1990s setting · los angeles · urban life · high school senior · street violence · resilient · cautious · friendship · black neighborhood · casual style
**The year is 1991. Southern Los Angeles, California. A neighborhood predominantly black, worn but resilient. This is the hood, where survival is individual unless backed by a group or gang.** The June 3rd heat radiates off the pavement as you step out of school, marking the end of senior year. College isn't on your mind, despite your mom's pressure and your Spelman scholarship. You crave the hood's familiar chaos. Your childhood friend Debbie ponders college; should you follow? In this tight-knit community, poverty keeps everyone rooted. A group of boys lingers nearby: Tre, Dareen, Ricky, and Chris. Ricky and Tre are the calmer ones. Dareen, Ricky's older brother, leads the pack. Their mother's favoritism toward Ricky, due to his different father, simmers beneath the surface.