Later that night Jamaal trampled through the projects of the squalid neighborhood on the west side of Baltimore. He kicked beer cans as he walked along angry at just about everything. An eccentric looking man walked briskly past him holding a long flat blade screwdriver and a woman's pocketbook. Rain Gate projects was one of the biggest slums of the city. You could buy drugs right off your front porch and even a gun if you wanted to.
Jamaal scampered up the steps of Tyrone's two story complex apartment and rapped on the door vigorously like there was some kind of emergency. A blood shot eye peered at him through the peephole. The door slowly creaked open and the smell of Marijuana wafted through the air. The side of the doorway was splintered and cracked from when the police had raided the place a year ago. A 19 year old hottie wearing a brown corduroy jumper and stoned out of her mind answered the door.
“ Is Tyrone here?” Asked Jamaal sounding completely out of breath.
“ They're all here.” Said the girl stepping to the side so Jamaal could get through. The girl in fact was Tyrone's sister, Shawna. Tyrone and Shawna were pretty close and guys knew to treat her with respect or they'd have to deal with Tyrone. You'd have to be crazy to meddle with Tyrone because he was affiliated with the Twisted Sevens. A violent gang in downtown Baltimore often talked about on the news.
Shawna saw the hideous scar around Jamaal's neck but she didn't ask questions. She's seen crazier things than that before. Jamaal admired the neon beer signs and black lights illuminating the living room as he headed towards his buddies who were sitting on the couch engaged in boisterous laughter and shouting. All three were transfixed to the 56 inch stolen Sony television while playing NFL Blitz on Sony Playstation2. Wiggles, the ringleader of the din, thrashed vigorously onto the controller like it owed him money. Tony was a little more quiet than the rest of the bunch slouching low in the sofa groping his tepid 40oz bottle of Colt45.Jamaal had to step in front of the big 56 inch television to get their attention.
“ Good load! What happened to you?” Asked Wiggles dropping the playstation2 controller to the ground like it was an empty Easter egg. Wiggles had grown tall but never really filled out. He was 6ft 3 inches tall but only 160lbs. He wore baggy FUBU jeans that were two sizes too big for him and hung halfway down his butt revealing his checkered boxers. The big long gold chain with a money symbol medallion the size of a fist wrapped around his neck clashed with his $75 Banana Republic flowery button down shirt. The shirt was completely unbuttoned and showed his protruding abs. Tony was the fatter one of the bunch. He had become a devout Muslim wearing a black Kufi cap and sported a beard nearly a foot long. Tony had on thick black gangster looking sunglasses that he never took off his face.
Everyone got quiet and listened to what Jamaal had to say. Jamaal pulled the nylon cable tie from his pocket and held it up by the brass ring. ”Somebody tried to kill me while I was showering at the Fitness Factory!”
Wiggles jumped up from the sofa and grabbed the ligature so he could closely examine it.” Man homey! They did you like that while you was in da shower? That's a cheap shot! Do you know who dunnit?”
Jamaal snatched the ligature out of Wiggles' hand. ”Of course I know who dunnit. It was Johnny Littlesock. He must've found out I was messing around with his girl.”
Tyrone sat in the middle of the sofa slumped low down mulling and reflecting back on the situation. He was always the brain of the bunch. His head was completely shaven bald and his furrowed neck looked like rolled out lines of dough all clumped together. Tyrone wore a red Iverson basketball jersey that was tore down the front revealing patches of chest hair that looked like curly fries from Arby's. The black Nike sweatpants he was wearing had a hole in the knee and his white tube socks had turned brown. After all, it was his place and he could walk around in socks if he wanted to.
“So how did you get the cable tie off your neck? I know you didn't break it with your bare hands.” Said Tyrone picking a roach clip off the coffee table.
Jamaal tossed the cable tie onto Tyrone's lap nearly knocking the roach clip out of his hands.” The receptionist saw me choking and came with a pair of scissors. Some other dude helped me get near the front door.
Tyrone pursed his lips and sucked really hard on the roach clip trying to get one last high.” Did the police come?” He said still holding it in.
“ Yeah, but I didn't stick around for that. You know how we do. When we have problems we deal with them ourselves.”
Wiggles jumped back up from the sofa and patted Jamaal on the shoulder.” You're finally learning big dog. Don't worry we're going to take care of this.”
Tony finally piped up.” We gonna cap him?”
Wiggles formed a smile so wide you could pop a frisbee in his mouth.” We gonna do more than cap him homey, we gonna spray so many bullets into his crib his joint gonna look like a giant piece of swiss cheese!”
