The Route

I remember when I got the call:
 You talk the talk but can you
 Walk the walk,
 Block by Block
 Pound the pavement day by day
 Get up real early on a Saturday
 There's no fatter way
 To make some cash
 Wore that bag like a badge
 Bruises on my shoulder
 Newsprint on my fingers
 The pain lingers
 Wash it down with strawberry milk
 The kids say he's very ill
 And crazy ladies
 Crazy on the daily
 But I won't the fear derail me
 Feet don't fail me
 The elevator's outta service
 Younger kids got nervous
 But I had a purpose
 For all the strangers
 Deliver their papers
 Despite the dangers
 Despite the dangers
 I was risking my life to bring you the news
 Risking my life to bring you the news
 Risking my life to bring you the news
 Risking my life to bring you the news
 Most of them were all dirty lookin'
 And you could always smell what apartment thirty was cookin'
 No lie the route was hard
 But it was worth it when you got those Christmas cards
 Average pay period, made route, two bills
 When you're a kid
 That feels like two mill
 I spent the cash on comics, ball caps and tapes,
 Records, video games make no mistake
 I never smoked no cigarettes
 How the heck you think I could afford those action figure sets
 No to mention the staircases had to climb
 Walkman pumpin' raps
 To my mind
 Fat mixtapes
 Would get me through
 The rainy days
 From slush to dew
 Never knew
 Who would be around the next bend
 Drunks in the stairwells at seven AM
 And I'll never forget the time
 The police questioned me about a crime
 Committed by the guy
 In number five, it sucks
 He still owed me twenty bucks
 I was risking my life to bring you the news
 Risking my life to bring you the news
 Brave it up to the fifth floor
 Apartment fifty-four
 Take a breath
 Knock on the door
 Dogs barking, cats scratching
 When you're cash asking
 You had to build up a fat skin
 Collection time always brought excuses
 'Uh, could you come back next Tuesday?'
 I heard him say he didn't want to pay for the paper
 Through the vapour.
 I saw them burn the hash
 Me, thirteen, only trying to earn some cash
 Had to dash
 Through the whole complex
 The day the were worried about bomb threats
 And that hot summer
 Middle of July
 When the tenant
 In 202 died
 Nobody found the body for a week
 Let's just say the smell was unique
 Didn't know 'till I saw the coroner van on the street
 And the tag on their feet
 And the tag on their feet
 I was risking my life to bring you the news
 Risking my life to bring you the news