Southside Confessions

~
"Why you always lookin' at me like you tryna read me?"

"You just got pages."

"Careful. Don't know if you want this story.
~
Seventeen-year-old Malik keeps his head down in The Bricks, the housing complex that raised him on gunshots and sirens. His mother works double shifts, his cousin runs the corner hustle, and Malik survives in between-quiet, watchful, and hiding the truth he can't say out loud.

Then comes Tré. Fresh out of juvie, mean on the outside, fire-eyed on the inside. Everyone warns Malik: "Don't trust that boy. Trouble follows him like a shadow." But Malik can't help watching him from across the block, can't help when their eyes catch and hold.