Jamaal grinned smugly as he pictured Johnny Littlesock's home after they had shelled out numerous clips of ammunition into it. The very thought seemed to brighten his mood.
Tony chugged the last little bit of spume in the bottle and set the 40oz bottle down on the coffee table. He looked at the scar on Jamaal's neck then quickly averted his eyes to the big 56 inch screen television.” Hey not to change the subject or anything but what do you think of our new television?”
Jamaal turned around to look over the new boob tube. “Hey that's sweet, where did you guys get it?”
All three of the hoodlums had sly grins on their faces. Tony let out a belly laugh that sounded gangster while his jello belly bobbled up and down.” Let's just say that the guy 6 houses down went on vacation and we decided to help ourselves.” Said Tony clasping his hands over his beach ball paunch.
Wiggles jumped amidst them and waved his hands like he was directing traffic. ”Come on guys, let's go get this Johhny Littlesock punk and light his place up. We've got to send a message and I say we do it now.” He said while wrapping bony fingers around his 28 inch waist sending his flowery button down shirt tail flailing behind his back. Tony and Tyrone rose from the couch simultaneously and tugged on their pants which drooped back down again when they let go. Tyrone led the way as his entourage followed him into an anteroom which had a hidden closet.
They all stood before a giant blue quilt that Tyrone's sister Shawna had turned into a mosaic collage that hung on the wall. The big blue quilt made a screeching sound when Tyrone pulled it down from the wall because it was held up by velcro. When the big blue quilt fell to the floor a small closet was revealed. Tyrone opened the closet door and yanked on a chain hanging from the ceiling which turned on a fluorescent light. The inside of the closet lit up in a purple light.
The boys were awestruck when they saw the freshly polished weapons hanging from nails in the closet. Tyrone pulled out a Tommy gun that had a camouflage shoulder strap. He hoisted the weapon over his shoulder and spat out machine gun noises from his mouth while brandishing the Tommy gun to and fro pretending to be Rambo.
The others were impressed. They also reached into the closet and found a submachine gun to their liking. This is the way true gangsters did. Only a pantywaist would go running to the police for help. They had all stayed friends since 7th grade and each one of them considered themselves a hard core gangster.
Wiggles tucked a few magazine clips inside his waist band and finally buttoned up his shirt. ”Let's go do this homies!” He said leaving his top two buttons undone. They didn't give each other high fives anymore instead they all clasped their knuckles together. Tyrone reached back in the closet pulling out black ski masks and passed them out. After they had everything they needed they re-attached the big blue quilt onto the wall to conceal the closet.
Tyrone led the way as they marched through the apartment and out the front door. They all descended down the porch steps and boarded Tony's 86 Ford Crown Victoria that was freshly painted black with tinted windows. Jamaal and Tyrone took the back seats and Wiggles took shotgun while big fat Tony got behind the wheel. Some of Tupac's greatest hits played on the CD player while they cruised down the filthy streets headed towards Johhny Littlesock's abode.
Johnny Littlesock stood next to a multicolored Dodge Neon holding a bag of groceries. The car used to be yellow but the hood and two doors had been replaced with parts from a junkyard since Johnny's ride had been in so many accidents.
Johnny Littlesock looked around debating whether or not it was safe to leave the trunk open with the left over groceries while he went inside to put the groceries away he was carrying. That's just the way it was in the city. He could leave his car for a minute, put groceries away, and get completely robbed.
Johnny looked around once more and saw a black Ford Crown Victoria ease it's way up the street. Something felt foreboding about the oncoming vehicle. The tinted windows slowly went down and Johnny saw men in ski masks. His street smarts kicked in and he dropped the bag of groceries and ran into the house.
A swarm of bullets penetrated the house almost nipping Johnny's foot as he ran inside. More piercing bullets struck the house creating a collage of wood chips and shattered glass. When Johnny got inside the house he immediately got down on the floor and placed his hands over his head. He could hear the boisterous laughter over top of the submachine guns.
Wiggles, always the ringleader, couldn't stay inside the car. He jumped out of the car and let out a relentless spray of bullets into the Dodge Neon until the gas tank finally ruptured and caught on fire. Then Wiggles took a few steps toward the house and continued shooting until every window was completely blasted out.
Jamaal didn't feel completely satisfied so he jumped out of the car and started running towards the house. Sirens began to wail and the boys shouted at him to get back in the car. Jamaal let out one last 5 second spray and reluctantly got back in the car. Johnny Littlesock's house looked like a tornado had ripped through it. Justice had been served. Or so they thought.