in relief.
“Three of the cars got a whole lot of bullet holes in them and the other two still in mint condition. Five Mustangs for five Chevys and I want the Impala over there,” Jon said pointing to the car he had been eye-balling.
“I’ll tell you what.” Deuce said looking around the garage at the cars. “I’ll give you two Chevys, including the Impala and three Oldsmobiles.”
“Deal,” Jon said without a second thought.
“Just bring the Mustangs back and they’re yours.”
The boys left to go get Twon and Zoe who were still sleeping then they’d get the Mustangs. They took alleys and back-ways back to the garage.
“I didn’t know that they were this fucked up. We-we got to come up with something different.” Deuce stuttered when he saw the three Mustangs with bullet holes in them.
“Look Deuce, we got a deal. I told you that the cars had a lot of holes in them and you shook on it. Now you can honor our agreement or we can take matters to the next level.”
“I’m going to do this time, but no more trade-ins,” Deuce said reluctantly.
The boys were happy with the deal as they drove off in the cars.
Later, Jon went by Bay Bro’s to fill him in on what they had done and most importantly, see Lynette. Jon was disappointed to find that she wasn’t there. Bay Bro filled him on the plan. The visit was brief. Bay Bro had business to attend to. On the way out he gave Jon a duffel bag filled with guns.
“Take it easy, don’t kill everything,” Bay Bro said.
Jon took the duffel bag back to the dungeon and went through it. There were Glocks, Macs, a couple AR’s and two Tec 9s.
When Don and Twon walked in they were mesmerized by the guns spread across the bed.
“Where did you get these from?” Don asked picking up a Mac 11.
“Bay Bro gave them to me today,” Jon said passing his brother a Tec 9. “I made him a promise we wouldn’t go on any killing spree.”
“I love you boy,” Don said with a smile.
Monday morning came too early. Figuring the police to be all over the school asking questions, the boys decided keep things low-pro and walked. They told their dates the stories to tell. They were the hottest up and coming crew in Gary and the cars they were in Saturday proved it.
Don, Jon and Twon were put in three separate rooms where detectives questioned them. When they were called Kay and Zoe offered no information. They all played dumb. Lynette and the other four girls represented. No one volunteered information. They made it through the school with no mention of the incident. The teachers looked at them differently and other students gave them more respect. The police never came back. People talked about the incident and even added bits. The boys put it in their rearview mirrors and acted like it never happened. Their names continued to grow in infamy.
6
School was out. It was summer and the boys had no plans for a real vacation. They began playing video games regularly and were able to do ten cars a day. Things had changed since the incident. The news of what they did to Darnell and Pee-Wee had spread throughout the city. Everyone gave them much respect. No one wanted to tangle with the crew and it was widely known they had backing from Bay Bro.
The detectives came back with bullying tactics, it didn’t work. The boys stuck to their stories. They were no longer referred to by their names, they were known as SCC. Don, Kay, Twon and Zoe lost their virginity. Jon was still taking things slow with Lynette. The two had decided to wait and not rush into doing it.
The boys were sitting on the twin’s front porch when Calvin, Joe and Lee pulled up in front of the house. Calvin was a sloppy five-ten, dark skin, two hundred and twelve pound, sixteen year-old who called the shots for the youngsters on 21st Avenue. He looked much older and was able to go in liquor stores. Joe and Lee were his two most trusted flunkies.
“What’s up, SCC?” Calvin greeted walking up the stairs leading to the front porch.
“What’s going on, Calvin?” Don said warily.
“Trying to get down with y’all,” Calvin said talking with his hands. “You know we’ll take this city over. Gary be ours.”
“Are you serious? What do y’all have to offer?” Jon tried but couldn’t stop chuckling.
Calvin knew better than to piss the boys off.
“It’s only five of y’all and pretty soon a lot of up and coming dudes gone test y’all. I know y’all done held y’all own so far, but with my boys peeps would think twice.”
“We don’t draw off numbers and we can hold our own,” Jon said.
Calvin was undeterred and kept going.
“I’m not saying that y’all can’t hold your own. All I’m saying is that y’all will have strength in numbers. Plus, I know y’all do the car thing and we get paid like that too. We also get paid off this.” Calvin pulled out a bag with crack cocaine. “I’m telling ya’ll, we can get paid. I got a plug that can’t be beat,” he said.
Jon looked at the others and shrugged his shoulders.
“I’ll tell you what. Y’all come with us tonight on our run and if y’all all that, we’ll see” Don said sitting in his chair and pointing at Calvin.
“Bet,” Calvin said confidently. Calvin, Joe and Lee sat down with the boys.
The sun was going down. It was time. The crew got ready for work. They locked up the house and got into two cars. Jon, Kay, Zoe and Lee rode in Jon’s Impala. Don, Twon, Calvin and Joe rode in Calvin’s Cutlass.
Riding around Chicago for an hour and half they stole six cars. The boys along with Calvin’s gang headed back to Gary. Calvin wanted to stop in Calumet, Illinois. On the way back they drove around the apartment complex. There were Caddys, Jeeps, Mustangs, Benzs and BM’s parked in a lot unattended.
They took the cars to Deuce and told him that they’d be back and rolled to the apartment complex. Jon stole a ‘92 black Benz. Kay stole a ‘93 Deville, Lee a ‘91 BM, Zoe had a Jeep Cherokee. Don took off in a ‘91 ZR1 Corvette. Calvin spotted a black Mercedes-Benz 300e that he just had to have. There was no one in the parking lot so the group didn’t have any standing security. Calvin disabled the car’s alarm, unlocked the door and was in. He was having a difficult time with the ignition.
A man came walking in Calvin’s direction. Jon blew his horn but Calvin kept trying to start the car. The man got closer to Calvin.
“Hey, what in God’s name you think you’re doing?”
Calvin reached for his gun. The others hurried over.
“Get the fuck on!” Calvin shouted at the man raising his gun.
The man reached for his waistband. Calvin let out two shots from his .380 hitting the man in his leg. The man aimed and fired. The bullet found its mark in the middle of Calvin’s chest. His upper body dropped back into the car while his legs rested on the parking lot pavement. The man on the pavement was trying to get up.
“This nigga killed him!” Lee screamed and started shooting. The man caught one in the stomach. He turned to shoot at Lee when bullets from Jon’s 45 tore through his back. Silently they stared at Calvin’s life-less body. The man was gone. They ran back to the cars and headed for the expressway to Gary.
The cars were taken to Deuce’s and the boys were paid well. They went to the Dungeon.
“Hold up,” Jon sounded pissed about a comment Joe made. “What the fuck you mean,