DanielChamberlin
In the summer of 1999, six 14-year-old boys from different neighborhoods across Providence, Rhode Island, forge a bond that will define their youth-and test their souls. United by friendship and football, they dream of one thing: winning a high school championship together.
Five of the boys-Daniel "Damit," Larry, Lunky, Poles, and Benny-attend Hope High School on the East Side, just blocks from the Ivy-covered walls of Brown University. The sixth, Jermaine, goes to Central High on the South Side but remains deeply tied to the group through shared summers, streetball battles, and weekend scrimmages.
What begins as an innocent dream quickly becomes a brotherhood. Their high school years rush by in a blur of football games, late-night parties, hallway laughs, and first loves. By the summer before senior year, the six are inseparable-more family than friends. They've survived the chaos of adolescence, and the championship still feels within reach.
But on the night of July 4th, 2002, their world collapses.
Gathered in the Washington Park neighborhood to celebrate the holiday, they joke, reminisce, and dream like boys do. That night, Benjamin-"Benny," the heart of the group-is shot five times. Once in the face. Four times in the torso. He dies instantly.
The city mourns another young life lost to senseless violence. But for his five brothers, mourning isn't enough. Their childhood is over. Their innocence buried with Benny.
As grief tightens its grip, an unbearable truth surfaces: Benny's killer is the older brother of Marcus, a mutual friend from high school. Marcus had grown up alongside Larry and Jermaine. His brother, however, is a feared kingpin in Washington Park-a man of stature in the streets, with blood on his hands and protection on every corner.
The bond that once revolved around football is now anchored in loss. Rage simmers. Forgiveness seems impossible.