Cocaine half spilled out of the small Ziploc baggy. Karl thought it looked like snow, though he’d never seen real snow, just on t.v.. He pushed the majority of it back into the clear plastic and wiped his hands on his pants.

“Time to ride or die!” James yelled, jumping over the second floor’s railing and landing easily on the concrete floor of the warehouse. “I told you they were gonna choose us- didn’t I? It went just like I said it would.”

Karl nodded in agreement and held his fist out expectantly. James lightly bumped Karls knuckles with his own. Even though James was two years older, he was always looking for ways to get Karl’s approval.

“I’m goin’ in hot like fire- you strapped?”

“Fo sho.” At eleven, Karl had been carrying a gun for a year. “We gotta show ‘em we mean biz-ness. How they gonna respect us, if we don’ come in strong? Plus, I gotta be able to get ya back. Never know when ya might run into an ex.”

“That’s what I love about you, lil homie- you always be lookin out. We brothas fo real now.”