belloutboy
New member
KYRO SMITH
Kyro Smith had known Diggity Gunz for most of his life. Growing up around the same streets near River Park Tower and Patterson Projects, it felt like everyone’s story was connected somehow. Kids grew up together, played on the same cracked basketball courts, shared the same corner stores, and learned the same lessons about loyalty and looking out for each other.
Kyro first met Diggity when he was younger, back when afternoons meant long games on the court behind the tower and racing bikes through the parking lot before the streetlights came on. Diggity was a little older, but he always treated Kyro like a little brother. If Kyro missed a shot, Diggity would laugh and tell him to keep shooting. If someone started trouble, Diggity was the type to step in and make sure things didn’t go too far.
To Kyro, Diggity wasn’t just another face from the neighborhood. He was someone people looked up to. Someone who carried the pride of the block wherever he went.
Kyro remembered the nights when the older guys would be outside River Park Tower with music playing from a car, everyone laughing and talking about life. Diggity would sometimes pull out his notebook and start spitting verses he’d been writing. The crowd would go quiet for a second, then nod along as he painted pictures of the neighborhood through his words.
Kyro used to sit nearby listening, thinking about how someone from their block could turn their life into something bigger through music.
“Never forget where you came from,” Diggity once told him. “But don’t let the block be the only place your story ends.”
Those words stayed with Kyro.
Then came the night everything changed.
Kyro wasn’t there when it happened, but he heard about it almost immediately. Phones started buzzing, people started rushing outside, and the whole neighborhood felt like it had stopped breathing for a moment.
When Kyro reached the street near the deli, the flashing lights were already filling the block. Police cars. Ambulances. Crowds of people standing in silence. Some crying. Some angry. Some just staring at the ground.
That was when the reality hit him.
Diggity Gunz, someone who had just been laughing with people earlier that night, was gone.
For Kyro, the pain was hard to explain. Losing someone from the neighborhood was never easy, but losing someone who had inspired you felt different. It felt like a piece of the future you imagined had disappeared.
In the days that followed, Kyro walked past the candles and flowers outside the deli more times than he could count. Each time he stopped for a moment, remembering the voice, the laughter, and the lessons Diggity had shared with people around him.
But grief has a way of changing people.
Kyro started spending more time outside again, not wanting to sit inside thinking about everything that had happened. That’s when he began hanging around with a group of people in the neighborhood called the Floaters and Steamers. They were always outside around the same blocks Diggity used to stand on, talking, joking, and watching over the neighborhood.
At first, Kyro was just around them, listening more than talking. The older members noticed the pain he carried and the way he still showed respect to the people around him. They knew who he was and who he used to be around.
Slowly, Kyro started building a bond with them. Late nights turned into long conversations about life, loyalty, and the struggles of growing up where they did. Being around them helped him deal with the loss in his own way. They reminded him that the neighborhood still had people who looked out for each other, just like Diggity always did.
Over time, Kyro wasn’t just someone standing around anymore. He became part of the circle. Eventually, he made the decision to officially join the clique.
But with that life came its own consequences.
As Kyro got deeper into the streets, he started getting into trouble with the law. What started as small situations turned into bigger problems. Police in the area began to recognize his name, and before long Kyro found himself getting picked up and taken in more than once.
That’s when he first experienced being locked up at Rikers Island, specifically in the 6 Building, a place known for holding young inmates and people going through the system.
For Kyro, those days were heavy. Being inside gave him a lot of time to think about how life had changed since Diggity died. The long nights in a cell made him remember the conversations on the basketball court, the music, and the advice Diggity used to give him.
Sometimes Kyro would catch himself thinking about how different things might have been if Diggity was still around to guide him.
Even after getting released, Kyro found himself going in and out of Rikers a few times. Each visit reminded him how easy it was to get trapped in a cycle once you were in it.
Still, through everything, Kyro carried the memories of where he came from.
The lessons Diggity shared with him, the memories on the basketball court, and the nights outside River Park Tower stayed with him.
Because no matter how much time passed, Kyro knew one thing for sure.
Diggity Gunz was the reason he learned what loyalty really meant—and the reason he kept trying to find his way through the life he had been thrown into.