GANGLAND Page 4

  “T…Tina,” she finally blurted out.

  “Now we’re making some progress. Next question; who else is here with you?” he asked but the girl remained silent.

  “Look bitch…,” Snake Eyes began, but was cut off when Lou-Loc raised his hand for silence. Getting the girl all scared wouldn’t help them any.

  “Tina,” Lou-Loc said very evenly, “I told you that no one was going to hurt you, but if you don’t cooperate, all bets are off. Who else is in the house with you?”

  Tina fidgeted but eventually answered, “My mother and little brother are upstairs in the bedroom, but please don’t hurt them. They won’t be any trouble.”

  “Let us be the judge of that,” Lou-Loc told her. He turned to Snake Eyes and Gutter. “Round them up quietly if possible, forcibly if necessary.”

  Snake Eyes and Gutter darted off to the upper levels of the house. There were screams and the sounds of furniture moving upstairs, which worried Lou-Loc because he knew that Gutter could be quite unpredictable. A few minutes later Gutter made his way down the stairs with a middle-aged woman hog tied and slung over his shoulder, with Snake Eyes bringing up the rear leading a little boy by the hand. Gutter tossed Mrs. O’Leary on the couch next to her daughter. She didn’t look to be harmed but she was less than happy about his manhandling of her.

  “Blood, this ho started tripping so I had to tie her ass up,” Gutter answered the question on Lou-Loc’s face.

  “Did these animals harm you?” Mrs. O’Leary inspected Tina.

  “No mom, I’m fine. As long as we cooperate they’re not going to hurt us,” Tina told her mother.

  Mrs. O’Leary looked at her daughter in disbelief. “Tina, are you insane? All these people know is violence,” Mrs. O’Leary said in a matter of fact tone.

  “Miss, we didn’t come to harm you or your daughter so just chill out.” Lou-Loc assured her.

  “You expect me to believe that? I read about your kind in the news everyday and all you do is kill each other and try to blame decent white folks for your troubles,” Mrs. O’Leary scoffed. “You bastards parasites, and we have only ourselves to blame for brining you to this country.”

  Gutter, being of foreign descent, took offense to the remark and stalked over to Mrs. O’Leary. He snatched her up by the front of her bathrobe and rained spittle in her face when he snarled, “Who the fuck are you to judge? Bitch, you’re boy loving ancestors plucked us from our native land and brought us here against our will and you’ve got the nerve to try and play the blame game. How dare you!” Lou-Loc tried to intervene but Gutter waved him away. “You hate black folks, but it’s a black man who saved your life tonight because my father would turn over in his grave if he knew I wasted my time or my bullets on a trash whore like you,” he tossed her roughly back on the couch.

  Lou-Loc breathed a sigh of relief when Gutter walked away from the woman. Even if he told her Mrs. O’Leary still wouldn’t know how close she’d come to turning the break in into a murder.

  *

  Outside, Stan stood on the corner kicking rocks, upset that he was away from the action. He would’ve loved to have had chance to loot the O’Leary house but what bothered him more was not being able to get a taste of Tina’s sweet little ass. “Cock blocking mother fucker,” he spat, thinking how Lou-Loc had dismissed him like he was a boss. He might’ve run Harlem but he didn’t run East Coast.

  Stan perked up when he noticed a group of young Mexican girls walking in his direction. They were all wearing bikini tops and too tight shorts, with beach towels slung over their shoulders. “Hola, mommies, como esta?” He kicked his weak game. One of the girls thought he was kind of cute so she stopped to talk to him. Stan was so wrapped up in the girls, that he didn’t notice O’Leary’s blue Ford bend the corner and drive right past him.

  *

  Two hours had gone past since Lou-Loc and the others entered the house and there was still no sign of O’Leary. Gutter and Snake Eyes were both getting antsy but Lou-Loc felt sick to the pit of his stomach. He felt that something was wrong, but they had come too far to turn back now. “Where this fool at?” He looked at his watch, “his shift ended hours ago and he still ain’t here.”

  “Maybe he’s out with his girlfriend?” Gutter said taunting Mrs. O’Leary.

  “My husband is a police officer so whatever you’re planning you’re not going to get away with it,” Mrs. O’Leary told them.

