A Good Day to Die

by James Hendricks

  Bay Bro had presented all of the boys with their brand new 1994 GMC Jimmy trucks on graduation day.

  12

  The summer was filled with promise. The boys were doing all they could to avoid their enemies and stay out of trouble. It was hard since Will lived only three blocks over from the twins. They saw him on the daily. Ron, Zoe, Kay and Don occupied their days by taking care of dope houses while Twon spent his days at Jackie’s spot on Burr Street. Jon spent his days at the police gym. Jon fell in love with boxing and was in the ring at least five days a week. Sometimes Lynette and Lil’ Dee watched him sparring.

  The police didn’t know how to take Jon. They heard stories about his involvement in numerous murders. Although some officers did talk to Jon they thought he was fishing for information.

  The boys purchased an old club on the corner of 11th and Fillmore, one street over from the Dungeon. They turned the club into a game room for them and their affiliates. They named it SCC. Jon had a wall up. One section was an arcade for the kids to come and have fun. It didn’t matter if they had money or not. Whoever was behind the counter would give quarters to any kid that came in.

  No Soliciting! No Drugs! Violators Will Be Dealt With!

  The signs were posted on two walls outside. Jon wanted the arcade to be a safe haven for children. Even though it was a place to have fun, security personnel were at the corners surrounding the game room. The game room became the central place where the boys plotted and planned their moves.

  Will wouldn’t be around too much longer. The boys couldn’t tolerate him. He was an only child who had it rough coming up. His father went to the state penitentiary when he was nine. At ten his mother was strung out on heroin. He had to fight for everything he got especially respect. Will was six-one and had jet black hair with waves all around.

  He was born and grew up in New Brunswick, a place also called the Bronx. He moved on 11th in March of this year and was instantly not welcome. No one liked the electric blue Chevy Blazer that he drove and the six point star medallion didn’t help his popularity. Will had a habit of calling everyone folks. He was an outsider who the boys didn’t like trying to set up shop on the block.

  Will had a run in with Don, Jon and Kay at Tolleston Park on Memorial Day. The courts were crowded and the bleachers were filled with kids and women from all over the city. Will’s crew was forty-five members deep and rolled everywhere together. Kay bumped Will’s man on purpose and ordered him to apologize. Dude looked at Kay like he was retarded and laughed. Infuriated Kay pulled out his Glock and smacked dude upside his head.

  Will’s crew ran over to help their man. Don and Twon pulled out Glocks stopping them in their tracks. Jon dialed a number while watching from the sidelines. Three minutes later, forty members of PMP led by Pretty Ricky were on the scene. Two minutes later twenty members from 17th arrived led by Smoke. Will and his crew were out numbered and would be out gunned. They had no choice but to watch their man get the shit beat out of him.

  Will sat in his beaten up ’83 Monte Carlo counting his money and waiting to re-up. Here it comes. The sight of the car pulling up next to him brought a smile to Will’s face.

  “What’s up, Will?” Shine said slamming the door.

  “Not too much, folks. Trying to get mines,” Will smiled.

  “I hear that,” Shine replied.

  The two went in a small restaurant and ordered. They talked about any and everything they could think of. Both had been busy and haven’t hung in a while.

  “You said having problems with them cats from your neighborhood?” Shine asked.

  “First of all folks, it’s not my hood,” Will said with agitation. “And second, I can handle that.”

  “Ahight…” Shine said laughing. “So where did you move to?”

  “13th and Buchanan.”

  “Oh yeah,” Shine said pausing for the waitress to put their food down. After she left he continued. “This little beef you having, it wouldn’t be with some lil’ kids, would it?”

  “Folks, how you know?”

  Shine shook his head and told Will about his own feud with the boys. The two men talked a little while longer. They exchanged car keys, paid the bill and left.

  “Don’t be a stranger,” Will said.

  “If you need some assistance, you call me.” Shine started up the Monte Carlo.

  “I got this, folks.” Will lit a cigarette.

  “Ahight gangsta, I’m out.”

