{ law and hop hop } BY Cheryl L. Kates-Benman Esq.

epidem

THE HEROIN

Mr. Z. lifted the white sheet on the gurney and took what he thought was the last look at his baby boy. Bullet exit wounds showed clearly where the lead ripped through the flesh of his son’s body. He put the sheet down. This can’t be true. He lifted the sheet back up again. Yup, it was Vincenzo. The reddish, brown, mud-colored blood swirled in an ocean on the

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ROCHESTER WOMAN ONLINE :: february 2017

floor, on Luci’s shirt, on Vincenzo’s torn-and-battered body. The blood of his own flesh and blood and it became too much. Father fell lifelessly to the ground. Unspoken words swarmed through everyone’s head. The last words said to one another, “I hate you. You ruined our family”. “Nooooo” screamed sister. “This can’t be the last words I say to my brother”.

Beep, beep, beep. The line on the screen began to jump from flat-line to wavy baby. Life began to surge back into Vincenzo’s veins. Beep, beep, beep. “Can you step out of the room please?” a pale-faced doctor shouted. The will to die turned the corner back to the will to live…heroin defeated for now.