Cracked Dreams by Michael Daniel Baptiste

himself, “This is my family.”
    They had more fun that night than they’d ever had. It was like a new life party, or like a huge weight had been lifted off their shoulders. They finally could relax in knowing that they’d be financially set for the rest of their lives. It was the most comforting feeling to have.
    The night was temporarily saddened at the news that Capone wouldn’tbe performing, as he was picked up by the police on a robbery charge, POSSIBLE LEGAL ISSUE but Noreaga still came out and did his thing. When the crew was tired and sweaty from going crazy on the dance floor, they all met back at a booth in the VIP area. As the best night of their lives together came to a close they gathered around the table, each with a bottle of Cristal in hand, and still toasted to “Moe’s, hoes and zeros” for old times’ sake. They also vowed that the next toast, and from then on, would be to “Dom P’s and palm trees” respectively.

CHAPTER 6
    M onday, March 17, 1997 was the day Trigger’s trial was set to begin. It was a cold and rainy day in New York but you couldn’t have asked me, because I was in sunny California. My intentions weren’t completely political; I mean, I had no desire to be anywhere near the courtroom, but for a while I’d wanted to visit my sister, Rachel. Rachel and I hadn’t seen much of each other during our childhood, but we’d gotten closer to one another as we grew.
    While I was there, I stayed with her at her apartment complex in Sunnyvale, California called Oak Pointe Apartments. It was a real shitty neighborhood and the complex security was some real bullshit, but she had a duplex three-bedroom apartment to decorate, and it was decked out top to bottom. Her living room consisted of two cream-colored leather sofas with a light-gray trim and pillows that matched. A glass coffee table was set in the middle of the room in front of a big-screen television with a satellite connection and DVD. Wall-to-wall carpeting flowed through the entire apartment, also cream-colored with a light-gray border, and vertical blinds shielded the apartment from the sun. She had a master bedroom, a guest bedroom and turned the last room into an office that she mostly used for her schoolwork. She attended California State University pursuing a degree in nursing, and also maintained a job at the San Jose Hospital as a nurse’s aide. Her father mostly paid for her education expenses, while her bills were up to her to handle. She had a nice little setup out in Cali, and she made her little brother proud.
    I’d arrived the Friday before and had only intended on staying a couple of days, but it quickly turned into a week. Since it had been so long since we’d seen each other, we took advantage of the time. It was a relaxing experience to just hang out without having to deal with the day-to-day bullshit that consumed most of my time in New York. Trigger and the Doberman were working hard on his defense, so it was left up to Ceelow to handle most of the responsibilities regarding business. I made sure to call back home at least twice a day to find out how the trial was going, and if there were any emergencies related to the Family. I would be back in New York in time for any support Trigger needed when it started getting down to the nitty-gritty in court. As for now, I felt like a seventeen-year-old again, and I didn’t mind at all. We went to theme parks in the day and to restaurants and nightclubs in the evening. We even blew some California chronic together. Rachel was like my best friend, and it didn’t at all feel like we’d spent so much time apart. But honestly, after a week had passed by it was time for me to return to the grime where I belonged. I started to feel homesick, so we had to part ways. I promised her that it wouldn’t be long before I came back to visit, and we said our good-byes.
    The night before I left, I