by K'wan
“I thought maybe I dropped it in here when I was cleaning up the other day,” Slick said. It was pure bullshit. During the years Slick had been living with them, Jonas hadn’t seen him pick up so much as a broom. “Say, your mama wanted to ask if you got a few dollars we could borrow. Just until I can get out and make some moves.”
“I ain’t got it,” Jonas lied. All the money he had was the twenty dollars he had made from sweeping up at the barbershop the previous weekend. That was the money for his ticket and snacks. No way in the hell he was going to break bread with Slick.
Slick’s dry lips curled into a frown. “C’mon, man. Don’t act like I don’t know what you and your boys are up to out in that park every day. Let me hold ten dollars.”
“I told you that I don’t have it,” Jonas insisted.
“Then that makes you a damn fool, if you hang around with Ace and them all day, every day, and ain’t getting none of that money they’re making. If the police ever run them down, they’re gonna take all your little asses. Ain’t gonna matter whose drugs they are, so you may as well get yours.”
“You done?” Jonas asked. He was ready to be rid of Slick so that he could get dressed.
“Guess so.” Slick scratched his chin. He lingered there for a time as if Jonas would change his mind about the money. When it became obvious he wouldn’t, Slick left him to get dressed.
Jonas jumped into his clothes in record time. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans, a green polo shirt that he had gotten for Christmas, and Nikes. He wanted to make sure that he looked sharp in case they ran into some honeys at the theater. On his way out, he stopped by the girls’ room to check on Jo-Jo. He found her lying in bed with Anette, while her big sister read one of her favorite stories to her. “How you feeling, Jo-Jo?”
“A little better. My legs don’t hurt as much, but they’re still achy,” she told him.
“Don’t worry. You’ll feel better once the medicine kicks in,” Jonas promised, kissing her on the forehead. “Where’s Sweets?” he asked Anette. She had been home before he got into the shower but was nowhere to be found now.
“Probably somewhere with her head up Drew’s ass,” Anette said with an attitude.
“What’s up with that?” Jonas had noticed that Sweets and Drew had been spending quite a bit of time together. He had even caught him walking her home from school a few times.
“That’s her boyfriend,” Josette said.
“What makes you say that?” Jonas asked.
“Because I caught them kissing in the hallway before.” Josette mimicked what she had seen.
“Seems like everybody around here has got a life except me,” Anette said enviously.
“If you want, I can skip the movies and stay here with Jo-Jo,” Jonas offered. He hoped she turned him down because he didn’t want to miss the movie.
“You go ahead and enjoy yourself,” Anette declined.
“Jonas, can you bring me back some candy from the movies?” Josette asked.
“Sure, anything you want,” he agreed.
“Raisinetes, but don’t keep them in your pocket. I don’t like them when they’re all mushy.”
“You got it, kid,” Jonas winked and headed out.
Jonas arrived at the park to find his crew already waiting for him. All it took was one look to tell him something was wrong. Ace was pacing back and forth while Prince watched him with a worried look on his face. Mula busied himself carving his initials into a wooden bench with a pocketknife.
“Sorry I’m late. Y’all ready to be out to the movies?” Jonas gave each of them dap.
“We’re gonna have to catch a later show. Some shit came up that we need to handle,” Ace told him.
“What happened?” Jonas asked.
“Doug got jumped.”
“Word? What happened?”
“I don’t know the details yet. We’ll find out everything when we get to his crib. One thing I do know is, we ain’t letting this shit ride.”
* * *
It was Alex who answered the door for the boys when they arrived at their apartment. Her face was flushed, and her eyes and tip of her nose were red. You could tell she had been crying.
“Hey, y’all.” Alex allowed them inside.
“You okay?” Jonas asked as if she were the one who had been attacked.
“Yes, thanks. I’m just worried about my brother.”
“Don’t sweat nothing, Alex. We gonna handle everything,” Ace boasted. “Where’s my boy?”
“In the bedroom. I’ll get him. Y’all have a seat in the living room.” Alex disappeared down the hall.
In all the years they had known Alex and Doug, this was the first time Jonas could remember being in their home. Even when they still lived in the neighborhood, they couldn’t have guests over. Their parents didn’t play that. For it to be a project apartment, it was actually quite nice. It had wall-to-wall carpet, a leather sectional, and a flat-screen television. Dominating one wall was a bookshelf full of literature. Jonas studied the shelves, silently mouthing the titles. There were tons of books, most of them he had never heard of. It reminded him of the library at school.
“You think this is real?” Mula called out. He was holding a golden elephant that he had picked up from the table.
“Put it down,” Jonas ordered, already knowing what he was thinking.
“I wasn’t gonna take it,” Mula lied. He put the elephant down and took a seat on the sectional next to Prince.
After a few minutes, Alex reappeared. She was helping her brother Doug, who seemed to be hobbling. He was in bad shape. His face was bruised, one of his eyes was swollen closed, and a bandage wrapped his head. One of his arms was also in a cast. It looked like whoever had done it to him was trying to take him out.
“Damn, they fucked you up!” Mula said crudely.
“You okay?” Jonas asked.
“Yeah, I’m good. My arm got the worst of it.” Doug hoisted the cast. It stretched from his hand to his elbow.
“What happened?” Ace demanded. He was angry, and everyone could see it in his face.
“Alex, go in the room for a minute so the grown folks can talk,” Doug told her.
“Y’all ain’t grown,” she capped.
“Do as I say!” he snapped. It was the first time any of them had ever heard him raise his voice at his little sister. Her eyes watered up, and she stormed off into the bedroom. “Damn,” he sighed. He felt bad for yelling at her.
“Tell me who did this to you, so we can get at these niggas,” Ace pressed.
“Some dudes from Grant Projects,” Doug began. “I came up on some of the new iPhones a few days ago and put word out that I had them for the low. My man Brian is from over there. He said he knew somebody that wanted to cop one. I go over there to make the sale, and they jumped me. Took the phone, my chain, and my bread. They even hit me with a bat,” he explained the broken arm. “On the real, I thought they were gonna kill me.”
“They’re going to wish they had when I get done with them,” Ace fumed. All of the boys were close, but he and Doug had a special relationship. It was Doug who had helped him get on his feet when he was running around broke.
“Did you know any of them?” Prince asked.
“Not really. A few of them I’ve seen around before, but I don’t know their names or anything.”
“I’ll bet Brian knows. He probably set this whole thing up.” Mula said what they had all been thinking.
“Nah, man. Me and Brian go back to Summer League when he was the assistant coach of our team. I’ve known that dude since forever. He wouldn’t go out like that,” Doug said. He seemed convinced, but Ace wasn’t.
“We’ll found out soon enough,” Ace promised.
Their plotting session was broken up when Doug’s parents came in. Doug was the spitting image of Mr. Hightower, only shorter. Mr. Hightower was a handsome man with rich black hair that had begun to gray at the temples. Back in the day, he used to hustle, but for the la
st fifteen years, he had been living the life of a square working for the Department of Sanitation. Mr. Hightower was easygoing; Mrs. Hightower, however, was a different story.
Mrs. Hightower looked like a darker version of Alex, minus the beautiful smile. She never seemed to smile, at least not that any of them could remember. Unlike Mr. Hightower, who had been raised in the hood, Mrs. Hightower was originally from an affluent neighborhood somewhere on Long Island. She was a little less tolerant of kids from the old neighborhood than her husband was, and it showed in the way she looked at Jonas and his crew when she found them congregating in her living room.
“Hey, Mom, Dad,” Doug greeted his parents.
“Douglas, what did we tell you about having guests over when we’re not home?” Mrs. Hightower asked in her prim and proper voice. She clearly was not happy to see the boys in her house, but most of her hostility was directed at Ace. There was a rumor that Ace’s mom and Mr. Hightower had messed around once. It was never proven, but that didn’t stop Mrs. Hightower making Ace the scapegoat.
“The fellas just came to check on me to make sure I was okay,” Doug told her.
“We were just leaving,” Ace said, not wanting to be around Doug’s mother any more than she wanted to be around them. “We’ll call you later, Doug.”
“Douglas won’t be taking any phone calls for the rest of the day. It’s bad enough he’s up hanging out with the lot of you when the doctor said he should be resting.”
“C’mon, Mom. You’re embarrassing me in front of my friends.” Doug tried to quiet her.
“Are these the same friends you were with when you got your arm broken?” Mrs. Hightower asked. None of the boys were sure what she meant, and it showed on their faces.
“Fellas, maybe you should go. It’s time for Doug to take his meds,” Mr. Hightower interjected.
“We out,” Ace announced and led his group out the door. They were waiting for the elevator when Mr. Hightower came out behind them.
“Hold on a second. I wanna ask you boys something.” Mr. Hightower caught up with them. “Any of you care to tell me what really happened to my son?”
They were all quiet for a time, not sure how to answer. It was Ace who eventually broke the silence.
“Whatever Doug told you is what happened,” he said.
“What he told me was that he was with you guys at a basketball game when some guys from the opposing school started a fight.” Mr. Hightower gave them the short version of the story Doug had fed him. “Personally, I think it was bullshit. No disrespect to any of you, but I’m not that long removed from the game to where I can’t recognize players.” He met each of their gazes. “What happened to my son wasn’t about basketball.”
“Don’t worry about nothing, Mr. Hightower. We got this,” Ace promised.
“How? By running out and doing something that’ll get you locked up or possibly killed?” Mr. Hightower asked.
“So, you’re saying we should let it ride?” Mula asked.
“I’m saying don’t make an already-bad situation worse. Make no mistake, I’m pissed over what happened to Doug, but he’s trying to play a game that he has no business in. This time, he got lucky and escaped with only a broken arm. I guarantee you that there won’t be a next time, not on my watch. I hope what happened to him serves as a lesson to all of you boys. Focus on school and getting girls. Leave that bullshit on the streets alone.”
“Whatever,” Ace said offhandedly.
“I’m serious. If you’ve got it in your minds to go out and do something foolish, I can’t stop you, but don’t do it in the name of my son. All that’s going to do is keep this cycle of bullshit going, and I won’t have that on me, or my family,” Mr. Hightower said seriously.
Mr. Hightower was laying some heavy game on them, but it went in one ear and out the other. He was a square. Who was he to tell them what time it was? Mr. Hightower could tell from the disinterested looks on their faces that he wasn’t getting through to them. He had been in their position before . . . young and out to prove himself. He understood that the code they followed wouldn’t allow them to let the situation rest, but never let it be said that he hadn’t tried.
The elevator arrived, rescuing the boys from the rest of Mr. Hightower’s speech. They all piled on, anxious to get away from the preaching adult. As the doors were closing, Mr. Hightower said something that Jonas would carry with him for a long time.
“Love and loyalty are two sides of the same coin. Both will get you killed, but only one is worth dying for. Choose wisely.”
* * *
“This shit is all fucked up,” Jonas said once they were outside.
“I say we get the strap and run up in these niggas’ hood on some Rambo shit.” Mula was ready to get to it. “We find out who was behind this, hit them, and get out.”
“Or get trapped off and killed in the process,” Ace said. He wanted to get back at the dudes who had jumped Doug just as badly as any of them, but knew they had to be smart about it. “We gotta plan this one.”
“Maybe if we can’t go in and get them, we can lure them out,” Prince suggested.
“With what? Another phone to steal?” Mula asked sarcastically.
“Nah, I got something better. What’s the one thing no young, thirsty nigga can resist?” Prince asked. Seeing that they weren’t catching on, he answered his own question. “Pussy. We put a bitch on the ring leader and let her set him up.”
“You think Alex will help us? Shorty is fine as hell,” Mula said. He had been checking Alex out heavy when they were at the house.
“Fuck no, we ain’t using Alex!” Jonas said a little more defensively than he intended to. This drew questioning looks from his friends. “I figure with all that’s going on, her parents will probably have her on lockdown,” he offered in the way of an explanation. It was weak, but it was all he had.
“Raf is right,” Ace agreed. “Alex is no good, but I like the angle. We need to find a chick we can trust, but who?”
Jonas thought about it for a while, and then it hit him. “I’ve got somebody in mind.”
Chapter Eight
The next two weeks were spent plotting what the crew affectionately called “Doug’s Revenge.” Initially, they were going to try to pick off everybody involved with Doug’s assault one by one, but that would’ve taken time and resources they didn’t have to spare. After some debate, they had settled on catching the dude Doug had been supposed to be selling the phone to and give him the same treatment they had given Doug. Mula wanted to kill him, but Ace was able to talk him out of it. A simple beat-down would do.
Just as Jonas feared, Doug hadn’t been able to have too big of a hand in the revenge plot. His parents had him under constant surveillance. Mr. Hightower hadn’t been joking when he said that there wouldn’t be a second time on his watch. Things got so crazy that Prince had to stop selling weed with Ace to pick up the slack with the ring of crackhead boosters Doug worked with. Doug didn’t seem to mind too much because Prince always made sure to kick him a few dollars when he scored. After getting jumped, Doug’s heart hadn’t seemed to be much in the game anyhow. Getting beat within an inch of his life had changed him in a way that Jonas wouldn’t truly come to understand until he was older and more battle-worn. Ace and the others all felt when he started to pull away, but none of them judged him for it. Regardless of whether Doug was hustling, he was still one of them.
Though Doug might not have had been hands-on in the execution, he still proved instrumental in the planning. The first thing they needed to do was to get a line on Brian, the dude who had brought the sale to Doug in the first place. Doug was initially hesitant to give up Brian’s address because he still wasn’t convinced that his old assistant coach had been in on it, and he knew that Ace had ill intentions toward all parties involved. He didn’t want to carry the guilt of something happening to Brian unnecessarily. It took Ace giving his word that he wouldn’t let Mula toss Brian up before Doug relented. Even then,
he wouldn’t give up an address, but he did put in a phone call to Brian and arranged a meeting.
Within five minutes of talking to Brian, Jonas could tell that something wasn’t right with him. He was too . . . extra, for lack of a better word. Everything he did or said was an exaggeration, from the way his hands constantly moved when he spoke to the knockoff Gucci sneakers and fake chain he was sporting when they met up. Ace questioned him during the meeting, while Jonas hung back and observed. His story was pretty much the same as the one Doug had told them: dude wanted to buy the iPhone, and when Doug showed, they packed him out. He even showed them the bruise under his eye from where he got snuffed trying to help.
Brian gave a very convincing performance, but Jonas didn’t buy it. Something about his story was off. One thing that stood out was that for as much damage as they had done to Doug, they had to have been whipping on him for a while . . . but only hit Brian once? Something else was the fact that he still had his chain. Doug said that along with taking his money, they had snatched his chain. Why let Brian keep his? Granted, it was as fake as a three-dollar bill, but the robbers wouldn’t have known that. At least not right off. There was no doubt in his mind that Brian had been in on it somehow.
It didn’t take much convincing to incorporate Brian into their scheme. He was far too willing to help Ace and his crew get revenge against the dudes who had been behind the attack on Doug. He ran down their names, addresses, and known associates. If the boy hadn’t been so crooked, he could’ve had a promising career as a detective. There were five of them in total, mostly foot soldiers and dick riders who just saw an opportunity to catch wreck when they set it on Doug. They would get theirs in time, but their target was the one who had been behind it, a kid named Black.
According to Brian, Black ran a drug crew who lived on the Broadway side of the projects. He had made a little name for himself for having shot somebody a few summers before, and because of who his older cousin was. Black’s cousin was a dude who they called “Gentleman Jack,” because he was always wearing a smile, but Jack was a stone-cold killer. He was currently serving a light bid upstate, which was how Black ended up inheriting the drug operation. Brian suggested that the best time to get at him would be early in the morning since he was usually up and on the block. Ace agreed and told Brian he’d let him know when it was gonna go down so he could be on hand to collect his pound of flesh. As far as Brian knew, the plan was all set. He wouldn’t find out until much later that it had all been a lie. The real plan was a far more devious one, which Jonas would have to call in a favor to pull off.