Gangsta

by Foye, K'wan

  The drunken kids had sobered up when they heard the gun shots, and the females began to scream. Lou-loc turned his glock on them and purposely fired two shots over their heads. Some scattered and some hit the floor. Didn't really matter to Lou-loc, he just needed them distracted long enough for him to make his getaway. As he hauled ass down the block he fired four more rounds over his shoulder, that way, any would be witnesses would keep their noses to the ground.

  ***

  Lou-loc drove back to Manhattan just under the speed limit. No sense in getting pulled over, and fucking everything up. Before going back to his hotel, he stopped by the harbor to dump the pistols. He rubbed the guns down with a baby wipe, and tossed them into the water. He didn't care about the colt that was just for the job. It was the glock that hurt him. He'd gotten used to his "Chrome Misses," as he called it. Attached or not, the shit still wasn't worth going to jail for.

  When he reached his hotel room, he slipped back in the way he left. The hotel only had cameras in the lobby, so he didn't have to worry about his comings and goings being recorded.

  Once inside his room, he stripped naked and got in the shower.

  He felt a little better after washing two day's worth of grit and gun powder off his skin. He lay naked across the hotel room bed and though about the turn his life had taken. Once the brim that ordered Gutter's hit was dealt with, his obligation to the set was fulfilled. He was through with Martina, so he could focus on Satin. He couldn't wait to call her, but it would keep till the morning. Lou-loc stretched out and fingered the small pistol under his pillow. Knowing that he was safe for the moment, he let sleep claim him.

  CHAPTER 16

  The weeks to come were chaos. The homeboys were putting in overtime. There had been sixteen murders reported, and that's just the ones the police knew about. The bloods fought back, but were swarmed as homeys flooded in from the west coast. A lot of people owed Lou-loc favors, and he was calling them in.

  Everything was working out just as Lou-loc had planned. He even filled six more contracts for the Al Mukalla. He hadn't intended on coming out of retirement, but Anwar was a good tipper. Lou-loc figured he might as well stack as much paper as he could before he stepped out of the life. The truth of the matter was, the thrill of the kill was sweet to him.

  On a different note, Satin, and Lou-loc were getting closer.

  They were always going here and there, from museums to operas. Satin was putting Lou-loc on to a different side of life.

  One where he didn't need to hurt people, or have people trying to hurt him. It was different for him going to these places, but it was nice.

  Lou-loc and Satin were like kids falling in love for the first time. In truth, they were. Neither had ever had someone they could totally give themselves to until they met each other. To fall in love was a beautiful thing, and they were diving in head first.

  ***

  Lou-loc and Satin strolled down the boardwalk in Coney Island, and let the sun beam down on their faces. He pulled Satin to

  him and kissed her eyelids. They had been seeing each other for over a month now, and it was the happiest six weeks of both their lives. He stared down at her smiling face, and wondered why God hadn't put them together sooner?

  "Satin," he said softly, "can I say something, and you won't think I'm being corny?"

  "Yea," she said wrapping her arm around his, "what's that?"

  "Until I met you, I thought love at first sight was just a phrase. It might sound crazy, but I think I loved you from the first time I saw you."

  "Don't say things like that."

  "Nah, I'm serious. I been hurting inside for a long time.

  Maybe ever since I lost my dad. When I met you, it's like the pain just faded. You feel me?" Satin nodded her head and walked up a little. Lou-loc caught up with her, and turned her around to face him. The tears on her cheeks sparkled like diamonds in the afternoon sun. Even crying, she was still beautiful to him.

  "It's okay," he whispered as he kissed the tears away, "we got each other now."

  "You make me feel so special." She said in between sobs. "I don't want this feeling to ever end. Promise me?"

  "Baby, you know I'm here for you. How long, depends on you, but I ain't got no plans to go no where." There a loud clapping interrupted little moment of tender-ness. Lou-loc spun around, and was surprised to see the same young kid he'd almost killed in front of Satin's building. He was dressed in all red, and so were the two boys with him.

  "Bravo," Jesus said stepping forward, "what a touching display. I thought I was gonna cry."

  "Fuck you want, lil nigga?" Lou-loc snapped. "I gave yo ass a pass one time, but don't push you're luck."

