A Good Day to Die

by James Hendricks

  “What’s yo problem?” The Concord member asked.

  The man from the Bronx looked around the whole SCC crew and laughed.

  “You joking right?”

  Don walked over to the man and swung knocking the man to the floor.

  “Who the joke on now, muthafucka?” Don asked stomping on the man. SCC members spat on the unconscious man. Seconds later every Bronx member in the club came to their homeboy’s aid.

  The Bronx didn’t have enough size or members to deal with SCC and some of the members knew it. They quietly made their way to the exits planning an ambush. Don noticed the small number of Bronx members.

  “Get some people out in the parking lot,” Don said to J-Roc.

  J-Roc immediately ordered ten members to post up in the parking lot. Don and some SCC members continued to punish the already beaten and bloody Bronx member, helpless on the floor. The security guards made their way over to SCC and escorted them out the club. The security guards knew of the rep Don and J-Roc had.

  SCC crew made their way to the parking lot. At the same time way a convoy of cars and trucks were pulling into the lot. The group made it halfway to their cars. Suddenly, gunfire erupted.

  “Get down!” “Get down!” Don shouted jumping behind a car.

  J-Roc followed Don and the other SCC members scrambled to find cover.

  “Gotta be them Bronx niggas,” J-Roc said.

  “Yeah, it’s them all right,” Don said peeking around the car’s bumper. “Fuck Thursday, it’s going down tonight.”

  The Bronx boys were still shooting in their direction and the SCC members weren’t firing back.

  “You think them little niggas left us hanging?” Don asked.

  “I trust my little soldiers with my life,” J-Roc said shaking his head.

  Don peeked around the bumper again and saw the cars and trucks that had just come into the parking lot headed in their direction. Assault rifles were hanging out the windows.

  “I see you trusted them with my life too,” Don said with sarcasm.

  The cars and trucks were moving at a slow pace. They were two aisles away from Don and J-Roc. Don was about to slide under the car but heard more gunfire followed by tires screeching.

  “I told you!” J-Roc shouted with a smile. “My soldiers coming…”

  Don used the opportunity to make a run for it. The SCC members and the Bronx exchanged gunfire. Don, J-Roc and the others scampered to their section of the parking lot.

  “It’s on now,” Don said pulling out an AR15 equipped with scope from the trunk of his Cadillac. “This shit will end tonight.”

  “Damn! I see you been holding out on a nigga,” J-Roc said.

  “We need some brothers to circle round back and come up behind them niggas. Try and bring they ass in,” Don said.

  J-Roc picked five youngsters and gave them their orders. The youngsters grabbed extra clips to their AK’s and took off.

  The Bronx boys were still shooting and more cars were pulling into the lot.

  “Damn! They gotta have the whole hood out here,” J-Roc said.

  “The more the merrier,” Don said.

  He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. One by one Don dropped six Bronx boys causing the rest to get low. The five youngsters dispatched by J-Roc had made their way behind the Bronx boys. Once in position, their AK’s started spitting rounds.

  J-Roc took fifteen SCC members and attacked the Bronx boys frontally. Don stayed in his position sniping at heads. Neither side was backing down. Both cliques held their positions and their gats bark. No one seemed to care that members of both sides were dropping. It was all out war and the participants had a death wish.

  Police cars flew into the parking lot five minutes into the shootout. The police station there now had back-up and ran out of the mini station with guns blazing.

  “Watch this,” Don said aiming at an officer. He squeezed and shot two police officers in the head. Don hit three in the chest. Members of his crew that were close by laughed. “This shit is better than any video game I’ve ever played,” Don said peering through the scope for another victim.

  The Bronx and SCC turned their gun-fires on the police. They were seriously out-gunned and officers ducked behind their squad cars trying to find cover. The crews were delighted at getting payback.

  “Shouldn’t we get outta here now?” A SCC member asked Don.

  “Nah, we straight, all ‘em muthafuckas can get it tonight!” Don said hearing the sirens approaching. He took aim and fired, barely missing a police officer’s head.

  J-Roc and his crew were giving it to the police. The Bronx members that were in the trucks started circling the police cars letting off shots from their assault rifles as they drove by.

