In the aftermath of Tone’s death and car crash, the “Jaws of Life” was all Netta could remember of that night. She didn’t remember the crash or the days leading up to it, but she did remember her last conversation with Tone. He was so excited. He came back for her after the car stopped moving. She didn’t want to go with him though. Even though she was in pain and had nothing to live for, she wasn’t ready to give up quite yet.
I love you baby, she whispered to him, before falling into an unconscious state.
Other than a minor head concussion and a few broken ribs, Netta emerged from the accident unscathed. Once again, she had cheated death. While in the hospital, after undergoing a series of examination, it was discovered that Netta was two months pregnant. New York Tone would have been a daddy. Her unborn child held her future and her past, causing her to reevaluate life. She wanted nothing more than to avenge Tone and seek out Stink. But she quickly abandoned anymore thoughts of murder. Instead, she would put it in God’s hands as the old folks say, especially since he had now put a more important responsibility into hers. She broke the vicious cycle of revenge. She cut her losses and moved out of Baltimore, vowing never to return.
Netta is currently residing in Atlanta, George, and enrolled in Clark University. However, she had to take a short leave of absence from school to give birth. Netta had a healthy baby boy, who she named Anthony Thompson, Jr., affectionately known as Lil’ Tone, in honor of his father. She’s raising him in an isolated environment where he is safe and can have the childhood she never had. However, as soon as he comes of age, Netta has every intention of telling him about “the game.” She doesn’t want Lil’ Tone to be delusional in any way. Netta is determined to school him about street life without him ever having to experience it for himself. Financially secure, they are living quite comfortable down south.
As of this writing, the other members of the Pussy Pound are still deep in the game. Rasheeda, Petey and Fila are still playing Russian Roulette with their lives, taking chances with AIDS and the men they deal with. To them the whole situation—the fate that befell Mimi, Black, New York Tone, Mann, Netta and her mother, Renee—was just unfortunate fate. When it comes to death, nobody ever really thinks it could happen to them, until it does and then it’s too late. Death is always a reality in the game.
Ms. Tina, Mimi’s mother, is currently raising Lil’ Timmy as best she can by herself. She has her hands full living in West Baltimore. She has big plans of moving down to the Maryland Eastern Shore, near Ocean City, before the streets get hold of Lil’ Timmy. She doesn’t want him to even get a teeny tiny taste of the street life. She’s doing everything she can not to lose another one of her babies to the streets.
Willie Johnson, a.k.a. Dollar, Mimi’s dad, is still living in Baltimore and he’s still doing his thing. He helps Tina out with his grandson from time to time. Rumor has it, he has a contract out on the life of the killer (or killers) of his daughter.
After Black’s violent death, Stink took over the reins of his brother’s drug operation. Eager to establish his own reputation, he began putting his murder game down. Systematically, he knocked off rival drug dealers and anybody from New York in his town trying to get money. This lead to his subsequent arrest and conviction on triple-homicide charges. He is presently serving three natural life sentences running wild. While thuggin’ it out in the penitentiary, Stink stabbed another inmate to death over a card game and has since been transferred to the Maryland Super Max. In an attempt to control him, he has been confined to his cell twenty-three hours a day.
Nard copped out to fifteen years with the state. But, while serving his time in Maryland Corrections, a.k.a. The Cut, he continued to mastermind an elaborate drug operation from jail. He was indicted on Federal kingpin and conspiracy charges. Nard ran one of the biggest drug rings inside and outside the joint that the Maryland Authorities had ever seen. Several high-ranking Correctional Officers were also arrested as a result of the lengthy investigation. Nard had to be removed from the Maryland Correction system. He had too much power. He is currently serving his Maryland State sentence in Arizona. After he’s paroled or released, he will be transported to a Federal Penitentiary to begin serving his life bid. Nard will never see the light of day again, unless he escapes.
If life was fair, there wouldn’t be any ghettos or any Netta’s, Mimi’s, Black’s or Tone’s. But since life isn’t fair, the ghettos turn out more black youth everyday like the ones you just read about here. A simple twist of fate here, or a break in life there, and these characters could have been anything in life they wanted to be. But a cruel fact of life is circumstance. The majority of circumstances dictate the course in life we take. Circumstances dictate our choices in life. Only in theory do we control our own destiny. So right or wrong, left or right, good or bad, life-altering decisions are made like these in the ghetto, every day. At an early age, if placed in the same situations, do you think you’d make it? How? Think about it before you rush to pass judgment or condemn someone else.