Hurdles

By Naif Makmi

Two brothers who are estranged by a personal tragedy lead opposite lives - one is a respected community leader and family man, while the other delves into crime - which will prompt one to seek revenge against the other.

In this story marked by family values, betrayal, and revenge, two brothers who are estranged by a personal tragedy follow opposite paths in life, prompting one to seek a vendetta against the other.

Raul and Marco have a difficult life. Burdened by their mother’s chronic illness and their father’s alcoholism, their family is going through a severe financial struggle. Raul is conservative about the matter, and the family does not perceive Marco’s approximation to the wrong crowd.

When Marco’s innovative approach for a business idea is stolen by one of his neighbors, he and his friends decide to rob the store as payback. The deal goes awry, though, and it leads to a homicide that will land him in prison after his brother’s testimony against him.

Several years pass, and Raul is a respected community leader for his tireless work during the Hurricane Katrina crisis. He is married and has three sons who are either in an Ivy-league college or in the process of being admitted into one.
However, Marco is out of prison and running a successful underground business wants to put a revenge plan he has fermented throughout all this time into practice.

When Marco’s plan shakes the life of his brother’s family, his nephew Marcus decides to take matters into their own hands to investigate and halt his rogue uncle’s plan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 8, 2022
• ISBN: 9781716018312

Naif Makmi

Fantasy, science-fiction, and thriller writer Naif Makmi lives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he is known for his imaginative fantasy, sci-fi and game writing, he is a co-founder of the Game Legends Studio. His science fiction debut novel 2059, a mind-blowing post-apocalyptic sci-fi, packed with action and adventure, alien contact and zombies is now gaining momentum on bookstores.Twitter: @NaifAlruwaili2

Book preview

HURDLES

BY

Naif Makmi

Copyright © 2021 Naif M. Alruwaili

All rights reserved.

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

ISBN-13: 9 781716 018312

Printed in the United States of America

For my brother Bader Makmi, and his struggle in the last decade!

Contents

Chapter 1 : Raul

Chapter 2 : Elena

Chapter 3 : Marco

Chapter 4 : Derrick

Chapter 5 : Marco

Chapter 6 : Marcus

Chapter 7 : Derrick

Chapter 8 : Marcus

Chapter 9 : Dre

Chapter 10 : Marco

Chapter 11 : Marcus

Chapter 12 : Marco

Chapter 13 : Marcus

Chapter 14 : Marcus

Chapter 15 : Derrick

Chapter 16 : Marcus

Chapter 17 : Marco

Author Bio

Chapter 1

RAUL

T

he soft light streaming through the bare, dirty glass window startled Raul awake. He was having a dream about his brother Marco. In it, he watched as his brother got into a street fight against three other boys and he had to rush to his aid, as usual. It felt so realistic and the actions were so characteristic of his brother that Raul had no clue whether he was dreaming until he opened his eyes. The light from the early morning sun wasn’t as harsh but it still contrasted with his otherwise dark and dingy room. He was confused as to why there was so much light, but then he remembered that his mother had taken down their only curtain to wash the day before and it was still wet, so they had left it outside overnight to dry. He pushed himself up on his elbows and looked over at his younger brother who was still asleep in his bed on the other side of the room. Glancing around he took in the old, stained wooden planks that formed the floor. The varnish was wearing out in several places and he had to be careful else he might get a splinter or two. Raul jumped out of bed, avoiding the spots that creaked whenever they were stepped on. He didn’t want to wake up his brother. They didn’t have much to eat the previous day as their father had not been home in a few days and what little money he had given their mother the last time they saw him had long since finished. Raul clenched his fist and ground his teeth, this had become a subconscious habit of his whenever he thought of that man. The father that contributed his seed to their birth but treated them as little more than parasites; growing up Raul had heard stories of the man their father had once been.

The man their mother had fallen in love with. That man had long since died.

In his place was a husk of his former self, drained and hollowed by the passage of time. Raul knew that there were some complications during his younger brother’s birth and as a result, his mother had become very sick and weak. She was bedridden for weeks on end and even when she wasn’t, she could only do the bare minimum as over-exertion on her part would lead to a recurrence of her symptoms. Having not only an invalid wife but two young children to take care of, the stress accumulated on his father who eventually turned to drinking as an outlet for his sorrows. At first, it wasn’t so bad as he would come home every day after work and do the chores while gently caring for their mother, but as the years wore on and the boys grew older, the strain of his dreary existence started taking a heavier toll on him and he sank deeper into the clutches of the bottle. Raul was now seventeen years old and from what he had pieced together from stories that his neighbors and relatives had told him, the victim of the story was actually their father and not them. He had burned brightly as a youngster, top of his class in school and was in line to get a scholarship to university. But then he had fallen in love with their mother and she had gotten pregnant. Instead of accepting the scholarship, he decided to stay and raise a family with her while going to night school to further his education. He got a menial job at the local hardware store and was earning just enough for them to get by, with Elena, Raul’s mother, doing odd jobs around the community to make a little extra money. Everything was going as planned at first but as Elena got into her final trimester, she started feeling severe pains and when his father took her to the doctor, they found out that since she was so young there were complications in the pregnancy. Her body was not physically strong enough to bear the burden and it was taking a serious toll on her, it was only made worse by the strenuous odd jobs she was doing such as cleaning and washing for the wealthier members of their community. The weakness led to her having several difficulties while giving birth to Raul but they were not as bad as the doctor had predicted and she recovered quickly after giving birth.