  By the time the back-up arrived, three officers were dead and seven injured. The city, state and county police were there as helicopters hovered above. A barrage of bullets met the Gary SWAT team. The driver lost control changing directions. The added police had the Bronx boys running into the nearby woods.

  J-Roc and his crew pulled back to where Don and the rest of SCC were positioned.

  “I think it’s time for us to bounce too,” J-Roc said.

  “Not yet Roc,” Don said scanning the parking lot for targets. “We can take ‘em.”

  “You tripping now, Don” J-Roc said signaling for everybody to come in. “Let’s go, Don. It’s time to be out.” J-Roc pulled Don by the back of his shirt.

  “All right, okay. Can’t a nigga have some fun with these cops? They do it to us.” Don said laughing. “Let me cause a little distraction.” He aimed the rifle and shot the gas tank of two squad cars. Don shot the gas tanks on six more before fleeing into the woods.

  Newspaper reporters and camera crews were arriving just as Don, J-Roc and the others ran off.

  The body count was high, thirteen Bronx boys, nine SCC members and five police officers killed. Another twelve officers seriously injured. No arrests were made. The mayor of the city was infuriated. The mayor requested help. The National Guard was brought in and an eight pm curfew was established by the state. The jails immediately became overcrowded as more federal agents were brought in.

  Dozens of arrests were being made every day with the feds able to snatch any case they wanted to prosecute. A majority of the arrests were crack-heads. The feds used them to set-up their suppliers. It was an effective method proved. Snitching, which was normally unheard of, became in vogue. The violence ended and the murder rate declined. Law and order returned to Gary.

  23

  Winter ‘99 got off to a slow start. The feds were still looking for arrests so the hustlers up played the cribs. Money was there but the big drug dealers were hesitant to sell drugs. The heavyweights were waiting out the crusade by the feds. SCC no longer sold keys. The profits came from the apartment buildings. Don and J-Roc threw stripper parties every weekend to keep crew members happy.

  Shine was griped about things but still sold weights to whoever called. Will wanted no parts of the operation and left Shine. Will continued to operate the Bobby and the Dorie Miller project houses. Shine’s greed and carelessness caused Will to think about retiring.

  Ron was used to the way Jon did business and didn’t like the way Don handled his. Don was power tripping, wanting to control everything around him. Ron used his fiancé as the excuse to exit the drug game. They planned on marrying in March during Jon’s spring break. Jon was to be the best man.

  Twon sat back watching Juice play his position and now it was J-Roc. Twon had believed Don. He wanted to be the righthand man but after a couple months Twon felt like he was no longer needed. Twon started distancing himself away from SCC again. He was thinking about leaving for good. Twon had made a lot of money with SCC and had a little crew on the side. It was just his time to do his thing. He just didn’t know how Don would take it.

  March rolled around bringing Jon, Kay, Lynette and the kids back to Gary.

  “What’s up brothers?�
�� Jon said walking up behind Don, Ron, Twon, J-Roc and Juice. Everybody turned around to see Jon and Kay standing there.

  “Oh shit! Y’all people’s here.” J-Roc shouted.

  “I wouldn’t have missed this moment for the world,” Jon smiled and said.

  Hugs were exchanged and greetings were made. They all walked into the game room.

  “Where Lynette and the kids at…?” Don asked.

  “She went straight to Victoria’s. We gone go by moms later,” Jon said sitting in his favorite chair.

  “That’s cool, but I’d like to see my niece and nephew. They got big,” Don said.

  “We’re here for two weeks,” Jon said looking around at the changes to the game room. “You’ll have plenty of time to spoil them.”

  The seven men sat around for the next two hours laughing, joking and playing catch up. With the exception of Juice, it felt like old times to all.

  March 12th Ron was married in a private ceremony at 20th Century Baptist Church. Later that night Jackie gave Jon a welcome home party at the Crystal Palace in East Chicago. The club was packed with SCC members. G.D’s. from East Chicago were also present and as the night went on more blue rags started to surface. Juice noticed the strange faces. He turned to Don.

