My younger brother still resides in the same neighborhood that we grew up in. His house is no more than fifty feet from the house we lived in for about 15 years. He refers to his little cottage in the rough as the ‘alley house’. The neighborhood runs rampant of deadbeat dads, lost hope, dope and dependency. There is an occasional glimpse of light that manages to make its way out of such a scenario though that is rather rare.

As kids my brother and I, mainly my brother, befriended two other bothers. Twins at birth, the two were quite different in their demeanor and mannerisms throughout our childhood. I had always felt great empathy for these two because of their lifestyle at home and awkwardness with other kids.

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