Paul Langan - Promises to Keep

Copyright 2013 by Townsend Press, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover illustration 2013 by Gerald Purnell

All rights reserved. Any one chapter of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

For permission to reproduce more than one chapter, send requests to:

Townsend Press, Inc.

439 Kelley Drive

West Berlin, NJ 08091

ISBN: 978-1-59194-303-7

Library of Congress Control Number:

2012953523

www.townsendpress.com

Books in the Bluford Series

Lost and Found

A Matter of Trust

Secrets in the Shadows

Someone to Love Me

The Bully

The Gun

Until We MeetAgain

Blood Is Thicker

Brothers in Arms

Summer of Secrets

The Fallen

Shattered

Search for Safety

No Way Out

Schooled

Breaking Point

The Test

Pretty Ugly

Promises to Keep

Survivor

Praise for the Bluford Series:

The Bluford Series is mind-blowing!

Adam A.

These books are deep. They show readers who are going through difficult problems that they are not alone in the world. And they even help teach you how to deal with situations in a positive way.

Vianny C.

I love all of the books in the Bluford Series. They are page-turners full of secrets, surprises, and lots of drama.

Kayli A.

Each Bluford book starts out with a bang. And then, when you turn the page, it gets even better!

Alex M.

The Bluford Series is amazing! They make you feel like youre inside the story, like everythings happening to you.

Ricardo N.

These are life-changing stories that make you think long after you reach the last page.

Eddie M.

I found it very easy to lose myself in these books. They kept my interest from beginning to end and were always realistic. The characters are vivid, and the endings left me in eager anticipation of the next book.

Keziah J.

For the first time in high school, I read a book I liked. For real, the Bluford Series is tight.

Jermaine B.

These are thrilling, suspenseful books filled with real-life scenarios that make them too good to put down.

DeAndria B.

My school is just like Bluford High. The characters are just like people I know. These books are real!

Jessica K.

I have never been so interested in books in my entire life. Im surprised how much the Bluford Series catches my attention. Once I start reading, I cant stop. I keep staying up into the midnight hours trying to finish.

Andrew C.

The Bluford Series are the best books I have ever read. They are like TVs in my head.

Yaovi C.

One of my friends told me how good the Bluford Series is. She was right. Once I started reading, I couldnt stop, not even to sleep!

Bibi R.

I love the Bluford books and the stories they tell. Theyre so real and action-packed, I feel like Im inside the pages, standing next to the characters!

Michael D.

Cmon, wake up.

Tyray Hobbs opened his eyes and glanced at his clock. It was 5:03 a.m. He had been asleep for only a few hours.

Was yesterday just a bad dream? he wondered.

I said WAKE UP! ordered Gil Hobbs, Tyrays father. He was standing in the bedroom doorway, already dressed in jeans and work boots, the same ones he wore every day on the job as a construction foreman.

What for? Its early, Tyray replied. School aint startin for hours.

We aint goin to Bluford. You and me got something else to do first, his father barked.

Tyray sat up and squinted at the hallway light that shined into his room. After what happened last night, he didnt want to get up or think about anything.

Where we goin?

We gotta get that gun you left in the alley, Dad answered soberly. We cant leave it where some kids might pick it up. Its probably got your fingerprints all over it, too, he grumbled. Dont need no cops haulin you away. One son is bad enough.

Tyray winced at his fathers words. He knew Dad was talking about Warren, his older brother, who had been dragged out of their house by the police over a year ago. He was arrested for armed robbery. Since then, Dad had become a bitter, quick-tempered man who yelled more than anything. Tyray knew he had given his father many reasons to yell, especially last night.

Cmon. Move, Dad ordered. We gotta go.

Tyray stumbled to the bathroom and shut the door. He froze at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. The cast that encased his left hand was stained with droplets of mud. A painful scab stretched just under his hairline. He looked terrible. The events of last night flooded through his mind like scenes from a nightmare.

The cold heaviness of the gun in hishand.

The terror in Darrell Mercers eyes asTyrays finger slid over the trigger.

The final moment when, instead of atDarrell, he had pointed the gun at himself.

Tyray shuddered. He turned on the water and splashed his face, trying to drive away the memories. Fifteen years old and nearly six feet tall, Tyray had spent his days as a freshman at Bluford High School tormenting Darrell, a new kid from Philadelphia. He had robbed him of his lunch money, tripped him in gym class, tossed him in a trash can at a school dance, and sent him home in tears more than once. But then one day, during lunch period two weeks ago, Darrell stood up to him.

You aint nothing but a bully, he had said.

At first, Tyray didnt know what to do. None of the kids he had hassled since middle school ever challenged him. Broad and muscular for his age, Tyray had kept them too scared to do that, let alone snitch to a teacher.

But Darrell was different. He had joined Blufords wrestling team and had gradually become more popular at school. And when he spoke up in front of everyone, he said something else, words that stung each time Tyray remembered them.

No one in this school likes you.Theyre just scared of you. But you knowwhat? I aint afraid of you no more.

People whooped at the insult. Others rushed forward like hungry dogs that smelled blood.

Fight, fight, fight! some yelled. A crowd quickly formed. It seemed everyone in the cafeteria was eager to see what would happen next.

Tyray snapped. Every cell in his body was ready to destroy Darrell right there. He didnt care if he got suspended. Losing his reputation was far worse. But when he swung his fists at the smaller boy, it all went wrong.

Darrell was quick. He dodged Tyrays punches. Then, in a flash, he used a wrestling move, lifting Tyray up and slamming him down on the rock-hard cafeteria floor. When Tyray landed, his left wrist snapped like a tree branch. He screamed in pain clutching his hand. Some in the crowd nodded and smirked at him. A few even laughed.

Principal Spencer gave Tyray a three-day suspension for fighting. Afterward he became a joke at school. People who used to join him in teasing Darrell now laughed at him. Others, including his old friend Rodney Banks, acted as if he didnt exist. Thats when Tyray decided he needed a gun.

Cmon, boy! Dad yelled from out in the hallway. We aint got all day.

Ill be out in a minute! Tyray hollered, quickly washing himself and rushing to his room to throw on some jeans and a black hoodie.

Minutes later, Tyray sat in his fathers noisy pickup, gazing out at Union Street. In the dreary gray dawn, the normally busy avenue looked deserted. Apartment windows were dark. Storefronts stood shuttered and empty. Some were hidden behind thick steel mesh that made them look like jails.