In front of me were black-eyed peas, yams, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, cornbread, and best of all, fried chicken. Sounds like heaven, except I looked up from my plate and saw a man who could’ve been the embodiment of Satan sitting across from me at the long dinner table.

“So.” The bass in his voice demanded everyone’s attention with just a simple word. “Ashanti, how are you enjoying the TV?”

“Um, it’s just a TV,” she replied, sitting next to Marcus of all people.

Remind me why this dude was here again?

Ashanti’s mom cleared her throat next to the man before saying, “She loves it, Lorenzo.” She then glared at her daughter, who looked down at her plate and continued eating.

Most of the feast was quiet, which made the demon standing behind this Lorenzo guy even more unsettling. It stood tall with a beastly physical structure that was covered in a dark shroud. Its eyes glowed crimson red with a hollow mouth that was opened just enough to believe that it was smiling. Not to mention this thing was standing eerily motionless right now.

Truly something of nightmares.

“Kids,” Ashanti’s mom broke the silence, “are you all doing well in school?” We nodded, which lead to a set of follow-up questions. “Anyone have plans for the summer? Are some of you graduating?”

“I am,” Marcus announced. “I got a full scholarship into Penn State University with the intention of being a part of the amateur wrestlin’ team. My real goal though is to be a professional wrestler like on TV, so a lot of times I’m drivin’ long hours to different independent shows and performin’ for small crowds. Tryin’ to get my foot in the door, you know?”

This dude.

Real talk, I had nothing but love for Marcus. He was a chill guy and hung out with me and Tory plenty of times. But right now, he was making everything hard for me. Here he is, voicing his accomplishments and dreams while I have no achievements to my name. What was I gonna say if Ashanti’s mom decided to ask—

“And what about you two?”

Dammit.

“I’m gonna play video games all summer,” Tory answered, causing Ashanti’s mom to furrow her brows. Her reaction led to him elaborating. “See, I’m affiliated with a digital platform that I use to stream online for thousands of people around the world. Sometimes, I even get donations from those viewers, which can range from different amounts like twenty, to fifty, to even hundreds of dollars. It’s cool enjoying my hobby while makin’ money, so I plan on doing that most of the summer and gettin’ more popular.”

Thanks, bro. Add on to the pressure.

The frown on the face of Ashanti’s mom turned upside down after Tory’s explanation. She then looked at me. “And you?”

I picked up my glass of soda in hopes of stalling until I came up with something good to say. With all eyes on me and very little drink remaining to gulp down, any points I had with Ashanti were about to be gone.

From hero to zero.

But out of nowhere, and I mean completely unexpected, Tory came through with the save. “Ma’am, my boy right here is something special. You should see him every Friday night DJ’ing for the hottest parties in Da Burgh. And he only sixteen.” He voiced that last part with extra enthusiasm. “Amazing.”

“I co-sign that,” Ashanti said. Marcus also nodded.

The support was real.

Ashanti’s mom smiled. “Well, I’m glad all of you are so ambitious. My daughter can learn a thing or two from you guys.” Ashanti rolled her eyes in response before her mother continued. “I hope you’re all enjoying the food. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”

The second she got out of her chair and walked away, Lorenzo looked at me with an intense stare. “Were you perhaps DJ’ing a party in The Heights two days ago? I heard it ended in a shooting.”

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I stumbled to reply, but Tory jumped in. “We weren’t there.”

Now why would he say that? Something was up.

Lorenzo grinned, and I could’ve sworn the demon twitched for a split second. “It’s good to hear none of you were involved. Mixing yourselves with gang violence is a recipe for disaster. You all have such bright futures, and it would be a shame to see that light blackened for making enemies with the wrong people.”

“Don’t worry, sir,” Marcus said, sitting up straight in his seat as if he was trying to impress the man or something. “We’re not just some kids from the hood. We’re striving to be more than the stereotypes that society places on us.”

Ugh. I felt what he was saying, but did he have to be such a suck-up about it? He was trying way too hard to get on Lorenzo’s good side.

“I’m pleased to hear that,” Lorenzo replied to Marcus before addressing the whole table. “You’re all a part of something bigger: a machine capable of changing the world. If one cog fails, the design falters, leaving us to rot and crumble.”

Ashanti mumbled, “Here he goes,” as me and Tory gave each other a confused look. Neither of us understood what the hell he was talking about.