  “Who all these niggas with the blue shit…?”

  Don looked around the club. He noticed the growing number of unfamiliar faces.

  “I don’t know,” Don said throwing a shot of Hennessy down his throat. “But if the niggas get outta line we gone deal with they asses.”

  SCC was strapped. Jon was on the dance floor with Jackie having a good time. Kay sat at the bar with Twon. It wasn’t long before the two gangs bumped heads.

  “Yo, let me get a dance,” a GD said to Jon.

  Jackie paid the dark-skinned man no mind. She continued to dance.

  “I know you heard me,” the man said hitting a nerve with Jackie.

  “Nigga, can’t you take a hint,” she said walking up to the man. “I ignored yo ass to save you some embarrassment but if you gotta hear it, no.”

  The whole club heard and laughed.

  “Fuck you bitch!” He said and walked away. “You ain’t all that and if you disrespect me again I’m a beat yo ass.”

  Jackie hurried to the bar got a 9mm out of her purse and walked up behind the man. She hit him hard in the back of his head with the gun.

  “Do you know me nigga?” Jackie asked striking the man again. The man stumbled forward fighting to stay on his feet. “Nah nigga,” Jackie said swinging the gun again this time missing the man. The man managed to turn around seeing that it was a woman who had hit him, pissed him off. Jackie swung again. This time the man grabbed her arm and punched her in the eye. She fell back releasing the gun. The gun fell and he reached for it. He never made it. Jon hit him in the temple knocking him out. The G.D’s saw this and huddled.

  “What the fuck’s yo problem?” A light-skinned G.D. said.

  “Yeah nigga, what’s yo problem?” another chimed in.

  Jon ignored them, picked up the gun and walked over to Jackie.

  “You all right?” he asked holding Jackie by her chin.

  “Yeah, he just lucky,” she answered laughing.

  The G.D. who had been knocked down, stumbled over to his boys and got a gun. He turned and fired. Jon threw Jackie to the ground, jumped on top of her and aimed Jackie’s 9mm. He fired hitting the man twice in the chest.

  Juice, J-Roc, Don and Twon pulled out their guns and started shooting at the G.D.’s. Kay jumped behind the bar, he didn’t have a gun. G.D.’s started shooting back. The two gangs exchanged gunfire. The G.D.’s kept shooting while backing out the club. The gunfire ceased. Juice glanced up at Don.

  “I’m shot,” he said.

  “Where…?” Don asked looking at Juice. He didn’t see the blood.

  “In my back,” Juice said.

  “I got you brother,” Don said.

  He turned to everybody.

  “Juice got hit. We gotta go to the hospital,” Don shouted.

  The club emptied early, everybody was running to their rides. Don took Juice to Michigan City where the police wouldn’t ask questions. All the while he drove Don kept wondering how Juice got shot in the back.

  In the days that followed no one could figure out how Juice was shot in his back, when all the G.D.’s were to the front of them. Juice thought that Twon had set him up. Don didn’t believe and defended Twon. They agreed it was someone from the crew and they had to keep their eyes open. After three days, Juice was released from the hospital and wanted to jump right back into action. The feds had slowed down arresting everybody. It was a good sign for Don to make his move.

  “Yo Shine, they got it,” Will said into his phone.

  Shine was at home with Renee watching college basketball.

  “Got what? Wha’ you talking bout?” Shine asked lying in bed, his head in Renee’s lap.

  “Don,” Will said lighting a blunt. “They got the apartment building back. The nigga cleaned house about twenty minutes ago.”

  Shine sat up in his bed and put his hand on his head.

  “That’s some bullshit. We can’t afford to lose that building,” Shine said getting out of bed. “That’s a lot of money we’ll be losing.” There was along pause.

  “Well, what you wanna do?” Will asked breaking the silence.

  “We gotta get it back. That was our biggest moneymaking project. I ain’t gone let them niggas profit off our shit. Fuck that! I’ll burn the muthafucka down first.”

  Will smoked a blunt and listened to Shine. Although they’d be losing a lot of money, Will didn’t want the building back.

