Gerald walked up the broken brick steps.
One. Two. Three. In throgh the glass door,
and into the smelly yellow hallway. To the
right, a smattering of silver lined the wall.
He wondered if the mail was allready gotten.
He started up the steps to the fourth floor.
At the top he turned right. He walked past
the Tate's apartment. they were home. He
could tell by the commotion. "I come home
from working all damn day, and you mean to
tell me that this is my dinner?" came from
behind closed doors. 'They're at it again,'
Gerald thought with a familiarity, 'They're
allways at it.'. He sighed a sigh, half in
part for them and half in part for preparation.
He reached for the handle on the apartment
numbered 411.
This was his home. It had been since he
was born. He hated it and so did his family.
It was all they could do, though. His mother,
possibly the strongest female on planet earth,
had raised him and his brother and sisiter,
since the irresponsible dick left her holding
the bag. Gerald never really met his father,
and he was the oldest. They were all victims
in one weakling's unaccomplished goal. It has
allways been okay though, they were strong, too
strong to be beaten. Now his glorious mama had
found a suitablle suiter. It was a dream come
true for a woman who had battled all the tides.
It was the perfect ending. The perfect reward
for survival. She was to be happy. There was
to be a family. It was perfect. Neccessary.
Except in Gerald's case. This perfect
ending of the family could only make him think
of one thing. The fact that his love, his
perfect ending would be jeopardized. The
deserving famaily would soon start their
pilgramage to heaven, leaving Gerald in
nirvana. He turned the rusty handle, wondering
if he would miss it, and opened the door into
the setting he had seen every day for years.
"Hey, baby!" Mama greeted. She was in the
kitchen. This time of night she allways was.
He wasn't sure if was love, duty, or routine.
She worked two jobs. His little brother and
sister were what they called latchkey kids.
But Mama was allways home at the same time,
and the food was great. Gerald
***END OF PART EIGHT***