Endurance The Power Within

“Gopaul luck eh seepaul luck.”

His eyes burned as he forced them open; soreness from football practice the night before reminded him that he had training tonight. Max groaned in pain as he rolled onto his back. A sudden image of Mei’s beautiful face seemed to give him the spark he needed to get going.

“Max!” his stepbrother Justin shouted out as he stumbled through the bedroom door. Justin’s clothes hung on him as if it was struggling to stay on his malnourished frame.

“Your Dad has been looking for you; where have you been?” Max questioned as he got off his bed to grab a nearby T-shirt.

“Why was he looking for me?” Justin returned as he tried to smooth out his clothing.

“Why do you do this? You have a Mom and Dad who love you. I feel sorry for the Dude; I don’t even know what to say to him anymore.”

“Not everyone has it like you, Max; your Dad treats you like royalty. I wish my Dad would put twenty-five thousand in my bank account each month. Is that how it is in Trinidad, ya’ll people rich like that,” Justin spoke in a condescending tone.

Max chuckled, “People have it hard everywhere; my father’s family had nothing; they raised livestock and ate what grew out of the ground. Stop thinking that you have it hard. Besides, every penny you get goes to drugs; you would kill yourself if your father handed you that much money.”

“Speaking about money, let me borrow a fifty,” Justin changed the subject.

Max sighed and took a good look at his stepbrother. He smelled like he had been sleeping in the trash for three days. Justin couldn’t make eye contact with him, and his toes peeped through the top of his sneakers. Max could barely recognize the happy-go-lucky blonde hair blue eye’d kid he grew up with. “I can’t. You will not kill yourself on my dime, I’m sorry.”