Fresh (1994)

Michael, a young black boy, has been taken away from his family and is living in the home of his aunt and eleven other people. The one member of his family whom he loves dearly is his sister, who has left the house to live on her own. Michael is left to defend her reputation, as rumors persist on the kind of girl she is. Michael dreams of getting out of the projects and of having a million dollars someday. Michael is a very quiet but clever boy who seems to be studying life. The other person in his life besides his sister, whom he has a great affection for, is a young girl his own age. They meet and talk to each other on several occasions, at school, on the playground, etc. He also periodically meets with his father, whom he is not supposed to see. He appears to have little regard for his father however. Michael becomes involved in narcotics. He is being treated poorly by the dealer whom he is selling for, who happens to be his sister's boyfriend. At a playground one day as he is watching several young men play basketball, he witnesses one of them pull a gun and shoot one of the other boys, killing him. At the same time his girlfriend gets shot in the crossfire. She dies with him holding her hand. Corky, the man who murdered the two young people, said he would kill anyone who ratted on him. Michael maneuvers his way into being involved in a big cocaine deal, only to get jumped by Corky and his gang who are his dealer's rivals. His best friend, Chucky, who is with him, is killed. As a result, his aunt tells him he must leave the house as his siblings are afraid for their lives as long as Michael is living there. Very cleverly he is able to convince Corky that some of his own men had hired him to do the drug deal. Corky becomes so infuriated that he kills two of the men that work for him. Then Michael goes to his sister's boyfriend, who has short changed him several times, and tells him that his sister is sleeping with Corky. The boyfriend proceeds to kill Corky and the rest of his gang. Michael then plants the cocaine and gun on his sister's boyfriend. He tells the police how Corky killed the rival gang members. The police offer him protection if he will testify in court. Michael's final victory is that he tells the police that he can never have protection as long as he lives in the projects and he needs to get he and his sister out of the area, which they promise to do. In the last scene you see Michael and his father playing chess. Throughout the whole picture, Michael is very cool and calculated, observing life and people around him dying. Through the death of his best friend, the death of his girlfriend, and through all the other murders, he appears not to be shaken. However, now that the ordeal is over, he sits playing chess with his father with tears running down his cheeks.