Gutter

by K'wan

  “What the fuck was that?” the kid with the Yankee hat said, scanning the block for the source of the strange noise. It sounded like a cat being dragged over a barbed-wire fence. When the kid shaking the dice popped his head up, the side of his face was caved in by a bullet.

  JOHNNY OUTLAW dipped into the block, going against the flow of traffic, spitting with the M-10. It looked like someone was pelting the men with rotten tomatoes as they lost body parts and vital organs. One cat tried to run and had his leg torn clean off by one of the high-powered slugs. Satisfied that he had done enough damage, Johnny prepared to make his escape when something slammed into him, knocking him off the bike and sending the M-10 skidding.

  Now, for as vicious as Johnny Outlaw was rumored to be, he couldn’t have weighed more than 160 pounds on a good day, and the man who had dismounted him was almost double that. Johnny rained rights and lefts on the man who was trying to pin him down until his comrades got there, but the brute was too strong. Seeing that his fists were getting him nowhere, Johnny tried a different tactic. Dipping his hand into his boot he came up holding a stiletto, which he shoved up into the man’s gut with all his might. The man coughed blood onto the airbrushed visor and fell to the side.

  “See what the fuck you made me do?” Johnny said, getting to his feet. Though his voice was distorted by the small microphone built into the helmet, his intentions were clear as he retrieved the M-10. “Couldn’t lay down like the rest of them, could you? Trying to fuck up a perfectly good killing, huh?”

  “P-please, man. Don’t kill me,” the brute pleaded.

  Johnny looked at him almost compassionately. “You got heart, man, and that’s a good thing. But you chose the wrong side of the color line to throw in your lot with, which means you’re fucked. My niggaz from Harlem say y’all forgot your places on the food chain, and I gotta remind you. Nothing personal, baby,” Johnny assured him before cutting loose with the M-10 and finishing the young banger.

  Even with the sirens in the distance Johnny took a moment to admire his handiwork before heading back to the fallen motorcycle. The smart thing would’ve been to leave the patchwork bike, but it held sentimental value to him. It was the first thing he could ever call his own, since leaving his old life in Mississippi as a young boy. He built it with his own hands and refused to leave it.

  People were starting to stir, coming to their windows trying to be nosey, but when Johnny sprayed the front windows with the M-10 they thought better of it. True, it was overkill but Johnny Outlaw had made his bones by overdoing it. Satisfied that he had temporarily deterred any Good Samaritans from aiding the police, Johnny hopped back on the bike and floored it, leaving a trail of bodies and a ghostly howl in his wake.

  HARLEM

  J. B. BOPPED down Morningside Drive with his right-hand man, Steve. They had just come from the spot copping two twenties of haze and had two prime freaks waiting to help them smoke it up. When they got a dose of the date rape that J. B. had scored to drop in their drinks, the party would really be in full swing.

  “You think they’ll go for it?” Steve asked J. B.

  J. B. smiled reassuringly. “I don’t see why not. This shit is supposed to be off the chain. My man, Harv, gave a bitch a half of pill and she took cock damn near till the next morning.”

  “I can’t wait!” Steve said excitedly. “I’m gonna fuck the shit out of one of them hoes.”

  “Fuck that, Blood.” J. B. held up the baggie containing several white pills. “Once they get a dose of these, you’re gonna fuck both of them.”

  As the two young men continued to walk and talk, a white Chevy Lumina was coming up behind them. There were three men in total occupying the vehicle, all motivated by one thought-murder. When the car was coasting along next to them, the driver’s side window rolled down.

  “CRIIIP!” THE driver sang in a high squeal. When J. B. and Steve turned to identify the source, Bruticus stuck his arm out the window, letting the sun wink off the barrel of his.45. At first there was only silence and then came the thunder.

  Two slugs entered Steve’s chest, cracking his breast plate, decorating the bench behind him with bits of heart and lungs. When Bruticus turned his hammer to J. B., J. B. was already sprinting in the other direction. The Lumina screeched and reversed after him, while another shooter leaned over the top of the car and tried to lay J. B. Trees splintered and glass shattered, but the shooter never hit his target.

