Jamal and Andre had been at the Wildstar clothing store since 8 o’clock that morning, their only client that needed special attention. The other employees had long since left. Only the owner, Jerry Nyguen, was still around somewhere in the back doing paperwork. If it wasn’t for the thrill of what he and Andre were [...]

Jamal’s block was relatively quiet, as much as could be expected. On the next block over, Detective Rourke sat inside a rented Escolade, quietly rolling a squeeze ball around in his fingers as he stared out at nothing in particular. At any other time he’d be on a stakeout with his partner Simmons waiting to [...]

As Jamal and Detective Rourke continued to try staring each other down, he noticed the hint of a shoulder holster inside the officer’s blazer. “I think it’s gonna be me going back out to be with my girl,” he said with a stoic tone. When he started to walk out again Rourke grabbed him by [...]

 Deep in thought, Jamal stared at his Poker chips as he pondered his next move. Steiner watched with anticipation, completely disregarding the Texas Hold ’em game he was involved with across the room. The other players at that table nonchalantly glanced around the table, pondering who was going to be the chip leader after the [...]

  Jamal walked down the steps from the train platform onto Fordham Avenue, somewhere deep in the Bronx. Having lived so close but never been there, the Bronx was still another world, full of criminal and often murderous legends. One of his professors had directed him there to visit a store owner about doing their [...]

When Jamal knocked on Steiner’s office doorway, the advisor looked up and paused as if being graced by the presence of a ghost. “I think you’ve got a little explaining to do.” Stunned by the sight of Steiner smoking a pipe and blowing smoke out of an open window, Jamal stood there expecting him to [...]

Outside the cafeteria students stopped and stared as Jamal was quietly escorted to an unmarked police car in the parking lot. He put on airs as he walked a step ahead of the detectives; aside from giving the cops an early morning run he had done nothing wrong. From somewhere within the crowd, Andre’s voice [...]

The front door closed. As chatty sounds of happy reunion echoed down the hall and into the kitchen, Jamal let out a sigh of relief. It was definitely Mrs. Philips. Anytime she came to visit she always brought baked goodies and made enough noise for several women. He figured that meant the next knock on [...]

    Jamal held his breath, waiting for one of his parents to freak out. The freeze-frame of his face on the television screen looked like something from America’s Most Wanted. When he noticed there wasn’t a change in their conversation, he peeked over to see they were debating about something on a medicine bottle [...]