‘So what’s this about?’ shouted Ray.
‘You are under arrest for conspiracy to murder,’ said an officer who was just entering the shop. It was D.S. Horne, the officer who did all the questioning when the stabbing happened outside the Rex.
‘Yeah,’ said Ray, ‘I suppose you want us to help you with your enquiries.’
‘That’s right,’ said the officer holding him.
‘So you want us to beat ourselves up?’ shouted Prem.
‘This is no time for joking,’ said D.S. Horne, who seemed to be the one in control of the raid. ‘You are all being arrested for conspiring to murder Alton Benn last night in the West End. We don’t know who pulled the trigger, but you can be sure that we will find out.’
Each of the Positive Negatives crew had two officers holding their arms. Ray began complaining. ‘Hey, careful how you touch me you know. I don’t like when people rough me up, I ain’t done nothing to you, so just ease up.’
‘This is stupid, you lot must be desperate. You know that we didn’t have anything to do with last night,’ Prem said, staring wildly at the officers.
‘I’m not having a conversation here. We’re all going back to the station and we’ll deal with it there,’ said D.S. Horne.
Ray began to struggle, twisting from side to side, trying to get away from the officers. ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he shouted. ‘This is rubbish, we’re the victims.’ Ray struggled more as the police began to head out to the vans that were waiting outside.
‘Just be cool,’ said Marga Man.
‘If we’re any cooler, they’ll kill us,’ said Prem.
‘Don’t say nothing to dem,’ said Marga Man. ‘Refuse to answer all questions until you get legal people, and leave dat to me.’
In the station their mobile phones, money and other personal effects were taken from them. They all refused to answer any questions but demanded their right to a phone call. Marga Man rang Skelly at Deaf Defying Records and arranged for some legal support.
The boys waited for an hour until a solicitor from the record company arrived. By now everyone was being held in separate rooms, so he went and introduced himself to each of them and instructed the boys not to say anything until at least one parent was present.
The solicitor sat in as Marga Man was being questioned. But it didn’t take long for the police to establish that he had a strong alibi, and that Marga Man was not interested in any east versus west war. Just as it looked like Marga Man’s interview was about to end, D.S. Horne rested back on his chair and tried to act reasonable.
‘Look, we know that neither you nor your lads were at the club last night, we know that none of you pulled the trigger. But anyone can see that there’s some kind of gang warfare going on here and somehow it does involve your boys and the Western Alliance. There’s no murder charge coming your way, but you must know some of the East Enders that were out in the West End last night. We just need a few names to go on. Look, you’re a mature guy. The kid that got shot last night was just a teenager, just a kid. It could have been your son.’
‘Marga Man rested back in his chair. ‘Listen, Mr Policeman, I don’t know anyting about anyting. Last night de only place I went out to was de cash point, and I’m sure you have dat on film somewhere. Then I went home, ordered some food in, I’m sure you also have dat recorded on film, and then I spent the evening in wid me woman. And it wouldn’t surprise me if you have dat recorded too.’
‘So where were the boys?’
‘Well, you will have to ask them dat.’
‘I advise that you do not answer that question,’ said the solicitor. He turned to the questioning officer. ‘My client will only answer questions that are relevant to him. I suggest that you address questions about others’ whereabouts to the persons concerned.’
The questioning ended abruptly. The police knew that Marga Man was telling the truth and so it wasn’t long before the police gathered them all into a room to announce that they were to be released. No charges were to be made, no cautions were to be given. The solicitor oversaw their release, but after all the papers were signed, a policewoman who had been looking out of the window turned to the solicitor and said, ‘You can use the back door to leave if you like.’
‘Is there a problem?’ said the solicitor.
‘Well, yes,’ said the officer. ‘It looks like there’s a few press reporters waiting for you.’
The boys all went over to the windows to see the reporters waiting around. When the solicitor saw them he said, ‘Yes, I think that would be wise.’
‘No,’ said Ray. ‘We haven’t done anything wrong, we have nothing to hide. I say we go out of the front door and we go about our business. What do you guys say?’ he asked the others.
They all nodded in agreement. And so they planned to walk the short distance to the music shop with the solicitor, where they were to continue the meeting that had been disturbed earlier that morning. Once they had received their possessions they left via the front door. As soon as they stepped out, cameras started flashing. The solicitor and Marga Man pushed a path through the reporters and photographers. The boys held their heads high but said nothing as the press shouted.
‘Pro Justice, this way.’
‘X-Ray-X, this way.’
‘What do you think about the death of Alton? Do you think that there is a war between east London gangs and west London gangs?’
‘Don’t you think that you’re being bad role models?’
But they all stayed silent and headed towards the shop. As they walked down West Ham Lane, the press followed them. Camera operators with sound recorders connected to them jostled with photographers and journalists. Soon there were members of the public and fans. When they reached the shop, they could not believe their eyes. Not only were the front and back doors still open from the raid, but the shop had been looted. As Ray raced around the shop to see what had been stolen, Marga Man, Tyrone and Prem just looked around at the wrecked shop, and the solicitor asked the press to ‘stand back and have some respect.’ Then he began to take notes.
‘This is the police’s fault,’ shouted Ray. ‘If it wasn’t for them, this wouldn’t have happened. They wouldn’t even let us lock up.’
‘They gotta pay for this,’ said Prem to the solicitor.
‘Is there any money missing?’ said the solicitor as he examined the door.
‘No,’ replied Marga Man. ‘None at all. Dis morning when they came we were having a meeting, I do no business today. But look at de shop man, look at all dis damage, just look at dis.’
‘Well, Mr Jolly,’ said the solicitor to Marga Man, ‘I can’t say for certain, but it looks to me that you may be able to claim damages or some form of compensation from the police for this. If they did not allow you to lock the premises, then I think that you will have a strong case.’
‘What do we do now?’ asked Marga Man.
‘Call the police,’ said the solicitor. ‘The crime has to be reported.’
Marga Man shook his head.
‘I know,’ said the solicitor. ‘Very ironic, but it has to be done. The crime has to be reported before any action can be taken.’
Marga Man phoned the police and reported the matter, and then he called the security service and requested a couple of heavies. But outside the press were becoming impatient. The solicitor went to the door and requested that they go away.
‘As you can see, the members of the group have a lot to deal with right now,’ he said. ‘They would really appreciate it if you could leave them alone for a while until they are ready to speak to the press.’
‘Can’t we talk to them now?’ shouted one of the reporters.
‘I’m sorry, that’s just not possible,’ replied the solicitor.
But then Marga Man interrupted. ‘No, let dem come in. Let dem see what happened here, yes man, take photos, photographic evidence.’
‘Yeah,’ said Ray. ‘Let them come and see what happens when you get arrested without reas
on. One morning in the police station equals years of a man’s hard work down the drain.’
‘OK,’ said the solicitor. ‘Ten minutes for photos, but no questions, and please take care not to move anything or touch anything.’
The reporters entered, photographing and filming everything in sight. Although they still tried to question the boys, the band replied to none of their questions. They simply lined up with Marga Man like suspected criminals on an identification parade and allowed themselves to be photographed. After ten minutes the solicitor began to get the press out, but they all wanted their last photos or to try to tease words from the band members.
Once the two bodyguards turned up, however, it didn’t take long for the shop to empty, and when the police arrived all they did was look around for five minutes, issue Marga Man with a reference number, and promise they would make enquiries. Soon after the police left, the locksmiths turned up to secure the property and then everybody got into taxis and went to the studio.
The boys filled Bunny in on what had been happening and then they talked for hours. Their biggest worries were their relationships with their public and their parents. Tyrone rang home explaining as much as he could, and Prem did the same. Ray didn’t.
When Ray was taken home he went straight to the kitchen, helped himself to some cold rice and fish, and then went to his room. He spoke to nobody. He was sitting quietly in his room thinking about all that was happening, when there was a knock on the door.
‘Ray, it’s me, Kori. Can I come in?’
‘Come.’
Kori entered the room, closed the door behind her and slid down it until she was sitting on the floor. ‘Ray, what’s going on?’
‘I don’t know,’ said Ray.
Ray’s head was bowed, his voice was quiet. Kori could see that he really didn’t know what was going on.
‘It looks like when you get a bit of success all these things come to test you,’ Ray continued, head still low. ‘One of our fans gets stabbed, we get threatening phone calls, we get arrested for murder, and the music shop gets robbed.’
‘Maybe it’s time to drop the band,’ said Kori.
‘It’s all we have. If we drop the band what else do we do? We worked hard for this.’
‘Yeah, I know, but look at all the trouble it’s causing.’
‘We’ve only just started, things have got to get better.’
‘And what if this east versus west thing gets bigger? The Western Alliance were on TV today saying you guys are their sworn enemies. What if it just gets worse and worse?’
‘We’re here for the hip-hop, we’re here because we love what we do, but if the Western Alliance come we can’t back down, we can’t run away.’
‘Is this one of those boys to men things?’
‘No, Kori, this is a self-defence thing, this is a self-protection thing.’
‘All I know is, right now it doesn’t look good and it doesn’t feel good, so just take it easy, try to make it good,’ said Kori, standing up.
‘I’m working on it,’ said Ray, taking a deep breath.
Kori left the room and Ray sat still. He raised his head, breathing steadily and slowly as if in a state of meditation, looking straight ahead, hardly blinking, staring at a CD that was next to the player. Then he went over to put the CD on. It was his favourite album of all time, ‘Collective Security’. He fell asleep listening to it.
Chapter 14
Newstalk South East
‘The controversial rap group Positive Negatives have been making the headlines again. Yesterday the three band members and their manager were arrested in connection with the murder of Alton Benn. Alton Benn was a young black man who is believed to be the latest victim of a gang war that is taking place between east and west London gangs.
‘Many believe that the animosity between the gangs was started by Positive Negatives and another rap band from west London, the Western Alliance. No representatives from either of the groups were willing to speak to us, but on the streets of Hammersmith this morning many of the Western Alliance fans were calling for revenge.
