Alphabet City 4: Alphabet City, #4

By Jamell Crouthers

Cheryl is a young mother raising two teenagers in one of the toughest communities of Alphabet City. She struggles to make ends meet working doubles at her job and leaving her oldest son to take care of his younger sister. With the streets calling the boy's name of fast cash, cars and gang life, Cheryl has to make a lot of sacrifices to protect her kids from that lifestyle. It's a life of struggle as a single mother but she has to fight and keep going from day to day. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jamell Crouthers
• Release date: Apr 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215256121

Jamell Crouthers

Jamell Crouthers started writing at the age of 13, it wasn't until his 30s where he realized he could impact others with his writing. Jamell was able to incorporate a prose format and social issues and be able to write books on what's going on in the world today. Writing about social issues is something that Jamell is very concerned about and his writing journey has allowed him to write books on various subjects. His goal is to change the world one book at a time.

Book preview

The Block

I live on one of the worst blocks Alphabet City,

My name is Cheryl and I was born and raised here.

I’m raising two young teenagers in this rough part of town,

A son and a daughter who have seen way too much for their own good.

You try to protect them at all costs but it’s hard living here,

You’re just bound to see something that you don’t want to or it’s just put in front of your face.

Jermaine and Shameka have seen and been through their share of things living here,

Things happen suddenly and unexpectedly living in Alphabet City.

I lost my husband of 10 years as he was killed in the streets that raised him,

I’ve been widowed and I haven’t necessarily moved on from his loss.

The block that I’m on has the most violence in Alphabet City,

Living in red gang territory, it’s keeping a lookout for anything.

I’ve tried to move away but nowhere else is any better,

The violence will be less but the drug dealing will be there.

Or the selling of guns will be around so it’s hard to maneuver through this part of town,

Living on B street, that’s where the majority of the Red gang members live.

They’re constantly under attack from all different parts,

Law enforcement, other gangs, people living in the neighborhood.

The block has an aura to it that can’t really be explained,

It’s dark, gloomy no matter what the weather is that day.

It can be a hot summer day, sun is shining bright with a gentle breeze,

There’s always a bad feeling that something is going to happen and most of the time it does.

Jermaine has dodged some bullets before by getting under a car,

It’s just that dangerous and it was scary for him, me and his sister.

Shameka has been to a funeral where she lost a childhood friend,

She was battling cancer and she was there for her friend until she passed away.

It’s hard as a teenager to grow up with someone for years,

Then lose them so suddenly and have to go through life without them.

The block has seen its share of police activity here on a daily basis,

Whether they’re patrolling B street or taping up a crime scene.

B street has seen its share of transformation and not for the best,

The past year has seen the most deaths in this part of Alphabet City.

When the numbers were reported, it surely wasn’t good,

There’s too much that we deal with and it takes a toll on everyone mentally and emotionally.

When Jermaine and Shameka were young, gunshots rang out,

I protected them by shielding them but I saw someone get shot and killed in cold blood.

I’ve seen young teenagers be robbed in broad daylight for their valuables,

Sneakers, jewelry, coats, and even if it gets reported to the police, the cases don’t get solved.

It still haunts me to this day that I’ve seen so much bad things happen,

We all collectively try to lookout for each other and our kids but it’s really hard to do.

Everyday there’s enticing things that my kids can do,

Sell drugs, carry a gun, be involved in gang life.

The smell of weed smoke at any given time of the day,

It’s a road many teenagers head down to escape the environment they’re living in.

The strong stench smell of weed smoke infiltrates the air on summer days,

You can walk by a park and know drug activity is going on.

Those are the things that