  J. B. DUCKED and zigzagged like a hunted animal. He recognized one of the shooters in the car as a member of a rival gang. Even though he had gone on a few outings with his new family, he had never done anything directly to any of the men in the car. He found himself running for his natural life, because he represented a different color. When he joined the gang, he thought it would be fun, but he would soon realize that banging was not a game; it was a way of life.

  “FUCK IS wrong with your aim?” Bruticus barked at the shooter. “Lay that nigga down!” He steered the Lumina with one hand, watching the fleeing man over his shoulder. A taxi came around the bend on 116th, causing him to swerve and slamming the car into a parked Explorer. “Shit,” Bruticus spat, sliding from the car. “Take the wheel.”

  THE EFFECTS of all the cigarettes had begun to catch up with J. B. as his chest started to burn. He knew that the only way for him to escape would be to cut through the park. That was easier said than done, because the next entrance was more than four blocks away. The loud crash to his rear caused him to spare a glance over his shoulder. The nose of the Lumina was jutting out into the street, while its rear was hooked on the bumper of an Explorer. He thought that luck might finally be swinging in his favor, but knew it to be a lie when he saw the driver climb out of the car and begin pursuing him on foot.

  The fear of being gunned down in the middle of the street made J. B.’s mind race. He knew he only had one chance of escaping, but he didn’t like it. He looked over the wall of the park, at the grass that was easily twenty feet below street level. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he leapt over the stone wall.

  BRUTICUS WAS a large man, but he was by no means slow. J. B. had a head start on him, but he was closing the distance in good enough time. He watched the young boy veer from the street, and head for the wall. He knew that there was a long drop and figured he had him cornered. He slowed to a jog and made to dispatch his victim, until his mark suddenly jerked and leapt over the wall.

  Bruticus ran to the wall and looked over in time to see J. B. picking himself up from the ground, and preparing to continue his sprint. Bruticus knew that if the boy got away, it would upset Pop Top’s plan. Leveling the.45, he got J. B. in his sights and squeezed the trigger once. J. B.’s calf exploded, knocking him to the ground. Bruticus pulled himself over the wall and dropped down to finish him.

  The force of the impact sent shock waves from Bruticus’s ankles to his lower back. It hurt like hell, but he didn’t feel like anything was broken. After gathering himself, he walked casually over to J. B. who was trying to crawl away. The bullet had totally destroyed his calf muscle, but the fear of death wouldn’t let him give in to the pain.

  Bruticus kicked him square in the ass. “Turn the fuck over, nigga!”

  “Chill, man,” J. B. cried.

  “Fuck that chill, shit. You knew the rules when you joined up, kid. You wanted to be a soldier, so now yo bitch-ass is a casualty of war.”

  “I don’t want no beef with y’all. You got it!”

  Bruticus chuckled wickedly. “Nah, I don’t want it, you take it.” Bruticus squeezed the trigger. Bullets tore through J. B.’s body and struck the ground below. A dust storm rose up around J. B., coating his face and body. The boy lay in the dirt with plum-sized holes in his chest and legs. Bruticus took a moment to spit on his corpse, before limping across the park to his waiting getaway car.

  IT TOOK more than an hour, but Sharell had finally managed to fight through the traffic and make it to Harlem. Though she was officially off, she still found herself
at her place of employment, St. Luke’s Hospital. She could’ve waited until she came back to pick up her check, but it allowed her time out of the house, which is what she needed since Gutter had her feeling like a sardine trapped in the house.

  Instead of going directly to her station she decided to cut through the emergency room so she could holler at her girl, Rhonda, who worked as a triage nurse. When she passed through the automatic doors her senses were overwhelmed with the bullshit that was the emergency room.