  “We know who your punk ass husband is, why do you think we’re here?” Gutter chuckled.

  “If it’s money you’re after, there’s three hundred dollars on my nightstand, and some jewelry in my box. You can have it all if you just leave,” Mrs. O’Leary offered.

  “Don’t nobody want your money, lady,” Lou-Loc dismissed her offer.

  “Speak for yourself, cuz. I’m all over that scratch,” Gutter tossed Lou-Loc the cell phone that Stan was supposed to be calling. “Be on point for the homie’s call while I got see what they crackers is holding.”

  “Man stick to the script,” Lou-Loc warned but Gutter was already gone.

  *

  Outside the house detective O’Leary was just pulling into his driveway. Detective O’Leary was a short squat man with thinning gray hair. His brown suit looked like it had been slept in, and his wing tipped shoes looked like they were ready to be retired. From the stains on his shirt, it was fair to say that the man was a slob. He got out of the beat up blue Caprice followed by his partner, Bill Simms, who was a young dark haired man, wearing an expensive looking blue suit. Together they made their way towards the house continuing the conversation they’d started on the ride over.

  “I don’t know John it seems like for every spook we bust, two more pop up to take their place. Makes you wonder if it’s even worth it,” Bill was saying.

  “All depends on how you look at it Billy boy,” O’Leary took s minute to light his cigarette. “Those poor bastards are doing us a favor by killing each other in the streets on the nightly basis. The comical part about it all is that they aren’t even killing each other over money; they’re waging war over colors and streets that they’ll never own. I say we step aside and let 'em wipe each other out. It doesn’t make me any difference as long as I collect my pension when it’s all said and done.”

  The two men laughed together and headed for the front door. Neither one knowing what waited for them on the other side.

  *

  Lou-Loc was pacing back and forth over the living room carpet wondering why O’Leary hadn’t made it home yet. This would be there best and only chance to get at him so it needed to get done that night.

  “Man, why don’t you sit your ass still before you ware a hole in the damn carpet?” Snake Eyes joked.

  Lou-Loc gave a half hearted laugh. Just as he was about to go back to the window to check for O’Leary the front door clicked open. Before Lou-Loc could shout a warning to Snake Eyes O’Leary stepped into the house and looked around in horror. “What the fuck?” He barked. Stan had fucked up, big time.

  O’Leary was attempting to pull his gun, but his partner Billy was a little quicker on the draw and cleared his service revolver. He shoved O’Leary to the side and fired two shots at Snake Eyes. Snake Eyes managed to evade the fist shot but the second struck him the leg, folding him. The two detectives were so focused on Snake Eyes that they didn’t even notice Lou-Loc, who was standing behind the door.

  Lou-Loc reached around the door and grabbed O’Leary by his tie. Pulling with all that he had he pulled the detective into the house, tripping him up and sending him spilling awkwardly to the ground. Billy tried to rush the house, but Lou-Loc slammed the door into his face, dazing him. With a killer’s precision he lined the Tech-9 with Billy’s head from the other side of the door and pulled the trigger. The hollow point bullets shredded the door and most of Billy’s skull along with it.

  O’Leary made another grab for his gun, but a foot crushed his hand. He looked up, wincing in pain, and found himself staring into a pair o
f green eyes.

  CHAPTER 4

  “So good of you to join us,” Gutter smiled down at O’Leary, whose face was twisted into a mask of rage. The detective’s eyes kept darting from Gutter to the gun, which lay a few feet away. “By all means, keep reaching so I can have an excuse to blast yo bitch ass. O’Leary wisely remained still. Gutter looked from Snake Eyes, who was bleeding like a stuck pig, to Lou-Loc. “Fuck happened down here?” Gutter snapped at Lou-Loc and Snake Eyes said with a smile. “Don’t let me stop you. By all means, reach for it.” O’Leary saw the murderous look in the masked mans eyes, and changed his mind.

  “Fuck happened in here?” Gutter asked looking from Lou-Loc to Snake Eyes, who was on the ground bleeding.

  “Ask your stupid ass home boy,” Lou-Loc snapped as he rushed over to tend Snake Eyes. “Homie slipped and let the fat bastard get the drop on us.”

  “Damn,” Gutter spat looking at the dead man in the doorway. “You hit bad Blood?” he asked Snake Eyes.

