by RJ
Both sides closed in. JB tried to show an unconcerned mug, a bit careless, but still interested. The big guy remembered that he hadn’t taken a single breath in a minute. So he pulled a respirator out of his pants and covered the face with it.
“JB,” Big Dog said. He was a bit smaller and somewhat older.
“Dog,” still playing his mimics, the big guy responded, adding a shade of smile to his face.
“You wanted to talk… Talk.”
“Yeah, I want to…” Jerry glanced at gang shortly and got his eyes back at Dog. “Sup with the dogs? Why so many?”
“Thanks to you, we all got in this shit,” Dog said swinging his hands wide open, gesturing at the sky and streets, which were full of white dust.
“You can call ‘em off,” JB responded, “I’m here to make peace.”
The black gangster approved, curling out his lower lip, showing that he didn’t mind the suggestion.
“I’m listening.”
“I wouldn’t mind some privacy if you don’t mind,” JB said, looking over the gangster crowd once more.
“We may go to my car.”
“Deal.”
Developed over the years, JB’s charisma was working just as he expected. The first ice was broken. They didn't shoot him yet, that already was an achievement, considering his situation. The next move promised to be dangerous, and the one after that – even more dangerous: first he had to pass the gangsters, then return. Big Dog had already got into the Lincoln while his old partner was just moving to it. He cautiously stepped towards the thugs, squeezed among them. They didn’t look thrilled about that. Walking through the crowd, JB gave a friendly smile, even though the mask hid that. Keeping eye contact he laid the hand on the door to search for the handle.
“Nice cap,” he said to one of the thugs and jumped into the car right away.
Immediately after getting into the car JB locked the door as if it would save him from the gang. He did that on purpose to distract Big Dog’s guard. JB’s childish behavior indeed softened up that grumpy gangster. A noticeable change in his attitude could be seen with the naked eye. He still didn’t glow with a radiating love, but at least they were sitting in one car peacefully. That was already progress.
“You can lose the mask, this whip has air filtration,” Dog said.
“Hm… Nice,” JB approved. “I had to use emergency O2 reserves in my Ford.”
“You have O2 in your ride? Just like that?”
Even though JB got the irony, some part of him was still surprised by such a question.
“Haven’t you been pushed off the bridge into the water? Like ever?” JB tried to explain. “After you spend a couple of minutes in a smashed car, on the bottom… Then you start thinking how useful extra air might be.”
“So, what’s the business?” Big Dog changed the subject.
“I’m out,” the expression on JB’s face turned, he dropped the play.
“Of course you’re out!” Dog smirked.
“Yeah, I’m out. Leaving Lower Compton. Leaving L.A.” JB was talking slowly, pushing out every word.
“To be honest, I don’t get how you're still breathing…” Dog mumbled. “Whatcha want from me?”
“I have an offer for you.”
“If you wanna drag me into your trouble with D-Kay, take your offer to someone else.”
“Getcha in trouble? No, I have a win-win offer for you.”
Dog lingered in doubts for a second.
“Ok, I’m listening.”
“My boys have got guns on them worth two hundred large, get it? Our growth in product stocks are three-point-five mil. That’s it… three point seven million dollars is the value of my business.”
“Keep going,” now Big Dog looked interested.
“You can get it for two point five mil. Today.”
The black gangster winced a bit because of confusion, he drilled JB with his stare.
“Here’s the deal, man. Ya head is already on the line, if I accept, I may get mine there too. Why would I?”
“First of all, you ain’t getting an offer like that ever again. Second, with my territory ya game is gonna get on a whole new level. And the most important, all our heads were put on the line a long time ago. The question is: whatcha gonna do to protect ya’self?”
“Are you fucking insane?!” Big Dog couldn’t keep himself together anymore. “Three years ago, when we needed you the most, you bailed. Then you appeared from nowhere, got ya’self a crew and started some shit, ignoring everything and everyone. And, of course, that wasn’t enough for you, you just can’t get enough!” Dog was yelling, but JB was glad that his fellow finally got a chance to unload. “You just had to take an eight hundred million dollar batch to put it in a container and just dump it in the ocean!”
