It was there in the South Bronx where Hakeem lived. In his neighborhood there were a bunch of teenagers that Hakeem use to meet and have fun outside in the streets. They played basketball, stickball, and handball and other activities as teenagers. He got to know all of them by their name, but he picked the wrong ones as his so called friends. They were the ones that did most of the wrong things. They took illegal drugs, they robbed and stole from their neighbors. Hakeem use to hang around them while they shot up heroin. They asked Hakeem to try it, but he didn’t. He was just curious to see how they took it and how they behaved after they were high.
One day when Hakeem was entering his apartment building, he was approached by his neighbor who was a tenants that lived on the first floor in his apartment building. Hakeem was not sure if the friendly brother was a drug addict, but he was very cool and appeared to be a wise down-to-earth brother. He was a little older than Hakeem and he was friendly, mysterious and wise. The wise brother grabbed Hakeem by the arm really tight to get his undivided attention. The wise brother called out all the names of the young men that Hakeem had been watching them while they shot up heroin. He told Hakeem to walk away from them the next time they shoot up and not to watch them get high anymore. He said, “If you continued to hang around them while they get high and some of the fumes from the heroin go up your noise you will be more tempted to take it and get hooked, so stop hanging around them before you get hooked.” He said, “If you try it once for the first time, the high is so good that you will take it over and over again trying to get the same good feeling as the first high, but you won’t and you will get hooked.” His words touched Hakeem and he listened to the wise brother’s leadership and stopped. Shortly afterwards two of the young men overdosed and another one was shot and killed in Crotona Park. Another one was sent to prison and the bad list went on and on until they were all gone. A great deal of young people still get caught up and hooked on drugs today. Some will end up in prison or in the cemetery. Drug addiction is the habit of taking addictive or illegal drugs. Therefore take steps to help prevent drug abuse in yourself, your children and your love ones. Talk to your love ones about the risks of drug use and abuse. Be a good listener, strengthen the bond and set a good example.
Hakeem is so happy and thankful that he didn’t become addicted to drugs. He was lucky to have had a wise brother to show him a way out before getting hooked.