And there was no one in the world less scary than Ray. He was just larger than life, funny and slick and popular with girls, the kind of guy Shawn hoped he might be when he turned sixteen. Duncan was intimidating but not in that way. A few of them were scary-the dude who shot his neighbor’s dog, he was a legit bad dude-but not the ones Shawn knew. The ones who shot dogs for spite and disobeyed their mothers.īut it seemed like half the kids in the neighborhood were in gangs. She just acted like she didn’t have to, seeing as she didn’t raise troublemakers and thugs. Aunt Sheila knew there were gangs, but she talked about them like they weren’t her problem. Hell, if Aunt Sheila wouldn’t let them see a gang movie, what if she knew Ray was in a real gang? And if he did want to get them in trouble, he had plenty of other ways. He hadn’t told on Ray or even Ava since he was too young to know better. “And you remember what happens if you tell Mom.” He balled his hand into a fist and shook it at Shawn.

“See, Shawn, this is what happens when you cut school to go to a movie.” “We already got ours.” He made a show of fanning them out with both hands while Ray whooped and danced behind him. “That’s the line to get tickets,” said Duncan. We gotta wait in that line? Don’t tell me you gave up our spot.” Shawn let go of Ava’s hand, hoping they hadn’t seen. Ray’s best friend, Duncan, was with him, his face lit up with a big grin. He was here now, sneaking into an R-rated movie, just like them. It didn’t matter that Aunt Sheila had made Ray and Ava take him when they said they’d be watching White Fang. Everyone at school was talking about this movie, and he was going on opening night. He’d been looking forward to this night all week. They walked slowly down the sidewalk, starting from the box office, where the marquee overhead announced the showtimes for New Jack City. “Who said you were a baby? I just don’t want to lose you.” He pulled back, thinking of all those older kids seeing him get dragged along by his sister.

They’d have to get closer to pick out Ray and his friends.Īva grabbed Shawn’s hand as they crossed the street. Ava said Westwood was white people territory, but almost everyone here was black, a lot of them high school kids. It was dark already, too, hard to make out faces even with the neat row of lamps lining the sidewalk. The movie wasn’t supposed to start for another hour and a half, but there had to be hundreds of people waiting outside the theater. Shawn gaped at the crowd gathered across the street. “I don’t know how we’re supposed to find these fools.”

Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha