by Styles, T.
“Please don’t shoot!” one of them said with a red shirt on. “We was just gonna ask if ya’ll wanted us to go to the store or somethin’ for ya’ll.”
“What ya’ll want some money?” Blunt asked.
“Yeah. We wanted to buy somethin’ to eat.” The other in the blue shirt said.
Nyzon uneasy about the way they walked up on them felt better when he realized they were just kids trying to make a buck. They had over ninety grand on the ground so giving them some money wasn’t a problem.
“I’m good but here.” Nyzon said handing them fifty bucks.
“That’s all you givin’?” Cray asked giving them three hundred.
“Both of ya’ll niggas cheap!” Jinx said giving them a grand a piece.
It was no longer about the kids, it was about flossing. Still their faces lit up after they looked at all the cash they held in their hands.
“When I grow up, I’ma be just like yall.” The one in the red shirt said to Nyzon and Cray.
That moment meant more to Cray and Nyzon than anyone realized. When they were their ages they wanted to be like the dealers around their way. Now they were bigger. Larger than life. And they were just getting started.
“Are ya’ll a gang or something?”
“Yeah, we’re The Kings of 295.” Cray said. It was the first time they all heard the name, but it wouldn’t be the last.
In a parked car a block down
“There they go.” Grimy Mike said to Monty, the dude he was going to have kill Cray. “Givin’ away money and shit. Punk mothafuckas!”
Ever since they took over, they were making it hard for them to sell on the same blocks they had been for years. They felt Cray’s business skills were trash.
“Which one you want me to get?” he asked as he put several bullets in his gun.
“The curly head bitch in the red Braves cap.” Grimy said referring to Cray. He wanted him dead so bad he was shaking.
“If you can get all of them that’ll be better.” J-Swizz said as he sat quietly in the car.
He was the first person cut when The Kings took over. He had to resort to sticking up people just to make a living and was tired of it. He wanted his blocks back.
“A’ight.” Monty said getting out the car. “Watch a pro and learn.”
They wanted Monty to do the killing because he was extra thin and could fake a crackhead better than anybody they knew. So when he approached the Kings, nobody thought much of it at first.
“Ya’ll got anything on you?” Monty asked doing the Crackhead Shuffle.
“Get the fuck away from here!” Blunt yelled.
“I just need a fix.” He continued.
“Man, he said give the fuck out of here!” Cray yelled louder.
Nyzon stood up and took notice. There was something about him he didn’t like, and then he saw it. The moment Monty turned around to walk the other way, Cray and the rest of them returned their focus to their crap game. And when they did, Monty turned back around and aimed at Cray’s head. Nyzon spotting him whipped out his weapon and hit Monty in the chest. The bullet pierced his heart.
“Oh shit!!!” Cray yelled realizing he was almost dead. He was touching his body to see if he’d been shot.
Monty’s body dropped as the rest of them went for their heat while looking around to see if anybody else was coming for them. It was the second time Nyzon put a body on his gun. The fact that he killed for Cray proved he was down for him and that whatever beef they had was more than over. And Cray indebted to him.
When the body drop Cray looked at Nyzon. “How you know he wasn’t legit?” Cray asked.
“Look at his shoes? They too fresh! Don’t know Crackhead where no shoes like that.”
They all peeped the new white Air Force Ones and said, “Damn!”
Jason
West Baltimore
In Too Deep
It was a beautiful day and the sun shined against the water making it look like liquid crystals at the Baltimore Inner Harbor. Jason stood the moment he saw Markise walking toward him.
“What’s up man? I missed work to come out here.” They both sat on the bench. “So this betta be good.”
“Aye, yo, I ‘precciate you comin’ to,” he said giving him dap. “But I ain’t have nobody else to talk to about this.”
Jason saw Markise eyeing him. Jason wasn’t wearing racks of gold chain like he use to five months earlier. He was finally growing up and Markise wasn’t use to seeing him like that.
“What’s up?” Markise asked seeing him on edge.
“Cray run Bmore. Basically he got wit some DC niggas and we takin’ ova. They callin’ us The Kings of 295. We got the 295 parkway from Bmore to DC locked down!” he got excited just saying it. “’Kise, I ain’t neva seen dough like we gettin’ now. We spend money, just to get rid of it. And wit all the cash we stackin’, Cray still don’t respect me.”
“Did you think that would change, Jason? You know how that nigga is. His peeps got him fucked up. Why you think I cut his ass off? When that nigga did that shit over Blunt’s crib I was heated for weeks, but I already know he gonna get his in the end.”
“You act like you don’t love the man no more. We still family.”
“Fuck that shit, Jason. He ain’t the same. I’m not the same.”
Silence.
“So how you play into all this?” Markise continued.
“Well Cray needed to find out where all the major blocks were. Cause with the weight we got from NY, we needed access to D.C. and Bmore just to move it. So since nobody was gonna walk up to us and give us the info, he put me on J-Swizz’s bitch.”
“The white broad?”
“Yeah.”