  “I hear what you saying,” Will said pouring a glass of Hennessy. “Warring over that building will only make it hot for whoever gets it. The feds already watching and we don’t need them in our life.”

  Shine thought what Will said made sense but his pride couldn’t deal with SCC taking something from him again, especially Don. “How you think we should handle this?” Shine asked.

  “Just let it go,” Will responded..

  “We’ll let it go,” Shine said in a low voice. Will was shocked but got off the phone.

  As soon as Shine hung up the phone, he called four of his trusted soldiers and they headed to Second Av. Shine parked two streets over. Everybody grabbed two five-gallon cans of gasoline as they exited the truck. Shine’s plan was to sneak in and out without being seen. They crept along the alleys undetected and made it to the back of the Bobby. Shine and crew hurried to pour gasoline all around the building and stood on one side ready to light the match. Shine gave the signal and the four men kicked in the basement windows pouring gas through the apartment windows. Shine lit the gasoline taking a couple seconds to admire his work before running off. Bobby burned for two hours before firefighters put the fire out. All the workers managed to make it out unharmed. When Don heard the news, he was dead-set on revenge.

  24

  According to the calendar it was officially Spring but the weather was saying something different. It was still chilly and people stayed inside waiting for the weather to break. Don was checking out a new apartment building down on Second. He had plans to get even with Shine but was focused on his family.

  Shawn was two months pregnant and nagged Don all the time about spending more time at home. His oldest son was quiet but smart, while his other boy stayed in something messy. Whenever Don was around he would spoil his children giving them whatever they wanted and all his attention.

  Shine heard Will’s dissent about burning down the building. He paid it no mind. To appease Will, Shine told him that all future decisions would be fully discussed. Shine felt that he was on top of the world.

  When Juan was released from the youth center, he went to see Don.

  “What’s up nigga?” Don greeted Juan. “They let clean-ass Don-Juan out?”

  Juan smiled giving Don a hug.

  “Man, they didn’t want to let a
brother go,” Juan said lighting a cigarette. “But after the state told ‘em they wasn’t gone pay they ass no more.” Juan inhaled.

  “So when did yo ass get out?” Don said fanning some smoke away.

  “My fault,” Juan said blowing the cigarette smoke behind him. “I got out yesterday. You know a nigga had to get some pussy all day first.” Juan smiled. Both laughed and shook hands.

  “Yeah, I feel you on that one.” Don said. “So what you plan on doing?” He asked in a serious tone.

  “Get that gwap,” Juan said.

  “How you plan on doing that?” Don asked.

  “Shit, I been scrambling all my life. By any means necessary. I’m a get that.”

  Don smiled and grabbed Juan by the shoulders.

  “You came to the right one. We don’t play no games down here. Look, stay low and keep yo ass outta trouble and I got you.”

  In the days that followed Don spent a lot of time with Juan taking him shopping for clothes, jewelry and bought him a car. He also showed him their dope spots, introduced him to different people and had long talks with him at his house. After days of grooming Juan was ready for the streets.

  “I’m telling you,” Juice said as he and Don were getting fitted for Jon’s wedding.

  “I don’t like that nigga.”

  “He all right,” Don said looking at his reflection in the store mirror. “You just mad because he took that kitchen broad from you,” Don said smiling. “Let that shit go. He crew now.”

  “It ain’t nothing like that,” Juice said as he was getting measured. “Dude’s a snake. I seen his kind before. I’m telling you, bringing him in is bad news.”

  “Why you telling me this shit now? I’m saying, it’s only been over a month.”

  “I told you a while ago that I didn’t like that nigga but I didn’t push it because I didn’t want you thinking that I was acting like a broad, all jealous and shit. I know you gone do what you gone do, Don. All I’m saying is watch that nigga.”

  “Damn I hope you wrong. I don’t need any drama before Jon’s wedding. Do you know the nigga hate Gary so much that he was going to elope?” Don looked at Juice with intensity in his eyes. “Look, I need you to watch that nigga until after the wedding. Just in case you right. I can’t have nothing going wrong. If the nigga slip, we gone deal with his ass in the worst way.”