‘After being held for three hours the Positive Negatives members were released without charge, but when they returned to their base, a music shop on West Ham Lane, which, coincidentally, is just across the road from the police station, they found that it had been robbed.
‘This morning the group’s record company, Deaf Defying Records, issued a statement, part of which claimed that “Positive Negatives were wrongly arrested and the robbery of the music shop happened as a consequence of the manner in which the raid was executed. The band are at present considering all the options open to them – this includes taking legal action against the Metropolitan Police”.
‘We did contact the police, but they refused to comment.’
Chapter 15
Graduation Ceremonies
‘Look at that,’ said Ray’s father as he turned away from the TV, putting on his coat. ‘Every time I hear about your band it has nothing to do with music. Someone even asked me at work if my son is a controversial rapper, as if controversial is a style of music.’
Ray was tucking into his breakfast cereal and watching the weather forecast. ‘That’s their business. People can call us what they like, we just deal in music.’
‘OK, you should know what you are doing,’ his father said as he left the house.
‘He’s got a point,’ said Ray’s mother, who was rushing around the living room and kitchen preparing for work.
‘I know,’ said Ray. ‘But we can’t control what those media people say.’
‘I’m off,’ said Kori as she left the house.
Ray’s mother slowed down. She picked up the remote control and turned the volume of the television down. ‘Ray, this is too serious, and I’m worried. Fights at your concerts, people getting killed, police, solicitors, threatening phone calls.’
‘What threatening phone calls?’ asked Ray. ‘Are you getting threatening phone calls too?’
‘I’ve had about three, on the house phone. Your father doesn’t know. I don’t know what he would do if he did.’
‘What did they say?’
‘Well, they don’t say much, just nasty things. The other day one said “Not long left”, and yesterday one said I must “say goodbye to my son”. How do you think that makes me feel? This is not like school fights, this is not a scrap in the park. I don’t know if I can take it. I’m not sleeping well.’
Ray wanted to answer his mother, but his mobile phone rang.
‘Is I, Marga Man.’
‘What’s happening?’
‘Hey, what are yu doing today?’
‘Me and the boys are going to the Positivity Centre, progress meeting, kind of thing.’
‘Dat’s cool, I’ll call yu back.’
Ray ended the call and picked up the conversation with his mother. ‘Mum, I know what it feels like. I don’t want fights at our concerts, I don’t want people to get killed, but this is not something that we’re doing. We’re getting threatening phone calls too, so I know what it’s like, but what do you want us to do?’
‘Just stop all this rap music business. Do something else, and just rap as a hobby,’ his mother said abruptly.
Ray responded just as quickly. ‘Come on Mum, stop sounding like Dad. You know that’s not happening so don’t go there.’ After a short silence Ray tried to reassure his mother. ‘Don’t worry Mum, we’ll sort it out, I promise you.’
A few minutes later Marga Man rang back. He had arranged to be in on the meeting at the centre. Ray’s mother left for work and an hour later Marga Man knocked on the front door. Prem was already in the car.
‘Where’s Tyrone?’ asked Ray.
‘He said he’s tired, he had a late night out celebrating his birthday with a friend. He’s making his own way over,’ said Marga Man.
Ray looked towards Prem and then back to Marga Man. ‘Celebrating his birthday, since when has he started celebrating birthdays? And
why weren’t we invited?’
‘Dat’s not important,’ said Marga Man. ‘Hurry up, let’s go.’
When they arrived at Positivity, Skelly was just locking his car. Tyrone was already inside; as they entered, Sam greeted them and introduced herself to those who she didn’t know.
‘Hello, my name is Samina Mirza, but that doesn’t matter because everybody calls me Sam.’
‘Hi, I’m Skelly from Deaf Defying Records.’
‘Oh yes, we spoke on the phone,’ said Sam, shaking Skelly’s hand.
‘And I’m Marga Man.’
‘Oh yes,’ she said, smiling broadly, ‘I’ve heard so much about you. It’s about time we met.’
‘Yeah, well I pleased to meet you too,’ said Marga Man.
They sat in a circle in a private room. Sam initiated the proceedings.
‘When I heard that there was going to be an opportunity to get you all here this morning, I thought it would be a great idea. I was going to have a meeting with the boys anyway before we write our report for the school, but I think with all that is happening now we should also think a little about the bigger picture. So if it’s OK with you, I’d like to just talk about the progress so far and then I think it would be great if we could just talk about the band. Is that OK?’
Everyone nodded yes, so Sam continued.
‘Well as far as we’re concerned, here at Positivity you have been a great success. I know the music thing has been good, but even the work that you’ve been doing in the classroom has been good. We are proud of you. There’s only a month to go now before you leave here, and as I understand it you will be leaving school to pursue your careers in music, so we wish you all the best. When you first came here, the word was that you guys would be really difficult and out of control, but you proved that wrong. It goes without saying that the report that we will be giving to the school on the three of you will be very positive; full of positivity, you could say. So congratulations.’
Skelly, Sam and Marga Man clapped as the boys sat proud in their seats and nodded their heads saying, ‘I told you we could do it,’ without speaking.
Gangsta Rap Page 12