Читать книгу Street Boys: 7 Kids. 1 Estate. No Way Out. The True Story of a Lost Childhood - Tim Pritchard - Страница 17
ОглавлениеI saw what they were doing. But I wasn’t stupid. I thought, I could do this myself and keep the money.
JaJa
JaJa followed the lives of the 28s with fascination. At night, as Wesley, Pod and Duffers gathered with the other 28s beneath his window at Marston House, he would hang on their every word as they lit up joints and chatted about girls and robbing. They were famous. Famous because they were older and cool and famous because they had money. JaJa was now getting into his second year of school and he started realizing all the things that money could get him.
One day after school he went up to one of the 28s.
‘Hey man, how do I get hold of my own money?’
‘Hey, Birmingham. I tell you what. Come out with us tonight and watch. Just watch.’
That evening he asked his mum if he could go out with friends. He didn’t have a curfew so she just told him to be careful and not come back too late. Some of the older boys gave him some weed. He spluttered on his first draw but then started getting the hang of it. Then he followed the older 28s boys to a small car around the corner from the estate. They grabbed hold of the top of the passenger door and bent it back.
Because I was so little I could squeeze my hand in and open the locks. That’s what we used to do. And we’d hit the car stereos which we sold for 15 or 20 quid to an Italian guy called George. And when you are young, that’s a lot of money. I used to get six stereos a night and I’d get 25 quid and I’m loving it ’cos we’re doing this every two days. I’m getting change in my pockets. I got into the street life and that, buying weed and chilling with girls my age. I’d go into Brixton and meet more 28s and got to know more people and started to do house burglaries.
JaJa found the burglaries scary at first, but the older boys reassured him.
‘No, don’t worry, come. Just watch this one. Watch and see how we do it.’
It wasn’t long before they got him to help them. They walked past a house with no lights on and would send JaJa to knock on the front door.
‘Just go up, and if someone answers the door, ask for Stuart.’
JaJa did what he was told. He knocked on the door of a big house in Brixton. The porch light went on and the door opened.
‘Is Stuart there?’
‘No, mate. Stuart doesn’t live here.’
‘Oh, sorry. Wrong house.’
Then they would move on to the next house. This time it might be empty. JaJa would stay outside while the others would jimmy open a window and they would come out with everything they could lay their hands on. They’d store it all in a cupboard in someone’s flat, then take it round to George’s the next day. George introduced them to people who would buy the TVs and music equipment. JaJa got a cut each time, sometimes as much as £70. He now had money for weed and trainers.
That’s when a new thought struck him.
I thought, this was good. But I also thought I could do this by myself. I don’t really need those guys. I could do this with my friends and get more money for me. I could get more than £70.
In Angell Town, a school friend of JaJa’s, a white boy named Mark, had noticed JaJa’s new trainers.
‘How come you always got all this new gear?’
JaJa told him about the burglaries he was doing. After school one day the same kid came back to him and introduced him to some older white guys.
