CHAPTER 1 : COLLEGE

IT was a cold windy morning at 3:00 , the violent rush of the gale made the trees sway from side to side..as the leaves picked up by the wind fell gently across the dead silent street, footsteps could be heard along side the boisterous crows from the birds in the trees as the distant shadowy figure approached at a steady yet fast pace...as the figure got closer, it seems to be a young lad within his teenage years, he was tall light skinned boy donned in a black tank top which revealed his muscular cut build and the tattoos on his right arm, he gently strokes his hair which was dark as the devil's soul before continuing jogging through the dead silent street.

He approached a remote dilapidated house, although the house had started bearing bugs nest and the overgrown lawn which needed trimming, but nevertheless this Home.....he uttered to himself, [ still need to mower the lawn damn} yet he only kept postponing due to his consistent part time jobs, he always worked hard during the summer but this time he had to work extra hard as the second semester of college had just begun and he needed the extra funds..although he missed the entire first semester of college due to financial problems and could not start when others were starting..

* suddenly the loud sound of the windows been smashed could be heard which interrupted his thoughts, the noise could be traced coming from the dilapidated house which in terms was actually his home, he hurriedly rushed through the door only for him to see his beloved mother, laid across the floor.. her hair scattered around her pale face which was now bruised up, the silky and flowery gown she wore was slightly ripped from the struggle which seemed to have taken place.. an aged man stood above her whilst a little girl about 5 years old could be seen hiding within the hall way as she covered her both ears tightly to block out the violent noise, " MOM! " he said immediately rushing to help her up, the woman in her late 40's yet still retaining her beauty despite having two kids, her furrowed brows cascading downwards depicted her stressed situation, drops of tears rolled down her pale cheek yet she held her resolve as sh tries to assure her son " Tyler" that she was okay and urged him to go to his room...

Tyler seeing his mother's condition could not contain his anger immediately dashes, gripping the aged man by his collar backing him up to the wall which in the process knocks over the lamp off the cupboard, the aged man reeking of alcohol only chuckled as he mumbled nonsense, his mother quickly attempts to settle the situation by trying to pacify her son knowing he has a quick and bad temperament..... " He is your stepfather, calm down he is drunk, its was just an accident " but her pleas fell on deaf ears as he refused to release his grip still enraged by what he witnessed ..... " HOW CAN YOU STILL DEFEND HIM AFTER WHAT HE DID TO YOU", he said still enraged at the old baled bumpkin which was his stepfather "PAUL" , Paul was a western fellow from Houston Texas and he was a drunk, he married Tyler's mom "MARIA" after years after her husband passed away, he made her feel safe at the initial moment and he offered to raise her kids like they were his but after a few months of marriage, Paul changed and he turned out to be a drunk!, always abusing maria by hitting her for every little mistakes but Maria always brushed it off and put up a smile as if it was nothing, she hid her pain from her kids and tried to be there for them whenever they needed her, especially her youngest child "Rose" ....

"ENOUGH!" Maria urged as she pulls Tyler away from Paul and questioned him " What are you doing, i told you it was an accident"- said Maria

" Bullocks, why do you always support him when you know he is wrong!" -says Tyler as he seems lost to why his mom always defend the very person who mistreats her

" Tyler...." before maria could finish her sentence, Rose enters the room holding her big fluffy teddy wrapped up within her arm as she uttered " please don't fight "..... hearing this, Tyler's resolve was weakened as he leaves the room and enters his bedroom whilst maria attempts to comfort Rose " Heyyy sweetie, we just had a slight argument but everything is fine " she assures daughter rose before taking her back to her room... maria turns and looks at the stumbling drunk Paul on the ground , she looks at him with disgust and contempt [ How did things get like this ] she thought to herself before closing the door.

******flashback******

-DECEMBER 25th 2017-

It was Christmas eve and the Briggs family was celebrating the eve with a family dinner, the young rose dashing into a man's arms " Daddy !" as he welcomes her with a warm smile and hugs, he lifts her up and twirls her around before putting her down..... and he walks towards to backyard where there was a basketball court and Tyler was practicing his ball Handles skills before proceeding for a dunk but comes up short, fustrated he throws the ball away which rolls towards his father's feet, the man picks it up and lunges it back to Tyler which he caught, " HEY, in life you only loose when you stop trying, now come on that's enough practice, food is ready, time to eat before maria gets mad.". " Sebastian!, Tyler! the foods ready" a voice could be heard which seemed to be maria's voice, before the the two rushes towards the door

******PRESENT******

The illuminating rays of the sun reflects on the face of Tyler as he sluggishly gets out of bed before remembering, the second semester of college starts today and the bus that leaves to Princeton university leaves by 8:00 and it was already 7:40, " ahhhhh dammit " he expresses his fustration as he wondered how he could've overslept, he was going to be late on his very first day.. it took him a lot to be able to get accepted to Princeton's university via sports scholarship and this was an opportunity of a life time if he wanted to achieve his goal of becoming an NBA superstar, he dashes towards the bathroom stumbling over his bed sheets but this didn't stop him from crawling towards the toilet, he hurriedly takes his bath and rushed downstairs with his luggage... quickly bidding his little sister and mom farewell as lunges out the door.

getting to the bus in the nick of time, he hops in as he walked towards a secluded spot on the bus and sits down, putting on his headphones to drown the external noise made from the other kids, but suddenly a he felt a sharp pain across his head as his head phones were knocked off.... a well built lad in a leather jacket, his hair all entangled up into dreadlocks, he had all strings and bling across his neck , the kid sneered at him ...." You're in my sit Looser" ... Tyler gave him a piercing gaze as the fellow got a glimpse of him as he stuttered because the guy before him is the famous " sparrow " ...Tyler was given the moniker back in the day because of his fighting movement which was nimble and swift like a sparrow, he used to work for an underworld crime boss dealing with drugs just to make extra bucks to help out his mother, but ever since he got cleaned and he quit that lifestyle..

the fellow quickly backed off as he knew he couldn't afford to offend THE " sparrow ",... the bus finally arrives at Princeton university as Tyler and some students came out from the bus " College finally" he uttered to himself as he observed the scenery.