Origins- the Road to Power

by Ricky Black

  ‘Don’t talk about my parents,’ Lamont’s voice had an innate chill. Nigel was aware he was going too far. Wisely, he backed down.

  ‘I’m sorry, Lamont. I just don’t want to see you waste your talent. You are capable of so much more. When you’re on that field, you’re composed, you’re in the moment. I’d even venture to say you’re happy. Don’t throw that all away over a street dream.’

  Lamont measured Nigel with a hard stare. ‘You want the truth? Football’s the street dream. It’s all a game, and If I’m gonna play, I might as well get paid for it. Right now. Not years down the line.’

  Nigel took a deep breath, picking his words carefully. Deep down, he knew it was futile. He had lost Lamont. It was written in the boy’s eyes. He tried again anyway.

  ‘Okay, come and play anyway. Just for fun. We can take it from there.’

  ‘There’s nothing to take. I’m sick and tired of being treated like shit and manipulated.’

  ‘I’ve never treated you like shit. I’ve treated you the same as the other boys, but I knew that you could go further. I still do. You’re closer than you know to hitting the next level with football,’ Nigel retorted.

  ‘How many other kids are you giving that speech to? Let me guess, I follow you all the way and then I become just another player? Lost in the shuffle, probably end up dropped after a few games? No, I’ll take my chances with what I’m doing,’ Lamont’s words had an adult’s finality, which Nigel recognised and respected.

  ‘I’m sorry to hear you talking like this. If you come to your senses, you know where to find me.’

  Nigel drove away. Lamont watched after him for a second, wondering briefly if he had made the right decision. He turned on his heel and walked towards the park.

  One night, the gang drove to a meeting. Their exploits had reached the ears of a shark named Blair. Blair had a distribution network of his own and was always looking for new links. He had reached out to Levi, and they agreed a price for an entire kilo of weed.

  ‘Blair is the business,’ Levi was saying from the passenger seat. ‘I’ve asked around about him. He’s definitely paid. If we deal with him, we’re gonna make loads.’

  ‘I’ve seen him about in town. He likes rocking chains and shit. He’s a flashy guy,’ added Shorty.

  ‘Nothing wrong with being flashy,’ said Levi, grinning. To emphasise his point, he wore a large gold chain which rested easily on his chest. Lamont hated it, thinking it made Levi look like a target. He couldn’t tell him what to do though. Levi was fragile and Lamont had to go to great pains not to undermine him.

  He disagreed with this meeting. Blair was established. There was no reason for him to be buying such a large amount of weed from some up and comers. Lamont had been outvoted though. If they shifted the entire kilo, they could reload quicker and restart the process. The team was hungry for more success. More accolades. More profit.

  ‘We’re nearly there anyway,’ Shorty said, steering the car masterfully through the streets. He had borrowed the car from an associate, and wouldn’t hear the end of it if he damaged the ride.

  They parked down the road from the house where Blair waited. K-Bar and Shorty were at the back as Lamont and Levi led the way towards the house. Lamont scanned in all directions, looking for anything suspicious. Something wasn’t right. His instincts screamed it, but he couldn’t gauge the cause.

  ‘Glad you could all make it,’ a man Lamont assumed was Blair said, opening the door. ‘Come right through.’

  Blair closed the door behind them. Lamont looked around the room. It was basic. There was an old TV, peeling walls and wooden floorboards. He thought he heard a creak in the adjacent room, but then there was nothing. Blair clapped his hands together loudly, getting their attention. He was older — Lamont assumed late twenties. His hair was neatly tapered, and the chain around his neck made Levi’s look invisible. He wore a fresh tracksuit and a gold watch on his right wrist. His hands were adorned with large rings and he rubbed his hands together, odiously smiling.

  ‘You got the stuff then?’

  ‘Yeah. We’ve got it. Where’s the money?’ Shorty replied.

  ‘It’s upstairs. I’ll go get it.’ Blair left the room and headed upstairs.

  ‘Why didn’t he have the money down here?’ Lamont quickly spoke.

  ‘What are you on about?’ Shorty asked.

  ‘We arranged this. Why wouldn’t he have the money?’

