A Good Day to Die

by James Hendricks

  At the dance, two girls wearing the same dress but different colors got into a fight over who looked better. The fight started and ended with them pulling at each other’s dress trying to rip it off of the other. A boy vomitted all over his date’s dress. Another was caught jacking off. A girl was letting several popular boys finger her. The crew enjoyed themselves throughout. It was an hour till the dance was over. Don started to push-up hard on Vanessa.

  “It’ll stay between us,” Don begged as they slow-drag.

  Vanessa liked Don and knew that if they were a couple she wouldn’t have to worry about money, since he was rolling in a tricked out 5.0.

  “I don’t know Don. Can we wait for another day?”

  The whole school knew that she wasn’t a virgin. Her ex-best friend had dished the dirt on the whole incident.

  “I can wait. But that doesn’t mean that I’ll wait. Just let me know because I can easily find somebody else.”

  “Tomorrow baby,” she whispered in his ear. Don’s smile widened.

  All the boys were still virgins but tonight Kay was prepared and his date was willing. Twon wasn’t prepared but his date didn’t care. Zoe was prepared but his date was still playing hard to get. He wasn’t worried because he had all the confidence in the world that he could break her. Jon and Lynette had heard all the talk about people getting it on this night. Jon eased Lynette’s fear.

  “The time’s not right,” he said kissing her on the cheek. The DJ announced last dance and the couples fled back to the floor.

  “They should be coming out any minute. Get in position and don’t fuck this up!” Cash said.

  Pee-Wee, Doug and Darnell got out of his Chevy Blazer. The four men ran to the positions and waited. The kids started to file out the school.

  “This is it.”

  The crew and their dates finally made it out of the school and into the parking lot, where they went straight to their cars and hit the alarms. They opened their doors and cranked their system drawing all attention to them. They then posted up by their own shit. After a minute had passed Don, Jon, Kay and Zoe turned their radios off and all of them went to Twon’s car. Thirty seconds later gunfire broke out. The students, teachers and parents hit the ground or ran for cover.

  Kay saw gunfire coming from three different directions. “Man, we surrounded.” He said reaching for his 32 and a 9mm.

  “We got to come up with something.”

  Jon peeked up above the car. “Let’s get our shit and bust back. Don’t waste y’all shells. Cover us, Kay.”

  Kay fired a couple times. The others made their way to get their burners.

  Jon had Lynette by the arm making sure that she stayed safe. Kay couldn’t believe what Twon was doing.

  “This nigga done bitched up,” Kay said watching Twon sitting on his knees praying. It appeared as if he was crying.

  “Nigga snap out of it. If you don’t pull yourself together you gone die. Get you shit and get ready.” Twon got his gun out of the car and started inhaling and exhaling very quickly.

  “I’m sorry I got you in this mess,” Jon said to Lynette as he pulled out two baby 9mms.

  “Apologize after you get us out of here,” Lynette said calmly.

  “Lay down in the back on the floor. I’ll be back.”

  “You better,” Lynette said crawling in the backseat.

  “I love you,” he said making his way back to Twon’s car.

  Jon was the last one back. Kay had his 9mm and 32, Twon had his 32, Jon had two 9mm’s, Zoe had two 38’s and Don had a 45 Desert Eagle and a Tech 22 with extended clips. Cash, Darnell and Pee-Wee kept shooting in the area the boys were at as they slowly advanced. Doug was no where to be seen or heard from because he had the AK.

  “What the fuck is they shooting?” Zoe wondered aloud.

  “Man we got to get the fuck up out of here,” Twon said still sounding shook.

  “We’ll never make it. Just let them get a little closer,” Don said.

  Pee-Wee and Darnell kept shooting their carbines while every time one of the boys would stick their heads up, Cash would fire his twin Glock 45s.

  “We got to spread out. We like sitting ducks,” Jon said.

  They split into two groups and made their way.

  “I got one coming into my view,” Zoe said ready to bust his gun.

  “Let ‘em get a little bit closer and when I give the signal we’ll shoot,” Kay said.

  “Ready,” Don said.

  “Let ‘em get a little closer,” Jon said.

  Pee-Wee and Darnell kept letting off shots as they approached.

  “Now!” Kay said letting loose his 9mm.

  “Fuck it!” Twon screamed letting off his two .38’s.

  Don and Jon heard the shots they looked at each other and jumped up letting their guns go. Darnell caught five from the Tec 22. Bullets ripped his chest open. The twins heard shots and started seeing leaves and branches fall around them.

  Don turned in the direction of the shots and emptied the rest of his clip.

  “I’m out!” He shouted to Jon who started letting his baby 9’s go until Don put in his other clip.

  Pee-Wee ran out of bullets and was busy changing the magazine to his carbine when Kay, Zoe and Twon popped out from behind the car and busted off in his direction. He was stunned and ended up dropping the magazine. On his knees, he was feeling for it. A bullet ripped through his right shoulder before he could reload.

  “Ah-h shit!” He cried in pain.

  Another bullet hit him in the left shoulder and he dropped the carbine and clumsily tried to put the magazine into the gun. He finally gave up and pulled out the Glock 9 that he had in his back. He looked up and saw three figures running at him. He slowly raised his gun and just as he was about to shoot, a bullet caught him straight in the middle of his head, killing him instantly.

  Meanwhile, the boys had made their way to Darnell and was now standing over him kicking Darnell as he lay unconscious.

  “What the fuck…?”Darnell said as he opened his eyes. “Please don’t kill me.” He pleaded looking up at the barrels of the guns in the hands of the twins.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Don asked.

  “Where the fuck you from?” Jon asked.

  “I’m from Delany,” Darnell answered his hands covering his face. “They call me Dee. Cash told me he only wanted to scare y’all. We wasn’t gone kill y’all. I’ll swear.”

  Don looked at his brother and pulled out his Desert Eagle.

  “That’s too bad,” He said pulling the trigger and emptying the gun. The bulletproof vest that Darnell was wearing couldn’t save him from the onslaught that came down on his head.

  “Now we know,” Don said to his brother as he turned to leave.

  On the way back to Twon’s car, Jon stopped at his car and opened the door to see if Lynette was alright.

  “What the hell took you so long?” She smiled. Jon helped her out of the car and they made it to where the rest of the crew were standing. All their dates were shaking and crying.

  “I’m telling y’all that was the dude from the gym.” Don said as Jon and Lynette joined the rest.

  “We got to get out of here. Everybody meet in front of the Dungeon in an hour.” Jon said looking around.

  The boys and their dates hurried to the cars.

  “What the fuck! Look at my shit.” Twon shouted. The driver’s side was riddled with bullets. Both Don’s and Kay’s Mustangs had bullet holes in them. Jon’s was untouched.

  “Don’t worry about that right now. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Jon said.

  “That’s easy for his ass to say.” Twon mumbled under his breath. The boys got into their cars and left in different directions to drop their dates off.

  “I don’t think that you should tell my daddy,” Lynette said turning down Shai on the CD player.

  “It’ll be alright Boo. We together now and I’m going to always keep you safe.” Jon said smiling at her while they w
aited for the red light at Van Buren Street.

  Cash had seen it with his own eyes but still couldn’t believe it. The boys that he thought would be easy to eliminate ended up smashing his men and the plan. The whole scene replayed in his head like a comedy of errors. Cash struggled to the kitchen table. He sat recalling how Pee-Wee stupidly fumbled with the magazine to the carbine instead of reaching for this Glock. He tried to justify his own cowardice by telling himself he did shoot at the twins. Doug abandoned them without even firing one shot.

  “If I ever see Doug again, I’ll kill him.” He swore as the ringing phone brought him away from his thoughts. “Hello,” he said.

  “I know it was you.” The voice on the other end said. Then the phone went dead.

  Cash hung the phone up and wondered who it could have been.

  “Gots to be Bay Bro,” he said running to his bedroom.

  In the bedroom Cash packed one gym bag full of clothes and grabbed all of the money that he had stashed. He ran out of his house and jumped in his truck heading to the highway.

