1 Akira Houston

My name is Akira Houston, I am eighteen years old and also the eldest child and daughter of the family of five, My Dad, Mom Grandma and my Younger brother Drew who is two years younger than me.

We are average or rather less than average black citizens of the United States. We were residing at the darkest parts of New York City.

We moved to New York City when I was nine and my brother was seven, Then things had been going pretty well for us back at New Orleans where my dad worked at an office and earned good salary.

We were doing pretty well until my dad got involved in a gamble and got into a huge debt with one dangerous mafia Lord which left him broke he was unable to complete the debt that's why we had to move.

One of my dad's old friend squatted us for a year before we got a small apartment at East Harlem, One of the most dangerous and unsafe part of NYC of crime rate over Eighty percent East Harlem has violent crimes Two hundred and sixty four percent greater than the National average.

Even the subway station around Twenty fifth St could make you feel unsafe over Harlem ghetto, so one has to be street-wise to be able to survive living here. The only advantage we got here was cheaper housing prices but then the houses are no good either with almost all facility destroyed due to non-stop throwing of stones and bottles by kids with no future roaming about.

But then we got used to it and let me tell y'all living here ain't a piece of cake because we had to struggle as things got pretty bad for us, there was no money, no food, not even side jobs we could work on to at least manage. But my Dad never gave up, sometimes he'd go on for days to look for jobs but always came back empty.

My mom too would go to meet all those rich new york ladies to request for a job as a maid in their house atleast she got lucky she was accepted and the token she earned was what we manage.

Everything kept on getting tougher and tougher and unbearable that I had to go out to the street to go search for food or anything edible for me and my brother to eat because I couldn't stand seeing my family suffer anymore.

I was fourteen when it all started on one raining Monday morning we had to starve as usual my dad was out for the same cause he's usually out for, it was my mom's day off or rather she was told not to come.

Drew kept on crying saying he wants to go to school although how annoying he could be with the tears, my mom wouldn't stop petting him not to cry an that really made me sad. Grandma wasn't feeling very well either even though she kept on saying she was okay I knew she was not.

I just felt the need to do something, I was thinking what I could do to provide even though it could be fruitless to think like that, Considering my age what sort of job would I possibly want to do and who would hire a frail and thin girl like me.

When thinking became unbearable for me I decided to sneak out of the house to go see if I could find some good and edible food in some trash cans across the street, that's where people dump their expired Foodstuffs even though to me it sometimes doesn't seem expired at all, Well I've tried it out sometimes on days like this when I usually sneak out to get some for me and my brother.

It was raining lightly and our neighbour's dog won't stop barking. I wore the raincoat my Dad brought for me when I was in grade three before he was in debt and I cherish it alot.

The rain had made everywhere really mushy and when I got there I was really hopeless because the stench of rotten Food coming outta the cans could make you sick in an instant, and the rain wasn't helping either but I had no choice than to grab whatever I could find because I was getting soaked all over.

when I opened the cans all I could see was rotten veggies and burgers "this'll will do no good." I said to myself, Then I began digging with my hand to see what I could find, luckily I found a bottled milk that I hoped hasn't expired yet and a bread which hasn't started to rot yet "yasss!!" I exclaimed happily.

I started packing them into a bag I brought along with me, and was about to leave when I felt something hit my back, my heart nearly froze as I thought it was an environmental health officer or a Cop who's just on duty.

But I was relieved when I saw two kids around the age of Fifteen in front of me, But that doesn't make the situation any better because the last thing I want is getting into trouble with kids older than me for taking food in the trashcan. "What are you doing there?" said one with a slight Brit accent, blonde hair and freckles.

"What does it seems like am doing?" I answered back with a question, already getting annoyed and impatient already, I really didn't want to get caught here "hahahaha" the other kid laughed as if I'd said something funny.

"you're real funny." he said laughing and I felt like punching him in his face, "you want me to answer your question? well here's your answer, I think you are stealing food from the trashcan" he said grinning stupidly, they both bursted out laughing, and it's taking every thing I've got not to pounce on them here and now.