“We were gonna burn it, actually,” JB clarified. “Sorry. Continue.”
“I noticed! So has everyone else. Now all of L.A. is breathing with ya cocaine. Soon all the fuzz in the country is gonna be here. And you know what it’s gonna be then? They’ll put down everyone. And you… oh, you most likely are gonna be shredded to pieces even before that!”
“Well, that depends… who’s gonna get me first. Also I’m not the biggest thief in the world, kinda.”
“Look at you, still joking…” Big Dog calmed down a bit. “I don’t know where you got that amount of blow, I think no one knows. But whether you stole it or not, you’re not gonna be wasted for that. You’re gonna be killed for try to dump it. No one does that. No one is allowed to…”
“Maybe I’ll get wasted, maybe not. It’s not my first play,” JB tilted his head a bit to show up his bullet scar. “The question is: what’s gonna happen after the air gets cleared and law enforcement moves on? This news won't last for long. What’s gonna be after?”
While making his argument, JB didn’t choose words too carefully because he knew that Big Dog was a gangster, greedy as any criminal. The discussion was nothing but his way to negotiate the price.
“Two million.”
“Two point three. Cash. An exchange afternoon, I’ll let you know thirty minutes before the deal,” JB said his last word.
Big Dog thoughtfully nodded. Black and white gangsters looked at each other once more, then shook hands. Everything was going according to plan, Jerry knew how easy it would be to get an old friend back using a profitable business. The deal was done, but they were still in the car. There were a few more things to talk about and each one of them felt it. The pause got too long.
“I would ask you about your family and business, but you probably wouldn’t believe that I’m sincere, right?” JB smirked.
“You’ve changed, and yet you’re the same asshole,” Dog smirked back. “I’m cool. If you’re really interested.”
“People don’t change, just an attitude. I’m glad for you, man. You have an excellent wife and kid.”
“Yeah, my family…” the black man said joyfully. “You were my family once, you know. Then you bailed, never explaining a thing.”
“It was complicated. We were working bees, working for a boss, together. Boss was gone, one of us got to take his place. I was too young. I didn’t want for us to kill each other in a chase for power. I had to bail.”
“You were young? JB, you were twenty-three!” Dog looked pissed, but JB was just sadly nodding. “Anyway, when I took the 'big chair' nothing changed. We could still work together.”
“Bullshit! You know that. Business ain’t for sharing, it’s gotta be controlled. That ain’t a two man job.”
“But you never talked to me about it.”
“And what if I did? Would you let me go? Just like that? I did what I was supposed to, not more, not less.”
“Okay, I get it. But you have to remember, B, wherever you are you can fool everyone, but you can’t fool ya’self. We were raised as dogs, it’s in our blood. Just remember what pack you are from.”
The talk was over. Everything went smoothly. The doors opened and
with the first fresh wind JB got back his worry about the surrounding gangsters. He stepped in the alley and straightened up. The men came closer. It seemed that they were going to apprehend him, but their boss gestured them to stop. The night was gone, much like JB’s energy. He was tired, with the next couple steps his head got dizzy. A day ahead of him promised to be a long and lingering one. JB needed to rest. He said goodbye to his friend, then got in his truck and left the alley.
JB went from Long Beach straight to Compton. The gang’s base was there. It appeared to be a regular house, nothing special: two stories, a one car garage and a trampled lawn. There were lots of houses like that around. All poor neighborhoods are alike, the same poor people, similar structure planning, and no one cares about the problems of others.
The blue Ford parked in front of the garage gate. The engine stopped. JB got out of the car to go to the front door. A slight movement of the curtain seemed visible in the window. Someone was watching him. He was going to ring the bell, but the entrance was unlocked.