  ‘Lamont, just chill. I’ve got this,’ said Levi. Before he could say another word, the doors on either side of the room burst open and two masked guys rushed at them. Lamont froze.

  ‘Get on the floor!’ one of them growled, wielding what looked like a pipe. The second the doors opened, Shorty was in motion. Whipping a gun from his waistband, he pointed it at the two would-be robbers.

  ‘No. You lot get on the floor.’

  ‘Wait . . . Shorty?’ the man with the pipe said, surprised. Recognising his voice and build, Lamont stepped forward.

  ‘Marcus?’

  ‘L? What are you doing here?’ Marcus pulled the mask off his face. Victor did the same thing.

  ‘Doing a buy. What are you doing?’

  ‘A buy? You’re dealing now?’

  Lamont nodded.

  ‘We got a call earlier. Blair promised us half the take if we rushed some kids. We didn’t know it was you lot though. Oi,’ Marcus turned to Victor, ‘go grab that snake. We’re gonna deal with this.’

  Victor hurried to do Marcus’s bidding.

  ‘I can’t believe this.’ Marcus rubbed his face, breathing heavily. Lamont knew the signs. When Marcus got worked up, it never ended well for the perpetrator.

  The sounds of a scuffle attracted everyone’s attention. Victor was dragging Blair into the room, the man digging his feet into the floor. Shorty smacked Blair in the mouth with the gun. There was a crunch and Blair sagged, allowing Victor to throw him to the floor.

  ‘You little weasel. You thought you could send me after family?’ Marcus spat at Blair, who cowered away.

  ‘It’s not like that! I didn’t know he was your family! I swear,’ he moaned through bloodied lips.

  ‘Well, you’ve had it now. Vic, go back upstairs and search for the stash. I know it’s here somewhere. In the meantime, you can take off those jewels. I’m taxing them for my pain and suffering.’

  ‘Marcus, man, please—’ Blair started, silenced by a kick to the ribs.

  ‘If I have to strip you down myself, I swear I’m gonna break every finger on your hands. Take them off. Now.’

  Shaking with fear, Blair took off his watch, his rings and his chain. Marcus pocketed them. Victor came back downstairs with a brick-sized wad of money, which he handed to Marcus. Marcus thumbed through the notes, nodding his approval.

  ‘This’ll do. You ever try anything like this again, and I’ll kill you.’ Marcus gave the beaten man one more kick, then they all left.

  ‘Well, that was a result. Simple bit of work. I almost got shot, but still. Here,’ Marcus split the brick of money and handed half to Lamont. ‘For you and your little team.’

  Lamont held the money, his heart beating. Selling weed had been easy, but tonight had been a stark lesson that anything could happen. He nodded at Marcus, willing himself to calm down.

  ‘Anyway, we’re gonna bounce. We’re gonna lick another move. We were relying on robbing you lot, but luckily we had it as a backup.’

  ‘What’s the job?’ Shorty asked, ever the opportunist.

  ‘Like this one, only with better planning. Half a kilo. Maybe more. You in? We could use that gun.’

  ‘I’m in. K is too. What about y’all?’ he looked at Lamont and Levi.

  ‘I’m going home. I’m tired,’ Lamont said.

  ‘Me too. Just drop us off on the way,’ Levi added. Marcus nodded. He and Victor climbed in their ride. When Lamont and the others were in their own car, they all drove off.

  Chapter Seven

  Wednesday 16 April 199
7

  Lamont was chilling at Shorty’s after school, watching television. Shorty had cut Lamont a key, so most of the time he would hang out. Shorty didn’t care. He was usually out scheming or having sex. Lamont was about to make a drink, when the door opened and Levi bounded in.

  ‘Yo, L!’ he called out.

  ‘I’m here, man. No need to shout.’ Lamont appeared in the doorway.

  ‘Well c’mon. We need to go.’

  ‘Where to?’

  ‘Craig wants to see us.’

  Lamont put his shoes on and followed Levi. A taxi waited. Levi gave the driver directions, and the driver drove off. It seemed pointless to Lamont. Craig was within walking distance. It was as if Levi was spending money for the sake of it.

