Promise Boys

Solomon believes that J.B. and Ramón could not have killed Moore, as J.B. is nice to him and Ramón is too smart. More importantly, they both show respect to the adults at Promise. However, he thinks that Trey must have done it because he was always disrespectful. He bullied others, making fun of Solomon’s clothes and Ethiopian accent.

Ennis views Promise as a school model that could go national. He believes that the basketball team is part of that vision, as it gives the school national recognition.

Despite Moore’s death, Ennis is confident that they can find a new leader for the school. He also believes that the coverage will bring in even more donations.

Brandon is adamant that his best friend, Trey, is the best player on the basketball team. They were both excited for the game on Friday, as several college basketball scouts were going to be there.

That morning, however, Brandon can tell that Trey is upset. He tries to talk to him, following him into a bathroom. Trey makes him promise not to tell anyone what he’s about to say, but a group of students comes in and interrupts him. Brandon never gets the chance to talk to him again after that.

In the afternoon, Coach Robinson makes Trey tell the team that he can’t play in the game because he got detention. Brandon insists that Trey would never kill anyone but can’t get past the way Trey was acting that morning.

Terrance “Uncle T” Jackson’s gun is missing. He hopes that Trey didn’t take it but isn’t sure. He spent years as a Marine, which he credits with fixing his life. He has killed people and knows that Trey doesn’t have that “evil” in him.

When Trey was little, his father died of cancer. After Uncle T’s sister struggled to raise Trey, Uncle T took him in, moving Trey from New York to DC. He admits that he couldn’t fix Trey’s attitude, so he occasionally hits him. It fixed his issues at home, but Trey still struggles to behave at school.

Over the last few weeks, Trey has been much better—until the day of the game. Uncle T blames Trey for getting detention but also wonders if he was “too hard” on him (76).

Robinson played basketball in college with Moore. They both got kicked off the team, ruining Robinson’s chances of playing professionally. He credits Moore for giving him a chance by letting him coach the team at Promise.

For years, the Promise team struggled to win. However, Moore would recruit players, giving them money if they needed it to help them move. When they got Trey and Brandon, their team started winning.

Robinson is adamant that Trey would never kill anyone. He discusses one time when a student didn’t have his belt, so Trey gave him his so that he wouldn’t get in trouble with Moore. He is afraid that the accusations against Trey—even if untrue—will be enough to ruin his future.

Antoine works in the cafeteria on some days as part of the Senior Culinary Initiative, a program that Ramón created to give interested students a chance to gain culinary experience by cooking lunch for the others.

On the day of the murder, Antoine saw Trey get scolded twice for talking during lunch and telling jokes, making the other kids laugh. The second time, Moore came in and supervised the rest of lunch. When he went to leave, Trey made a joke about his forehead. To Antoine’s surprise, Moore “lost his cool” (80), something Antoine had never seen before. He yelled in Trey’s face, insisting that he say something funny. In response, Trey threatened to kill him, so Moore dragged him out of the cafeteria.

At the time, Antoine assumed that Trey was just angry. Now, however, he believes that Trey may have followed through on his threat.

Mrs. Hall started working at Promise the year it opened. She insists that it used to be different, until Moore was unhappy with the first few years of results. Now, the children are treated like “prisoners.” When she approached Moore about her unhappiness with the direction of the school, he told her to find a new job if she was unhappy. On the day of his murder, she gave him her letter of resignation.

Mrs. Hall is adamant that Trey was never treated fairly. He was always a good kid but struggled in school. He was supposed to have an aid to help him learn, but Moore refused.

Rumors have been circulating recently about Moore’s mood swings and aggression. Some believe that he is divorcing his wife or has financial troubles.

Detectives Ash and Bo accuse Trey of being a troublemaker. He tells them twice that he wants a lawyer, but they ignore him, insisting that he needs to talk with them. When they tell him that another student already told them what happened, Trey acts surprised. They try to get him to tell his version of what happened, but he stops responding to them.

After practice on Thursday, the day before the murder, Coach Robinson pulls Trey aside and tells him that the team needs him to play well for their game. It makes Trey proud, as basketball makes him feel needed.

Trey leaves practice, hurrying to make sure that he doesn’t miss the bus. He has been careful the last few weeks to make sure that he is home for curfew, not wanting to upset his uncle. However, Mr. Finley stops Trey in the hall, scolding him for not walking on the center line like he is supposed to. Trey tries to argue that school is out, but Mr. Finley forces him to go back and walk through the hall again on the line.

When Trey gets outside, the bus is already leaving. He is afraid of what Uncle T will do when he gets home late.

When Trey gets home from school, his uncle is drunk. Trey thinks about how that’s all he ever does when he’s home: drinks and watches TV.

Uncle T confronts Trey about being late. Trey tells him that he missed the bus, and then Uncle T punches him in the chest before he can explain further. After Trey recovers, Uncle T asks why he missed the bus. Trey tells him that practice ran over because of tomorrow’s game.

At the mention of the game, Uncle T softens. He “sighs,” which Trey thinks of as a form of apology. He tells Trey that he is inviting his friend from the Navy to watch the game, hoping that Trey can get a scholarship.

Trey thanks him and then goes up to his room. He skips dinner. He tells himself that things will be better when he wakes up.

The next morning, Trey wakes up and rushes out the door to school, insisting that he doesn’t want to be late or do anything wrong to miss his chance of playing in the game.

When he gets off the bus, he looks for his school ID and realizes that he took Uncle T’s bookbag by mistake, which has his gun inside. He pauses outside the school, contemplating what to do.