Walking into the living room the gangster didn’t see anyone, yet he knew that there was an armed man standing behind the door. After a guardian made sure that it was safe, he closed the entrance. Then the man put his gun down and stepped forward to the big guy. JB greeted the black fellow, they shook hands and customarily bumped their shoulders.
“Sup, boss!” the guard said joyfully, he seemed to be glad that someone made him a company.
“Long time, Chris. Everything cool?” JB never laid his eyes on the companion but scanned the place thoroughly.
“Yep,” the guard looked around too. The place was trashed: dust and garbage everywhere, soda cans, candy wrappers. “Nothing new,” he shrugged.
“Okay, open the garage door for me,” JB said and went back to the door. “And clean up some.”
“Got it, boss,” a guy said uncomfortably, scratching his neck.
While JB was walking, the garage gate started slowly opening up. He removed a bed cover to reveal the Ducati. Then Bridgers opened up a rear board, picked up a metal ramp and fixed it at the edge of the bed.
“Monster, huh?” Chris asked. “What happened to 996?”
“It blew up.”
“You did that?”
“No, I got jumped,” JB glanced at Chris. “Why don’t you use a respirator?”
“A lil' bit of morning cheer never hurts,” Chris smiled and made a deep breath. “By the way, I managed to get that code, a bit more time and we’re gonna be able to run the program.”
It was much easier to load up the bike than to take it off. Some extra precision was needed to steer it down the ramp. Chris was glad to help out his boss with that job while talking.
“The plan has changed. We have to wrap up by noon and destroy all the evidence.”
“Is that right? You wanna push the ‘button’?” Chris looked a bit surprised, but not too much.
“Do you wanna?” JB asked back.
“Do I? Hell yeah!”
“You got it, dude. As soon as we clear the dungeon, push it.”
The big guy got in the truck to hide it up. As the vehicle was driven into the garage, JB stopped the engine and turned back to the rear seat. With one abrupt move he tore off the seal and pulled the seat up, there were two black bags inside. He took out both, closed the door and left the garage. The gate went closed.
Chris was still staying outside waiting for his boss. As soon as he’d seen JB, he took one of the bags and they went on together.
“What about the dungeon?” Chris asked. “Who’s gonna push that button?”
“You wanna push that one too?”
The guard shook his head cheerfully and impatiently.
“Hm… You really should have put the respirator on.” JB commented on the guard’s hyperactivity. “I’ll push that button.”
“What’s this?” Chris nodded at bags.
“Our cover. The cash and the drugs,” the big guy shrugged. “Take the blow into the dungeon, it goes to Big Dog along with the guns later. The cash stays with me.”
“Yo, B! By the way, about the dungeon. There is somewhat about fifteen hundred pounds of heroin. What are we gonna do with all that?”
“Same as usual, destroy it,” JB responded while walking through the living room to the stairs. “And, Chris. You make sure that no idiot blows it up inside the city, it’s your personal responsibility.”
“Ain’t that Hakim’s job?”
“I’m gonna need Hakim for something else. It’s time to get rid of Markus and Tyris.”
“Why?”
“They sold out. D-Kay’s bitches.”
Just as JB took the first step upon the stairs he noticed Chris’ workplace. That desk was full of computer screens and various gadgets. Endless lines of programming code captured his attention, he turned to his employee.
“So, does it work?”
“You bet it does!” Chris looked sure and self-satisfied.
“Nice,” JB responded respectfully. “Get rid of everything.”
Talking no more, Chris stepped towards the computer and pushed the big red button that was on the table. The first one on his list. A bunch of dialog windows appeared on the screens, the database was initiated to be erased.
JB walked on hovering steps up to the second floor. As soon as he took his foot off the top one, the stairs shifted toward the wall to position themselves one over another so that the path was closed. There were a few bedrooms on the second floor, just what the big guy needed. A quick nap before the primary part of the mission waited for him.