“Hold up! So ya’ll took this nigga’s corners?”
Jason nodded.
“Well I know Melody not standin’ for that shit. So how much heat he bringin’?”
“You can’t bring heat if you dead.”
Silence.
“Don’t say nothin’ else to me about that shit, J. I ain’t feelin’ this shit already. So what you need from me, dude?”
“I need some advice cause I fucked up. I mean all I was supposed to do was get some info and play her ass close. And ‘Kise this bitch told me everything. She even went as far as to write where the blocks were for me in her own handwriting. She beefin’ with J-Swizz for some reason, so I guess she ain’t give a fuck no more. Everything was going fine until I deviated off the plan.”
Markise was listening but you could tell he was fucked up about Jason being involved in all of this. He felt he wasn’t strong enough to be involved in the game.
“This nigga’s out of his league.” Markise interrupted. “And I can’t believe you tied up in this shit eitha. So please tell me…how did you fuck up more than you already have?”
“Everything was going fine until the white girl Carolyn comes over one day and catches her co-worker Lisa leaving my house. She flipped! She started slashing my tires, banging out the windows to my car and everything. She started to put sugar in my tank but I ran out there and turned my gun on her ass and she ran off. I wanted to ring this bitch’s neck out but I couldn’t touch her. We needed her too much.”
“Let me guess, she thought ya’ll were exclusive?”
“Yeah….Cray’s gonna flip when he hear this shit. He already think I can’t hold my own and that he can’t trust me. And now this bitch been runnin’ around tellin’ anybody who’ll listen what happened. Now we already got the info we needed from her so for real, she’s disposable.”
“Don’t talk like that, Jason. I’m not tryin’ to hear that shit from you. Murder not your thang.”
“I’m just keepin’ it real. If word get back to Cray that I got wit Lisa before he got that block info, he gonna cut me off, yo. I just know it.”
“You got to tell him.” Markise said straight up. “That nigga is a time bomb waitin’ to explode. If you gonna play this game, you got to man up. Don’t forget about t
hat shit with Kris when we were kids. That nigga been murderin’ mothafuckas since before he was legal.”
“I know…I know. That’s why I’m coming to you.”
“All I can say is that you need to tell him. You don’t want somebody else doing it for you. They not going to care about ya’ll bein’ friends since E-School. They gonna tell him to get in good with him. And if that happens, it’s not gonna be a good look for you. Other than that, you’re on your own. Cray’s more dangerous now than ever before.”
“You right.”
“I really wish you wouldn’t fuck wit this shit, J. This not like you, man.”
“Yes it is. What else I’m gone do, ‘Kise? I been in these streets all my life. This all I know.”
They walked over to the ramp and looked at the water from the harbor. Jason didn’t go too close having been afraid of water all his life. Still, Baltimore city was a sexy ass city.
“I feel you. But somethin’ has to give, before it’s too late.” He said giving him a pound. “ Well…let me get back to work. Keep me posted.”
“Brothers for life?” Jason said extending his hand.
“For life.” Markise embraced his hand.
And when he opened it he saw that Jason had handed him a piece of paper.
“If anything ever happens to me, that piece of paper will tell you all you need to know.”
“Jason…I don’t want nothin’ to do with…,”
“Please, Kise. Just keep it. If I have to die, I want to die with people knowing the truth. Keep it, for me.”
Markise was silent before saying, “You got it, man. You got it.”
The Kings of 295
Baltimore
Bring The Pain
Everything Cray said came to pass. From getting more money than anybody ever dreamed of to the rebellion from certain niggas on the blocks. The Kings of 295, both the DC and Bmore families, sat assembled at a table in a private restaurant in Bowie, Maryland. They received great opposition from Grimy Mike and Charms from Bmore. And after the hit on their lives, they all knew they had no intentions of relinquishing blocks.
“So what you want us to do, man?” Jinx asked while the rest of the crew looked on. “The nigga is runnin’ around tellin’ mothafuckas he can’t be touched. And that it’s just a matter of time befo he come at us again.”
Cray looked at Nyzon for help. But the way they ran the operation was simple. Cray operated the Bmore business, and Nyzon held down D.C. Now trust, if either one of them needed help from the other, they were there no questions asked. These rules were established early on.
“You need help from the DC fam?” Nyzon offered.
“Naw. You know the rules. I got us.”
“If you need gun power we got it.” Royala offered, being a respected member in the crew. “But you know Bmore betta than we do. So it’s your call on how you want to carry it.”
Cray looked around the table and thought on the matter.
Finally he said, “We’ve given them enough options. It’s time to take what’s ours.” Cray responded simply.
“You got a plan?” Jinx asked.
“I always do.”
They sat at the table for an hour discussing a plan so vicious, that they were positive they’d be able to claim their blocks within a week.
Jinx
West Baltimore
Bout It
Jinx strolled out of his crib, jumped in his ride and parked it one mile from a Wal-Mart. He walked into the parking lot looking for another ride. When he glanced at his watch he saw it was ten minutes to 10:00 p.m. Slowly he scanned the surroundings for his prey.