  Will was moving keys and the boys decided the next time he made a big purchase they would stick him up for it. Steve called Jon. Will had a big duffel bag. Jon called Pretty Ricky and told him to bring Sam and Man. He also called Smoke and told him to bring Ty. Once all five of them arrived Jon went over the plan one last time before they left to meet Steve. It was going down.

  Will’s house had three entrances, the front door, the backdoor and a basement entrance. Jon, Zoe, Ron and Man were at the front door. Don, Twon, Steve and Sam were posted up at the back door while Kay, Pretty Ricky, Smoke and Ty were positioned at the basement door. Jon had Don on his cell phone and Twon had Kay on his cell phone line.

  “One, two, three…” Jon counted. The doors were kicked-in and came crashing down.

  At the time, Will was using the scales in a room at the back of his house. He was weighing the cocaine just purchased. On the floor next him, was his SK. After grabbing the gun Will turned the light off and backed into the closet. The boys were searching the house very slowly. The basement was empty. Kay and his crew joined the others upstairs.

  They searched half the house. Steve turned on the light to the bedroom where Will was hiding. Will let off ten shots catching Steve with seven of them killing him instantly. Three shots hit Ty leaving him on the hallway floor gasping.

  “Get him outta here!” Jon shouted at Man.

  Man bent down to pull Ty out of the hallway. It was too late. Ty had took his final breath.

  Jon emptied the whole clip to his Tec 9 where Will hid.

  “Give us the shit and we outta here,” Jon shouted.

  “Fuck you! The only way y’all getting my shit is over my dead body.” Will said before firing five more times.

  Jon saw the duffel bag on the floor and three keys on top of the table with the scales and other utensils. He huddled everybody up in the living room and began talking.

  “We gotta get this over with early before the police get here. Zoe, Twon, Smoke and Man bust off till y’all empty. Kay, Don, Ron and Pretty Ricky to come behind them. I’m gone crawl on the floor and get the bag. Fuck what’s on the table. I want two up and two down and don’t shoot me.” Jon looked at each one of them and said. “Let’s get this money.”

  The boys set up on both sides of the hallway as planned.

  “What the fuck y’all waiting on,” Will shouted. “Y’all think I’m gonna let this shit slide? Shit! Y’all better kill me now because y’all fucking with the wrong one.”

  Will stuck the SK out letting off seven shots. Jon gave the signal and the first group started shooting. Jon got on his stomach and low-crawled as fast as he could. Four feet from the prize, the boys switched. Jon hurried as Will was preoccupied.

  Jon secured the duffel and backtracked. The shooting stopped.

  “Fuck!” Jon hissed jumping to his feet. Will peeked saw Jon with the duffel bag and swung the SK at Jon.

  “Get down, Jon!” Kay yelled fumbling to reload the Mac 11. Sam came around the corner pointing his Glock. Will saw Sam but focused on the duffel bag. With his finger on the trigger Will squeezed. Sam fired his Glock, hitting Will in the shoulder and sending him back into the closet. Jon was laid out on the floor not moving.

  “Jon! Jon!” Don screamed out as he proceeded to run and get his brother. Kay finally reloaded and provided Don with cover. The others changed clips. Don threw the duffel bag into the hallway and dragged Jon by his shirt to safety.

  Jon wasn’t bleeding anywhere but he had a big-ass bump on his forehead.

>   “Let’s get him to the car.” Kay said grabbing the duffel bag. The boys ran out to the get-away cars. Don and Ron carried Jon while Pretty Ricky and Smoke emptied their clips as they backed out. Sirens were only a couple blocks away. The boys peeled off.

  “That nigga gone come see us,” Kay said steering Jon’s truck.

  “We got what we came for. Fuck’ em!” Pretty Ricky said sparking a blunt.

  “Pretty Ricky is what they call him...” Jon mumbled.

  “You alright?” Don asked.

  “My head is killing me. What happened?” Jon asked rubbing his forehead.

  “Your goofy ass knocked yourself out,” Kay answered chuckling.

  “Fuck you,” Jon said. Everybody laughed. The rest of the ride was filled with jokes and laughs.

