"Hol' on. Stop right here gang—I think that's him up there." Amari looked down at the Glock in his lap for just a second before tilting his head for a better view up the street to see if the face matched who his next bullet belonged to.

"Oh shit—it is." His friend pulled out of the alley and turned out the headlights on the stolen car they were in, driving slowly down the 6300 block of South Rhodes Avenue.

"Aye Modell!" Amari's voice was muffled from his face mask, and the two people walking down the street immediately took off running without even turning to see where the voice came from.

Unfortunately, it was very hard to even attempt to outrun a bullet from a M9 Beretta pistol.

Both bodies dropped on the sidewalk in result of Amari letting off a few rounds and he simultaneously made sure to stay aware of his surroundings so that he didn't hit any random bystanders like he accidentally did in the shootout he was involved in this past weekend.

His heart seemed to pump heavier as the sounds of the tires of the stolen car screeched when his friend, Louie, hit the next corner so hard the back tire lifted all the way off the ground for a second. Amari wasn't afraid or anything—that adrenaline just got to him every time he used a gun to the point where even his hands would shake.

This would be his fourth confirmed body and the umpteenth shootout he'd been involved in and it still felt like the first time every time he pulled the trigger of his favorite handgun.

"Aye let me out—I got it, I got it." Amari hit Louie's arm twice after spotting someone running on the opposite side of the street, causing the car to come to a sudden halt.

Amari got out of the car so fast that he almost tripped and fell, but paid it no mind as he took off after the witness with his gun at his side. It took him no time at all to catch up with the person who he immediately slammed against the wall.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry—I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I swear I didn't see anything, please—," A voice that belonged to a woman began profusely apologizing, holding her shaking hands up in surrender.

"Fuck." He cursed to himself when the dim light from the broken street lamp hit her face from him moving her to the side, recognizing who the voice belonged to within milliseconds.

"Chill ma. You good. I ain't gon' hurt y—man shut the fuck up 'for somebody hear you." Although they were in an alley, it was still possible for someone to be lurking around. Hell, she just was.

"I'm sorry. I won't tell anyone—I promise I didn't see anything." She spoke quietly through her tears, obviously afraid for her life.

Amari let out a frustrated sigh because he knew this girl personally and knew that she recognized his voice and the visible part of his face through the mask that he wore, which meant that she could be a huge casualty because not only did she witness a murder—she also knew who the killer was.

This wouldn't be their last time seeing each other either and he didn't know if that would be a good thing or not. They would be in close proximity with one another at school and in the apartment complex they both lived in. On one hand, by seeing her frequently he could make sure she wouldn't snitch, but on the other, he knew the guilt would eventually eat her alive and lead her to snitching anyway.

"Trinity quit fucking crying man. I ain't even doing shit." He grabbed her neck to forcibly tilt her head back to make her look at him, becoming visibly annoyed with her tears.

"You ain't see nothin', you hear me? I find out you running yo' mouth—I'ma be seeing you. You know that. You know me. I ain't fuckin' playing either. I kill bitches too." Which was true; nobody was off limits to him.

She was lucky that he was sparing her, and the only reason he was, was because he knew that she knew just how serious he was. Plus, despite living in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in South Chicago, she was probably one of the only good girls left. No gang affiliation and she kept her head in her books at school if she wasn't following behind his ex-girlfriend, Miya, like a lost puppy.

"Take yo' fat ass on. Nigga gon' have to waste four or five bullets on yo' ass and I ain't got time for that gang. Go home." He practically shoved her towards the right of him and shook his head in disappointment as he watched her take off running. She wasn't very fast.

"Aye Mari, would you please do the class a favor and stop beating them damn pencils. Although you may not be, there are some students who are actually doing their work." Mr.Pierre playfully mushed his head as he walked by him and snatched the pencils from his fingertips, making him laugh.

"Man I'm so tired of this shit folks 'nem. Can't wait to graduate. I won't have to see yo' baldheaded ass ever again." Amari threw his eraser at Mr.Pierre while he and the class laughed at their daily routine of joking around with one another.

"With the path you on in this grade book, yo' ass probably be right in that chair next year too." Mr. Pierre walked out of the class to go speak with the football coach in the hallway while everyone—including Amari—laughed once more.

"Gang he don't ever let yo' ass slide. Better do that work nigga." Amari's friend who sat on the side of him, Jaylen, gestured to the small packet of papers on his desk with a smile.

"Man fuck that. Aye, Miyah, c'mere ma." He called out over the chatter of the classroom, focusing his gaze on Trinity who seemed to cover her face with her hoodie at the sound of his voice—knowing that he did that on purpose since Miyah was sitting right beside her.

"Yo' fine ass. Wassup, you still playin' mad?" He looked up at her with a smirk as she approached him with a forced frown on her face.

"Ain't nobody playing with you Von. That's yo' problem now—don't take nothing serious." She rolled her eyes as he pulled her down in his lap by her arm, shifting her so that she rested right on top of his crotch area.

"I already said I was sorry. I ain't even know that hoe Ashley was yo' friend." He chuckled, wrapping one of his arms around her waist.

