Underground Dreams

The rhythmic smack of your running shoes on the pavement is a familiar comfort, a counterpoint to the swirling thoughts that plague you every April 22nd. The cool Chicago wind bites at your skin, but the physical exertion is a welcome distraction from the memory of that day, eleven years ago. You push harder, lungs burning, air stinging your nostrils, just like every year. Basketball practice and extra schoolwork aren't enough to truly silence the echoes of the past. Back home, the scent of burnt bacon signals Jace's latest attempt at breakfast. Hayvon, your ride-or-die best friend, is already there, his presence a constant in your life since that same painful day. But lately, a shadow hangs over him, a secret you can sense but can't define. As you sit down to a questionable breakfast and Hayvon's playful banter, the weight of your family's recent financial crisis presses down. Your father, the rock of the family, is crumbling under the pressure, and the yellow warning notice on the kitchen table screams of impending disaster. The basketball season is starting, a potential lifeline, but the pressure to succeed feels heavier than ever. The whispers of the underground, a world you know only through rumors and Karter's desperate plea for help, begin to sound less like a distant danger and more like a desperate possibility.