Black Lives Matter

by De'Kari

  Bone was far from stupid, so he shut the fuck up quick, fast and in a hurry. He was beyond nervous, but he would neva show fear. To show fear would be a disrespect to his gangsta.

  Rell and Scooter came from the back forcing a third nigga stumbling in front of them. As they entered the room, Bone made eye contact with June. The look on June’s face as the two men forced him into the living room told him everything that he needed to know.

  “Found this one in one of the back rooms counting money.” Scooter looked to his pops to catch his reaction when he told him “it’s at least four or five hundred back there.”

  The amount didn’t faze Dok in the least. He wasn’t there for money, he was there for his pint of blood. Initially he only wanted Clark, but from the moment he stepped foot onto the porch he was fully back in goon mode. His mind was back on War Mentality.

  “Fuck that money. We ain’t come for money.” Dok’s response put the fear of God into June and Lil Joe. Bone was spooked too, but he wasn’t going to let it show. He wasn’t going to let some Cali mothafucka punk him. Fuck that!

  “If you ain’t come for the money, what the fuck y’all here foe?” Bone did his best to mask all fear when he spit the question out. Doing his best to sound gangsta.

  Unfortunately, he wouldn’t receive an answer to his question. With two quick taps of the trigger of the SKS, Dok sent a barrage of bullets into Bone’s upper torso. The silencer on the barrel suppressing all sound. June looked on terrified at the gun as smoke rose up out of the barrel. Lil Joe was so close to Bone that his body bumped up against him while the slugs made his body dance.

  Dok shook his head from side to side then spoke to no-one particular “I told his dumb ass not to say another word!”

  Rell looked over at Scooter. The expression on Scooter’s face said that he was un-phased.

  “Now fellas, I don’t have time for no games or no bullshit. I came here for Clark, but if his life means more that your own, then I will gladly take yours and move on.

  June couldn’t believe this shit. Fighting with his baby mama is what lead to him being here. They were in a feud over child support and visitation rights when her new nigga decided he would step in and play Captain Save-a-Hoe. June tried telling the nigga that it wasn’t any of his business, but the nigga wouldn’t listen. One thing led to another and things got physical.

  June was only 5’7” and weighing 157 pounds it was a given that he would lose to the 6’2” 215-pound Lonzo. June wasn’t a fighter, he was a shooter, but it didn’t stop him from giving it his all. After the ass whooping, June crawled and walked to his car where his Glock .40 was.

  Lonzo answered the door by jerking it open when June banged on it. The shocked expression on his face when June filled him wit hot shit gave June a hard-on. His snitching ass baby mama told the police everything. So, when Tut talked to him about California he was all game.

  What he wasn’t game for was dying for some nigga that he didn’t know. Fuck Clark, he didn’t have no loyalties to that nigga, and he damn sure wasn’t dying for him.

  “I’m only going to ask you one time so don’t play with me. Where is Clark or how can I find him? The barrel of the SKS was pointed directly at Lil Joe. He blinked his eyes rapidly and squirmed around on the couch like he had to shit.

  “L-l-l-look m-man, I swear on my kids’ soul I don’t know where that nigga is. If I did, I would tell you, brah, that’s on my kids.” Lil Joe was so terrified that the truth dripped off the works that came from his mouth.

  Dok took a step closer and aimed at Lil Joe’s head, “Brah, I swear man, I don’t know! Man, I don’t know!” Tears began falling out of his eyes as he thought about his children.

  “You know what, brotha, I believe you.” Dok’s words caused Lil Joe to exhale a sign of relief. For a minute there he had a thought that God had abandoned him.

  He closed his eyes to say a quick prayer thanking God for being there at his time of need. As he lifted his head to the sky, blood and brain matter erupted from the back of his dome as Dok squeezed the trigger, blowing the back of his skull off.

  Rell had been hearing stories all his life about his ‘father’s gangsta and the things he’s done. This was the first time that he would witness the cold heart of the man he called father. He stole a quick glance at his brother and he could tell from the expression on his face that similar thoughts were running through the mind of his brother.

