A young man around the age of 28 wakes up in his rundown apartment, instantly regretting downing what was left of that bottle of vodka on the walk home last night as he now suffered from a thumping headache with a hangover. Surprised that he made it home and wasn’t stopped by the cops for walking while black, let alone public intoxication. Which was a pretty stupid law because I am just trying to get home and I can’t afford a cab, can’t drive, buses don’t run this late, the f*** do they expect me to do, fly home? But what are you gonna do, fight it? But it’s just easier to get drunk and not worry about things. Clock hits to head to that overtime shift he picked up so he can still cover his rent by the end of the month and have enough booze to convince himself not to kill himself over his miserable life. Working as a window cleaner wasn’t bad, decent pay, enough to cover the necessary bills and pay the child support for a child that he is forbidden to see, all thanks to someone he thought he loved.
Every day Adonis Jenkins wakes up feeling as if he is another soulless being walking among the others each day contemplating whether waking up every morning was worth it or not. It wasn’t always this way though, Adonis had aspirations in life, just a few decisions that turned a bright young man with potential, into a waste of space barely contributing to society. Finally being able to balance on his feet, he walks over to the fridge and takes another sip of his poison, only way to make it through the day to oppress his sorrowful life. He began reminiscing of that brutal court case, “I never touched her”, but the public defender nor the jury believed him. It was an open and shut case, “I didn’t lay a hand on her, I loved her!” he would scream, but apparently Justice is deaf not blind. So there goes his life. He tries to continue and better himself, to show, maybe one day, his son that he is innocent, but from what his mother must be feeding him he would never want to come find me. His ex-girlfriend, Karen, his childhood sweetheart whom he used to profess his love for her everywhere and anywhere, was his rock. At age 18 Karen found out she was pregnant, elated they moved into a small 1 bedroom apartment to start a family. Things quickly seemed to spiral out of control. His release was alcohol with his friends. It first started as a social norm with friends but then Karen began worrying about the impact on the family. Frustrated and tired of arguing with Adonis to cut back on his drinking, she grew distant from him and began losing hold of what little reality was around her. Mostly just the grip of her feelings toward Adonis and her son.
Time passed and Adonis’s release became a need to get through the days while Karen had gotten an addiction of her own.
After a heated argument, Adonis left to go clear his head, at the bar. Stress from work plus this argument, only made him drink more. When he showed up to the front porch, his son was crying. He scooped down to pick up his son, then the police came around him and took his son away. He was confused as they tightened the cuffs until his wrists bled. “What did I do?” he asked aloud, the cops called him a “f***ing n*****” and took him away. He got thrown into the interrogation room and the detective calmly took out his folder. “Hello Mr. Jenkins, let's just cut to the chase, where were you the night of January 17th?” The alcohol he had earlier in the night didn't help his recollection, then he remembered that it was his friend’s birthday, they went out for drinks after work and then walked home. After that he told the detective that he couldn't remember what happened. “Hmph, figures, that was the night you beat your wife in the ribs and thighs with an orange in a tube sock.” Adonis’s heart stopped, he would never, he thought. That wasn't him! He had an epiphany, it was probably Joey, her drug dealer.
The truth was, sometimes when she didn't have money to fuel her habit, he would have to take payment through other methods. She was addicted to crack-cocaine, she had, had the money for a small hit, but Joey wasn’t satisfied. He wanted money plus his usual, but Karen refused, so he beat her. Her son hid in the nearby room, bearing witness to the assault. Joey beat her unconscious causing contusions and broken ribs. After he finished, he put her habit on the nightstand and kissed her forehead and walked out. When she came to, she blamed her husband for her habit, if he had a better job, she wouldn't be hooked on crack-cocaine.
The next day she filed a report with the police, they gathered evidence and sat back for 2 weeks, building a case. Watched his habits and found that he is an alcoholic, when he drinks too much he gets violent. The detective laid out all the pictures, from the initial report to the surveillance. Everything was stacked against him. “You have the right to remain silent,” the detective started, but Adonis interjected, “It was Joey! Her dealer, man you gotta believe me, she a junkie and when her dealer ain't gettin paid, he wants to get laid, you feel me?” Too late, officers piled into the room, placing handcuffs on him to take him to jail where he would await trial. He couldn’t afford a lawyer, so he gets assigned a public defender. 30 cases at one time, but better than nothing, right? When he went to trial they brought up his mother-in-law as a character witness against him. “F***!” he thought, he knew beforehand that she was going to be against him and lie. She never liked him, for she believed Jeremy was better for her little girl, but Jeremy didn't get her pregnant before marriage, He did. She sat on the stand, and destroyed what little character he had already established beforehand. Telling made up stories about how he used to deal in the neighborhood and that's how he and Karen met, got her addicted to crack-cocaine. He used to shoplift from the local stores and rip off the old folks of the neighborhood. He shook his head, the jury that weren’t his peers, already had written him off as another scum bag that deserved to be in the system. The jury deliberated for only 30 minutes, before delivering the guilty verdict, sentenced for 6 years and 3 months in San Quentin all for a person he thought he loved. But that was behind him, he served his time as an innocent man, and now all he wants to do is prove to his son that he is a good man. But downing this bottle right now is more important.