The summer culminated in a rooftop confrontation. Not a shootout—ammo was too precious, and the sound would draw unwanted attention from the few cops still on patrol. Instead, it was a trial by fire. Monet, Cane, Dru, and Diana had Tariq cornered. They’d found out about the ventilator deal, realized he’d kept a cut for himself.

But in the vacuum of a campus half-empty due to the pandemic, the rules of the street had only gotten sharper.

“Try again,” Tariq said, his voice eerily calm. “And step back six feet.”