  Back at Will’s house, the police couldn’t believe their eyes. Bullet holes were everywhere. At least two hundred empty shell casings were left behind. Will cleaned up and secured the caine left behind. He told the police the intruders broke in and he ran to get his gun and defended himself. Will had a permit and was protecting his property the police didn’t give him a hard time. Will took the trip to the hospital vowing revenge.

  The boys sat at a back room table in the game room planning their next move.

  “I got a plan,” Jon said sipping orange juice. “New Jack City.”

  “What!” Everyone shouted at once.

  Jon slowly rose to his feet and cleared his throat. “I know we ain’t gone take over no big ass housing complex, but we can get us an apartment building like the Carter. Three floors, the top floor we can sell heroin. Crack on the middle floor and in the basement we got weed.”

  “I don’t know if we should put everything in one spot like that,” Smoke said.

  “Yeah Jon,” Pretty Ricky said looking around. “It’ll make it too easy for a nigga to rob us or for the police to bust us.”

  Jon took another swallow and spoke. “First off, who gone rob us in our own hood? Second, our security is going to be airtight and third, it’s riskier having our spots spread everywhere we can’t keep a close eye on them. All I’m saying is we give it a try and see how it works. If it doesn’t work then we’ll go back to the old way.”

  13

  Five days passed since the boys robbed and shot Will. They were starting to relax a little bit and felt like Will had gotten the message loud and clear. Jon didn’t want to be looking over his shoulders anymore than he had to. He sat in the game room with Don, Kay, Zoe, Pretty Ricky and Smoke planning the move to the three-story apartment building. One of the kids from the neighborhood came running in.

  “It’s a man out there asking all kids if we want to sell drugs.”

  Jon was immediately pissed and jumped up. He ran to the door with the others in hot pursuit.

  “What the fuck is your problem?” Jon asked walking towards the man. “Can you read? The sign says violators will be dealt with.”

  The man obviously was not from around the way because he had no idea of who Jon was.

  “You better get yo little ass back up in there and play some video games before I treat you like my child.”

  Jon looked back at his crew and he could see in their eyes that they were waiting for him to make his move. Jon dropped him to one knee.

  The man reached behind his back to retrieve his gun and Jon kicked him upside his head. Don and the rest of the crew came running over stomping him out. A crowd gathered.

  “You can’t read muthafucka? You can’t read muthafucka?” Jon repeated with each kick.

  “Throw his ass in the alley.” Jon ordered.

  They did and went back inside the game room.

  “Who the hell was dude?” Smoke asked walking into the backroom.

  “I don’t know, but I bet he ain’t coming back.” Pretty Ricky laughed.

  “Got that right,” Zoe said laughing.

  “I don’t know why niggas keep trying us. It’s like we still ain’t got full respect,” Don said and lit a blunt.

  Jon was sitting at a back table. He seemed to have a lot of things on his mind. Respect wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t believe how reckless everybody had gotten. For the first time he wanted out.

  Will needed to lay low for a couple days and went to the Bronx. He needed time to think about the huge loss. Not only did he lose twelve keys, he also lost the three keys that he stashed because somebody robbed him again. He knew who took the twelve keys and left him with a bullet. They would pay.

  The boys had been at the game room all day working out details of opening the apartment building. They even placed a large order with the supplier confident that Jon’s idea would work.

  “Man, I’m about to be out,” Smoke said yawning. “We been in here all day. I’m tired and hungry.”

  Everybody realized that they had not eaten and had been stuck in the back room making plans. Smoke left the game room headed back to 17th. Jon really wanted to stop by Lynette’s but didn’t want to bail on his boys.

  Always wanting to party Zoe spoke up. “Let’s go to the Savoy.”

  Pretty Ricky and Don were all for it. Jon and Kay reluctantly agreed.

  The phone rang. Kay answered. Jumping to his feet he said. “We’ll be right there.” He hung up the phone and turned to the others. “Will got some people laid down on Fillmore Street.”

  “What!” Jon shouted in disbelief. “Let’s take care of his ass once and for all.”

  The boys ran out the game room and headed for Fillmore. They arrived in time to see Will holding a gun and seven people lying in front of him. Jon directed Don, Zoe and Pretty Ricky through the alley. He and Kay attacked from the front. The three took off running. Jon turned to Kay.