It took him all of three seconds to find the appropriate victim.
Walking up to him swiftly, he stood behind him pressed his burner against the small of his back and said, “If you move I’ll kill you.”
“Don’t hurt me.” He said, his hands shaking in the air as Jinx rummaged through his pockets until he found his wallet and car keys. When he was done, he tucked them firmly into his own pocket.
“Now get on the ground and don’t move.”
“Yes…yes, sir! Just please don’t hurt me. You can take whatever you want.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Jinx yelled as he slammed the back door shut and jumped in the driver seat.
“Don’t take my car. My…”
“I said keep yo mothafuckin mouth closed!” he responded turning the ignition on.
He was just about to pull off when the old man jumped up, reached through the driver side window and held onto Jinx’s neck. Jinx couldn’t believe the old man was a fighter. His nails scrapped across his face, peeling the skin off under his fingernails. Usually they surrendered but this situation was different. Jinx was living up to his name already.
The man still had a hold of him until Jinx stole him twice in the face. He hit him so hard his teeth ripped into his flesh. Finally he dropped to the ground and out of view. What Jinx didn’t know was that his tie got caught onto the hinge of the truck, while he drug his body alongside the vehicle.
“Stop the truck!” people yelled as he barreled out of the parking lot. He was pulled fifty feet before he finally fell off.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” he yelled hitting the steering wheel.
He thought about ditching the truck to get another one but he didn’t have time. Cray gave specific orders and he had less than twenty minutes to drive back to the city, and follow through.
“Why the fuck did he grab me?! Why didn’t he just let me go?!”
He didn’t want to hurt anybody unless he had to because Jinx was more spiritual than most people knew. And he often battled with himself based on what he was doing in the streets, versus what he perceived to be right in God’s eyes. For him physical violence was a last resort.
He was still thinking about the man when he heard a baby crying in the back seat of the truck. He quickly adjusted the rearview mirror and saw a six-month old white baby strapped in a car seat as its arms and legs jerked fiercely.
He had to get rid of the truck! It was hotter than a stack of marked one hundred dollar bills. He knew every cop in the world would be trying to find his black ass and that white baby. He pulled the truck over a few miles from Wal-Mart, jumped out and saw a woman putting on her makeup at a stop light in a black Ford Taurus. Through her open window, he grabbed her by the hair, unlocked the door and through her to the concrete. She fell and rolled into the middle of the street, jumping out of the way minutes before the light turned green.
When he looked through the driver side mirror he saw her hands in the air like,’ What the fuck just happened?’ She still had her makeup brush in her hand and everything. Jinx put the peddle to the metal as he swung in and out of traffic. He had to get away from the scene as soon as possible before the cops started swarming. Things like this happened to him too many times and he knew timing was everything.
He was a few miles out when he saw a black Coach bag in the passenger seat of her car. He dug his hand inside and found a wallet, took out the thirty bucks and flung it to the floor.
When he dug a little deeper, he found a big bulky cell phone. The moment he powered it on he dialed 911. “Yeah…I’m the nigga that just jacked the dude’s car at Wal-Mart off Reisterstown road.”
“What’s your emergency?” the operator asked.
“Bitch, I said I just jacked a car. Now I ditched the car and kid two miles up the road. Send somebody to come get his lil ass.”
He through the phone out the window.
After dealing with the bullshit, it took him fifteen minutes to spot his targets off of Franklin Avenue in West Baltimore. He ditched the car, loaded his weapon and got out on foot about seven blocks away. Based on the info he was given from Cray, the stash house was recently re-stocked. If he was lucky, he’d score drugs and cash over $100,000. That would temporarily put them out of business.
Dipping in between two vacant row houses, he saw his target. When he checked his watch he saw it was 10:23
. And just like planned, when he looked up the block further past his target, he saw three cars flash their lights once. The Kings of 295 were there and ready to come through if need be. Based on their plan, and wanting to get in without being spotted, one sure shot nigga was plenty. Now he had to rely on his intuition to make things happen.
“Get me a chicken box and a large half and half.” James Factory said to one of his hoppers.
“Can I get somethin’ too?” the ten year old little boy asked taking the money from him.
“Not until you bring my shit back and I check to make sure everything is right. Now get the fuck out my face.” He said checking his surroundings and guarding the front door.
The little boy ran off to get the food and James Factory was left alone to man the outside of the house. The moment he turned to the left and saw a girl with an ass so fat, it put Buffy the Body’s to shame, he let his guards down. And when he did, Jinx moved up to him and cracked the back of his head with the barrel of his gun.
Clink!
“This can go easy or quick. Which way you want it?” Jinx kept the heat to his dome.
Blood from the wake up call he just gave him dripped down the back of his neck. Plus he was still salty at the attack on their lives the other night.
“Easy!” he said with an attitude, trying to play tough.
“My man!” Jinx said shoving him to the door as he looked around to be sure no one was coming behind him. “Now I already know the re-up is in there, so tell me how many mothafuckas on duty.”