  "You got a lot to answer for, crab." Jesus said. "A lot of good soldiers died cause of you."

  "Fuck you and yo bitch ass," Lou-loc snapped. "I could give less than a fuck if all you dead rag niggaz curl the fuck up and die. When y'all give up who gave the order on my boy, it all stops. Other than that, suck my dick." Lou-loc grabbed a handful of his crotch for emphasis.

  Jesus went for his gun, but Lou-loc was quicker. With a flick of his wrist, a P-89 appeared in his hand. As he began to apply pressure on the trigger, the unexpected happened. Satin jumped in between them.

  "Satin, what the fuck are you doing?" Lou-loc asked in disbelief.

  "Oh, you didn't know?" Jesus asked putting his gun away. "I know Satin told you, Louie?"

  "Told me what?" Lou-loc asked turning his cold glare on Satin. "You know this chump?"

  "She should," Jesus said with a grin, "we dropped out of the same pussy. So I guess that makes you my brother-in- law? Yea, me you and El Diablo. Brothers" When Satin looked at Lou-loc, she saw the hurt in his eyes.

  She intended to tell Lou-loc, but just never got around to it. The last thing she wanted was for him to find out like this.

  "Lou-loc," she said with tear filled eyes, "let me explain."

  "You ain't got to explain nothing to me. I understand. Shit, talk about me hurting you?"

  "Don't take it like that." she said reaching for his arm. Lou-loc recoiled like she had a snake in her hand. His love for this woman was quickly replaced by hate and betrayal. He knew if he didn't leave, someone was going to die.

  As Lou-loc turned to walk away, and Jesus left him with a parting thought. "If it'll make you feel any better, those were my home boys that put the heat to ya man." The temperature of Lou-loc's blood shot up about degrees. He tried to control his anger because he didn't want Satin to get caught in the crossfire. Even though the bitch had just crossed him, he couldn't bring himself to hate her.

  Something in the back of his mind told him that there was more to the story. The type of feelings he and Satin shared couldn't be faked.

  All that would have to wait for later. The problem he was having now was what to do about the three brims trying to clown him and his comrade? He was out numbered, and he already knew that at least one of them was strapped. Lou-loc felt his anger and hurt welling with every step he took. Lou-loc slowed his steps and exhaled "fuck it." Lou-loc had been eyeballing a lead pipe sticking out of a trash can. With one hand, he slid his gun into his palm, with the other, he grabbed the pipe and made his move. The three men were still dying laughing when Lou-loc came bull-charging their way. Jesus caught it first.

  The lead pipe whistled through the air and made a horrible crunching sound against his jaw. Jesus was out on his feet leaving just his partners.

  The first homey was reaching under his shirt, but Lou-loc was on him too. He cocked his arm back like a baseball pitcher and sent the bar sailing over in the homeboy's direction. The homey had the 380 halfway out of his pants when the pipe struck the pistol. The hammer jumped and blew a hole in the first homeboy's leg. He wretched in pain and dropped to the ground.

  Before he could gather his wits, Lou-loc was on him again.

  He began to rain kicks and whacks from the butt of his gun on the Homeys head. It wasn't even a contest.

&nb
sp; When the second homey made a move to flee, he heard the sound of Lou-loc's hammer cock back.

  "Go head, mark," Lou-loc said inching closer. "You wanna be a track star? Nigga, you think you can outrun a bullet? I'll take that bet all day."

  "Lou-loc, please!" Satin pleaded. "Don't throw your life away by killing him. Just come with me so I can explain?"

  "Bitch," Lou-loc snarled, "you ain't really in no position to make a request. I might just have an extra one in here for you.

  You crossed me, Satin. You crossed me." Satin looked out at Lou-loc standing there holding his pistol.

  Their eyes sharing the same hurt. Any other woman would've been shocked and terrified by the sight of their man about to take a life, but she wasn't. She loved him more for it. To her, that meant he was a man of respect.

  Respect for himself and those he held dear. This was a man who would kill for the sake of his family.

