Promise Boys


 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Contents
 Dedication
 Epigraph
 Breaking News: Beloved Principal Killed at 43
 Part One: J.B.
 
 Present Day
 Nobody: Urban Promise Prep Student
 Keyana Glenn: Anacostia High School Student
 Nurse Robin: Urban Promise Prep Employee
 Becca Buckingham: Mercy Academy for Girls Student
 Unk: Neighborhood Dude
 Wilson Hicks: Urban Promise Prep Dean of the Student Body
 Bando: Neighborhood Hustler
 Mr. Reggie: Urban Promise Prep School Resource Officer
 Ms. Williamson: J.B.’s Mom
 J.B.’s Interrogation: (Transcript from J.B.’s Official Questioning)
 One Day Before the Murder: J.B.
 Chapter One: Simp: J.B.
 Chapter Two: Boyfriend: J.B.
 The Day of the Murder: J.B.
 Chapter Three: Strap: J.B.
 
 Part Two: Trey
 
 The Washington Post: The Moore Method Saves Lives
 Present Day
 Solomon Bekele: Urban Promise Prep Student
 Stanley Ennis: Entrepreneur and Urban Promise Prep Donor
 Brandon Jenkins: Urban Promise Prep Student
 Uncle T: Trey’s Uncle
 Coach Robinson: Urban Promise Prep Basketball Coach
 Antoine Betts: Urban Promise Prep Student
 Mrs. Hall: Urban Promise Prep Teacher
 Trey’s Interrogation: (Transcript from Trey’s Official Questioning)
 One Day Before the Murder: Trey
 Chapter Four: Late: Trey
 Chapter Five: Stuck: Trey
 The Day of the Murder: Trey
 Chapter Six: Trouble!: Trey
 
 Part Three: Ramón
 
 Present Day
 Rachel Barnes: Older Sister to Anthony Barnes, Urban Promise Prep Student
 Anthony “Tony” Barnes: Urban Promise Prep Student
 César: Ramón’s Cousin
 Doña Gloria: Ramón’s Abuela
 Magdalena Peña: Ramón’s Cousin
 Nobody: Urban Promise Prep Student
 Ramón’s Interrogation: (Transcript from Ramón’s Official Questioning)
 One Day Before: The Murder: Ramón
 Chapter Seven: Guilty: Ramón
 Chapter Eight: Police: Ramón
 The Day of the Murder: Ramón
 Chapter Nine: Some Get Back: Ramón
 
 Part Four: Lies
 
 After the Murder
 Chapter Ten: Grounded: J.B.
 Chapter Eleven: Suspects: Trey
 Nobody: Urban Promise Prep Student
 Chapter Twelve: The Setup: Ramón
 Doña Gloria
 Chapter Thirteen: Traitor: Trey
 Keyana Glenn
 Chapter Fourteen: Omar: J.B.
 Chapter Fifteen: Angels: Trey
 Chapter Sixteen: Handoff: Ramón
 Change of Plans: Magda, Ramón, Luis
 Congresswoman Ford’s Briefing
 Good Night, Primo
 Chapter Seventeen: Trust: Ramón
 Emails Retrieved From Principal Moore’s Desktop
 Chapter Eighteen: Coconspirators: Trey
 Urban Promise Prep Press Release for Immediate Release
 
 Part Five: The Truth
 
 Chapter Nineteen: Break-in: J.B.
 Chapter Twenty: The Talk: Trey
 Chapter Twenty-One: Nico: Ramón
 Breaking News: The Promise Murder Investigation
 Chapter Twenty-Two: Confusion: Trey
 Magdalena Peña
 Nobody
 Keyana Glenn
 Chapter Twenty-Three: Confrontation: J.B.
 Brandon Jenkins
 Email Received by J.B., Trey & Ramón
 Nobody
 Chapter Twenty-Four: Revelations: Ramón
 Chapter Twenty-Five: The Sting: J.B.
 Chapter Twenty-Six: Almost Showtime: Trey
 Chapter Twenty-Seven: Grand Finale: Ramón
 Keyana Glenn
 Kenneth Moore’s Homicide Case
 The Promise Prep Paper: By Marcus Watts, Editor in Chief
 
 Acknowledgments
 Praise
 Copyright
 
 
 
 To the boys of Chocolate City
 
 
 I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my twenty-five years of teaching—that schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes or poets in English classes. The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders. This is a great mystery to me because thousands of humane, caring people work in schools as teachers and aides and administrators, but the abstract logic of the institution overwhelms their individual contributions. Although teachers do care and do work very hard, the institution is psychopathic—it has no conscience.
 It rings a bell and the young man in the middle of writing a poem must close his notebook and move to [a] different cell where he must memorize that man and monkeys derive from a common ancestor.
 —John Taylor Gatto“Why Schools Don’t Educate”
 
 
 BREAKING NEWS:
 BELOVED PRINCIPAL KILLED AT 43
 DC police are investigating a homicide in Northeast DC. Mr. Kenneth Moore, founder and principal of Urban Promise Prep, was shot to death on school premises on Friday, October 10. He was a beloved member of the community.
 A coworker found Moore’s body early Friday evening and called 911.
 When officers arrived, they discovered Moore with a single gunshot wound to the temple. He was pronounced dead on the scene.
 Detectives have been working to establish a suspect or suspects and motive in this case, and it’s reported they have already detained three students for questioning.
 Anyone with information is asked to call the District of Columbia Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 202-555-4925.
 A reward of up to $65,000 is offered to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rumor has it a student brought a gun to school the day of the murder. You didn’t hear that from me.
 
 
 
 We can’t believe the things we see, we can only believe the things we feel. I thought I could believe in J.B. because I could feel how much he liked me. Or at least I thought I could, until he stood me up. The day after we got so close. When he had told me he’d meet me after school and we’d go to the game together. That we’d be together. Officially.
 He swore he was different. Not like other guys. Better than them. And against my gut feeling, he convinced me to trust him. And maybe I still do? But my head’s a mess and I don’t know anything right now.
 Agh, I feel like such a fool. I got used, or tricked. Now I feel bad about myself, and that ain’t fair. Even thinking about it pisses me off.
 Every time I close my eyes, the night plays over and over again. Me dragging myself to the game all alone, ready to confront J.B. But when I arrived, I saw him covered in blood.
 I froze right there in the school doorway.
 We both did.
 Everything I’d wanted to scream at him bubbled up, getting stuck in my mouth.
 The blood.
 My thoughts raced. Did he get hurt? Was that the reason he hadn’t picked me up