Читать книгу Knock Knock Whooz There? - Marvin Griffin - Страница 7

It was time for the Mercenary crew to put their plan into full affect. After two days of being lectured and condescended by his mother Equal was ready to take on the world his world that was filled with generic hustlers, pimps, thieves and drug pushers with degenerated values. But the hood had potential albeit to produce stars in their own right, and Equal was trying to be a star.

Outside his door await the rest of his crew members whom I like to refer to as the wrecking crew. They didn't feel like their presence riled controversy and trouble but I begged to differ. I also digressed.

Equal scrambled to his mother's room and gave her a hug and kiss.

"Okay mom, I'mma go hang out with the fellas' a lil bit. We gone go shoot some hoop. I'll be back in a couple hours." Equal said.

"Okay baby," Equal mom said as she inclined her head to Equal's lips.

"Now you be careful out there in them streets and stay out of trouble for your momma."

"I will ma"

Equal emerged from the house wearing a faded pair of denim jeans, New York Mets T-shirt, and the same New Balance tennis shoes he used to run in while he was in prison. He wore a grey skull cap that covered up his ball head. It was better balled anyway. Equal had shaved all the hair off his face and head and he looked different. He even had a calm look on his face almost like his crew members hadn't witnessed with their own eyes how his mom dissed him. They just didn't know, his feelings were definitely bruised. It wasn't right how his mom placed all the blame on him for his wife's death but he couldn't do anything but suck it up. "It's all good." He thought.

The rest of the crew had already made it to Equal's house as per se his request and already sitting inside the Bronco waiting on him to come out. Equal couldn't see their faces due to the five point tinted windows but he already knew who were inside. He'd called and told everyone with the exception of Faith and Brick to meet him at his house. He heard the muzzled base seep through the Bronco fiberglass frame down-loading off sixteen bars a beat.

As Equal reached the edge of the side walk, closer to the truck, the beat got more clearer, "Boom… Boom., Boom,. Boom,. [Boom—Boom—Boom] Boom., Boom., Boom., Boom [Boom—Boom—Boom] — Boom,. Boom" that they were rocking on old school joint and instinctively, Equal's eyes caught a glimpse of all the other crew members vehicles parked in his neighbor's and his yard right before he climbed inside the truck.

As soon as Equal entered the truck he was welcomed by a thick cloud of bluish white smoke. It wasn't a coincidence the crew had three powdered lace joints burning at the same time and in heavy rotation, being passed throughout the truck's panel to be serviced upon at the occupant's leisure.

Justice was being served at the time Equal entered. But then he passed the joint to Equal so he could do his thang. Now it was time for him to focus on more serious things as if getting high was less important - like the road.

It wasn't, but there were things in life to them that drew as much emphasis to them than getting high, like getting money. Fuck all the shame that was associated with their methods, they hid from the pain through getting high.

Equal took the joint out of justice's hand all the while thinking that's exactly what he needed and pulled on it rather gently. And seconds later, religion passed a dollar bill full of coke to the front.

"Here, hit dis my nigga."

Equal glanced back to see the bill and the coke. Then he twisted his body in a 45° angle towards the back seat and with his free hand received the coked bill. He took one last hit before he passed the joint to someone else. He didn't even know who he passed it to. He just held his hand in the air and someone grabbed it. Boom, Boom, Boom.

"Everything straight with the old girl dawg," Justice asked, as he pulled off.

"Yeah every thang straight dawg," Equal responded as he snorted the cocaine. "You know a lot of mutha fucka's out here just got a nigga pegged out wrong." Equal wiped the residue from his nose as Justice nosed the Bronco towards 12th avenue. Equal's mom lived directly on the opposite side of the bridge on 75th street and 12th avenue, well between 12th and 11th. On the other side of the bridge set Miami North Western high school. A little ways from there was their destination, 15th Ave!

But first Justice decided to gas up. He was almost on "E" and the closest gas station was on 17th Ave and 79th street, still in close proximity to where they were headed.

"I got to stop by the gas station first." Justice thought aloud.

"Damn nigga yo shit on E again already?" Burden asked.

"You knew this shit drank gas," Fame cracked a joke.

"Fuck you nigga. You just got beef you ain't got nothing as raw as the Bronco." Justice fired back jokingly. He continued to drive up 12th until he reached the traffic light on 17th Ave. He wanted to make a right turn.

