Part 17 (1/2)
”So then what happened?”
”When as leavin' they started bustin' at us-”
”What?!” I said in disbelief
”Aw, cuz, since you been in jail them muthafuckas been trippin' But Monster, I want that fool Macc Cuz, just take otta do so and he caain what he'd told unboat diplomacy, but I didn't think that would mend Joker's pride He needed to battle Macc personally I decided that we'd roll over into Hoover eight deep-four in each car, syht Trays
The Hoovers had recently consolidated theram called ”Hoover Connection” Their foundation was crack, the new high-profit cohty-first as the hub of their new union Thus at any tiiven day there could be well over two or three hundred Hoovers in attendance Eighty-first Street between Hoover and Figueroa ithout a doubt Hooverland Ground zero Everybody would be arht fell, this street made New Jack City look like a boys' club
We had been tight allies with the Hoovers since we'd both broken away from Tookie's leadershi+p Their enee of-became our enemies We'd entered five ith thehborhood Blocks, the Underground Crips, the Rollin' Nineties, the Watergates, and the Raymond Avenue Crips, who had never killed any of our hoth of our alliance we'd taken up the call to colors and gone to war on their enean their shooting war, the Hoovers auto When we opted to sit that one out, it soured our relations with Hoover To get involved in the Hoover-East Coast conflict could be potentially disastrous for us, as our neighborhood had blood relations in both the East Coasts and the Hoovers As a result of our nonaggressive posture and steadfast refusal to support either side, emotions were strained all around It was in this cliht
In alee, Joker, and Preacher In Li'l De's car was Li'l Stag-since removed and replaced with a firmer soldier-Bink, and Cyco Mike We rolled to a stop in theto ht Tray Hoover recognized me and came over with his hand extended I took his hand and shook it
”Where's Macc at?” I asked, looking for signs of hostility in Herm's face
'Oh, cuz 'round here somewhere Cuz, y'all seen Mace?” he asked of soo”
Macc ca across the street with an ?-1 strapped across his back When he saw ether When I got kicked out of Horace Mann and sent to Henry Clay, Macc wasHe took me to his 'hood and made me an honorary Eleven Deuce He and I were friends, and in this light I could not overstand hisMonsta?”
”Ain't nuttin', just coolin'”
”Eh, cuz, we fin' to groove to the beach You wanna bail?”
”Naw, cuz, we got proble homie, Joker, at X-ray's party Now that cuz ain't bent, he wanna go head up wit' you”
”What?” Macc said in disbelief, easing the carbine around so that it was now across his chest
”You knohat's up, nigga!” Joker blew up, coh the crowd
”Cuz, I'll blow you' brains out-”
”Naw,” I said, ”ain't gonna be none of that Cuz wanna scrap head up”
”Yeah, well, you knohat? Like I would get doit' you, but ht,” Macc shot back to Joker, but in his statement I heard fear
”Macc,” shouted a Hooverette, ”fuck that nigga up He don't come in the Connect talkin' that shi+t”
”Hoova!” shouted another voice The situation was deteriorating to a lynch-er and more hostile by the ht Tray Hoover shooting daggers at each other
”So what up, Macc?” I asked, eager to turn Joker loose on hiet it on”
At that, Macc eased the carbine over his shoulder and handed it to Junebug A circle was cleared and the scrap was on
Joker tore into Macc with a vengeance Macc was outclassed, out-punched, and almost out cold a few times When Joker knocked Macc to the asphalt he atteed and it was all we could do to keep froht, which froot the best of Joker at the party was because Joker was sloppy drunk
When Macc gained his co, who had taken off his shi+rt like he wanted to fight Macc, whose lips were busted and bleeding, was heaving deeply and looking hard at Joker, as relaxing against ht now, y'all shake hands That shi+t is squashed,” I said, trying to break the deadly silence
”Naw, cuz, this shi+t ain't over I'et you, Joker-”
”Naw you ain't, Macc, 'cause should et you Now, if you-”
”Cuz, what you sayin', Monster?”
This was Junebug piping in
”Y'all on Hoova turf, cuz Macc could blast y' all right here right now, or Macc could call it cool But it's on Macc”
”Macc,” I started again, totally ignoring what Bug was talking about, ”so what's up? If you still got beef with Joker, y'all can scrap again, but this tistaland at St Andrew's Park”
”nigga, you ain't said nuttin' Saturday, three o'clock, St Andrews!” Macc blurted out over swollen lips
And with that we piled into our cars, but only after we heard several weapons being cocked and loaded We drove off without incident
For the entire week that folloebraith Macc and Joker Given the tension of the previous Saturday, it could easily develop into a full-scale gang fight
The following Saturday the turnout in support of Joker was tremendous Old homies came out of the ork in short pants and sweatsuits G's nobody had seen in years were there Hillbilly, Robert Finch, Bacot-who had just served eleven years-Hoodlum, Harv, and Captain Wino were there Also present was Smokey Joe, Sodici, Sidewinder, X-con, Sneaky T, Bo-Pete, Red Bone, and Goat Mouth The park was filled with three generations of Eight Trays ready to ruirls Weapons were planted around strategically
”Here they come!” shouted our sentry, who spotted Moo Moo's blue truck bending the corner of Eighty-ninth Street I saw it too, but it was the only vehicle to turn the corner They were alone It is not Hoover policy to do anything alone Soht Hoovers ca each street of the Hoover Connection-43nd, 52nd, 59th, 74th, 92nd, 94th, 107th, and 112th As they lunized hardly any, except Bennose froht Their faces were disfigured All of them had been beaten, and bad
”Cuz,” stammered Macc in barely audible syllables, ”we caoin' on wit' y'all We fin' to get wit' these Sixty niggas Cuz, they ht”
”damn, how many of 'em was it?” I asked
”Man, they was like two hundred deep”
”So what's up then?” asked one of our Baby Locs
”Come to the truck,” said Ben, and he turned and walked away
”Bring a gat,” I whispered to Stag, who promptly retrieved the 45 froot there Macc pulled back a burlap covering to reveal a cache of rifles Not shotguns, but rifles! There had to be at least two dozen there