He continued, “I pray you all make something of yourselves. The plan must always be to function as a unit. This applies to all our brothers and sisters. We will take control of the system.”

His analogy of machines and people was weird and off-putting. It clearly had a deeper meaning, but I didn’t care enough to figure it out.

Ashanti must’ve felt the same because she huffed and said, “So anyways, last week when my period came on, let me tell you: it hurt like hell.”

Tory snorted and tried to cover it up by folding his lips. Marcus’s eyes widened just before he looked down at his plate. Ashanti’s words ain’t bother me, though. My mom would send me to the store for all kinds of healthcare products.

The only other person who didn’t find Ashanti’s comment amusing or embarrassing was Lorenzo, who looked at her with a deadpan expression. The two stared at one another in awkward silence until Ashanti cracked and rolled her eyes, saying, “I’m gonna check on my mother. Zayn, could you come with me?”

I jumped at the chance, but Marcus stood up as well and said, “I’ll go, too. Y’all might need an extra hand.”

Tory shouted, “Hold up, Marcus. Did you see the new PlayStation exclusive that’s comin’ out? It’s gon’ be crazy.”

Marcus, seemingly triggered, narrowed his eyes as he tilted his head to the side and sat back down. “Okay? I’ve been playing so many games on Xbox, I probably missed it.”

“I don’t know, bro. It would be a shame to miss this one.”

It didn’t take long for their console war to begin, giving me the opportunity to slip away with Ashanti to the kitchen. The smell of peach cobbler smacked me in the face upon entering, and boy did I love it.

“We’re here to help,” Ashanti said to her mother.

“Oh, perfect. The tray is very hot, so grab the oven mitts and hold it from underneath. There’s also a dish towel one of you can use. I’ll see you both back in there.”

Her mom walked away, leaving the two of us alone. I could hear Tory’s voice in my head urging me to make a move, but starting a conversation off light was the best choice.

“Man, your mom cooked for an army,” I said, grabbing the dish towel.

She smiled. “Tell me about it. She’d always cook for the whole block and bring the leftovers down to the shelter.” She moved closer to me. “Anyways, though, I wanted you to come in here with me so I can ask you somethin’.”

The gravitating aroma of her perfume was now competing with the mouth-watering smell of the dessert. “Y-Yeah, what’s up?”

“Lorenzo. Is the shroud, or Shadow more specifically, here with him?”

“It is. The thing is just standin’ behind him lookin’ scary as hell. I couldn’t even enjoy the food as much as I wanted to ‘cause I had to concentrate on not making eye contact with it.”

She sighed while putting on the oven mitts. “I hate this. Who knows what that thing could make him do. My mom could be in serious danger being around him. We have to do somethin’.”

I shared her concerns. Hell, even without the Shadow, Lorenzo oozed evil. Something about him wasn’t right.

“You’re right, Shanti,” I agreed, voicing the nickname out of comfort. “There’s gotta be dirt on him or somethin’. It seemed like Tory knew who he was. Maybe we can ask him.”

She nodded in worry. “Okay.”

The two of us picked up the large tray of peach cobbler and headed back out toward the dinner table, where Lorenzo showed emotion for once and appeared anxious for dessert. We went over to his seat to serve him when suddenly, just as I was about to place his portion on the plate, the demon behind him stretched its arm out in my direction, causing me to flinch and lose my grip on the tray.

Somehow, though, Lorenzo grabbed the tray with his bare hands before the peach cobbler could spill over. Let me remind you: the tray was really hot.

“Careful there, son,” he said to me, unfazed. “You wouldn’t want this to go to waste, would you?”

“R-Right.”

After serving everyone and sitting back in my seat, I looked over at Ashanti, whose wide-eyed glance let me know she also caught wind of what happened.

“Eat up, everyone. There’s more,” her mother announced. Tory seemed to have lost his appetite, though.

“What’s up? Why you ain’t eating?” I asked him.

“That guy.” He looked down at his plate to avoid suspicion. “He’s not normal.”

“You noticed?”

“Yeah, bro. You two must’ve had your hands covered for a reason, but there’s something else you need to know.”

The peach cobbler in my mouth went down my throat hard in anticipation. If only I could stomach his next words.

“That man is Lorenzo Crowe. He runs a construction company and a real estate firm, but all of that is a cover-up, bro. His real business is operating the Silicon Cogs, one of the largest gangs around. In the streets, he goes by one name. And that name is Mr. Payne.”