  As usual it was overcrowded with people in need of medical attention. In the far corner, an addict rocked back and forth, sweating like a runaway slave, waiting to see if there was an available bed in their detox wing. Another man was hunched over near the pay phone, nursing his hand, which was wrapped in bandages that were splotched with blood. A girl who didn’t appear to be more than seventeen or so cradled a newborn in her arms, while two more kids who couldn’t have been more than a year apart tore through the emergency room as if it was their own personal backyard.

  “Welcome to the jungle,” Sharell mumbled, as she stepped over a bum who was either passed out or sleeping, and made her way to the triage window. A woman, whose profile was familiar to her, sat at the window exchanging words with Rhonda. Though it had been a while, she’d know Tameeka anywhere.

  “Look, I’ve been sitting here for two hours and my son still hasn’t been seen, this is unacceptable,” Tameeka was saying.

  “And like I’ve been telling you for the last ten minutes, we’re overcrowded and understaffed today. We’re seeing the priority patients first,” Rhonda replied.

  “And my child ain’t a priority? My boy has been throwing up all morning, and he’s running a fever!”

  “Look, we’ve got people in here suffering from everything from gunshots to the shakes, your son’s flu symptoms aren’t a priority right now.” Rhonda was still being polite, but Sharell could tell she was losing her patience with Tameeka so she decided to step in.

  “What’s up, Tameeka?” Sharell said, moving to stand over her. Tameeka’s eyes flashed surprise then embarrassment before she uttered a weak, “Hey.”

  Until about a year or so ago, she, Lauren, and Sharell had been like the three amigos, but when she got serious with Gutter all that changed. Lauren, though she never really cared for Gutter and still didn’t, held her down when people tried to crucify her for her choice of a life mate, but Tameeka fell in line with the Joneses. The few times they had spoken on the phone Tameeka always had an excuse about how busy she was, but Sharell knew it was just so she didn’t have to state the obvious-she was afraid. Everybody knew who her man was and what he represented, but they also knew that her love for him was unwavering.

  “Sup, mommy.” Sharell tapped on the window Rhonda was sitting behind, and gave her a warm smile.

  “Chilling, preg-o,” Rhonda teased. “I’m just trying to get through the day without having to get fired.” She cut her eyes at Tameeka when she said this.

  “Take it light, Rhonda, you only got a few hours left until your shift is over. Breathe, girl,” Sharell told Rhonda, but placed a hand on Tameeka’s chair.

  “No doubt.” Rhonda nodded in understanding. Reluctantly she turned back to Tameeka and said, “Give me a minute and I’ll see if I can get somebody to see your son.”

  “Well, I just came to pick up my check and skate, call me later though,” Sharell said to Rhonda before heading deeper into the hospital. She was about to go through the double doors in the back when Tameeka stopped her.

  “Hold on, Sharell,” she said, catching up. “Thanks for looking out.”

  “It was nothing, you know how I do it,” Sharell reminded her. “So what’s up, how’s everything with you?”

  Tameeka shrugged. “I’m just trying to make it like everybody else. But listen, can I talk to you for a minute, in private?”

  “Sure.” Sharell took her by the hand and led her outside the emergency room. “What’s up, Meeka?”

  Tameeka took a minute to examine her shoes. “Listen, I know I haven’t been the best friend over the last few months, but you know that hasn’t changed how I feel about you, right?”

  “That’s what I like to think,” Sharell said. There was another short silence.

  “You know, for a long time I didn’t see what it was about Gutter that made you stay with him. I mean, he’s thugged out and you’re sweet. If anything I always figured you’d end up with a doctor or some square dude.”

  “We ain’t got a whole lot of control over our hearts, Tameeka,” Sharell told her.

  “Don’t I know it.” Her eyes said something. “I didn’t understand it until life threw me a curveball and I ended up in a similar situation.” Tameeka paused as if she wasn’t sure of how much she wanted to share with Sharell.

  “You wanna talk about it?” Sharell asked, sensing her uneasiness.

  “Not much to tell, really. My heart belongs to a nigga who refuses to do right. If it ain’t the beef, it’s the bitches and I’m starting to feel like I can’t get a word in edgewise.”

  “That’s a hard pill to swallow, baby girl.”