  On the expressway, Cash headed straight to Chicago. He didn’t want to go far away from Gary. Cash had several four corner hustlers he could have stayed with but chose Erica. She was average looking and wore long extensions. Most importantly, Erica stayed out of his business and didn’t sweat him. Now lying in her bed, he watched the news. Cash’s pride had him on the run.

  5

  “So how was the dance?” Bay Bro said looking up from the Chicago Bulls game recorded earlier.

  “I’ll let Jon tell you,” Lynette said kissing her father on the cheek. “I’m going to go change clothes.” Lynette left the living room walking in the direction of her bedroom.

  Bay Bro turned off the big screen TV and Jon took a seat in the chair.

  “What did Lynette mean by that?”

  “We had a problem after the dance. See, right after we took our oath all of us were skipping at the graveyard-no, it started at the Boys Club….” Jon continued to tell what all happened.

  “You did what?” Bay Bro asked.

  Jon didn’t know how upset Bay Bro was but he repeated it anyway.

  “I shot Tyrone three times in the back and then Kay shot him twice in the head to make sure he was dead.”

  “Please, tell me y’all got rid of those guns,” Bay Bro said reaching for a Newport.

  “Nah, we still got em.”

  Lynette walked in wearing a T-shirt and jogging pants. She sat on the couch with Bay Bro.

  “Do I even to want to hear the rest?” Bay Bro said shaking his head.

  Jon nodded his head.

  “All right then, go ahead.”

  Jon continued going into the incident at the gym, how they bought guns from crack-heads and found several in the cars they stole. He told Bay Bro every detail he could remember.

  “Is that it?” Bay Bro said lighting another Newport.

  “Yeah, that’s it. I just want to say that I’d never let anything happen to Lynette, Bay Bro. I would take a bullet for her. I’d…”

  “Hold up, Jon.” Bay Bro said sucking on the cigarette. “I’m mad for two reasons. One, y’all should have told me about the graveyard and it probably wouldn’t have gotten this far. Two, by you not telling me you put my baby girl in danger. I’m not y’all mentor, I’m y’all friend and sometimes y’all father. You should know that y’all can tell me anything. It won’t change nothing.” Bay Bro put the cigarette out and took a deep breath. “I don’t know who saw what, but I dropped y’all off and picked y’all up. Get rid of them cars tonight and if somebody ask, y’all don’t know who was in them cars. Get rid of all the guns y’all used tonight and just be cool. As for you and Lynette…”

  Bay Bro paused with the kids looking at him hanging on his next sentence. He looked at Jon first and then Lynette before he continued. “I could say that it’s too dangerous for y’all to be together, but I’m not. Jon, I know that you’ll keep her safe. You have my permission to date Lynette, just don’t involve me in y’all mess.”

  Lynette smiled and threw her arms around Bay Bro kissing him all over his face.

  “I love you! I love you!”

  “Thanks, I’ll talk to you tomorrow about everything I’m going to get on top of that right now.” Jon said and got up. Bay Bro hugged him and walked back to the kitchen.

  Lynette walked Jon to the door.

  “I got a lot to do tonight so I’ll call you tomorrow.” Jon said with his arms wrapped around Lynette’s waist. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” Lynette said. Their lips locked as they kissed each other goodnight.

  Lynette watched Jon drive away then she returned to the living room.

  Bay Bro hugged and kissed Lynette goodnight.

  “Goodnight, my baby girl,” he said heading for his bedroom.

  “Goodnight, dad, I love you.”

  Bay Bro laid on his bed thinking about everything Jon had told him. Even though he was impressed, he was also very concerned. Bay Bro reached for the phone and dialed.

  “Yo what’s up?” A husky voice answered.

  “Not good Goldie,” Bay Bro said lighting a cigarette.

  “If it’s that important I can be there in a half.” Goldie said.

  “I’ll see you then,” Bay Bro said.

  Jon parked his car and walked over to his block. Don, Kay and Zoe were standing out front waiting while Twon hadn’t arrived yet.

  “Where’s Twon?” Jon asked walking up to the group.

  “I don’t know,” Don said chugging a bottle of Dom Perignon.

