Part 11 (2/2)
”You puttin' too much on it, now.”
”Naw, naw, Doc say, 'You must be some kind of Monster or something,' you know, so I said, 'Yeah, from the notorious North.' ”
”Now I know you lyin'. n.i.g.g.a, ain't n.o.body heard of no f.u.c.kin' North Side, 'specially no d.a.m.n white-boy doctor.”
”Yo' mama heard of the North.”
Silence.
”Cuz, don't talk 'bout Moms. You ain't right.”
”Yeah, you right, f.u.c.k her-”
”I'm gone, Monster.”
”Naw! Awright, homie, I ain't trippin'.”
”Oh, we handled that other thang, too,” Stone said in a low voice, as if his father had come into the room.
”What other thang?” I knew what he meant, but I wanted to hear him say it.
”'Member that van that fool say he work so hard to get?”
”Yeah.”
”Well, he gonna be workin' harder now, 'cause we f.u.c.ked that m.u.t.h.af.u.c.ka up!”
”What 'bout, fool?”
”He never came out and we didn't know what apartment he stayed in. And there was like a whole bunch of apartments, like fifty.”
”n.i.g.g.a, ain't no fifty f.u.c.kin' apartments on that d.a.m.n corner!”
”Awright, 'bout sixteen then. Anyway, we kept f.u.c.kin' up the van and n.o.body came out. So Joker said Tuck it,' and shot up every apartment!”
”What?!”
”Yeah, cuz, the s.h.i.+t was crazy! People screamin' and s.h.i.+t. He shot one window and a fire started. Aw, cuz, it was just like the movies, I ain't lyin'.”
”Right, right,” I said, joining in on the excitement.
”But, cuz, you awright, tho'?”
”Yeah, yeah homie, I'm cool. I'll be at the blue apartments later.”
”Awright, cuzzin, I'll see you then.”
”Tray minutes.”
”Wes-”
Before he could get ”West Side” out, I clicked him. I felt good to know that the homies had responded. It was sad, however, that Joker had gone to such extremes, but I overstood his rage and appreciated his concern. I washed up as best I could with the bandage and the stiffness from the wound, put on my dark-blue overalls, a blue sweats.h.i.+rt, black Romeos, and a black Bebop hat, grabbed my 9 millimeter, and hit the street.
When I got to the blue apartments Bam, Spooney, China, and Peaches were out in front drinking Old English and talking. When China saw me she eased away from the group, insinuating that she wanted to speak to me privately. Amid jeers and greetings from the other homegirls, China and I went to the side of the apartments. She seemed to have something on her mind.
”Kody,” she began. Never had she called me Monster. ”I can't take you gettin' shot no mo'. Baby, I be worried to death fo' you. Everybody dyin' and s.h.i.+t. I just don't know anymore.”
”So, what you sayin'?”
”What I'm sayin' is we don't do nothin' together no mo'. You be wit' Diamond and them and I be all alone. I be worried 'bout you.”
”Yeah, well it ain't like you don't know where I live, China-”
”You know yo' mama don't like me. You know that, Kody. So don't even try-”
”What?” I said accusingly. ”Don't even try what? Huh?”
”You know what I-”
”No, I don't know s.h.i.+t. You know I'm out here, bangin', bustin' on m.u.t.h.af.u.c.kas daily to make it safe fo' you 'round here, and now you complainin'. You done changed like the rest of them sorry m.u.t.h.af.u.c.kas that's gone and left the set hangin'.”
”No, baby, you have changed. This f.u.c.kin' war has really turned you into somethin'. You think you Super Gangsta or somebody, runnin' 'round tryin' to save the world. But look what it's doing to us! Look at us!”
She began to cry, dropping huge tears onto her smooth cheeks.
”Do you remember the last place you took me, Kody? Huh? Do you remember?”
”Yeah,” I said, grudgingly. ”I remember.”
”Where?” she asked, hands on her hips. Then louder, ”Where?!”
”To the drive-in,” I said, but before I could stop the flow of words I knew I was wrong.
”No,” she snapped, ”you know where you took me? To jail! That's where!”
And, of course, she was right. Li'l G.C. and I had jacked a civilian for his car one night. A nice car, too, so I decided to take China out on a date in the stolen car. But then again, why waste a good G-ride? I'll just pick up Stone and Spooney, I thought, and we'll do a double date ride-by. s.h.i.+t, why not? So China and I picked up Stone and Spooney, along with their gun-a huge double-barrel 12 gauge. We stopped at the 'hood store for drinks-Old English and Night Train, gangsta juice. As we made our way west toward the Sixties, a black-and-white patrol car got on our tail. Never one to comply with the law, I accelerated, and the chase was on. After ten blocks of high speed and a faulty turn, we crashed. Immediately I was out of the car and into the wind. I was the only one to get away. Stone, Spooney, and China went to juvenile hall.
”But-” I tried to say, but was cut off.
”But nothin', 'cause before that you stood me up when we was s'posed to go to the Pomona Fair. 'Member that? You got some new type of gun or somethin' and just left me behind. That was cold.”
She was right again. The homegirl Dee Dee, whose boyfriend was in the navy, had given me a flare gun that looked like an ordinary ink pen, but shot a single ball of fire that she said would burn right through somebody. Well, that sounded like my type of weapon. She had given it to me on her way to the fair, and what better place to test such a weapon than at a fair? So I went with her instead of China.
”Yeah, but-”
”Naw, baby, 'cause there's no mo'-”
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