  “I can’t believe this dude is this bold,” Jon said pointing his gun up the street at Will. “This nigga in our hood by self, trying to put in work.”

  “Trying is right,” Kay said staring at Will. “I’m a make sure I get his ass.”

  Smoke came running up startling the two boys. “What’s up?” He asked holding the gun in his hand. Jon and Kay swung around pointing their gun.

  “Chill, chill,” Smoke said raising his arms above his head.

  “Don’t do that shit again,” Jon said with clinched teeth.

  “Where the others at?” Smoke asked lowering his arms.

  “They went through the alley. We should make our way,” Kay said.

  Jon, Kay and Smoke made their way up the street keeping their eyes directly on the target. They were a couple houses away from him.

  “Get the fuck on the ground.” The three boys stopped in their tracks and Jon looked from side to side seeing no one. “I said get the fuck on the ground.”

  Will turned his attention behind him and saw Jon, Kay, and Smoke.

  “Y’all thought it was going to be that easy,” Will said then shot one of the dudes on the ground. “Where the rest of y’all?” he asked pointing his gun at another man lying on the ground.

  “Fuck you!” Smoke shouted.

  “Let me do them, Will.” The voice called out.

  “The dude is to our right,” Jon said elbowing Kay.

  Will shot a second person and then asked again. This time he got the answer he was looking for.

  “Right here,” Don said running up on Will’s direction with the Glock blazing.

  Jon turned to his right and started shooting wildly. Kay followed Jon’s lead while Smoke’s focus was on Will.

  Will backed up in between two houses while Don kept running. When he passed the men lying on the ground three of them jumped up.

  “Don!” Smoke shouted. “Watch your back!”

  Don looked over his shoulder just in time to see the three men pulling out. Don dropped to the ground and shots rang. Pretty Ricky and Zoe shot the three men down from behind. Will took off for his car parked in the alley.

  “It’s a good thing we run slow,” Pretty Ricky said pulling up Don up from the ground.

  “Yeah…right on time,
” Don said smiling.

  Zoe walked over to the bodies that were still on the ground. Holding his gun in front of him he saw couple of old-heads lying there, tape covering their mouths. Zoe took the tape off their mouths. He couldn’t make out the other two. It didn’t matter, they were dead. He joined Don and Pretty Ricky. They went after Will.

  Jon, Kay and Smoke had emptied their clips and reloaded. They walked in the direction of where the voice was. They made it between the two houses and saw the man they stomped earlier, in a puddle of blood.

  “I guess dude didn’t know to leave shit alone,” Jon said shaking his head.

  “Damn,” Kay said kicking the body. “This was Will’s man?”

  “You said that right,” Smoke said turning to leave. “Was.”

  The boys all met up in the middle of Fillmore Street.

  “Will got away,” Don said disappointed.

  “Don’t even sweat it,” Smoke said and lit a blunt. “Dude from earlier was one of his boys. We took care of that problem.”

  “Fuck it,” Jon said hearing sirens. “Let’s be out.”

  The boys went back to SCC. They talked about Will for a while.

  “Fuck Will!” Jon said and took a swallow of orange juice. “We have to focus on where we setting up shop. The apartment building is on Pierce Street.”

  “We’ll soon have them fiends leaning. Let’s call it Pauline,” Zoe said.

  “Sounds good,” Smoke agreed.

  “There’s nothing else to talk about.” Don inhaled the blunt. “Everything’s a go.”

  “Alright, I’ll see y’all tomorrow. I’m out,” Jon said thinking of Lynette.

  “Me too,” Zoe and Smoke said. Everybody left.

  The day for the grand opening of Pauline’s finally rolled around. Jon pulled twenty-two workers off the street to work in Pauline’s. He put two men on each floor to work the apartments. They worked for twelve hours and were relieved by two more workers who finished the day off. Security worked the same way. Jon bought four junk cars and parked them at the four corners of Pierce Street. He put two men in each car equipped with walkietalkie. They worked twelve hour shifts. Ron was in charge of running everything.