Crimes of the Streets

Chapter Three

After the school day, Demetrius took the bus back home. He wasn't sure if he would really attend Bryant's party. And that girl he was with...

Making it back to his trademark condo, the teen prepared to do more homework. Today, he had five classes to do: Physics, English, Spanish, Art, and Calculus. His history teacher just made them watch a video on WW2 and PE, well...all he did was hoop. He worked on Physics first, a complex task. After that, he worked on Calculus and tried his hand at Art. He moved to the two language classes last.

Meanwhile, at a nice house in Lower Manhattan...

Bryant was busy at home being yelled at by his mom, Amanda. She was...well:

Amanda: You failed AGAIN? Is all you give a damn about football?

Bryant: No! Well yeah, but this work is hard Ma!

Amanda: So if you study rather than screwing around, it wouldn't be so hard. But no, you wanna be the cool kid.

This went on for hours. Eventually, Amanda decided to ground Bryant to teach him a lesson.

Bryant: I'm grounded? No, no...no!

Amanda: Yes, you're grounded for three weeks, young man.

Bryant: Three weeks?!? Ma, I got stuff to do! I got a party, and this cool girl is invited and—-

Amanda: I don't give a damn about your party, you are gonna fix those grades.

Bryant: Nah, screw this!

He went up to his room and slammed the door.

Amanda: Now four weeks, since you're so grown!

Bryant didn't want to deal with this. It was stupid. He had a hot chick ready to slide to his house, a "nerd?" that he could use for his grades, and the whole football team ready to come get lit, and this lady decided to "ground" him. He found it very:

Bryant: Screw her, this dumbass stuff is so unfair.

He plopped on his bed and laid down. He prepared to cancel his party plans, but he saw Diamond's Instagram page. She posted that she was ready to party this weekend, and 650 people saw it. There was no way he could give up his party and disappoint her.

He decided to hold his party at someone else's house. He needed to make a decision quickly because preparations needed to be made. Food, drinks, and activities all needed to be taken care of. Plus, the teens would drink alcohol, even if they were underage, so there would be that, too. He started DM'ing lots of his friends on Insta. He texted Robert, Eddy, and even "Uncle Curtis," but they all told him their parents would kill him and them if he hosted a party at their houses.

Bryant: Lame.

There was one kid who was rumored to be rich enough to have a solid house for a party. But everyone usually avoided that kid out of school because he was seen as a bit weird...and scary. Even bullies knew not to test him; they feared he would come to their houses.

But Bryant was desperate to impress Diamond, so he had to try.

THE NEXT DAY.

Bryant got up for school bright and early, mostly because he didn't want to deal with his mom's mouth. Catching the bus and getting lots of waves, he sat in the back with his friend Robert.

Robert: So about ya party...

Bryant: There's a kid I "think" could help us out.

Robert: Who?

Bryant: I'll show you.

They got to school and went into the cafeteria. Bryant looked for him and, sure enough, found him relaxing in the left corner, at a table all by himself.

Bryant: Yo, Demetrius!

Demetrius looked back at him with an almost bored look, like he didn't even care to be around Bryant, despite his status.

Demetrius: Yes?

Bryant prepared to speak, but Robert pulled him away and whispered in his ear.

Robert: THIS is the kid you were talking about? Dude, no one knows him! Plus, he's weird!

Bryant: Look, man, to impress the females, we gotta do desperate things. I don't know about you, but I got one I'm tryna get connected with, so...

Robert: I don't know, man, this seems like a very bad idea...

Bryant: All my ideas are, but I ain't got no other choice, so let's party at the kid's crib.

Robert: Ugh.

They went back to Demetrius to ask permission for the favor. He was on his phone now, watching the news, and he didn't even look up when they returned.

Demetrius: So, what do y'all want?

Bryant: We need a new place for the party.

Demetrius: Cool, how about at Central Park?

Bryant slapped his head. Robert just kept watching, eyes narrowing on Demetrius.

Bryant: Nah, man, we can't have the ladies getting bit by mosquitoes and getting pissed off at me.

Demetrius: Let me guess, you want to use my house for your little party.

Bryant: Uh, yeah! You got a solid crib, right?

Demetrius: Yeah, but not for random ass teens.

Bryant: They ain't random; they some of the most popular kids in the city! It's gon' be lit!

Demetrius: Yeah, yeah.

Bryant: Sooo, what do you say?

Demetrius thought for a moment. If they came, they might mess things up and bring back bad memories of the last time he had a party. And if they didn't come, everything would be fine. Plus, he had homework to do, and a mysterious murder case he wanted to check out, so....

Demetrius: How long are you going to be there?

Bryant: Should only be a few hours. I've already made plans for the invites and other stuff.

If they messed stuff up, he always had a gun. Plus, he had a room to block out their noise. And the maids would clean up the house. He decided he might as well let the random kids dance around for a bit. It would be the perfect chance to see what was up with that "girl." She made Demetrius feel...well...

Demetrius: You guys have 3 hours to have your party.

Bryant: Let's go! Preciate the favor, bro.

Robert: Yeah...thanks!

They walked off. Robert pulled Bryant to him.

Robert: Bro, you sure he won't kill us all as soon as we step in that house?

Bryant: Well, no, but we need a party, and you lames ain't providing so...

They walked off.

Meanwhile, at the police station:

The captain of the NYPD, Thomas Fitzroy, was examining the circumstances of Henry Brown's death. He was shot in the head with a 9mm bullet, close range, dead instantly. Pistol had to be semi-automatic, or the guy was an expert marksman with fully-automatics. The motive for the murder of Henry was unclear to the police, but they presumed he was a liability. In contrast, whoever sent the note left a clear message: they wanted the police dead.

Thomas gathered his fellow officers.

Thomas: Alright, boys, let's take a look at this case and try and find out what's really going on in town.

END OF CHAPTER THREE.