  As predicted, they were out of the car less than a minute later. Levi paid the fare, and they headed towards Craig. He was slouched on a wall, kissing a girl Lamont had never seen before. She had large, dark eyes, skin the shade of cooking chocolate, and a body that poked out in all the right places. Lamont avoided staring, but Levi looked the girl up and down, almost licking his lips. Eventually Craig stopped kissing the girl and faced them.

  ‘Everything good?’

  Both boys nodded.

  ‘I’m asking because I heard about last night.’

  ‘Just a misunderstanding, bro,’ Levi started. ‘We were dealing with someone and he tried snaking us. We handled it though.’

  ‘You handled it, or Marcus did?’ Craig smiled at the look of surprise that appeared on Levi’s face. ‘C’mon, baby bro. I know everything that happens on these streets. Why do you think I called you here? Blair is a punk. If you’d told me you were dealing with him, I would have told y’all not to.’

  ‘He wanted to buy a keg,’ Levi said. ‘It was easy money.’

  ‘Easy money had you getting stuck up. Don’t be stupid chasing quick money. Grind for it. Stop smoking and shagging little girls and keep track of what’s happening. If you’d bothered to check, you would have realised that me and Blair had beef.’

  ‘Beef? Over what?’

  ‘Over this fine girl I’ve got my arms around,’ Craig palmed the girl for emphasis. ‘See, Kierra here, she had a spell with Blair. When she realised what a bitch he was, she wanted me. He didn’t like it, but he can’t do anything. Me and that idiot used to run together.’

  ‘What happened?’ Lamont spoke for the first time.

  ‘He was skimming. We were partners, splitting all the money down the middle. He was doing deals on the side and didn’t want to cut me in, so I kicked his ass out of the squad.’

  ‘Do we need to worry about him?’ Lamont was trying to establish what they were dealing with. This was why he hadn’t wanted to do the deal. You just never knew what another person was bringing to the table, drama-wise.

  ‘Blair’s already shouting his mouth off about getting set up. He’s not putting it on you lot directly, because you’re nobodies. What he’s doing is telling people I did it. He’s harmless, but since I kicked him out, he’s running with some crazy Yardies. Those are the ones you need to watch out for.’

  ‘Understood,’ Lamont said. Annoyed at being cut out of the conversation, Levi spoke up.

  ‘We’re not worried about that bitch. If he comes for me, I’ll cut him and anyone he wants to bring along,’ he exclaimed. Craig and Lamont stared at him, unmoved by his posturing.

  ‘Shut up. I don’t wanna hear about you running your mouth, trying to start shit to impress me. Sort your head out, think about the money. Understand?’

  Levi stared his brother down. Craig’s eyes narrowed.

  ‘I said, do you understand?’

  ‘Yeah, bro. I understand.’

  ‘Get out of here. I’ve got stuff to handle.’

  ‘Who does he think he is?’

  They were almost back at Shorty’s place. Since leaving Craig, Levi had ranted non stop.

  ‘He’s just worried. We can’t make money if we’re watching our backs waiting for Blair.’

  ‘Are you scared? I’m not scared. That motherfucker set us up.’

  ‘It worked out for us though. Marcus robbed him. We made money from an impossible situation,’ Lamont replied.

  ‘Why are you talking like you’re in charge? Craig is my brother, so stop sucking up to him and support me. I brought you in!’ Levi shouted. Anger flared within Lamont. It wasn’t the time for an outburst though. Levi had shown his petulance. Lamont wouldn’t lower himself to that level. It was about the money, nothing more.

  ‘Okay, bro. Whatever you say. Like you said, you brought me in,’ he replied.

  Levi took a deep breath.

  ‘L, I’m sorry, man. You’re my bro. It’s just Craig. He thought we would flop, and now that we’re making money, he wants to play boss. He should have told us about Blair beforehand, then we would have known not to deal with him. He was probably in on it from the beginning.’

  Lamont let Levi vent as they walked up the stairs to Shorty’s flat. K-Bar was back from his excursions. He watched the pair enter as he smoked a cigarette.

  ‘What’s up?’ he asked.

  ‘More drama,’ Lamont said, summarising what Craig said about Blair.

  ‘That’s a bad situation. Blair got humiliated, so we need to be careful,’ K-Bar said when Lamont finished.