  June may have been a shooter, but he was far from a cold-blooded killer. So, seeing his two homeboys die so close to him, with such ease, had all of the bitch coming out of him. It was easy to stand behind a gun and pull the trigger. It didn’t take heart to do that. Any coward could shoot somebody. But to calmly and methodically kill two people all close and personal like that, it took the heart of a gangsta! A heart that June didn’t have.

  “Look here, man, I ain’t trynna die over whatever beef you got going on with Shawty, you heard me. I don’t know where dude lay his head at, but I got his number. I can call him for you.” June was seconds away from pissing on himself. His face was covered with sweat and his heart raced a thousand miles an hour.

  “Then get to calling him.” Dok looked at his two sons as if he was seeing them for the first time. “Find something to bag that money up in.”

  They moved with quickness, thinking that it was about time he saw shit the way that they saw it in regard to the money. Scooter quickly found some garbage bags in the kitchen and he and Rell went to handle that.

  June reached into his pocket to grab his cell phone. He was so nervous that he dropped the cell twice, fumbling with it. He nervously looked up at Dok, scared that the crazy nigga with the long dreads might grow inpatient with him and blow the back of his head off. Finally, he was able to get a hold of himself and dial the number. The line rung forever. June’s heart was racing so fast he thought he would have a heart attack.

  “Hello?” By the time Clark answered the phone, fear had such a tight grip on June that he couldn’t talk.

  “Hello?’ Clark repeated into the phone.

  “Uh s-say man w-we got an issue.” June finally managed to get out. He said it so low that it was just above a whisper.

  “June is that you? Nigga, what the fuck you mumbling into the phone for like a little ass girl?” Clark thought the country mothafucka had lost his mind or was drunk or something.

  “June ,rogue, you know I ain’t for no bullshit at my spot. Nigga where Bone at?” He was going to get to the bottom of shit. If them niggaz was counting and guarding his money while being drunk or high there was going to be hell to pay!

  “D-dead.”, Was all June could muster.

  “Nigga, what you say?” June had Clark’s full attention then, but he neva got the opportunity to hear June’s response.

  Dok took a step forward and grabbed the phone out of June’s hand. Fuck the pleasantries! This mothafucka wanted to take it there, so Dok was taking it there.

  “I tried being reasonable with you on the strength of my brotha, but you continued assaulting the people. You are a leech sucking the life out of our community. I gave you peace and you returned it with genocide. So now you’ve awakened the Dragon…”

  “Nigga, you think I give a fuck ‘bout yo threats!” Clark cut Dok off. He was heated. Hearing that Bone was dead and knowing that Dok was in his stash spot had Clark seeing red.

  “I don’t make threats, my brotha, but I assure you that tonight was only an example of power. A million miles of barb wire won’t protect you from the face of the Dragon.” Before Clark could respond, Dok hung up the cell phone and placed it inside his pocket. He couldn’t leave it behind with his finger prints on it.

  At that moment Rell and Scooter came out the back carrying two big ass Hefty garbage bags filled to capacity. They were just making it to the living room when Dok raised the SKS and sent June on his way to meet up with his comrades.

  He neva looked over his shoulder. He knew that they were there because he felt their
presence coming from the back.

  “Let’s go” Dok told the two boys his plan. Needless to say, they didn’t like it, but they wouldn’t dare voice their opinions, not after the shit that they’d just witnessed. Now they understood all the stories that they’d heard. What they didn’t know is that they hadn’t seen anything yet.

  Dok pulled the Nissan away from the curb and drove to the corner. The night was quiet and peaceful. He made a U-turn and pressed his hand down on the horn. He held it there as he drove down the block. The loud horn attracted everyone’s attention. This being the hood, people weren’t afraid to come outside to see what was going on. The loud horn constantly roaring was becoming a nuisance.