When the intersection was clear he eased the front grill out into the thinning traffic and headed north towards 79th street. Amoco sat right on the corner on their right hand side. Moments later, the crew reached the station, pulled the bronco up to one of the gas pumps and commenced to do what they had to do.

"My nigga you ain't gone cut the car off?" Glory asked. "You see the sign nigga — no smoking!"

"Fuck dat shit I ain't cutting my shit off for nobody," Justice quipped.

"Man dis nigga gone fuck around and get a nigga blown on up GP." Burden or laughed.

"Y'all niggas wild," Fame said, as he slid out the fifth door. He made his way to the gas station to pay for the gas.

"And you better drop a dub or betta in my shit." Justice spat as he exited the truck in route to do the pumping.

"Fuck you nigga I'm putting one dollar in yo shit." Fame and Justice laughed. Five minutes later Famous reemerged out the gas station still talking trash.

"Pump dat dollar nigga," he cracked, right before he entered the truck the same way he exited. He tried to slow his breath down causing him to labor to talk at the same time.

"Hit...hit dat window up my nigga Equal." Equal leaned forward and pressed the button that controlled the fifth window, thinking.

Five minutes later Justice entered the truck. All eyes were on him as he got set to drive away. But first Justice watched his gas needle as it rose almost to a full tank. "Nigga betta had to drop a dub in my shit." Justice thought as he looked in his rearview mirror in search of Fame. He was lying down in the back out of sight. Instead Justice caught a glimpse of Equal as he gave up his effort to make eye contact with Fame. "But bet dat up fool." Justice mumbled under his breath.

Justice couldn't help but noticed Equal had the same contorted look on his face earlier. He looked like something was bothering him. All he could think of was it had something to do with him and his mom. This time though he had to pry and he wasn't going anywhere until Equal told him something, what the hell was on his mind.

As Equal gazed cautiously out the window staring at the streets, the cars traveling in rows, and people - life, Justice let the Bronco idle.

"Equal what's up poppa? You ain't lookin' right. You got that look on your face like something's bothering you." Justice's rough voice invaded Equal's thought.

"My nigga jus' need a little pussy dats all. My nigga fresh out what'cha thank." Burden soft cracked and they all laughed.

"Naw dat ain't it," Equal said. He talked to the window never altering his gaze. "Ya' know its jus' one thing that bothers me 'bout this whole thing."

"What?" Glory piped up.

"Brick."

"Whatta 'bout Brick?" Equal finally turned away from the window.

"I just can't get the thought out my head."

"Oh yeah, you talkin' shit 'bout-" Religion cut his his self off in midsentence. He didn't want to say what was on his mind out his mouth and have the word get back to Brick what he said about him. But he and Equal was on the same page.

"Yeah that's exactly what um talking about. I told you Religion that's why I ain't really wanna get dude involved. But I knew he was the only one that could come up with that type of dope." Equal said. Then a long pause seiged the truck. The crew had an epic moment for a short while. Everybody already knew about Brick's so called shaddy past.

"But that was a long time ago, my nigga ain't like that no 'moe." Glory said unevenly.

"Brick thorough dawg." Glory chimed warily.

"He better be," Equal said dreamily. Justice looked at Equal and smiled aimlessly. Equal wanted to rejoin in Justice's positivity but he couldn't.

"Trust me homeboy every thang gone be straight. I mean, have that shit that was said about him was never proven..." Justice said.

"And not only that, the shit they were saying came from the feds and you already know how they play. They a master at dropping propaganda." Fame added. "Let's just get dis money." Justice finally pulled out the gas station when he heard someone blow their horn at them to move.

"I hope for our sake — you right." Equal mumbled under his breath.

"I hope you right poppa." Equal thought to hisself. His thought belined off to a deep sigh.

Boom. . Boom. . Boom. . Boom. .

Equal felt the ride of the Bronco's rugged but smooth coursing. He heard the roar of the Mickey Thompson's deep threaded tires and how they honed in the distance like a thunder storm making its way to the perry land. The sun had even dropped down a few degrees being as though clouds had consumed its rays. "It was time," and the normal mission chit-chat developed through the Bronco's interior. Fame told the crew the best way to handle Duke.