  "You know what, Satin," Lou-loc said easing his finger off the trigger, "I'm gonna let you run your story down to me. I'm probably one of the biggest fools on God's green earth, but I wanna hear it. But I want the truth from you. I ain't in my right frame of mind right now, so if you try to put shit on the game," he paused for a moment, and looked at his gun, "I ain't sure what I'm capable of."

  She cautiously move toward Lou-loc. She wasn't worried about him shooting her, but she didn't want to jar him into shooting the homey. "The truth," she whispered, "good or bad, right or wrong. The truth."

  "Hold on." Lou-loc said walking toward the second homey.

  He leaned over so only him and the homey could hear what was being said. "It's a wrap for LC, cuz. A death sentence on the whole set for touching my peoples. You better find a new set to claim, cuz. LC bout to take a nap. If you ain't sleepy, get gone.

  Pass that along for me, cuz." The second homey nodded dumb-ly and trotted off.

  Lou-loc stooped down over Jesus. "Player," he sang, "wake up, gangsta." Lou-loc slapped Jesus viciously until he began to stir. "Glad to see you still with us. Listen, pimp, I know you can't talk wit ya jaw all fucked up, and shit. I really don't need you to talk though, I just need you to listen. Harlem still holdin' sway uptown. The only reason you'll still be able to eat soup in a few days is because I love your sister.

  Lou-loc dusted himself off and walked to join Satin.

  "Truth," he whispered to her, "good or bad, right or wrong.

  Truth. Let's get up outta here. Them people gonna be here soon." Satin reached out to take Lou-loc's hand but he pulled away.

  She got the hint, so they made their hurried steps up the boardwalk in silence.

  Jesus lay on the ground throbbing in pain. He looked at the two lovers and wondered if he'd made a mistake by provoking this humble man. Satin looked happy with Lou-loc.

  He was from a rival set, but he made his big sister happy.

  Could he be that bad? Jesus didn't have a chance to answer his own question, as unconsciousness dragged him under.

  ***

  In a different borough, several people dressed in red, sipping Remy, sat huddled around a table. These people represented the leaders of blood sets throughout the five boroughs. Each dangerous in his or her own right.

  The man who sat at the head of the table was known on the streets as "The hawk." He was named so because of his striking resemblance to the winged predator. Hawk wasn't a large man,

  but was well built. His muscles were visible through his red sweat suit as he scratched his angular jaw. Hawk was a brown skinned man, who stood at maybe 5'10" on a good day. His black eyes seemed to look everywhere at once, making him look like he was always scheming. In all truthfulness, he was.

  Hawk stood up, slicking down his wavy hair, and addressed the crowd. "I would like to thank you all for coming," he said making sure he made direct eye contact with every member of the council, "before we conduct our business here, I would like to welcome home one of our most out spoken brothers, El Diablo."

  "Thank you." El Diablo said receiving applause from the crowd. El Diablo was draped in a black suit with a blood red tie, and shirt. "It's good to be home."

  "Yeah, what ever. Hawk, why we here?" That was Ruby. She was the only female set leader respected enough to attend the meeting. Ruby was a petite and attractive women. Her skin was the color of autumn leaves with eyes to match. Her hair was dyed blood red, and braided into fish bones. Although Ruby was beautiful, she was vicious and feared for her violent temper. In her ten years of being a Blood, she had been tried for murder seven times, and beat every case. Though she was never convict-ed, there was no doubt in anyone's mind as to her guilt.

  "Always the outspoken one huh, Ruby?" Hawk said not making an attempt to hide his irritation. "Well, being that you asked so nicely, I might as well get to it. I'm sure no one here has missed out on the latest turn of events concerning the Harlem Crips?"

  "Missed out? Shit they dropped five of my boys, and that was just last week." This speaker was called 'Bullet.' He was the wiry leader of the hells kitchen bloods. He was quick to shoot off his mouth as well as his gun.

  "We've all been having the same problem." Hawk assured him. "All of our respectable sets have taken on casualties. Until now, we haven't generally been bothered by the smaller crew.

  They have their

  piece of the apple, and we ours. For some reason they've gotten agitated over something, and have taken to wholesale murder?"

  "So fucking what." Ruby snapped. "Let's just hit them back?"

