Early morning is when the neighborhood really starts to speak. The soundscape is composed of a few key players that you’ll find anywhere you go. The cries of a newborn baby, arguing couples, the rambunctious laughter of working corner-men cracking jokes, living dog days chasing a better now instead of tomorrow. Latin radio stations blast secular sermons over 90 BPMs, breaking night as sonic the backdrop to a daybreak that smelled of cigarette smoke.
Then you have the more intimate sounds. The banging of broomsticks on ceilings from rowdy old women trying to tell their neighbors to shut it. The sharp scrapes of forks against dinner plates, or the screams of passion from a steamy bedroom-and the smashing of a lamp from that room just a few hours after. Life reigned supreme in the sub-city known as the project. Its humming heartbeat, a sonic tapestry. It was then a new sound joined. It was twelve year old Hailey Marie coughing for the second night in a row.
“Hailey, baby what’s going on, you ok?” Kai asked as he entered through the front door.
“My Athima,” his little sister responded with an exasperated wheeze.
“Didn’t I tell you to sleep sitting up? Did you drink that tea grandma made you?” He asked, rising out of his bed. She continued to let out little coughs.
“Kai, it's not allergies. A cup of water with some honey ain’t doing nothing for my lungs,” she replied, gasping for more air.
Hailey's asthma had always been an issue. Her grandmother said it was from the roach droppings in the house, which prompted Kai to ask why they didn't just get rid of the roaches. They claimed that it was the apartment's issue, not theirs.
His grandparents were old, spending most of their days sleeping while his mother and older sister were always working. The only one at home who had time to clean was Kai. However, he found the task of managing the mess of six people in a two-bedroom not only frustrating, but impossible.
He could only sleep in the living room, crowded all at once by his sister, his nephew, and the dust worst of all. That ain’t-shit ass dust squatted in any empty space it could find for itself. On the couch, on the tv, on the coffee table, on the floor, on the light, on the walls, in the walls, on the three kids themselves, and right in Hailey’s airway, causing her the coughing fit she was in right now.
The Dust might have been the worst, but it wasn’t the only intruder to make its way into their home. While the family slept, nighttime pests scurried to their fridge, looking to break in for their own piece of whatever the family had saved for the week.
Kai had grown up in that mess, and to be honest, never thought much of it until he saw his sister experience the same. Kai was approaching his twenty-first birthday. Having just only just graduated high school, he never experienced much other than what “he had to.” He never had money to hang out, nor did he have anywhere to go. He’d never brought anyone over- friends let alone a lover, nor did he ever get to travel anywhere substantial. He lived his life commuting back and forth from the cold streets to a dirty box with no space or no clean air and knew his sister would have the same life. That angered him.
“Look baby, I’mma get some money by the end of the day and we'll go to the pharmacy down the block. I got an in with the woman who works there.”
“You mean the one Beanie pretending he ain’t messing with? Eww,” Hailey gagged lightly, throwing her hands up in the air to imply she wasn’t touching any of that. Kai jolted his tired head back in surprise.
“Oh what do you know about that?” he asked as she let out another wheeze.
“The….ugh...The whole block knows. Come on Kai, don't go there. That lady with her long-ass pinky nail be giving me nothing but sticky inhalers. Just go to the store on 149th.”
“Hey, Debby ain’t that bad-”
“Then why ain’t Beanie claiming her? Because she's talking about him like they're dating but Beanie saying they’re not.”
“Look if you want us to afford the trip to Freezeland we need to save some cash. Now the inhalers from her work just like the ones from the stores on the 149th. Just wipe the sides when ya get them or wear gloves.” He replied.
“Beanie’s been locked up before and still doesn't even wanna confess to that lady. That’s bad Kai. She’s built like a ninja turtle!” Hailey shot back followed by another deep cough. He walked over and started rubbing her back.
“That’s rude as hell. That’s why god is making your cough worse,” he said, shaking his head. Hailey looked at him, clearly appalled by the notion it was her fault.
“But I ain’t wrong. God knows that.”
“God knows- how do you know so much gossip? Wait never mind don’t answer that. I don't want to start coughing either. Look, now, you Beanie keeps me paid and helps me be a good big brother. So don’t start talking bad about the help he provides.”
“Mom told you to stop messing with him.”
“She just don’t like me talking to Bigs. She ain’t say nothing about Beanie,” Kai replied standing up with his arms crossed. His sister gave him a sour look.
“But Bigs is always with him?”
“No, he-” Just then a low rumble echoed from Kai’s pocket. Kai pulled out his phone and answered.
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