"I Promise"

Hi, my name is Dominic. I’m 14 years old and I live in Pittsburgh. I go to West High middle school. I don’t live in the nice parts of Pittsburgh though… I live in the ghettos and I hate it. There are always robberies and shootings and I’m scared to leave my house sometimes. I live with my Mom, Dad, and my older brother Nick. Nick is always getting into trouble and fighting. He has gotten arrested two times. It all started when he joined this gang. My parents and I tried to talk to him and try to get him to leave the gang but he never listens. I want him to stop doing stupid stuff because I don’t want him to leave one night and never return.

         “Wake up honey”, that is the number one thing I hate to hear in the morning because that means that I have to go to school. My mom had cereal and a giant glass of Lucas’s Famous Orange Juice waiting for me when I finally rolled out of bed. My hair looked like a tornado and a hurricane went through it so after I ate my cereal and chugged the orange juice I hopped into the shower. Feeling refreshed and clean I got dressed for school and watched TV with my Mom for a little bit. While we were sitting there I asked her were Nick was. She gave me that look and I knew what it meant because I see it a lot. It meant that I have no idea where he is and I’m worried sick look. I just nodded my head and continued watching TV.

         When the bus arrived I hopped on and sat with my best friend Josh. He has been my best friend since kindergarten and we got each other’s back no matter what. This one time this high school kid was messing with Josh so I ran up and broke his nose. I got suspended but that kid deserved it. I asked Josh how his weekend was like I usually do on Monday’s and he just looked at me and didn’t say anything. I asked him what was wrong and he said, “This weekend my house got broken into. They took almost everything dude. I’m so mad if I was there I would killed that guy.”

I kept saying “it was going to be ok dude. If you need anything just hit me up.”

“Thanks man,” replied Josh.

“No problem Bro”

Josh said, “When I got home my door was wide open and I went inside and everything was gone. No TV, no couch, no anything.”

“Wow that really sucks man, do you know who did it?”

“No” said Josh

“Well ill talk to my Mom and give you a call later, see yeah bro.”

“See yeah Dominic,” then he got off the bus and went to his class.

         After I got home from school I told my Mom about what happened to Josh and she suggested that Josh and his mom could stay with us for awhile. Right away I ran to the phone and called Josh. He answered and I told him the good news. He was super happy and his mom said thank you about one thousand times. They arrived at my house about thirty minutes later and I helped them unload the little that they still had. I took Josh to my room which was where he and his mom would be staying. I’m going to sleep on the couch. They kept insisting that I sleep in my room but I wouldn’t let them sleep on the couch so I just said that I like the couch better, it helps my bad back. This was a total lie because the couch was so uncomfortable. While my Mom and Josh’s mom were cooking diner so me and Josh took a walk.

We just talked but out of the corner of my eye I recognized something. I turned my head and saw Nick down an alley way. He was with a small group of people but they looked like they were trading or sharing something. I showed Josh and asked him if we should go get him. He said I don’t know so I decided that we should. Just as I was about to turn the corner to enter the alley I heard a loud POW! I have heard this sound before and my heart dropped immediately. Everything was in slow motion and I prayed that when I turned that corner that I wouldn’t see Nick laying there. I turned and bolted down the alley and just as I feared, there he was, lying there, motionless. The group of people that he was with was on the other side of the alley sprinting to get away. I was crying immediately and Josh was in shock to. I didn’t know what to do so I kept screaming HELP! After about what seemed like eternity the ambulance arrived and took him away. I was still crying and just sitting on the cold damp alley floor. The police finally got me up and drove me and Josh home.

         The drive home seemed like forever I still couldn’t believe that just happened. I kept thinking to myself that this was all just a bad dream and that I would wake up tomorrow and nothing happened. When we finally arrived at my house I didn’t want to move. I felt sick to my stomach and I didn’t want to see my mom’s reaction when the police told her what happened. I finally got myself together and got out of the car. My mom was outside and she must have thought that we got into trouble because you could almost feel the heat coming off of her because she was so mad. She ran up to me and Josh and said,” WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TWO DO!?” I explained to her that we didn’t do anything and that Nick got shot. She looked at the officer as if we were kidding but he gave her a little nod as to say that its true. She dropped to the floor as if she if legs gave out and started crying in our front yard. All she kept saying was “NO THIS CANT HAPPEN!” while crying hysterically. The officer helped her up and was trying to comfort her as best as he could.

         After about an hour the officer took all three of us to the E.R so that we can see how Nick is. Mom was out of it the whole ride to the hospital. Once we arrived we all ran inside and a nurse directed us through the maze of hallways until we reached the surgery room. There was a bunch of doctors and nurses running in and out of the room trying to keep him alive. They were bringing in tools, ivy’s, and other medical equipment. We just had to sit and wait and pray to god that everything will be ok. My Dad showed up at the hospital just a little bit after we did. He looked just like all of us, worried, mad, and wishing that this was just a bad dream.

         A doctor came out and talked to my parents. They went over by the elevator and were whispering but I couldn’t make out any words that they were saying. Five minutes pasted and my Mom and Dad came back from talking to the doctor. The doctor said that Nick was in critical condition and has a 25 percent chance to live. Nick was a strong kid so I kept saying to myself that he will be ok. The doctor said that we should go home and get some sleep and that he will stay in contact with us. Once we got home I just went to my room and tried to sleep but I couldn’t. I just kept thinking about Nick. That’s all I did and just wished that he will be ok.

         A couple days later the doctor called my house. I heard my mom mumbling and then a few minutes later she came in to my room. She said that Nick was doing well; they did a few surgeries on his chest. They said that after a couple more surgeries that he should make a full recovery but he will be paralyzed from the waist down. I was so over whelmed that Nick will be ok that I started crying. Not tears of sadness but tears of happiness and relief. I ran up and hugged my mom like I never did before.

“Mom I can’t breathe you’re squeezing me to hard”

She let me go and looked at me and smiled. At the breakfast table the atmosphere was a lot better than yesterday night. My mom said that “we will be going to visit him tomorrow”. I was so excited to see my brother.

For the rest of the day I just laid in my bed and thought about everything. I thought about Nick, my family and just my life but that was interrupted by a knock at the door. I got up and left my room to see my dad talking to a police officer. My heart dropped, I thought that it had to do something with Nick. I walked over hesitantly and asked what was going on. The police officer said,” your brothers shooter has been captured Dominic. He will rot in jail for a very long time.” I looked at him directly in the eyes and told him thank you probably about twenty times. I shook his hand and walked back to my room. I sat their relieved but still seeking revenge on the man that almost killed my brother. After having the past couple days I was so beat so I fell asleep before everyone had dinner.

The next morning I woke up and hopped in the shower. I just stood there put my head down and let the water run off my head, down my body. After I got my shower I put on my good church pants and my nice stripe down button shirt. I wanted to look nice when I went to see Nick. After we ate breakfast my Mom, Dad and me went to go to the hospital. The car ride there seemed to take a long time. I was nervous to see what Nick looked like and if he would be awake. Once we got there we signed in at the front desk and got visitor passes. We walked down the hallway and went into the elevator. I pressed the three button on the key pad so that we would go to the third floor. Once the door opened we went down a series of hallways and arrived at Nick’s room. He was awake but still looked in bad shape. He saw us and signaled for us to come in. I walked in and hugged him immediately. I sat down in the chair and let my parents talk to him. I went up to him and made him promise me only one thing. That he will leave his gang and stop hanging around them people.

“I almost lost you once and it won’t happen again.”

He looked at me and started to get teary eyed. He looked at me and said “I promise.”