  “Nah, I think it just scratched me, no thanks to old boy,” he grimaced, clutching his leg. “Where the fuck is that nigga at?”

  No sooner than the words left Snake Eye’s mouth Stan came running into the house. He took one look at the dead body on the floor and Snake Eyes stretched out and panicked. “What the fuck Lou-Loc!”

  Lou-Loc shot Stan a dagger warning him to shut up, but it was too late. O’Leary glared up at Lou-Loc and a light of recognition went off in his head. When all the pieces fell into place all he could do was chuckle. “You think you’re pretty smart, don’t you, cuz?” he said to Lou-Loc letting him know that he had seen through the rouse of the red rags. “If you’re Lou-Loc, then that black bastard over there must be Gutter.”

  “Damn, he knows us, we’re fucked,” Stan said frantically.

  “Fucked ain’t the word,” O’Leary said as he eased off the floor, with Lou-Loc’s gun still on him, while Gutter kept his on the wife and child. They knew he wouldn’t try anything stupid that would get his family killed. “Let me let you geniuses in on a secret; killing a cop is a capital offense so all you boys will get to keep each other company for what you did to old Billy,” he motioned towards his partner’s corpse in the doorway. “I’m gonna turn the gas on personally for this one.”

  Stan’s eyes began to fill with tears as the panic started to set in. “You think this is a fucking game,” he pulled a .22 from his pocket that none of them knew he was carrying and pointed it at Mrs. O’Leary.

  “Homie tuck that strap, before somebody gets hurt,” Lou-Loc urged him. Stan was taking the situation from bad to worse at an alarming rate.

  “Nah, cuz. I can’t go to prison, that ain’t gonna happen,” he began crying and waving the gun nervously.

  “Cuz, everything is blue. Just be cool,” Gutter eased up on Stan. When he got close enough he lunged, and the gun went off. He slowly looked over his shoulder, afraid of what he would see and could only mutter, “Fuck!” Tina was screaming her head off, while her little brother sat there numb and in shock. Pieces of his mother’s brains clung to his Spiderman pajamas, and the side of his face was splattered with blood. At hell had officially broken loose.

  When Detective O’Leary saw what the gang banger had done to his wife he came unhinged. He caught Gutter with a stiff right hand that he had never saw coming. Before Gutter could gather his wits O’Leary hit him with a vicious three punch combination and dropped him. Stan tried to turn his pistol on O’Leary, but was a half a second too late. O’Leary grabbed Stan’s wrist and twisted until the bones popped, and took his gun.

  “Shit!” Lou-Loc dove though the kitchen door before O’Leary could turn the gun on him, leaving Gutter, Snake Eyes and Stan to deal with the grief stricken detective.

  “Mutha fuckas,” O’Leary kicked Snake Eyes in his already injured leg. “You come into my fucking house and hurt my family.” He kicked Stan this time. He turned to Gutter and stomped him twice in the stomach before catching his breath. “Prison is too good for you niggers, so I’m gonna treat you to a little down home justice.” O’Leary sneered as he picked the cordless phone off from its base by the coffee table. He used one hand to dial and the other to keep the gun trained on the Crips. “This is detective O’Leary, out of Central unit I’ve got a code thirteen at my house, I need back up! They killed my partner, but I managed to kill three of them.” Everyone from Gutter to Snake Eyes became nervous when they heard him say this. “Yeah, but there’s still one loose on the property, hurry,” he slammed the phone down. He turned his hate filled eyes on the Crips. “Now let’s have a little fun.”

  *

  Lou-Loc peeped in the front window and saw O’Leary had his back to him while he was punching and kicking his homeboys. His gut had warned him to sit this mission out, but he just had to hold Gutter down and now they were all up shits creek. His mind turned over a million possible outcomes and solutions to the pinch they were in and none of them were good. He had made it out and could disappear if he so chose, but Lou-Loc would never abandon his comrades. From the way things were playing out the only way Lou-Loc’s friends would be leaving the O’Leary house was in bracelets or bags and neither option seemed very appealing. Stan had allowed them to be back into a corner and the only was out was for O’Leary to die.

  Lou-Loc crept to the door where detective Simms was still laid out. The right side of his face was torn up so bad that Lou-Loc could see his chipped jawbone through what was left of his skin. He ignored the dead lawman and continued creeping into the house. Snake Eyes and Stan were handcuffed together to the coffee, while O’Leary had Gutter in the middle of the living room pistol whipping him. Gutter’s head lolled to one side and his eyes focused on Lou-Loc, who gave him a knowing nod. Gutter’s bloodied lips parted into a grin as he knew it was about to be a wrap for O’Leary.

  “So this is funny to you, huh?” O’Leary punched Gutter in the face.

  Stan also saw Lou-Loc creeping and in true idiot fashion blew the element of surprise. “Help us fool!”

  O’Leary spun just as Lou-Loc squeezed off a burst from the Tech that punched holes in the wall and ceiling above Tina’s head. O’Leary squeezed off two shots from the .22 but Lou-Loc was already on the move. As Lou-Loc fell to one side he pumped the trigger, swinging the machine gun across the living room hitting O’Leary multiple times in legs and torso. His body did a sick dance before finally hitting the floor where it continued to twitch.

  Lou-Loc walked over to O’Leary, who was lying on the ground and gasping like a fish out of water. He pointed the smoking Tech at O’Leary’s face and told him, “This is for the lil homie,” before dumping several bullets into him. In the distance Lou-Loc could hear the familiar sirens of police cars approaching. He dug through the dead detectives pockets and retrieved the handcuff keys so he could free his comrades.

  As soon as Gutter was free he walked over to O’Leary and kicked him twice. “Bitch ass nigga,” he cursed, rubbing his jaw which felt like it was cracked.

  “Leave that nigga alone and let’s get the fuck outta here,” Lou-Loc told him.

  “Damn, it feels like my shit is on fire,” Snake Eyes pulled himself painfully to his feet. He tried to stand and almost fell over so Gutter helped him.

  “It looks bad, cuz,” Gutter said of his bloody leg.

  “No worse than yo face, nigga,” Snake Eyes clowned him about his bruises. “Let’s shake this place before I bleed to death.”

  “Y’all give me them slob rags,” Lou-Loc collected the bandanas from his crew. Lou-Loc took the rags and began stuffing them into O’Leary’s mouth, ignoring the blood that was soaking through onto his hands. He took the bandana from around his face and used it to remove O’Leary’s service weapon. “Let’s go.”

  “Hold on,” Stan hung back, “these kids can identify us. We can’t leave them here like this. It’s more killing to be done, cuz.”

  “The homie is right,” Lou-Loc agreed. He tested the weight of O’Leary’s gun before turning it o
n Stan. Stan opened his mouth to protest and Lou-Loc put a bullet through the back of his throat. “Stupid mutha fucka,” Lou-Loc wiped the gun clean and put it back in O’Leary’s hand. For the first time that whole night nobody had to hear Stan’s mouth. “We out,” Lou-Loc led them out the front door.

  When they stepped outside the house they could see flashing lights coming from the direction where they had parked the Buick “Shit,” Gutter cursed, knowing they were now trapped.

  “This way, my niggaz,” Lou-Loc helped Gutter half carry Snake Eyes between the O’Leary’s and their neighbor’s house through the back yard. They came out on the next street over where lights were being cut on and people were coming out of their house to see what all the commotion was about. Gutter and Snake Eyes hid in some nearby bushes while Lou-Loc broke into a minivan that was parked on the street and got the engine started. Once he and Gutter had gotten Snake Eyes secured in the back they pulled out of the neighborhood, careful to use their turn signals and not go over the speed limit. As they zipped east down the street a contingent of police cars were heading west. Neither of them breathed until they were on the highway and safely out of Carson.

  The next morning Lou-Loc went out and got the paper to see if their exploits had made the news, which they did. When he read the headline on the front page it made him smile: HOME INVASION TURNED DEADLY. The article went on to say tell the story of how a group of Bloods botched a home invasion of a police detective which left several dead. For the most part Lou-Loc knew all the details because he’d been there, but the article revealed information about Stan that he hadn’t known. In addition to the slain detectives the body of Stanley Jones, 22, of Inglewood, was found at the scene. Jones was a long time police informant who had been providing information on both Crip and Blood activity over the last eight months.