  “Yet I do,” she said in a shameful tone. “Don’t get me wrong, my man takes care of me and my son. We ain’t rich, but we don’t want for nothing. But this lifestyle”-she paused-“it’s just hard to deal with. I call myself doing him a favor and went and picked up some work from uptown and end up getting stopped in the cab. I had to call my mother to pick my son up from school, because my ass was down at the precinct.”

  “Jesus, girl, is everything all right?” Sharell asked, genuinely concerned.

  “Yeah, I’m still going back and forth to court over this shit though. Sharell, in my whole life I’ve never been one to be twisted up with the police, but it seems like lately they’re always over my shoulder.” She looked around as if they were being watched. “How do you cope with this shit?”

  Sharell thought for a minute before answering. “Honestly, if Jesus wasn’t my backbone I’d have probably snapped a long time ago. I can’t speak on your situation because it’s not my situation, but Gutter draws a very clear line between his street antics and the life we’re trying to build. It ain’t no secret that Gutter is a criminal, anybody who watches the news knows that, but the streets have no place in our home. I’m not gonna go as far as to say that it’s impossible for me to get caught up, but Gutter goes the extra mile to try and ensure that I never find myself in that position.”

  “I feel you, but do you ever feel like it’d be easier for you to just cut your losses?” Tameeka asked.

  “All the time,” Sharell confessed. “But you know what, I knew what he was into before I committed to him, and I still fell in love with his ol thug ass.” She rubbed her hand over her belly. “My guy goes the extra mile for me, so it’s only right that I hold him down through thick and thin. The question you need to ask yourself is, how far is your man willing to go for you? Once you know the answer to that then you’ll know where you stand.”

  “That’s deep.” Tameeka nodded.

  “That’s real. Meeka, I can’t tell you what you should or shouldn’t do, but always make sure you put you and your son first.”

  Before the conversation could go any further there was a loud popping in the distance. It sounded like a firecracker at first, but when several more pops followed everybody knew them to be gunshots. Sharell hurried back inside the emergency room with Tameeka on her heels, and almost got knocked over as security came rushing out.

  chapter 21

  “WHAT UP, y’all?” Jesus said as he approached the bench where

  Tito and Miguel were ping-ponging a blunt. He had put on a little weight, but was still on the slim side.

  “Sup, Blood,” Miguel replied. He noticed that Jesus had winced a bit at the term. Though he was still officially a part of the set, he didn’t hang around so much. After Lou-Loc had waxed him with a lead pipe the prior summer, gang-banging no longer seemed to appeal to him. The young man still s
ported a thin scar along his jaw from where the doctors had to wire it.

  “I can’t call it.” Jesus invited himself to a seat. “Let me hit that, yo.” He reached for the blunt only to have Miguel snatch it away.

  “Surgeon general says that smoking can be detrimental to your health,” Miguel teased as he took another drag.

  “Let the lil nigga hit it, hype.” Tito nudged him. Miguel grudgingly complied, handing the blunt to Jesus. “Ain’t seen you around in a while, J. Everything good?” Tito continued.

  “Yeah, man. I just been busy taking care of my aunt. She ain’t been so good since Satin went away,” Jesus informed him. At the mention of Satin, Tito turned away.

  “So what’s up, when you gonna stop acting like a girl and get back down for yours?” Miguel capped.

  “I’m always gonna be down for mine, dawg, don’t get it fucked-up,” Jesus told him. Though he tried to make his voice firm there was no conviction in his statement. “It’s just that… I don’t know, a nigga been trying to finish school and all that, Blood. You know I love my hood, but I gotta think about what I’m gonna do when all this shit is over.”

  “Over?” Miguel sat up with a questioning glare in his eyes. “T, you hear this nigga?” Miguel nudged his partner. “Check this shit, shorty,” he addressed Jesus. “This shit ain’t never gonna be over. For as long as its crab-ass muthafuckas trying to stop our shine, we’re gonna be out here banging the fuck out. You better stop fooling ya self and get out here and get this paper.”