  “Fuck it!” Jon said sounding annoyed. “I talked to Bay Bro and…”

  “What you mean you talked to Bay Bro?” Zoe asked.

  “Just listen, Bay Bro ain’t mad about what happened. He is mad at us because we didn’t tell him about it from jump.”

  “My fault fellas.” Twon said as he came running from in between the next door house. “I had to calm baby girl down before I let her outta the car. It’s straight though,” he continued trying to catch his breath.

  “Like I was saying,” Jon said shaking his head at Twon. “Bay Bro said in the future to bring him all problems. He said to get rid of the cars and all the guns we used. He also said the he dropped us off and picked us up and that we don’t know who was in the Mustangs. It’s time to be smart. I got a plan for the cars but we got to come up with matching stories to feed them broads.”

  They had been out there for twenty minutes going over what to say before Tina stepped onto the porch.

  “How long ya’ll been out here?” She asked.

  “Not long Ma.” Jon said motioning for everybody to go into the house. “We were just on our way in.” All of the boys hugged Tina and kissed her on the cheek as they went in. Tina could smell the alcohol on a couple of the boys, including Don.

  Later when they knew Tina was asleep, the boys left out the back door. Don and Kay had complained about having to get rid of their guns. Kay didn’t need a lot of persuasion. Once Jon said how stupid it was to be walking around with guns that had murders on them, Kay wanted to let them go.

  The boys doubled up heavy duty garbage bags and put all of the guns that they had a used inside, along with some heavy bricks to keep the bags grounded. They drove down to First and threw the bag in Lake Michigan. Next they took their cars to a stash spot on the 25th Avenue and parked them. Back in the Dungeon, they chatted about all the girls at the dance, jiving on Jon about finally getting Lynette.

  When Goldie arrived at Bay Bro’s house they spoke about what had gone down. Goldie was Lynette’s godfather and was pissed that she wound up in the middle of a gunfight. He knew the boys and was surprised how the boys handled their business.

  The next day Bay Bro found out where Cash lived. Goldie and Bay Bro rode in Goldie’s girlfriend’s red, ninety-eight Oldsmobile. They wore grim masks on their faces headed for Delany projects.

  “I’m telling you Goldie,” Bay Bro said sipping Hennessy. �
�I’m going to do this dude real bad.”

  “I’m with you brother,” Goldie said pulling up on Cash’s block.

  “That’s the house right here.” Bay Bro said pointing to Cash’s house on 21st and Polk.

  “It’s time to give this stunt what he wants,” Goldie said parking the car.

  The two men got out of the car and looked around. Some crack-heads were out late searching for a high. When they made it to the front door, Bay Bro noticed that the door was opened. He paused. Cautiously they entered the house. Guns ready, they were prepared for whatever surprises they could encounter. They searched the whole house. No sign of Cash made them angrier than they had been.

  “Get the gas.” Bay Bro said spreading clothes all over the house. Seconds later, Goldie returned with two gas cans and gave one to Bay Bro. The two men spread the gasoline all around the house and then stood at front door where Bay Bro lit some newspapers and threw them in the house.

  “Good riddance.” Goldie said.

  The next day Don, Jon, and Kay went to see Deuce. They found him in the back.

  “What’s up Deuce?” Jon said looking around at the Chevys and Oldsmobiles that lined the walls.

  “What’s going on fellas?” Deuce said sounding stressed.

  “We got a problem,” Don said.

  “Like I said, if there’s a problem, I’m sure we can work it out.” Deuce’s eyes widened and he started sweating.

  “This is the problem,” Jon said eyeing a big-body two door, cream colored Impala. “We need to get rid of the Mustangs fast. We trying to get you to do a trade with us, say a couple of these Chevys.”

  Deuce couldn’t believe his ears. They were trying to trade-in the Mustangs, cars that easily sold for $10,000. “What’s the problem?” Deuce smiled in relief.

  “Three of the cars got a whole lot of bullet holes in them and the other two still in mint condition. Five Mustangs for five Chevys and I want the Impala over there,” Jon said pointing to the car he had been eye-balling.