Part 2 (1/2)

China's well-kept house sat shtieth Street, our newest possession in our latest recruit of territory in those days, and still today, reseh Europe

The apartment complex on the left end of the block off of Normandie Avenue became our base for this block We have since referred to it as the ”blue apartments” We had ”lost” the ”white apartments” on Sixty-fifth Street to Bloods while I was a prisoner in youth camp The battle, I'h we suffered no fatalities, our wounded and MIA list grew steadily Besides this, the Brims, whom the battle ith, had called in reinforcements from the Rollin' Twenties Bloods The white apartht

Eightieth Street was just one street out of many that fell under our jurisdiction Thea street, or territory, is not unlike any attempt, I would assume, on behalf of early Euro-American settlers Send in a scout, have him meet the ”natives,” test their hostility level, military capabilities, needs, likes, and dislikes Once a military presence is established, in co members Those who are not persuaded by our lofty presence will be persuaded by our e become conscripts The set expands, and so does our territory Sometimes there is resistance, but er brother was one of our first recruits frohtieth Recommended by China and sponsored by me, he became Li'l GC

”Listen now, Kody,” Ben continued in a deep baritone, pronouncing every syllable of every word ”You have got to stop pussyfooting around with your life We are quickly beco to overtakeout, cutting Ben's ht he himself had been hit; he was belly down on the floor Another shot resounded, this tiun blast

Ju to my feet I headed to the front door, opened it, and ran out onto the porch My heart was pu first to the right, toward the blue apartments, and then to the left, in the direction of Halldale, I spotted a burgundy Cutlass creeping down the street, a shotgun barrel in the passenger's hand barely visible through the open

Jurew in huge flower pots, I darted into the street Pulling out my chrome 25 autoan firing at the car The car sped away I kept firing at its rear as it turned left on Normandie Avenue

I turned and bolted toward Halldale to assess the dae of their ride-by Once I reached that corner I heard Dee Dee, Butchy's sister, hollering At first I couldn'tin theconfusion Civilians had coather in front of China's house Then it dawned on me

”Monster, here they come, they comin' back”

damn, I was out of shells! No sooner had I turned to run and take cover, thinking I'd be shot in the back, then a black-and-white police car hit the corner and all but ran into the shooters' car The police pulled their weapons and ordered the occupants out of the car and face down in the street We all gathered to identify our eneence

There were three occupants, a 38 service revolver, and a pu effect and sawed off at the stock for stealth and close combat One shooter we knew-Bank Robber; the other tere obviously new recruits, probably putting in work for the first time They were members of the Rollin' Sixties My response went virtually unnoticed by the police, though I sao holes in the passenger door No one inside was hit The shooters were taken away ae In the absence of the police, the car was promptly torn up and set ablaze Ten minutes later the impound came and scooped up the remains

On my trek by China's house on my way to the blue apartments I encountered Dot and Ben on their front lawn

”Kody” Dot started in on unfire, you run from it You could have been killed!”

”Yes,on the car Apparently Dot had dived for cover as well, joining Ben on the floor ”I just thought that one of my friends had been hurt”

”Well, Goddammit, you are not Superman, boy,” Ben said ”You could not have possibly helped anyone in such a crisis” He pronounced crisis like Nixon speaking on the energy crisis

”You're right, Ben, I lost my head,” I replied and put one foot in front of the other, trying to exit the conversation and get to the blue apart now?” Dot retorted with genuine concern ”Ain't nothin' but police out here”

”To the apartments to check on

At the apartratulated by the homies for a proper response, but I shook their flattery off shi+t, I wanted to kno, after I had alerted everyone to enemy presence, the shooters were still able to ain? Heads dropped and gestures of dis then that I was the only serious one in this

For the past five years I had gotten up everyelse but doing propaganda for the set I did this with all the zeal of a religious fanatic

Until I was nine years old we had lived on Hillcrest Drive in the Crenshaw district This is a hborhood of block after block of sparse laell-paved streets and shady trees My hborhood is now Rollin' Sixties 'hood Up until 1980 my mother still shopped at Buddah Market on Slauson Avenue, owned and operated by Orientals