"Whateva'. What you want?" She tried not to smile at his hand placement because she still wanted to pretend to be mad.

"Copy yo' answers on this for me." He passed her the packet that had only his name written at the top of it before turning his head to watch Trinity ask Mr. Pierre if she could go use the restroom. Once Miyah took the paper, he tapped her waist to tell her to get up so that he could as well.

"Hol' up. I be back." He said to her before heading towards the front of the classroom. "Aye, Mr. P—let me go to the bathroom right quick."

"Yo' ass gon' go everywhere but the bathroom. You got five minutes and that's it. Don't make me come find you." Mr. Pierre didn't even look up from the papers he was grading on his computer as he passed him the only other hall pass, and Amari laughed as he jogged out of the classroom.

He was thankful to see Trinity turning at the end of the hallway where the nearest restrooms were, which happened to be one of the areas of the school with a very bad camera angle. He waited a few seconds after she walked in to follow behind her, then he stood in front of the door so that she wouldn't be able to leave when she came out of the stall and nobody would be able to come in either.

It took a little over two minutes for her to walk out, and Amari could see her visibly jump when she noticed him standing there so silently. Everything about him was just so eerie—how quietly he moved, how dark his eyes were, his frown..how he could just move on after killing someone like it never even happened.

"What you was crying to Miyah 'bout this morning?" He asked, able to tell that she was shocked about him seeing them in Miyah's car before first period today.

"I—nothing—it w-wasn't about last night I swear." He could barely hear her quiet voice as she lowered her head in fear.

"I ain't ask that. I said what was the reason."

"Nothing she just—she said something about me and it hurt my feelings. I swear it had nothing to do with las—,"

"Quit bringing that shit up. I ain't even said nothing." He sucked his teeth in annoyance at her fear, watching her stuff her hands in the front pockets of her PINK jacket from Victoria's Secret.

"What she say?" He then asked.

"Why does it matter?"

"'Cuz I wanna know." He said.

"It was nothing serious." She responded quietly, sighing lowly to herself. "She wanted to wear one of my purses but I told her my mama said I couldn't let her use my stuff anymore 'cause she never gives it back..and she got mad and started calling me fat and ugly and stuff. Nothing I haven't heard before."

"You ain't ugly ma." Was all that he said as a reply, and Trinity remained quiet. It was weird hearing a semi-compliment from her best friend's longtime on-and-off boyfriend who'd literally threatened her last night.

"Being fat don't mean you ugly. Shid, she ain't cute in the face—just got a body on ha'." He shrugged carelessly. "The fuck is you ha' friend for if she say shit like that to you? And I know that wasn't the first time either 'cause she be getting on yo' ass at lunch and whenever y'all in front of niggas. You don't need nobody like that around you."

"Nothing new."

"You weak as hell. You gon' have to grow out that shit ma. You let people talk to you like that—going for anything, letting them walk all over you. And you still choose to be around them. It's plenty bitches in this school who ah' be nice to yo' ass."

"Can I go now?" She threw the paper towel she'd used to dry her hands off in the trash, now standing only a foot or so away from him. She didn't know if he called himself uplifting her or what, but he wasn't doing anything but hurting her feelings even more.

"Nah. I'm talkin' to you."

"About nothing. You literally do the same thing she does—talkin' bad about me. You only try to be a little nicer when nobody's around but it doesn't fix what you've already said to me. Now can I please go back to class so that I can finish my work?" She asked again, becoming frustrated with his presence.

"I ain't never been mean to yo' ass gang. I called you fat a couple times but that's not me being mean. Fat is not an insult unless you make it like that." He shrugged again.

"Ok. Can I leave?" He was so ignorant. Now she was the one that was annoyed.

"No."

"Why not?"

"'Cuz I said so."

"Amari what do you want?" She tried to hide her irritation because she was genuinely afraid of him and didn't want to upset him but he was getting on her nerves.

"You." He said with a smirk on his face, then he laughed after watching hers frown up.

"I'm fuckin' wit' you. You can go if you want." He chuckled, moving from in front of the door before pulling it open for her.

Trinity put her hands back in the pockets of her jacket and walked past him to get out of the restroom while Amari's eyes lowered to her backside that sat up nicely in her black skinny jeans.

"Aye ma," he called before she could get too far, and Trinity irritably sighed before turning around to look at him.

"Speak next time you see me. I ain't all that bad. I'll be yo' friend." He said to her, and she stared at him for a few seconds but didn't bother to reply. She just turned back around and headed back to class.

This boy was crazy if he thought she'd ever in a million years befriend a heartless murderer. She spent a lot of time near him due to them sharing the same mutual friend group and she didn't understand how it was almost like he was two different people—at school he was always laughing and cracking jokes, but out of school, you would've thought this boy was a forty year old gangster with the life he lived.

At times she felt bad for him because everyone knew how tough life was for him but the way he and his friends constantly bullied and picked with her didn't allow her to. Just because life was hard for him didn't give him the right to make hers hard as well.

Trinity couldn't wait until graduation so that she could finally get the hell away from everybody at this school and this terrible ass city in general.
 

Hey guys did y'all miss me and Von???