  What they saw when they came out of their houses was a dark four-door Camry with all the windows down. Two dudes were in the backseat holding garbage bags out the window with paper flying out of them. One of the neighbor’s curiosity got the best of him and he walked to the sidewalk to investigate it. As he bent down to get a closer look, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Quickly he began snatching up as much of it as he could. People seeing his behavior decided to investigate to satisfy their curiosity. Before long, it was clear that the paper was $100 bills that was flying out of the car and pandemonium broke out.

  Once the boys informed him that all of the money was gone, Dok pulled down the block and drove off. They hadn’t come for Clark’s money, but Dok figured instead of letting the police have it, it would do better for the brothas and sistas struggling in the hood. At all times Dok put the people first.

  They drove in silence, each man lost in his own thoughts. Dok was wondering if he should say something to the boys or not. This was their first time ever witnessing him body some shit. He rationalized that they had to see it sooner or later. This is what they’ve been training for. They would have their time to shine but he needed them to see that he wasn’t a dictator. He was ‘bout dat action. Or ‘bout that life’ as they called it. So, instead he cut the stereo on and let that Mozzy skip.

  “I got some shotta’s out in Stockton and we fully rocking /Don’t try to pull up in Vallejo cause they get it popping/ I love the City all my San Francisco niggaz get me/ Oakland Raiders function with it we been in the locker”

  By the time they made it to the freeway Dok was fully engrossed in the song and deep into his own thoughts. He took 101 North instead of using the San Mateo Bridge, he decided to ride all the way to the Bay Bridge while he thought about Kiumba. The brotha was A good Soldier who fell behind nothing. If the sacrifice was for a cause, Dok could take it a little easier, but it wasn’t. It was a senseless act at the hands of a coward, a dead coward.

  “And I ain’t passing out no xanny unless you finna pop’em/ I ain’t passing out no blammy unless you finna pop’em/ Teary eyed about my patna when I think about him/ Get teary eyed about my daughter when I think about her.”

  **** N. D. ****

  Chapter XIV

  Irate didn’t describe Clarks state of mind. He was well beyond pissed off. When he’d gotten the phone call and heard the sucka ass niggaz’ voice, he knew that he would take the loss. Fuck it, he could bounce back from that. He wasn’t ready for the report that Tut gave him. They were able to recover ten kilos from the house that Dok and them didn’t take. What threw Tut for a loop was how many people were out at that time of the night. It seemed like the entire block was out gathering something. After pulling up to the house he soon learned that the money from the stash house had been poured out all along the street.

  Hearing that Dok had poured all of his money out in the streets was like a slap in the face. It was intended as blatant disrespect and Clark was taking it as such. He lit a blunt that he’d grabbed out of the ashtray. Hanging up his IPhone, he began thinking about how he would respond to the disrespect. East Palo Alto was his city and if he didn’t respond, the streets would talk. The only issue was Elysian Fields was the only thing in East Palo Alto that was connected to Dok and Neva Die. It would be futile to attack the Center again. He would have to do better than that, and he was going to do it now. Fuck waiting for later.

  A knock at the door came just as he was lighting another blunt. He didn’t need his Glock because the video monitors clearly showed Tut and Man. Clark went to go let them in. When the phone call first came thru he was lounging in the bed watching his favorite movie “Shottas.” Young Marley was a beast! Clark had seen the movie over thirty times and could neva get tired of it. He had thrown on a pair of black, army fatigue, sweatpants and a wife beater along with a pair of Jordan’s. This is how he opened the door.

  “What’s up, dad?” Tut greeted his big cousin as he stepped inside the town house.

  “Murda, nigga.” Clark responded after their one arm embrace. Man Man stepped in the house without uttering a word. Bone was his right hand and a mothafucka had touched him. There wasn’t shit to talk about. Mothafuckas had to pay for that shit.

  They walked into the living room all taking seats on the butter soft leather inside the room. Clark took a long pull on the blunt he was smoking. When he exhaled the smoke thru his nose he resembled a red eyed demon. The anger shadowing his face made it a tone darker.

  “Are you good to go, rogue?” Clark finally asked Tut once his lungs were empty of all the smoke.

