The Way We Get By

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Growing up wasn’t easy.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣Especially on the south side of Chicago with parents who did the bare minimum to keep my sister and me alive.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣We learned to never ask for anything, to accept what we had and appreciate life even if our upbringing was rough, and our futures not bright.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣But the south side was the place we called home, no matter how hard we had to work to pay our bills and get food on our table at the end of the day.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣My sister and my best friend were the ones who kept me going. We motivated each other and made sure none of us gave up after all the hard work and sacrifices we had to make in the past.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣They were all I needed to survive.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣Or that’s what I believed.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

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I made it out of the south side and came back to get my family out of their misery.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣The same misery I left behind after my brother died.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣After eight long years, I had forgotten how much I missed being around to support them, and I was glad I went back.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣Offering them jobs at my business would help them pay their bills and live a better life, but little did I know that Red would make things hard for me.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣Not because of her behavior, but because of the things she made me feel.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣We were family, but there didn’t seem to be any boundaries that stopped us from getting closer.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣She pulled me in, and for once in her life, she didn’t have to work hard for it.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