  ‘Forget Blair. We put him in his place,’ Levi snapped, heading to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of Courvoisier and a clean glass.

  ‘Shorty’s not gonna like you touching his liquor,’ K-Bar pointed out.

  ‘Fuck Shorty. He’s not gonna say anything if I buy him a bottle back, is he?’

  K-Bar’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. Levi poured himself a glass, drank it and poured another, which he downed. He began coughing loudly, then poured himself another glass.

  ‘Take it easy,’ Lamont said.

  ‘Fuck taking it easy,’ Levi slurred, the brandy already touching him. ‘Remember whose team you’re on. I’m out.’ Slamming the glass on the table, Levi tottered from the house.

  ‘He’s out of control,’ K-Bar said as soon as the front door closed.

  ‘Don’t worry about it. He knows not to go too far.’

  ‘Shorty might see it differently if he keeps running his mouth. He’ll knock him out.’

  ‘Levi’s just angry. He wants Craig to think he’s an asset. He doesn’t realise that this isn’t about Craig. We’re just workers. We need to keep profiting and stay above water.’

  ‘Did Craig say anything about who these Yardies were?’

  Lamont shook his head. ‘He just said they were crazy.’

  K-Bar stroked his chin. ‘I’ll find out, so we know what we’re up against. I’ll let you speak to Shorty. You need to calm Levi down too, because he’s moving too fast, too quickly.’

  The gang took it easy after that. They did their business, but didn’t arrange any deals with anyone they didn’t know.

  Lamont passed on Craig’s warning to everyone. Only Levi remained belligerent. Lately, he was drinking more, smoking weed, and bringing random girls to Shorty’s place, nearly causing he and Shorty to fight. Levi thought Craig would protect him if things escalated, but Lamont didn’t believe he was taking Shorty seriously.

  There were rumours about the things Shorty had done, some even involving murder. Lamont believed the tales. He recalled how easily Shorty had pulled the gun when he thought they were in danger. Shorty was ruthless and there was nothing to gain by Levi provoking him.

  Still, he kept out of it. Lamont’s prime focus was getting paid, and he did that. He had money hidden all over his room and there was no danger of Auntie finding it. Lately, she was spending more time out of the house, which Lamont took to mean that she was hunting for a new sponsor. Lamont passed through and made sure Marika was okay, did his chores, then left again. The less he was in the house, the less chance there was he would argue with Auntie.

  Lamont also hung around Marcus more, which mostly meant standing around outside
different houses.

  Marcus had heard the rumours about Blair, but wasn’t taking them seriously. He was cool with the Yardies backing Blair, stating that as long as Craig kept himself to himself, there would be no problem.

  Lamont hurried towards the front gate after school one day. He wore a black tracksuit and matching trainers with a new backpack, walking with his shoulders set and his head held high. Tower and his crew shot him dirty looks, but he strolled past them without a word.

  Erica was outside the gate with her friends. She looked away when Lamont walked by, but her friends stared, their faces no longer holding looks of disgust. He heard them whisper, but Lamont ignored the pair, heading to the park. People were waiting for him.

  By the time he arrived, the two boys were standing there. Spotting several parents in the small park, Lamont motioned for the boys to come to him, which they did. The trio walked to a secluded corner.

  ‘What are you after?’

  ‘Two tens,’ one boy replied. He was a chubby black boy named Tyrone. Tyrone was another kid Lamont had known for years. He had realised early on that rather than letting the fact he was overweight get him down, it was better to embrace it. Because of this he was well-liked.

  The other kid was a pale, bespectacled boy named Robert. Robert had started smoking to get over nerves for an exam. He started buying more, and in no time, Lamont had a reliable customer.

  Reaching into his bag, Lamont opened his pencil case and quickly took two ten-pound draws from where he had strategically placed them. He gave them to Tyrone, taking the two ten-pound notes from his sweaty hands.

  ‘Safe. Get at me when you want more.’ Lamont touched fists with them both and walked off.

  By the time Lamont arrived home, Auntie was in the living room with Marika. She looked up when Lamont entered.

  ‘Where have you been?’

  ‘Out.’