Represent

Chapter 27

Liam's Point Of View.

Since Louis wasn't able to go through Red's house on Monday, I spent the day tryin' to make some money. I did my jobs, most of which were honest things like fixin' stuff for people in the neighborhood. I had a couple posters around the neighborhood, so people called me up and asked me to come over and fix their TV's, cars, plumbin', stuff like that. Sometimes restaurants would call me up to fix things if they were cheapin' out. For the most part, that was enough to pay the bills, buy myself some shit, and float a little over to my mama just because. But Terio always hooked me up with a job. Terio ran a trap that was pretty busy, especially since a few hookers spent their time there to get business too. He paid me sometimes to stand up there and make sure nobody started no trouble. Sometimes Niall did it too, but to be honest, I'd proven multiple times in the past that I wasn't afraid to throw hands, or even shoot if it became necessary. Besides, Niall had tendency to jaw off, and Terio didn't need all that, so he preferred to have me over. It was a pretty easy job, and usually nothin' happened, but I still ain't want Deja to know I was workin' there. I wasn't never ashamed, but with Deja and her high-end job and schoolin' and shit, I ain't want her to know I spent most of my day in a trap house. I did a lot of shit I ain't want Deja to know that I did. And there was a lot of shit I ain't want Deja to be exposed to, either.

Anyway, I did the jobs on Monday, then I texted Deja again. She hadn't responded to my last message, so I wasn't sure if we were okay, but it couldn't hurt to try again. She responded, though, and she didn't even mention Cori, so I guess we were still good.

The next day was Tuesday, the day we were supposed to hit Red's place. I ain't let Harry and Zayn come, because they were on their way to stardom and I wasn't gonna let no hood shit ruin their chance to get out. So it was Niall, Louis, Terio, and I. Terio drove because he had multiple cars, and I'm sure they would have noticed my car if I had parked out there. I called Terio to let him know about the job. I had a thing about textin' people important shit. I still had the texts from what happened with Nico. "I'm gonna be late," is what my last text to him said. I couldn't bring myself to delete the conversation, so whenever I scrolled to the bottom of my conversations, there it was. From then on, I made it a point to call people whenever I had important shit to say. Maybe it would save lives.

We pulled up outside Red's place at 10am, hopin' that the rest of the block would still be sleep, and Red would be long gone. Red's neighborhood was similar to mines, identical, really. An outsider wouldn't know the difference. But an insider could notice the subtle things--purple spray paint, purple bandanas, and after 5pm, a bunch of thugs wearing purple on every porch. Green was our color, but we didn't sport it quite as much as they did.

Anyway, we saw that Red's car wasn't outside his house, so we got out the car and walked up to the door, tryna look as normal as possible. Niall knocked on the door, for one thing to make sure the house was empty, but also in case someone was watching us. I looked at Red's lock, and then pulled out the lock pick I'd acquired. Luckily, Red had an out of date lock, one that wasn't up to code, and one that I could easily pick. Quickly, I worked my magic and unlocked the door. We walked inside, and Terio quickly closed and locked the door. Then we got into position. Terio guarded our backs as we moved en masse to the center of Red's family room. His house wasn't unlike many other houses in the neighborhood, so I knew where everything would be. Red's house was messy, like any other young guy's house would be, and the faint smell of loud permeated the air, indicating that Red and his crew had smoked in every room of the house whenever he wanted. It smelled like he might have smoked some this mornin', actually.

"Anybody in here?" Niall called. There was no response. Louis pulled out some garbage bags and handed one to Niall and I. Terio didn't need one, since he'd just be watching the front door.