Keyshia and Clyde Read Online Free

since. Their mother survived the shooting but was in a coma for several weeks after. When she finally awoke, she was in a vegetative state, leaving the boys motherless, fatherless, and, finally, hopeless. But as fate had it, the boys weren’t lost in transition. They were given to the closest next of kin the boys had, Martha Woods, who was their mother’s lifelong friend and confidante. She raised the boys as though they were her very own and ensured that they had an ongoing relationship with their mother over the years by taking them to the hospital and encouraging them to spend time with her even though she didn’t know they were there.
    When Clyde entered the kitchen, he was surprised to see not only Martha, but his two older brothers, Ceasar and Sonny. Sonny was trying to console Martha, who was sitting at the table crying her heart out. When he entered the kitchen, all eyes fell on him and he immediately felt uncomfortable.
    â€œYo, where you been?” asked Sonny in his usual hostile tone.
    â€œYou know where I was,” responded Clyde, matching his brother’s mean scowl.
    Sonny was the problem child of the family. He was barely nineteen years old and had already served two bids on Rikers Island on robbery charges. The tallest of the brothers, he would have been just another Pretty Boy Floyd with his light brown eyes if it weren’t for the long razor scar right below his cheek. Sonny was nicknamed “Set-it” because he was a live wire with a quick temper and would set it off on anyone at any time. He was so moody and unpredictable that most people kept their distance from him. The older Sonny got, the more brazen he became as he began to rob numbers holes, drug spots, or even kidnap for ransom. If there was a major stickup in Harlem, everyone knew who did it, but Sonny didn’t give a fuck. He’d tell you in a minute to “come get back if you think I did it” and bust his guns just for asking! He was the second oldest and fiercely loyal to Martha, because no matter what he did or how much trouble he got into, she stood by his side. She made sure that he was taken care of whenever he was away in police custody and always welcomed him home when he got out. As far as Sonny was concerned, Martha was his mother.
    Martha was in her midfifties and had spent most of her early years as a barmaid in local bars throughout Harlem and the Bronx. In her later years, she began to work in numbers holes for some of the local betting spots. She and the boys’ mother, Cathy, were inseparable in their younger days. They used to dress alike, stay over at each other’s houses for days on end, and tell everyone they were sisters. They even lost their virginity the same night together by twin brothers. Martha was with Cathy the night she met Lamont Barker in the Baby Grand Bar on 125th Street one Saturday night. Lamont was a ladies’ choice in the club that night because he was tall, dark, and handsome in every sense. He was a sharp dresser and had his own Cadillac and, most important, had a job. Though at twenty-nine he was much older and more experienced than the nineteen-year-old Cathy Bellows, they fell madly in love and married soon after. Martha, of course, didn’t approve of her homegirl marrying the older man and the disruption of their relationship; however, she was the bridesmaid at her wedding.
    â€œWell, you should have been here for Martha when she needed you,” Sonny said.
    Clyde was the only brother who still lived under Martha’s roof, but he rarely saw her lately because he usually got home in the wee hours of the morning and was back on the street before Martha awakened. The only reason he was home so early tonight was to retrieve some things from his room for a job he had later.
    Clyde shifted from one leg to the other impatiently. Sonny continued, “What you need to be doing is making sure Martha’s all right instead of riding around Harlem