K'wan - Gutter

“Shit, you and everybody else in the hood,” Gutter said.

“But not like I will, Kenyatta,” Stacia told him. In all the years Gutter had known her it was the first time she’d ever called him by his government. “Me and your uncle might’ve fought like cats and dogs, but Big Gunn was my first love. You see this figure”-she ran her hands down her sides. It wasn’t a seductive gesture, more of a visual aid-“I had to love that muthafucka to let him put a baby in me. But that was a long time ago.”

“My uncle was crazy about you too. Remember how mad he used to get whenever you stepped out with your girls?” Gutter recalled. Stacia had been one of the baddest bitches on the set in her day and Gunn was a nut over her.

“Yeah, he was a fool about this.” Her face brightened. “If a nigga even looked at me too hard, Gunn was ready to go to the pistols.”

“I guess it runs in the family,” Gutter joked. Stacia smiled but her face darkened a bit. “What’s really on your mind, Stacia?” he pressed.

“Listen… I’m sorry about what happened to Rahkim. He was a fool, but I still loved him like a brother.”

“Rahkim went out like a warrior,” Gutter said, trying to push the visions of his mercy killing from his head. “It was an honorable death.”

“Honorable? Baby boy, ain’t no honor in getting your shit pushed in,” Stacia told him. “Rahkim was just a shade over thirty, with no kids. The only thing to mark his passing will be the mural somebody paints for him in the hood. I can’t really see the honor in that.”

“Here we go again with this shit.” Gutter sighed.

“Oh, nah, I ain’t wait around to preach to you. Now, I’m sad for that baby having to grow up without his parents, but my baby gotta grow up without one of his. My biggest regret was that it was Reckless y’all killed instead of Major. But I’m sure that problem is gonna work itself out before too long.” She stared at him and he just nodded. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you. Not necessarily for killing them children, but for keeping my child from becoming a murderer. Lord knows if y’all hadn’t rode on them busters, Tariq was gonna get ahold of a gun and do something stupid.”

“Come on, Stacia, you know I ain’t trying to let Lil Gunn get caught up in this shit,” Gutter assured her.

“I know that, Gutter. You think if I didn’t I’d let you take my only child clear across the ocean? Rahshida was down with the game, but her heart wasn’t in it like ours. I know how strong the devil’s call is, so I understand a little better. Gutter, I know who you are and what you represent, but I also know that you’re a good young dude. Tariq needs a strong male figure in his life to save him from what’s waiting behind door number two.” She motioned toward the men gathered at Gutter’s back. “Gutter, my soul died with Gunn and all I got left is my heart.” She pointed at Lil Gunn. “Just promise me you’ll show him a better way.”

“I’ll do my best, Stacia,” he said.

“When it comes to mine, your best ain’t good enough. I need to know that I’m doing the right thing by letting Tariq go back east with you. If I’m sending my son to join your army then I might as well let him stay here and die with me. I need you to give me your word that you won’t let him fall into this hell?”

“On my uncle, Stacia. Lil Gunn ain’t gonna get swept up in this bullshit,” Gutter vowed.

“Then it’s settled. When you fly back to New York his little ass will be on the plane with you. Remember now, Gutter, you promised to take care of my boy.”

“I got you,” he assured her. In less than twenty-four hours he’d been backed into taking two oaths, and still hadn’t come up with a solid plan to deal with Major Blood. Just thinking of the killer who waited for him on the other side of the ocean made him wonder if he’d truly be able to honor his promises.

TITO HADonce considered himself one of the most down Bloods in New York, but in under a year he had crossed two set leaders into being murdered. El Diablo’s death had been business, but Hawk getting off’d was something he hadn’t planned on. A shit storm was sure to come when word got out that Major Blood had assassinated him. Major wasn’t pressed. He was a master strategist with a killer’s mentality with a general who knew the lay of the land and its power structure. Thus Tito became his reluctant right arm.

“T, how long we gonna circle this muthafucka?” Eddie asked from behind the wheel of the car.

“Until he pokes his fucking head out so I can blow it off,” Tito snapped, showing signs of the strain he was under. Major Blood had successfully kicked off a civil war within a war. Not only were they now fighting Harlem Crips, but there was skirmishes breaking out among the Blood sets throughout the five boroughs. With Hawk dead and the governing body seriously crippled, it didn’t take long for things to start falling apart. When the dust finally settled Major Blood planned to rebuild the structure. Gentrification, he called it.

Until that morning everything had been going relatively smooth… but then the phone call had come in. It seemed that someone had rocked his cousin Reckless, cancelling his flight to New York. He and his girlfriend were found shot to death, and their son left an orphan. Tito expected Major to go nuts over the news considering how close he knew the cousins were, but Major Blood didn’t. His eyes took on a glint that neither he nor Eddie could bear to look at directly when he simply said, “It ends,” and started popping cats.

Bruticus was dead, and Pop Top had vanished so the lane was wide-open and Major Blood had taken full advantage. High Side was the first to get it, but he was nowhere near the last. For the better part of the day they had been stealing cars and picking off Crip soldiers. So far they’d shot at or killed at least half a dozen men since and that number promised to triple before it was all said and done.

When Major said he did his homework he wasn’t lying. Not only did he know who the key players in Harlem Crip were, but he was also able to uncover where Gutter got his drugs. The heroin he sold came from the Al Mukalla and touching them was a suicide run, but he got his coke and haze from the Heights. There was a big head Dominican kid named Rico who had been hitting Gutter off for the last year and a half. It was time to bring an end to their partnership.

“There that nigga go right there.” Eddie pointed toward a group of men who were filing out of a Spanish restaurant, with a chick who was slightly familiar. His mark was a slim kid with dark skin who wore his hair in a throwback, curly fade. He was laughing at something one of the young ladies with their group had said. He wouldn’t be smiling in a minute , Tito thought to himself, checking the magazine in the compact machine gun resting on his lap.

“Let me out right here, then go lay in the block until I come around the corner,” Tito ordered before slipping out of the car.

“SO THISis what it’s come to, mommy?” Rico asked, almost sounding sad.

“Yeah, Rico, I’m done,” she said. “I can’t take this shit no more, so I’m gonna fall back for a while.”

“You and your click have made me a lot of money, ma, especially you. Shit, you flip more weed for me than most of these niggaz do coke.”

“Yeah, it was sweet, but all good things come to an end. I mean, I’m sure the arrangement you have with Gutter is still in good standing, but I ain’t fucking around.”

“Gutter.” He shook his head. “It seems like he’s more focused on war than money these days.”

“You know how it is.” She shrugged. “But listen, I’m about to get up outta here. I’ll drop whatever I got leftover off to you tomorrow. It ain’t but a quarter pound or so.”