the struggle

being broke ain't no joke, might sound funny but it's true
don't kno how bad it is til the broke youngin is you
cursed my pops cuz he left us in the homeless shelter
mom alone wit four kids was the cards life dealt her
so she stress out, scream at us when things go wrong
we just kids but the growin process take too long
left alone at all hours, mom workin three, four shifts
and still only enough money to cop our clothes from the thrift
when you young it don't matter, cuz you don't kno no different
but then you grow up and see how all them other kids livin
mom workin and pops is gone, so you got mad time to kill
so you figurin out the streets, while she figure out the bills
paycheck to paycheck, she stuck payin bills and the rent
plus no checks comin from pops, all his money been spent
vic and joy needed a break so they up and left out
so im alone wit my moms and lil mike in the house
and it hurt bad to see my moms left so helpless
can't help me neither, so i don't kno where the help is
thot i found it, got my own fam runnin the streets
im lookin out for my boys, they lookin out for me
got involved with the drink, the drugs, and the stealin
anything to help escape from these things that im feelin
but you kno it all catches up to everyone eventually
just hope you get out 'fore u sent to the penitentiary
as for me, i was still just thirteen, it's crazy
when they came and made momma say goodbye to her baby
and when i got out, house arrest and therapy sessions
did nothin to help me out, didn't teach me no lessons
so i was back at the same things i was doin before
cursin pops and the world for makin my fam so poor
it didn't hit me til vic came back and did just that
it was just the right thing to get me back on track
still ain't wanna live broke, so college is where it's at
three years til high school's over, then ill never look back
knew i couldn't make it out unless i gotta scholarship
lookin back on my pops gotta do better than he did
so i made it, got the school to pay my way
but still problems at the crib, livin day by day
pops livin on disability, askin us to help out
hard for me to keep from tellin him to get his self out
but i changed the mindset from negative to positive
cuz you can't let your situation dictate how you live
after one year of college the tough times still here
just hopin and prayin the fam can wait three more years
im still just seventeen but in my eyes im a man
cuz me and vic gotta get paid and help out the whole fam
moms and mike just gotta bide their time until graduation
cuz then we paid, and it's time for the real celebration
but dang, that's still two and three years away
we gotta find out a way to pay the bills for today
so when we home we rent ourselves out for any old job
our moms dependin on us, we all dependin on God
gets so bad sometimes, wanna head back to the streets
just to get some food to eat and some shoes on mike feet
but we can't cuz we tryna live life honorably
and strive to be the men that my momma raised us to be
so we still here right before my eighteenth birthday
wonderin when these tough times will be on their way
but it's all good, we just pray to God and give thanks
cuz He carried us when we was stuck wit goose eggs in the bank
so we move on and focus on things we can control
we might be lackin in money, but we wealthy in soul
just gotta keep goin when we think we can't take it
only takes one of us to blow and then we all make it
plus i been prayin so much that im bleedin from my knees
doin it all for my fam and my future wife and seeds
so i put faith in God, my mom, my sis and my brothers
being broke ain't no joke, but shoot, we still got each other