Hoodlum Tragedies (Old Version)

P O W D E R

Yo, Shepard, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Monday were Curly's least favorite day. It was the thought of the beginning of a new week, knowing you had so many days to get through.Beside the fact that it was Monday, Curly had a throbbing headache. He could barely get out of the bed this morning, let alone pay attention in class without feeling like he would die any second. It was a miracle he made it to lunch without passing out. The feeling was making him want to spill yesterday's dinner onto the white marble floors. A few beers didn't usually give him a hangover, not this bad anyway.

Curly eyed the kid. He didn't look familiar, he was black, short, and funny looking. His feet were much larger than the rest of his body, and he had a strange look to him that reminded Curly of a pesky mouse. He didn't notice a tattoo, not one that's visible anyway. And he wasn't sporting gang colors, just wearing a regular sweater with converse.

"Who's asking?" Curly asks while slamming his locker shut.

He can feel the packet of grass resting against his thigh, tucked snugly into his pocket. Most kids kept it in their locker but that would be the first place a cop searched and if a kid was good with locks they could get to your stash. Curly would rather put up a fight than be that dumb and have everything stolen within seconds.

"Chuck." The kid answers shortly.

Curly thinks to who Chuck might be, canceling out possibilities. The only black gang the Shepards were allies with were Brumley. Brumley was the only one they needed an alliance with, the other black gangs like the Pythons and Scorpions were just street gangs.

Curly walks up to the short kid and he notices how he towers over him. Curly must've been around six foot by now, the kid was easily five four. By the looks of it, the kid could easily pass for being 13, way too young to be in high school.

He motioned his head around the corner. Curly makes sure his blade is in his pocket just in case the kids werent up to being friendly today. They walked around the corner and a group of black kids are leaning up the wall. They're scowling but he knows it's a defense mechanism. He notices they're wearing a light colored tan and it's obvious they belong to Brumley.

"Looking for me?"

Curly makes sure to stay at a distance. He wasn't itching to be jumped in the hallway and left there until a teacher found him. At least if they try something he can turn the corner quicker.

"I just wanna talk." The guys says smoothly.

The guy is smooth like silk. He takes him to be Chuck, just by the confident swagger and sense of authority he has over the other guys. He's tall, brown skinned, with a growing afro, a popular style that was growing among the blacks.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Chuck Davis and this is Willy Johnson."

Curly flicks his eyes to Willy and nods at him. He doesn't look much like Daisy, they both have dark tanned skin, but Willy resembles a teenaged Marvin Gaye. For a minute Curly wonders if Willy saw him and his sister together but he quickly brushes it off. He didn't care much about it anyway, Daisy wasn't his girl. Though he wouldn't mind if she was, she was gorgeous with a nice body and he bet her lips tasted sweet.

"Alright." Curly says while crossing his arms.

He leans against the wall and takes in the appearance of the other guys. They're only there for show, they aren't real players in the game.

"We got something on our hands and we need you to take care of it. We figured a Shepard could get rid of it. Quick too." he says cooly.

Curly shrugs and shakes his head. Everything went through Tim, he wasn't aiming to take initiative for something Tim didn't sign off on.