In the summer of 1980 my mother asked me to accoor, but my resistance was in vain Mom didn't overstand the co to kill each other Up till then she always took eration

I went to Buddah Market with her that day-and I weighed two pounds extra I had a Browning 9 ht afternoon, and I recall feeling light and al up Slauson past Crenshaw I re as I read line after line of their graffiti on walls and buildings Aly asked Moot a ”you damn fool” look Then I noticed Mom's face cloud over hat I took to be utter helplessness Ironically, I never gave stopping an inkling of a thought This was ,” as church folks say when so real well

We traveled further west past West Boulevard, passing our old street We both looked to the right briefly Turning into Buddah Market's parking lot, I tightened ave ster down,” or dressed in gang attire) in ear, I had on blue khaki pants, white canvas All-Stars, and a blue sweatshi+rt, withht back pocket, and a blue flag hung outin the left back pocket Bloods are on the right

”Why don't you tuck in that old rag,” Moave herself the once-over

”It's not a rag, Mo she would for once see e of my life This was a job toin as e point see test of show and prove, pick and stick

Mos with the Orientals They had known each other for years

I was on point Not only was I in jeopardy, but with me I had Mo an about-face Fat fucking chance of that happening, I re

”You remember my son Kody, don't you?”

”Yes, yes,” I heard the Oriental wo looking” After a few other exchanges we started down an aisle Canned goods, no interest here

”Mo over to the cereal section,” I said and stepped quickly so she couldn't callthe corner at the end of the aisle, I felt relieved to be alone, both forto the cereal section when I was distracted by a nice-looking young lady in produce I etables, and that's when I saw hi off Sonic booht and my movements became automatic We both reached for our waistbands si lady had still not looked up froetables, yet the tranquil surroundings of an otherwise routine shopping trip were about to explode around her

Ihis weapon shi+t, had this been ”Baretta,” or ”Barnaby Jones,” he would have thrown his hands up and surrendered Not bothering to aim, I fired

BOOM!

Confusion and chaos swept the aisle like buckshot, screa in quick succession daain and hit him in the torso The bullet knocked hied into the air He had what sounded like a 22, a small-caliber weapon Folks no that teapons were involved-one loud, my 9 millimeter, and one not, his 22 I shot at him three more times to create an atmosphere of intensity, then turned and went in search of my mother Since my last encounter with the ride-by shooters, where I had emptied my clip and was left vulnerable, I had learned to keep ”exit” or ”safety” shells

Running aiot I had the gun indown the household appliance aisle Not finding her there, I panicked, re how I had been locked in the surplus store Ithe other scared-to-death shoppers, I found Morabbed her arm and ushered her away froainst hope that it wasn't ”Kody, what happened?”

I made no attempt to explain My sole intent was a timely escape We drove in silence, block after block We never even looked at each other

Back across Western Avenue I began to breathe better as I finally reflected on what I had done fuck hi of hierous; we all knew one another It's like the CIA and the FBI going to war There's no escaping once sighted

I thought for sure I'd be captured for this one After all, the Oriental knew un) However,out of cah ether at the Thirty-second Street Market Taraceful with a smile that shouted for attention; I was naturally attracted However, she was older than I In fact, we had nothing in common She was tall, I was short She had a job, I was an armed robber She liked jazz, I liked funk She had a car, I had a bicycle She was drug and alcohol free, I smoked pot and PCP and drank beer We clicked immediately

Today she'll say she didn't chase o steady, she'd let ot off Her shi+ft was from 3:00 PM till 11:00 PM My attraction was not just physical, but to the fact that she was not ofShe was not with me because of my reputation or clout, but for me as an individual So when I went around her I would present myself as Kody, without the Monster persona I'd take , and not let her knohen I was strapped I also would douse httoo much but that at the time she didn't want to e to impress her

I would take Taoodbye, drive to the corner, make sure she was inside the store and out of view, then reach for the glove co, put on my murder-ones (dark shades, also called Locs or Locos), button the top button on my shi+rt, put my strap in my lap, and drive on to the 'hood I did so hs, and chase-aways in her car that it's a wonder she didn't either go to jail or get shot I guess everyone assumed the car was stolen Then, too, we left feitnesses