"I got dat pussy nigga. Let's just get there. I got him and Murph. This one or two is on me."

"You gone handle both of 'em?" Glory questioned poetically. Fame nodded his head and chanted "yep!" He cracked his knuckles on his broad hands.

"I gotta see dis." Equal said now smiling. He began to feel much better.

Justice drove the bronco through the narrow allies as the crew scoped everything out. They looked at the possible escape routes. They studied different mechanisms how they could distribute drugs. They came out 63rd street and Justice made a sharp left on the corner of fifteenth Ave. There was a lot of traffic moving around so Justice drove cautiously. He didn't want to run over anyone; especially if they didn't deserve it, so he kept bumping his horn to let every one know to move out the way. He also didn't want any of the generic hustlers who were gunmen and lookout men to take any pop shots at them or think they were narcos. A lot of people were familiar with Justice truck but like I said you still had those generic hustlers that needed to be schooled.

Once they were on the Ave Justice parked the Bronco in between two large cemented flower beds that were installed down the Ave from 62nd street to 71st street. When the area was built back in the fifties they were used to beautify the neighborhood. Today they were used to stash weapons, drugs or simply used as hang out spots.

Justice's Bronco set facing the Arab store on the corner where a group of youngsters stood around serving customers, drug dealers coming and going with the ebb and flow. Excuse my French but niggas were everywhere, dubbing the streets, even civil pedestrians parading the Ave's local establishments. In a word, engaging, was how the crew saw things.

The Pork & Beans Projects sat on the right side of the Ave if you were coming from 62nd street and the left from the other direction. Both sides of the Ave; as it was sectioned off by different blocks, were operated by different people. Specifically, the crew had their mind set on Murph and Duke's territory because that's mostly where all the traffic came from. Not only that but Duke and Burke normally threw block parties there and held big crop games that featured some of the hoods most hallmark names. Bodily, Bob, Convertible Burke just to name a few. The Ave was so popular it even attracted stars, like Mike Tyson. But now it was the Mercenary's turn to write their legacy in some of the gritty ghetto tales told about the Ave.

The crew set calmly and cautiously as they canvassed the strip, thinking how they were going to put down; while normal everyday people carried on with their life. Dope feigns male and female moved throughout the annals of the strip in search of their preferred drug; other residents visited the stores, and 6 foot 7 foot youngsters gathered around in circles seeming like all at once.

There was never a dull moment, but what seemed normal at one moment could change faster than a blink of the eye in a war zone. The story just had to play out.

"There go that nigga Murphy over there across the street." Justice pointed. "And all of them niggas on the sidewalk over there work for Duke." Right then Famous felt ten feet tall and nothing else mattered to him.

"Hunh -hol' dis for me my nigga Gloe," Fame passed his "Baretta" to Glory.

"Hey ain't that's dat nigga No-Babe standin' over there in front of the Arab store?" Religion asked and pointed with his eyes.

Justice blew his horn to get No-Babe's attention. No-Babe recognized Justice's truck right away.

"My nigga No-Babe look here." Justice hollered out the window to him. No-Babe commenced to walk towards the truck. He fashioned a dirty south bop in his gait.

As he made his way to Justice's door he down the rest of the contents in his Heineken bottle and discarded the remains on the ground.

"Mat dats one of the coolest niggas I ever seen." Religion said with a derisive smirk. Justice pressed the button to let the window down as No-Babe approached his window.

"What's up my nigga?" Justice spoke as No-Babe's eyes darted around the dark-smug faces in the truck. He leaned over the door in sort of a half posture and spread his legs - comfort.

"What I dooo—o?" No-Babe greeted the crew in his formal southern drawl.

"What'cha y'all boys 'bout to go to work?" No-Babe couldn't help but notice the form of a AK resting in Equal's lap. Equal kept his eyes on the steady traffic going on both sides of the Ave.

"Same ole shit different day. A nigga tryna put down 'round here." Burden piped up from the back seat.

"Put down, 'round here? Ya' know this Duke an' Murph stomp and grind." No-Babe grinned warily as he looked over his shoulders at Murph.

"You mean was, was dey spot. Ya' know how it go down 'round here." Famous said, and No-Babe turned his attention back towards the truck. He looked at the beady eyes piercing his body. He smelled trouble, big trouble.

