Free Hood by Noire

it’s a day-to-day struggle…
    RATS SQUEAKED AND gnawed the walls in the back room that Hood and Moo shared in Fat Daddy’s shop, but neither noticed or cared, because for the first time ever they were a part of a real family. Dreko, Sackie, and Lil Jay were the siblings Hood and Moo never had, and whether he liked it or not, Fat Daddy was looked up to in a fatherly way.
    But a father to those boys Fat Daddy was not. He purposely steeled his heart away from all that paternal shit because caring for a couple of street kids could be more than dangerous. He gave a damn about them being “just kids” too. Them lil fuckers paid rent and bought their own food, and Fat Daddy made it a habit to show them his cold side as often as possible. Just to let them know he wasn’t fuckin with them on that level. He wasn’t no parent to them and he was no role model either, and he wasn’t trying to be. But he did make Hood and Moo go back to school, though. Not because he gave a fuck about educating them or expanding their young minds, but because he knew it would keep the heat off his neck that way.
    “You ain’t gone have nobody from the city coming up in here fuckin with me, baby. Uh-uh. No way. Both of y’all gotta at least show up at the school house door. What you do when you get up in that mug is up to you. But when Egypt leaves outta here in the mornings, both of y’all gone be stepping out right along with her.”
    Hood was all for that. He jumped at the chance to be around chocolate Egypt as much as possible. There was a bond between them, something secret and special, and he would have followed her anywhere, even without Fat Daddy telling him to. They’d gone from shy smiles, furtive looks, and holding hands, to sharing their first tongue-kiss weeks earlier. And when Hood held her close in the tiny kitchen behind the shop and told her that she was his only girl, he meant that shit from his heart.
    So while Moo started classes in kindergarten, Hood went to junior high school every day and came back home and chilled with Egypt and ruled his sector every afternoon. He hung out at Baller’s Paradise learning from Xan and his crew every night, so at first all he did was spit mental lyrics all day to keep from dozing off in class. He was too exhausted to concentrate on the lessons they gave him until Egypt busted hard on him about not doing his homework.
    “What’s up with that, Lamont?” she asked him with her round eyes flashing and her long earrings jiggling. They had just gotten their report cards and even though Hood was still considered a new student, his report card was full of F’s solely from nonparticipation. “You ain’t ashamed of all them damn F’s on your report card? What? You plan on hustling drugs all your life?”
    “Hell yeah. Hustling and spittin my song until me and Reem cut us an album. Why not?”
    “’Cause that’s some stupid shit, that’s why. Ain’t no future in drug dealing, Lamont. Unless you count Rikers or getting locked up someplace upstate.” They walked along the trashed streets passing gutted-out buildings, salvage yards, and a couple of stray, mangy dogs. “You always talking about how you might lose the words out your head. Don’t that scare you enough to make you have dreams about other stuff? Stuff besides what you got right here. You know, places you wanna see outside of dirty-ass Brooklyn?”
    Hood shrugged as he walked beside her. He was oblivious to the grime and didn’t even notice it. All he could see was beauty. Egypt’s beauty, and the beauty of what he felt for her deep in his soul. She was tall and pretty and kept herself looking real neat and fresh at all times. She liked nice shit, and since her father was the neighborhood fence, she had plenty of it. They passed a corner game of cee-low and two winos sleeping in a stripped down car balanced on four milk crates. Egypt grabbed one of Moo’s hands while Hood grabbed the other. They walked with him between