The King in the Dark.

Chapter 7 – Rise of the Boy Kings

The city was never quiet, not even at night. It breathed through the cracks of every broken streetlight and hummed under the sound of sirens far away. For Harold and Diego Flinch, that hum became the rhythm of survival.

It began small — a series of daring robberies, no one expected from two teenagers. They didn’t hit banks or armored trucks. They hit the people who thought no one would dare — dealers too greedy to share, corrupt cops who skimmed extra from their own, low-level gangsters drunk enough to brag about their cash.

Harold planned every move with surgical precision. Diego executed them with fire. Together, they created something the streets hadn’t seen before: discipline.

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One humid night, Diego crouched behind a stack of crates near the old freight yard, his breath fogging in the moonlight. Across from him, Harold knelt with a map spread over a crate, tracing lines with the tip of a pocketknife.

“Three guards,” Harold said quietly. “Two by the gate, one in the office. The one inside’s lazy — eats from the same takeout spot every night. He leaves for ten minutes at exactly midnight.”

Diego checked his watch. “That’s in four minutes.”

“Good,” Harold said. “We go in on two fronts. You take the south gate with Luis and Toro. I’ll handle the office with Cruz. Keep the noise low.”

Diego smirked. “You’re starting to sound like one of those army captains.”

Harold’s eyes flicked up. “If we act like soldiers, they’ll treat us like one.”

Diego’s grin widened. “And if we act like kings?”

Harold didn’t smile, but there was a flicker of pride in his gaze. “Then we start our own kingdom.”

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The job went off perfectly. The guards never saw them coming. They didn’t even need guns — just speed, surprise, and the kind of unity the street never expected from boys their age.

By dawn, they’d made off with crates of stolen alcohol and half a duffel bag of cash. It wasn’t much, but it was theirs.

Later that morning, they gathered in a half-collapsed warehouse by the docks. Diego stood on a rusted oil drum, looking down at the small group — six boys in total, faces lit by the pale light filtering through holes in the roof.

“All of us came from nothing,” he said, voice rough but steady. “The city doesn’t care if we eat, live, or rot. But if we stand together, we make it care.”

Harold stood at the back, arms crossed, watching his brother speak. Diego’s words carried something he couldn’t plan to say, that spark that made people listen.

“We’re not just another street crew,” Diego continued. “We have rules. Discipline. We share the cut, we protect ourselves, and we don’t talk to cops. Ever.”

A murmur of agreement rippled through the group.

“Harold will handle plans,” Diego said, nodding toward him. “You follow his word like its mine. He sees things most of us don’t.”

All eyes turned to Harold. For a moment, the silence stretched. Then Harold spoke, his tone even and deliberate.

“If we stay organized, no one can touch us. You fight for ego, you die. You steal from family, you disappear. You break silence, you become a ghost no one mourns. That’s the code.”

The group nodded. Diego grinned, raising his hand. “So, what do we call ourselves?”

Cruz — the youngest — spoke first. “The Brothers?”

“Nah,” said Luis. “The Barrio Kings.”

Diego looked to Harold. “What do you think?”

Harold looked around at the cracked walls, the graffiti, the boys who wanted something bigger than fear. “Los Reyes del Barrio,” he said softly. “The Kings of the Neighborhood.”

The name hung in the air, sharp and proud. Diego repeated it, louder this time, and the others echoed it until it filled the empty warehouse like a chant.

That night, a new name was born on the streets.

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Weeks turned into months. Word spread about Los Reyes del Barrio — a crew that didn’t just fight but strategized, who didn’t kill without reason, who ran their corner like businessmen instead of thugs.

Diego became the face — smooth-talking, charming, impossible to intimidate. Harold stayed behind the scenes, his notebook growing thicker with notes and maps.

They built alliances with smaller crews, trading protection for loyalty. Harold designed a system of “tiers” — runners, watchers, earners — each with specific jobs. It gave everyone a role, a sense of belonging.

But it also gave Harold control.

One night, Diego found him hunched over his notebook again, candlelight dancing across his face. “You really don’t stop, do you?”

Harold didn’t look up. “Neither does the city.”

Diego laughed softly. “You ever think about what comes next?”

“This is what comes next.”

“No, I mean after this,” Diego said, walking closer. “After we’ve got money, respect. What then?”

Harold paused, staring at the open page in front of him. “Then we build something that can’t burn.”

Diego frowned. “Nothing lasts forever, Harold.”

“Then we make them remember us when it’s gone.”

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The next few weeks, they grew bolder — hijacking shipments, cutting deals, recruiting kids who had nowhere else to go. Harold drilled them in formations, escape routes, signals.

“Discipline makes ghosts,” he said one night. “When the cops come, we vanish like smoke.”

And they did.

They robbed without killing, disappeared without trace, and divided every take evenly. The neighborhood, once ruled by fear, began to whisper differently about them — not as thugs, but protectors.

Old women at fruit stalls began greeting Diego with nods. Street vendors slipped them free meals. Even rival gangs started keeping their distance.

One afternoon, as they walked through the market, Diego noticed kids mimicking their gestures — the tilt of their heads, the confident stride.

“Look at that,” he said, nudging Harold. “We’re becoming heroes.”

Harold shook his head. “There are no heroes in this city, Diego. Only survivors with better stories.”

Diego smiled. “Then we’ll make ours a good one.”

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That night, the crew gathered again in the warehouse, celebrating a big score — their biggest yet. Bottles clinked, laughter echoed. The air was alive with the thrill of invincibility.

Diego raised his drink. “To Los Reyes del Barrio!”

Everyone cheered.

Harold stayed quiet, watching them, his expression unreadable. Diego noticed. “You could smile once in a while, you know.”

Harold smirked faintly. “Smiles don’t build empires.”

“Neither does silence,” Diego teased. “Come on, just this once.”

Harold looked around — the young faces, the makeshift family, the illusion of control. For a fleeting moment, he smiled. “To the kings,” he said.

They cheered louder.

But as the sound faded into the night, Harold’s gaze drifted toward the window, to the distant skyline where the police lights flickered faintly like ghosts. He knew better than to trust noise that loud.

For now, though, the city was theirs.

Los Reyes del Barrio — a name whispered with fear, respect, and curiosity.

Two brothers stood at its heart — one dreaming of building a kingdom, the other quietly writing its rules.