  "We've tried that." Hawk said. "It seems like for every one of their troops we kill, they take two of ours. My people uptown can't even get money. Every time we open up shop, somebody in blue comes by shooting.

  "The feds are all over everything, making life uncomfortable for our crews. I, as well as our friends out west, would like to put an end to this as quickly as possible. All this attention from the law isn't good for either side. Now we'd like to have a sit down, but it seems like they don't want to talk.

  "I know their leader, Gutter. He's not an unreasonable man, but it seems like he's no longer pulling the strings. I'm told that he met with an accident a few weeks ago. I'm not the smartest man in the world, but I'm starting to put two and two together.

  Would some one care to fill in the blanks?"

  "Oh, I'll fill in the blanks" Bullet said sarcastically. "It's that fuckin' nut job, Lou-loc. He's running the show now. Seems one of our brothers ordered the hit on Gutter. When Lou-loc caught wind of what went down, he flipped. Said niggaz is gonna keep dying unless we cough up who it was. Now I ain't no punk or no shit, but that kid ain't got no respect for life, something's gotta be done."

  "Fuck, Lou-loc," Cisco spoke up for the first time, "he's a fuckin' man like most of you claim to be, but you're acting like he's God. He can die too."

  "Big talk from the Latin Infection." Ruby quipped. "Them two been a pain in your ass since they came out here from Cali.

  All that shit you popping, and he still ain't dead."

  "Who the fuck do you think ordered the hit on Gutter?" Cisco said with a smile.

  "And you fucked that up." Ruby shot back.

  "I met Lou-loc back when they signed the treaty." Hawk added. "He's an efficient killer, true, but he's not a violent man.

  Even though we were both two little bad asses from opposite sides of the track, he still treated me with courtesy. He was provoked, and that's what opened this faucet of blood. Now the question is, how do we shut it off?"

  "Fuck it," El Diablo started, "I say we pool our resources and put him down."

  "You crazier than a shit house rat." Said Bullet. "That boy is protected from on high. He get his props from both sides of the coin."

  "Bullet's got a point." Hawk added. "I made a few long distance phone calls to get the 411 on our friend Lou-loc. The word is, he and Gutter, are operating independently. The thugs he called in are putting in work out of love for him and Gutter, not their gang. This shit LC done started is personal."

&nbs
p; "What the fuck," El Diablo snapped, "he's ordered the assassinations of more than two dozen of our number, and we're supposed to not do anything? I say fuck that nigger."

  "Watch your mouth, spic." Bullet mumbled.

  "Gentlemen," Hawk interrupted, "slinging racial insults amongst each other isn't going to solve our problem. This mass killing is going to fuck us. We need to come up with a reasonable solution before the feds shut us all down."

  "I say we toss him Cisco or somebody." Ruby said. "They started this petty shit, fucking up all our flows. Let their assess roast in the fire."

  "Fuck you," Cisco hissed. "Fake ass Charlie Baltimore." "I say we stand our ground." said El Diablo. "Maybe we can see our way through this, without any taking too many more losses?"

  At El Diablo's change of attitude, Cisco began to chuckle.

  Soon the chuckling became laughter. "I would expect you to take such an attitude about all this, El Diablo. Being that your own sister is sleeping with the enemy." El Diablo's eyes widened in shock as did the rest of the council's. "What did you say?" El Diablo snarled.

  "Please forgive me for bringing it up at such a venue," Cisco said sarcastically, "I wanted to wait until I was sure before I brought it up. Lou-loc has taken quite an interest in little Satin."

  "Why do you mock me at a time like this, Cisco. This is not the time or the place for rumors."

  "I assure you, Michael, it's all true. If you don't believe me ask Jesus."

  El Diablo collapsed in his chair as if all the strength was drained from his body. Never in his life would he have even considered his sister to go over to the other side. She wasn't gang affiliated, but she knew who her peoples were, and she was loyal to her family.

  "Well, whadda ya know?" Ruby said grinning. "Hey, Mikey, you got blue in your blood?"

  "Now, now," Cisco said standing, "it isn't his fault. He had no idea that his sister was seeing Lou-loc. This, however, has brought me to our solution. A friend of a friend has provided me with the means to get at mister untouchable. Lou-loc is a dead man."