One day, I was coming home from school when I ran into a boy. He told me he was looking for his mother. She was wearing a shirt that said "GO JESS AND TETO." He asked me to let him know if I saw her and mentioned he would be in apartment 3C.

I told him, "That’s right above my dad and me. I’m James."

He replied, "I’m Jess."

Just then, one of my mom's goonies came to get me. I told him I had to go. Later, when I was with my mom telling her about my day, I noticed a woman pulling up her pants and putting on her shirt as she left the back room. As I turned for a better look, I saw the shirt—"GO JESS AND TETO."

Then, I saw my mom’s right-hand man, Troy, coming out after her. He was saying, "You give some great head. Give her whatever she wants." I always hated Troy because he thought he could get away with anything. People like him are the ones I don’t want in my life. They have no remorse.

After talking to my mom, I went to apartment 3C. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. As I was leaving and heading down the street, I saw Jess. Well, I thought it was him. When I called his name, he didn’t answer. When I got closer, I said, "Hey man, I was calling you."

He said, "I’m not Jess. I’m Teto."

I was shocked. "Oh my god, you’re twins!"

I introduced myself, "I’m James. Your brother Jess wanted me to tell him if I see your mom. I saw her in GP territory buying drugs. I’m sorry, man."

He replied, "There’s nothing to be sorry about. She’s been doing drugs for years."

I said, "I’m sorry you’re going through that, man."

He nodded. "Yeah, me too. Thanks for letting us know."

Later that night, I was on my way to the store when I passed GP territory. I saw Jess and Teto being roughed up by my mom's goonies. All they were asking was to see their mom, but the goonies wouldn’t let them in. I felt bad for them, so I went over and asked to see my mom, the boss. They told me no and said I couldn’t demand to see her.

"Who do you think you are?" one of them sneered.

They must have been new to GP because I’d never seen them before. I asked again, and one of the goonies punched me in the face. I fell to the ground. As I got up, I told Jess and Teto, "Let’s go."

The next afternoon, as I was coming home, one of my mom’s goonies came to get me. When I walked in, the first thing my mom asked was, "Who did this to you?"

I told her it was one of her new goonies. She demanded I tell her which one. I pointed to him, and just like that—BAM! BAM! BAM!—he was dead. She didn’t even talk to him. She just shot him like he was nothing.

She then told the other goonies never to lay their hands on me again. She sat down and asked, "How was your day? Like everything that just happened was normal."

I said it was fine. Then, I asked her for a favor.

She raised an eyebrow. "A favor? Don’t come cheap. It better be worth it."

I asked if she could stop selling drugs to Jess and Teto’s mom. She said she would, but only if I came to see her on my own. She explained that she had to stop her goonies from their work to come and get me, which was delaying their operations.

I agreed. "Okay, we have a deal."

She nodded. "But first, I want to meet Jess and Teto. They’re your friends, right?"

I left, went to apartment 3C, and brought Jess and Teto to see my mom. When we were there, she said hello to them and told them about our deal. She gave them their mother and ordered all her goonies to never sell to that lady again.

Four years later, their mom is clean, has a steady job, and is always there for them. Since that day, Jess and Teto have been my friends. When my dad gets drunk, they let me spend the night, and I help them stay out of trouble.