  Tut leaned over and grabbed one of the pre-rolled blunts out of the ashtray on the coffee table. He lit it and took a couple drags off of it before answering.

  “Shit, dad, as soon as you give the green light it’s good.” The taste of the weed was so good Tut had to look at the blunt. “The shit them niggaz pulled was crazy, dad. When we pulled up to the block that mothafucka looked like Halloween! Mothafuckas were running all over the place like they lost their mothafuck’n minds or something. I’m telling you, dad, if I hadn’t seen that shit with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. Nigga it was money stuck in bushes, in the trees. Mothafuckas were even crawling under cars and shit.”

  Clark looked over at Man Man. He started to say something to him but thought differently. The look on Man Man’s face spoke volumes. Clark knew the language all too well.

  Revenge!

  “Now it’s our turn to get their attention.” Clark stood up from the leather recliner “Gimme a minute to get dressed and we can roll out.” He told them as he turned to walk out.

  “I thought you were going to sit this one out?” Tut asked. He was shocked that Clark had changed his mind.

  Clark paused and turned back around to face his second in command and little cousin. He blew the weed smoke out of his mouth and spoke, “That sideline shit foe niggaz dat ain’t in the game. I’ma coach, I walk the field.” With that being said, he spun back around and went into his bedroom.

  Ten minutes later, dressed in a black pair of True Religions, all black J’s (Jordans) and a black hoodie covering his bullet proof Kevlar vest, Clark was almost ready to go. He walked over to his dresser and opened the bottom drawer. He removed two black 9mm P89s and placed them on top of the dresser. Next, he bent down and grabbed six clips. Two for the P89s and two extra for each. Lastly, he grabbed two silencers. Clark tucked one of the guns into his waistband and slid the other into the front pocket of the hoodie. The extra clips went into the pocket of his jeans. Now he was ready to go!

  The three walked out of Clark’s town house with death in their hearts and murder on their minds. They climbed into the black Tahoe with tinted windows and drove off in silence.

  They pulled up to the single-story house a little after 4:35 a.m. as the Tahoe pulled up to the curb a sinister smile crossed Clarks lips.

  “These mothafuckas must really think shit sweet. Mothafucka laid up nice and comfy like niggaz wasn’t gone get that ass.” He chambered a round into the P89 and then screwed a silencer on it while the other two checked their guns.

  Man Man was just rocking back and forth with the most sinister look on his face. He actually didn’t know how to cry, his life had been so fucked up for so long. He neva, not once, shed a tear.
But if he did know how to cry, he would be crying for Bone.

  “Let’s get it.” Clark told them once everything was in order.

  **** N. D. ****

  Gunz looked over at the clock, 4:29 a.m. He was dead tired. He’d wanted to call it a night over an hour ago, but he needed to make sure that he finished going over the books. They hadn’t been done in a while and he neva allowed the books to get behind. He was almost done. Maybe another twenty or thirty minutes was all it would take.

  He wanted to get home to Nastasia. Since meeting her at the San Jose Airport all those years ago, Gunz had fallen madly in love with her and the feeling was mutual. When he went out to Philadelphia the two had gotten together and quickly became inseparable. Nastasia really didn’t approve of his life style but by the time Gunz trusted her enough to tell her about it, she had already fallen madly in love with him.

  When Gunz first received the call from Urena he rushed back out to Cali. Once that business was settled he’d sent for his woman. The week before Clark popped back on the scene, Gunz had made Nastasia’s dreams come true when he proposed to her. But that wasn’t it. He had given her his word that he would give it all up for her and raise a family. He’d just asked her to give him six months to get all his affairs in order and give Dok time to make the transitions.

  Gunz snapped his mind back from day dreaming about his woman. He needed to finish up and get home to his future queen. Just as he picked the pen back up to fill in the last page of the ledger, his phone began going off. He picked it up off of the desk and made a strange expression with his face. It was his ring app letting him know that someone was approaching his front door. He touched the screen to pull the live feed up on display and bolted out of his seat!