No-Babe tried to probe the crew's intentions with his typically undivided attention but he didn't know exactly what the crew had in mind.

Beads of sweat formed on No-Babe's forehead and trickled down the sides of his face. Justice turned and look at'em sharply.

"You seen em 'round - Duke?" Fame asked.

"Duke in the store-" No-Babe cut his eyes in store's direction. Then he looked behind him again. "An' I think Murph somewhere over there 'cross the street with his boys, why what's up, what'cha niggas up to?"

"You tryna get put down?" Justice quipped. No-Babe said nothing, just a questioning look.

"Go tell that nigga Duke we tryna see 'em out here. Tell 'em dis our spot now. No-Babe looked confused but he did what he was told. Instinctively he turned around and commenced to make his way to the store. His gait intact. A car passed by and blew its horn and No-Babe waved his free hand but he never once broke his stride. Eventually he made it to the store's entrance and walked inside the store and delivered the message.

"Nigga got me fucked up!" Five minutes later a medium height scrawny Duke bolted from the store with a wild exasperated look on his face. He had on the usual hustler's attire, green overalls with one side buckled and the other side hanging and newly weaved dreads. "If I ain't gettin' no money 'round here den ain't nan mutha fucka gone get none!"

"There go dat nigga right there." Religion announced.

"My nigga let me out dis shit!" Famous barked fiercely. Justice let the back window to allow Famous his access to the street. As soon as Famous made his way out truck he knelt down to make sure his shoe laces were tied tight. Then he quickly snatched off his wife beater T-shirt to expose his broad shoulders and obtuse chest. Automatically, he his eyes scanned the scenery. Two young hot girls stood around being flirted upon by several boys who seemed to have a vivid age advantage over them. To the right were four or five other dudes engaged in a "silo crap game." Two red and one green dice flipped as and tumbled across the smooth side walk and landed on uneven numbers, "4, 5, 3".

No sweat to Famous even though his actions caused everybody to look in his direction. To be cautious the dudes shooting the dice stood up as Famous made his way from around the Brunco to where Duke was standing. "I'mma smash dis pussy nigga comin' out here like he cut like that." Famous thought.

Famous never broke his stride like a soldier leading his platoon to war he walked firmly towards Duke. "Noki, leave this as it is." The rest of the crew was on his heels, the Bronco idling. [boom, boom, boom].

Duke and Famous squared off in the middle of the street. When Duke's posse seen the fire power of the Mercenarys they were reluctant to get involved.

"It's gone be a one and one." One of Duke's comrad's holler from the sidewalk.

"Nigga dis our spot now," Famous taunted Duke. Then he went to work on him. Duke tried to counter Famous unique fighting skills but was unable to keep up. Famous bobbed weave and was able to strike Duke repeatedly. Famous was just too strong and swift for Duke. He fell to the ground several times but Famous kept punching him. Duke could've sworn he heard his jaw bone crack as he fell crashing into a phone booth on the wall. His body slid down ever so slowly.

Crowds of people gathered around to watch what was going on. Some of them stood on top of cars and chanted and raved obscenities from across the street. As the crew stood rigid holding their weapons. Famous advance Duke to beat him down some more.

"Nigga I should blow yo mutha fuckin' brains out!" Justice barked fingering his weapon and cursing. "I want all you fuck ass niggas to know dis our spot now. The Mercenary's an' if anyone of you niggas get caught selling shit 'round here you gone get dealt with!" Justice pointed at Murph and Duke's spot.

Dizzily Duke tried to stand and merge his body with the wall. Famous stood in front of him taunting his ego.

"Nigga you want some moe." Duke saw two people but he drew his fist and swung wildly at both of them and hit nothing the hot air. Famous kept hitting him more fiercely. When he got tired he asked for his baretta and started to pistol whip him. Blood gushed out the side of Duke's mouth.

"Stop y'all gone kill 'em," a young girl screamed from the crowd. The young girl grabbed Duke by the arm.

"Duke! Duke!" Another bystander shouted.

By that time the whole Ave was packed with people. Cars were lined up in the middle of the street and some cars even pulled over to get a better look at what was going on. In broad day light six despicable characters visited one of the busiest dope strolls in Miami with no other purpose than to take it over

"Boom… Boom..."