1 Chapter One: The Prelude

January 22, 2021

Downtown Manhattan, New York. In a small 2 room apartment, in the corner of the Bedroom, lay our protagonist, Diamond Leon.

If you were to look carefully you'd notice that his body is pale, starved, and beaten. Tomorrow would have been his 17th birthday, but not all things go as planned.

For convenience well call him by his last name, leon, for this name holds great significance, at least, to him of course. Leon is a second generation Cuban immigrant. He's lived his whole life in poverty, as most immigrant families do. But alas, it seemed that fate had it out for our young protagonist as his life was riddled with misfortune.

Age 5, Leon is but a toddler, he has no real choice in what happens to him as all the responsibility is on his parents to provide for him until he's of age.It sucks as his parents don't really do any parenting.

Age 7, Leon walks in on his sister coughing blood, he's frightened and not sure what to do so he calls the ambulance and his father beats him because now they have to foot that bill.

Age 7, still, his sister is diagnosed with lung cancer, she won't live long. The parents aren't even there which is kinda of hard to explain as he's been by his sisters side the most and cared for her the most. The doctor says she doesn't have too many years to live if she doesn't get the treatment. Leon is heartbroken because, as we know he has nowhere near enough money to afford chemotherapy.

Being an immigrant does come with its fair share of... difficulties. See his parents were, in the nicest words applicable for the first chapter, inept. His parents were addicts at a young age, even before they had leon and his sister. Yes, you read that right, his sister. Him and his sister were always left to care for each other after their grandmother passed away, of course as all 'hard working' and 'responsible' did their parents left them in their small apartment during the day.

His parents were your regular 9-5 convenience store janitors, maybe some other odd jobs from time to time. His family as you know was poor, very poor. living in New York doesn't come without it's costs after all. Unlike good and responsible parents instead of working hard to try and provide their children with a brighter future, Leon's parents spent nearly all their money every week on you average hard drug. Some weeks it'd be cocaine others its heroin, along with your lsd every so often. They were, in the eyes of society, trash.

So Leon and is sister Mary Leon, go day to day of whatever scraps they had of their 'meal' from the night prior. This goes on from the time he's old enough to walk to about his 8th grade (middle school in the United states). Mary is finally old enough to where she can live on her own in their small apartment. Thu, as all good brothers do, Leon goes to find work. Nothing big mowing lawns, walking dogs, babysitting, tutoring younger kids, you name it. He saves up money so he can get him and his sister out of their parents grasps.

Leon is by all accounts a perfect student. If you speak to any of his teachers you'd know that he studies diligently, works hard and tries his best.

Usually that's the trifecta needed to usually cruise your way through the American school program. But, Leon is... different from the rest of his classmates. He's gifted, insanely so that he was recommended many times to private institutions for his hard work ethic and genius. But alas, he was far too poor and had to settle for his nearby public high school.

And so years go by and Mary and Leon are doing pretty good for themselves. That is, until their father finds that money leon has been earning the past few years in order to feed and send his sister and him of to college, as well as pay for her cancer.

Their father is, in every essence of the word, a petty man.

"WHERE THE F*CK DID YOU GET THIS MONEY BRAT? HAVE YOU BEEN STEALING FROM US THIS ENTIRE TIME, YOU INGRATE SON OF A B**CH! I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAD YOU TWO F*CKS."

Leon as well as Mary were frightened.

"Dad no ple-"

*SMACK*

Leon stands there, bewildered, he just got a punch right across the face. He's dazed and almost doesn't know where he is.

He struggles to get up with enough perseverance. He's wobbly, obviously he's not all there yet and still has a ring going through his head.

He finally comes to and tries to explain.

"Dad, please no, I didn't steal from you I've been working for the past 3 years so I could get Mary some food and medi-"

"DON'T YOU F*CKING LIE, WORK MY ASS I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU OUT OF THE HOUSE"

"Dad, you're never around how cou-"

*BAM*

Leon receives a full right hook to the cheek, He stumbles backwards before finally falling to the floor.

"DON'T TALK BACK BRAT YOU'RE LUCKY I HAVEN'T KILLED AND DUMPED YOURS AND YOUR SISTERS BODY IN THE RIVER!"

At this point in time, Mary who has been on the sideline watching the whole ordeal, starts to tremble and speaks up

"D-dd-d-dad L-l-leons telling the truth he's really been working hard to-"

*BANG*

The father is infuriated by her talking a back and sends a punch right above the abdominal area of the young girl. Her eyes go blank, she's dead, instantly.

The father had no way to know how his daughter was sick as he hadn't been in the hospital.

"SHUT UP BOTH OF YOU, I'D BETTE-"

it was at this point where he finds out that his daughter is moving. At first he thinks nothing of it but after 15 seconds of her not moving, he's pretty spooked.