city, with people suffering and fighting to survive. Conan just got paid for a job he did and had decided to take me for a treat. Walking through the streets of Raccoon ridge, Conan had taken me to the only famous meat spot. Though getting a rat my not really be that much of a chore, but getting the spices and ingredients needed to make a decent meal out of it was the problem.
Most people due to how hungry they were preferred to just get it and sell it to people like Mo who had the ingredients and money to be able to afford it. Though Mo has the money, it's no secret in Raccoon ridge that he works for the gangs. He is like their informant; nothing happens in Raccoon ridge that Mo doesn't know of. He is like the Oracle of Raccoon ridge, he knows the past, the present and future. But to acquire information from him came at a price, a hefty one at that. And so, he works closely with the gangs as only they could afford his information.
That day we came to get a meat treat, getting closer to Mo's joint, the aroma of peppered rodents, that had been flayed, flew across the air. My nine-year-old throat that was usually dry, all of a sudden, the watery gates open and I was salivating. Getting closer, I could see the sign barely hanging, Mo's Spiced rodents and soup. The sign giving hope to the young lads of Raccoon ridge that they could be anything if they worked towards it.
Passing the people that tried to stay close to Mo's food stand, as they were trying to have a different smell other than the usual smell of Raccoon ridge. Conan walked me up to Mo as he was in his kitchen cooking. There was no line as not everyone could afford this. The aroma engulfed me, as I stared at Mo stirring the soup. The rodent's innards popping up once in a while, I could just imagine how it would taste like. How hot it would be, will it be too spicy, I heard it had something called salt in it. So how will it taste like I couldn't really wait to taste it.
As we were standing and Conan making an order for us, some gang members pulled up around the corner about five of them. People seeing this started to run away from them and hide. Pulling at Conan so we could run before they came but Conan refused.
"It's going to be okay" Kyle he said.
Believing in him we stood there collecting our order and decided to take a sit near by with me facing the gang members and Conan backing them. They stood a little bit far away from us, with the person who seemed like the leader, walking towards Mo and having a conversation. He later left and then met with his people and they were about to leave. Watching them leave brought a heavy relief on me. Till, it didn't, one of them had caught me looking at them and was now walking over to us. Approaching calmly, and stood beside our table.
"Do you have a problem with us kid" he said, his voice hoarse. His body tattooed with scares, I wanted to answer but I couldn't as there was still meat in my mouth. Trying hard to swallow and push it down but to no avail, the meat was stuck between my throat and not budging.
Cold sweat dried from my head, the salt and spice in my mouth all dried up as I tried to look at the man. Conan trying to stand up and intervene but was immediately pushed back. The man pulled out a blade and asked me the same question.
"Do you have a problem with us kid?" But I still couldn't answer. With Conan running again towards the man and me. Conan was grabbed by the man, next thing my vision was now painted red.