Several hours passed. Jerry had fallen asleep on the first touch to the pillow. Suddenly, his shallow dreams were interrupted by an anxious feeling of needing to wake up. Before even having a chance to open his eyes he jumped off the bed. His consciousness was still between dream and reality, but instinct had already captured the irritant, those were voices coming from the lower floor.
It was almost noon, the nap took too long. JB took his Desert Eagle from the nightstand, which he had put there earlier and walked to the door. Being perfectly silent, he stole up to the stairs to take a look at people in the living room. Three men were there: Chris, Tyris and Markus. It was the right time for those two to show up.
JB hid the gun and switched on the hover stairs to move out. Just as other guys noticed their boss the talking stopped and they all turned to him.
“Yo! What’s the sitch?” JB looked at Tyris.
“We’ve gathered all product and guns. Excluding the ones that men have on them, of course. Everything in the van,” Tyris nodded at the window.
“What about our credits?” JB turned to Markus.
“Yo! Mikey is on it. The cash has gotta be here by evening,” Markus didn’t look sure, he rushed his look between JB and Tyris.
“Good. Gather the crew at six p.m., here. Right there,” nodding down, JB emphasized his words, pointing at the dungeon.
“Consider it done. Anything else?”
“You stay put,” JB checked the time, it was eleven oh two. “Call up two more guys, we’re gonna have some business by twelve.”
“What’s up?” Markus asked.
“You’ll see. Now move it.”
Knowing his people perfectly, JB couldn’t miss the tension that was present during the dialog. These two had never meant much for JB or his business, no matter what they thought. All the same, the gangster part of him was furious about their betrayal. He needed to get rid of them but to do that in a way that wouldn’t hurt the plan.
While the associates were busy making phone calls, the boss had some time for his preparation. He went back to the bedroom, where his ammunition was. On the move, JB took off his t-shirt to throw it on the bed. Heavy muscles appeared on his strong body, all covered in ink. The largest of the tattoos was his initials ‘JB’ that covered his back from top to bottom. There was the one on his neck. It was a ‘G’ sign with the writing ‘nothing but a G thang’ around it. Under his right arm another
tattoo – a large blood stain drawn in red ink, with two handprints inside of it. Number ‘22’ on the left shoulder and a sinister-like face with the writing ‘Dr. Evil’ on the right. His left forearm had a pentagram on it and the words ‘say hello to the devil.’ His torso itself had some scars on it: a few bullet marks and one deep stab trace in the left hip area.
The big guy came to the wardrobe. There were a couple light bulletproof vests along with several fresh t-shirts inside. He took a thin wrapping singlet from the shelf to put on. Then he put a vest over his torso. He tightened it so hard, it was hard to breathe for a second. A wide white t-shirt covered his massive body and its protection.. Then JB put on a white du-rag, the precious chain with his initials, and checked his overall look. The pistol went behind his back. When everything was ready JB took the jacket and left the room.
Moving along the hallway, the gangster knocked on the next room’s door, a woman’s voice responded. He opened it to look inside.
“Jess, it’s time to leave."
The pretty young woman was just putting on her t-shirt over a slim half naked body when JB looked inside.
“I’m ready, B,” she said and immediately walked out of the room, passing him by.
Just as the girl left, JB came to the wall's digital panel near the stairs. He entered the code and pushed the button. A thin greenish acid gas started to fill up the second floor.
The men gathered in the kitchen. The head of the gang was explaining his plan to the subordinates. They were just about to wrap up.
“So, you wanna take all of our product, guns, and real estate to sell it to Big Dog’s gang?” Tyris asked, filling in the blanks.
“That’s right. We do that, and when the feds get to our hood with an investigation, they are gonna be Dog’s problem, not ours.”
They all were drinking coffee, but only JB’s cup was half empty, others were much more occupied with the discussion than enjoying the beverage. Tyris seemed to find it hard to believe in the success of such an operation.
