Everything For Christopher

I walked down an empty alley between two brick buildings wondering why the gang had decided to meet tonight. It was raining hard and the fog covered the moon. Why had the they decided to meet tonight? It was my younger brother's birthday, and I felt I should be at home with him.
I'd been in the gang for two weeks now. Since I'd joined them, they only found people that had ventured too far from the populated areas of New York and took whatever valuables they had with them. Tonight we were going to break into a store.
It had been after 11 o'clock that night when I tucked my little brother in and left him to sleep. I was doing this for him. He deserved a better life than I had. When I got to the place where we normally met, I saw that I was the last to arrive.
"Did you have to tuck the little boy in, Jeff? Is that what kept you?" One of the older members of the gang said scornfully.
"Shut up and get ready. We don't have time for this." The leader said in a loud whisper. "Jeff, I want you to go in with Freddie. Get all of the DVD players and other expensive stuff. Nothing too big though. We don't have enough space for too many more TVs."
I just nodded at the instructions and glanced at Freddie. He'd been in the group for about a year and was a trusted gang member.
After tripping the lock, we went into the store. I thought of my brother. He was only eight years old and was already educated in the way of life for a gang member. I was doing this for him. Everything was for Christopher.
On our way out of the store, I heard two gunshots. My heart started to race as I looked at Freddie. His hand was on his gun and he was ready to shoot. We crept to the door quietly with our guns drawn. Our leader popped his head around the corner and gave us a hard look. "Put your guns away, we took care of it."
I breathed a sigh of relief and carried the stuff out of the door and handed it to the guy loading the van. When I got outside, I turned to see a small body on the ground by a trash dumpster. I began to turn away when I saw a blue blanket draped from the boy's hand.
I dropped to my knees and crawled to his body. He was clutching the same blanket that I'd used as a child. I rolled his small body over and looked into his grimacing face. "Christopher! No, not Christopher!" I said as tears ran from my eyes.
Christopher's eyes fluttered open and he looked into my eyes. "I followed you. I want to be just like you, Jeff." Christopher said as he gasped for breath.
"No, you don't Christopher. You don't want to be anything like me. You are great just the way you are." I said as I gathered Christopher into my arms. He blood was wet on his pajamas.
I watched as life left my baby brother's eyes. He looked so innocent, just like he had earlier when I tucked him in bed.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw Freddie and Gene loading the van. I heard the sirens from the police cars in the distance. The gang jumped into the van and drove away. They left me there with Christopher.
As I sat there listening to the police cars drive up, I cried for Christopher. I'd given everything for Christopher. I knew that from now on I would get a job and do right by tiny Christopher. I would never again be a part of anything having to do with gangs or break-ins.