“Road to a Better Life” Three brothers, Max, 14 years old, Sammy, 12 years old, and Junior, 10 years old, were walking down the streets of Bronx, New York, dumpster diving one cool evening in September. As they round the street one block from their house, which is on Hampton, they bump into Tommy, a bully. Tommy notices Sammy smoking on a cigarette and threatens to beat him up if he does not give him the pack of cigarettes. Fights on the streets are never fair in Bronx. Luckily, Tommy was alone and Sammy had his brothers. By the end of the fight, all four boys looked like a semi had ran them over. As Sammy limped away he said, “there was no way in hell Tommy was stealing my pack of cigarettes.” When the boys returned home their dad, Danny, …show more content…
He laid in bed, swollen face, sore ribs, and whimpering with pain until the sun rose the next morning. The next day as the boys scrounged the streets for food, all Sammy could talk about was running away. That night Danny was in a drunken rage, and ready to seriously hurt one of the boys. He singled out the youngest of the three, Junior. Max and Sammy attacked Danny, trying to protect Junior. Eventually they rescue Junior from Danny’s evil grip, take him to the bedroom, and lock the door. This is when Max started to devise his plan, a plan for him and his brothers to run away. The brothers have had enough of the constant hunger, poverty, and fighting. They decide to take Max’s escape route and run away. That night the boys pack their bags, steal what little money Danny has, and sneak out their bedroom window. Max uses all their money to buy three train tickets to Manhattan, New York. When they arrived at 4:30 in the morning the Department of Human Services (DHS) was closed. Unfortunately, the boys must sleep in the alley behind a dumpster. Before they fall asleep Max says, “Sammy, Junior, no matter what we go through, how much pain you are in, I will always be here for