Raul was aware that the first year after he was born was maybe the happiest he had ever experienced despite not being able to remember it. His mother and father had doted heavily on him and their relationship blossomed. His father had even gotten married to his mother during this period and everything was perfect. His father’s studies were progressing well and he had gotten a promotion at the hardware store to cashier. The family was making enough money to live comfortably while putting aside some for rainy days but it was not meant to be. When Raul was nearing two years old, his mother got pregnant again but this time the doctor warned that if she went through with the pregnancy then this time her life would be at risk as she was extremely lucky to have survived the last one. The damage it had done to her body would be compounded if she tried to do it again. Riding high on how lucky they had been so far, they disregarded the doctor's warning and decided to go through with it. The pregnancy itself was stress-free and easy on Elena’s body. They took that as a sign that the doctor was just being paranoid but during childbirth there were serious difficulties and, as a result, Elena lost a lot of blood and suffered serious muscle and nerve damage. She lost full usage of her legs while being very weak otherwise, almost unable to do anything for herself. His father had taken the news lightly at first, maybe thinking that she would recover given enough time but as the months wore on, there were few signs of recovery. It started taking a toll on his psyche and he had very little means of which to cope with the massive stress of raising two children essentially on his own while having a very taxing job. He was forced to leave his job as a result as well as give up on finishing his degree. He took a job closer to home which was laxer when it came to his hours so that he would have the time to taxi between work and home as his family needed. This took a toll on their standard of living as his disposable income fell while the family’s expenses only continued to rise. Elena required several different medicines to relieve her pain and fight off infection plus his children needed clothing and food. Since he could not be at home all the time, he was also forced to hire a caretaker for them when he was at work, increasing his expenses even further. The stress was increasing every day and he had no outlet, that was until he found the bottle. At first, he would only drink once a week but with time he grew dependent on it and his original family values became skewed and twisted. He no longer showed the selflessness he once had, his life revolved around getting his next drink and his family could be damned for all he cared. Raul wondered if they were to blame for how his life had turned out. If they had decided not to go through with having his younger brother, Raul wondered how different would his life be now. He glanced over at his brother one more time and couldn’t help but think, was it worth it?

Raul loved his brother but he acknowledged that he was a handful. For as long as he could remember, his brother was always a trouble maker, ever since they were kids Marco would always be getting into fights and Raul would always have to step in to help. One thing Raul did admire, however, was that his brother was fearless, he wouldn’t care even if he was outnumbered and would go down swinging even if he was up against a much bigger kid. Marco was now fifteen years old and because of his bad habits, he was starting to mix with the wrong crowd. Raul had seen him hanging around some of the older kids who were known thieves and vagabonds, he had warned his brother about his choice of friends but Marco ignored his warning. Their home left was nonexistent as they had an absentee father and a mother that they had to care for, coupled with that they were the breadwinners of the household and were forced to quit school early so that they could make money to feed themselves and their mother. Raul had gotten a job doing deliveries but he made very little as his employers took advantage of him being young to underpay him. He still appreciated the opportunity and worked very earnestly, leading to him being acknowledged by the company who gave him an increase. Raul was ecstatic about his new wage and went home to tell his mother and brother about it. On the way home, he caught sight of one of his brother’s friends being hauled off by police in handcuffs. He inquired about the incident and found out that there was a robbery and the local grocery store was broken into by several men who had stolen all the money from the cash register. Raul hurried home, praying the entire time that his brother was not involved in the incident. His hopes were however dashed as, when he got home, he saw his brother in their room counting a big stack of bills that were on the bed.

Please don’t tell me you helped rob the grocery store? Raul asked exasperatedly.

Fine, I won’t then, answered Marco non-chalantly, not even sparing him a glance.

How fucking stupid can you be! shouted Raul as he grabbed Marco by the collar, hauling him up from the bed, scattering the money all over the floor as a result.

Raul was a full head taller than Marco but that did nothing to phase his brother who stared directly into his eyes before shoving him away. Marco was unperturbed as he bent down and began to pick up the bills from the floor. Raul was fuming but was curious about how much money he had. He counted in his mind as his brother picked them up. One hundred and fifty dollars and that was only what fell on the floor, there were a few scattered on the bed. Raul made thirty dollars a week after getting a raise and for them, that was considered a considerable sum of money. His brother got in one night what