It was the summer of '93, and the weather was almost hotter than the location. But then again, what could be hotter than hell? The Ninth! Some would assume that the steam which rose from the broken sidewalks in front of the brick apartment building justified the neighbor hood's nickname, the Ninth Circle of Hell. The heat wave however, had nothing to do with why people associated Messalina projects with Dante's Inferno. No, that honor went to the infestation of dealers, crack heads, boosters, and hoes. Dope boys handled their business like it was legal, and everyone learned to look the other way. If they didn't learn, then they never got the chance to look again. Life in the ninth operated by the code of the wild, predators ate and prey got eaten. The drug dealers sat on the top of chain. Boosters, strippers and hoes fell somewhere in the middle, while the crack heads and the civilians clung to the last wrung. Everyone knew their assigned roles and no one ever deviated from the script. Cleopatra James, an unremarkable thirteen year old girl, understood better than anyone, her dictated place in the procession. But that didn't mean she accepted the role she'd been given to play.

Some chicks were proud ones. But she? Nah, she was a sad one.

Nori Michaels has heard horror stories about the south from every family member possible. They were even more appalled when they were informed that Nori managed to get a very well paying job in Texas for a very influential white family. They saw it as a death sentence. Nori saw it as an opportunity. She was too ambitious for her own good. Nori thought she could handle anything thrown at her until the house owners brute of a son comes to stay for while. Oh Nori was not prepared for him...

"It doesn't matter what you say, you'll always be mine Trinity." - Trinity and Hoseok had always been close ever since they were younger. Now as things changed - Hoseok is a 21 year old drug dealer and Trinity a senior in high school. With a bond so close it was never expected to falter. But what happens when Hoseok gets caught up further within the gang world and feelings start to stir causing confusion and toxicity within their attraction for one another? But most of all, will Trinity and Hoseok be able to hold on or will one of them end up having to let go? (Based on an extended one-shot)