Chapter 1 : Introduction
" 17 year old Jeremy Woods was murdered late last night while sitting in his car, he was apparently a victim of a drive-by shooting. These is the latest in a string of killings of young black men. His murder was number 247 in Woodcrest. The violence has to stop" Riley turned off the tv. Another murder. Over the years Woodcrest had turned into a war zone, gaining worldwide publicity. Woodcrest was ranked Americas most dangerous city.
Woodcrest had been expanded by Ed Wuncler III. He took over after his father retired a year ago. It's been chaos ever since. Woodcrest had been split into 4 sections each with its own hoods. You have the Low End, Crest Heights, Edison Park and many others. I had grown up in Timid Dear Lane, which is now referred to as Dark Side. The people living around this area had given it the name. Lamilton was one of the leaders of Dark Side. We had a constant war with the Low End. Jeremy Woods was from the Low End & had an ongoing feud with Lamilton. It was nothing for Lamilton to get someone removed from the face of the earth. It was a few deadly sins in Woodcrest. Never disrespect someone's dead people & never disrespect Dark Side. A lot of niggas tried by tweeting or saying DarkSideK. If anybody found out, that person was dead within a week.
Lamilton knew almost anybody's spots and where they operated from. Lamilton also loved money. His money was through the roof because if dope dealing & moving bricks for his plug. If anybody interfered with his cash flow, he was a dead man. The sad thing is, the cops didn't solve murder cases anymore. They looked at it as just another black nigger. This is sad, but the truth. These days there was little or no fighting. There was gun shots every day no matter where you were, unless you were downtown. That's where Woodcrest Academy was. Huey and I had been accepted into the school because of our academics.(Yes, my academics) Our childhood friends Caeser, Hiro, Jazmine , and Cindy. Jazmine & Huey had became even closer than ever. It was almost official.
I, Riley Freeman was now 16. I have long dreads that flow down my back and many tattoos over my arms. My brother Huey is 18 and heading off to college this fall. I couldn't really see myself going anywhere. I was stuck in this cruel environment. Calls from friends asking was I selling loud. I had many guns over the house just incase anything happened. I just hope I never have to use them. Woodcrest isn't what it used to be. Not one bit. Black on black killings. Killing for turf, money, and reputation. I walked upstairs and flopped on the bed next to Huey's. He was sound in his sleep. Then shots rang out on our block around a hundred. I laid my head down and dozed off into sleep. Let's see what's in store for tomorrow.