That afternoon around 3 o’clock, a black SUV with tinted windows was slowly advancing towards Mac’s house. Mac’s house was in the middle of the block. The boys they were looking for were standing on the corner. The SUV slowed.
“That’s them,” Malone pointed out.
“Which one is the cousin?” the man driving asked.
“Rolo, the one with the grey sweats.”
The man nodded. “Which one is the leader?”
“Toe, black jeans.”
All four men nodded. “How do you want to play this?” one of the passengers in the back seat asked.
“Are any of them Coach Lassiter’s boys?” the other passenger in the back seat asked the boy sitting in the fifth seat.
“Rolo was on Coach’s basketball team last year, but he didn’t return to school.” Malone shrugged. “The rest of the crew all dropped out.”
“They look soft,” the driver stated.
“They look young,” back seat passenger added.
“They are the same age we were when we took over the streets,” the driver continued. “If this is going to be their life, they need to understand the consequences of that choice.”
The man sitting in the front passenger seat nodded. “Let’s go in soft. If they don’t get the message, we change the delivery method.”
“Drop me off in the back,” one of the passengers in the back seat ordered. He looked behind him. “You stay out of sight. I don’t need Matt riding my back if something happens to you.”
“No problem, man.” Malone stated. “They carrying. So be careful.”
All four men turned to give him an incredulous glare.
The driver backed up, turned the corner and dropped one of the men off.
The driver pulled back around, then began the slow crawl up the street so they could be seen.
The boys on the corner looked up as the black SUV slowly approached where they stood.
“Yo, who the hell is dat try’na…roll up on us?”
“Man, I don’t know. But that’s some serious equipment right dare…bullet proof, tinted windows, no-flat tires and shit..I ain’t fuckin’ with that….”
“This our street.” The boy known as Toe, held his jeans up with one hand and swinging a gun in the other. “We ain’t finna’ to let nobody rule our street but me.”
“You might want to rethink that, Youngblood.”
The boys jumped when the man leaning against the corner of the building spoke. They all glared at the man with the hat covering his face, a long trench coat over a black tee and black pants.
“What the fuck wrong with you wearing a long ass coat in May?” The man did not move or respond. “What you think you bullet proof or some…?” Toe asked as he raised the gun. Before he could finish his taunt, the gun was knocked from his hands.
The boys blinked as a whirlwind of activity surrounded them. When the dust cleared, they were looking around to see what had happened to the man and the gun. Both were gone.
“What the fuck?” Toe yelled.
“Watch your language.”
While the boys were looking for the man, the black SUV had stopped in front of where they were and a man was leaning against it, staring at them.
“Which one of you is Rolo?”
“Who wants to know?” The leader didn’t sound as sure of himself now that three men in dark suits were facing them and his weapon was gone.
“Yo…I know you.” Rolo stepped up. “Yo….that’s Turk. Right? My cousin used to roll with you.”
“Smart man,” Turk replied. “What do you go by?”
The young boy gave him a pound. “Rolo. Man, I can’t believe you rollin’ up on us like that.”
“I can’t believe you allowing your gang to punk your cousin Mac. Family is sacred.”
“That’s our business.” Toe stepped towards Turk but found three Glocks pointed at his head before he took another step.
“Yo…yo…hold up, Turk,” Rolo yelled as the other boys pulled their weapons. Two Glocks turned to the boys. They all dropped their weapons.
“You want to play a man’s game?” Turk spoke directly to Toe. “You better be ready to die.” Turk never moved from his position. “You ready to die for a code?”
“That code can feed my family,” Toe grumbled.
“What is your family going to eat next week after my people take you out for running up on one of my untouchables?” Turk asked.
“Man, we ain’t know Mac was your….” Rolo explained. “Man, we ain’t know.”
“Who is you?” Toe yelled out. “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no Turk.”
Rolo and a few of the other boys stepped back.
“I am the one who can feed your family or take your life. Which do you choose?”
“Let me take this fool out?” one of the men pleaded.
“Step back, Doug,” Turk said without moving from his position. “What you are dealing with in this moment is a man’s game, Toe.”
“Rolo, what you did to your cousin is jacked. Family protects family against all forces.” Turk turned back to Toe. “Let me clarify something for you.”
The man in the black coat appeared out of nowhere, pulled Rolo’s shirt over his face, then tied the sleeves in a knot. He kicked it three times, then pushed him to the ground. The man bent over then yelled, “You always…always look out for family.” Joshua stepped back with his crew. “And never talk about the coat.”
Rolo was on the ground struggling to get his hands free. The other boys were laughing rather than helping him up.
“Help your boy up,” Doug ordered.
The boys pulled the shirt over Rolo’s head. He jumped up pissed. “That ain’t funny, man,” he yelled.
“Hold up,” Turk cautioned. “That’s a boy’s game. A man’s game is my team taking you out. I think you can see the difference. That crap your boys threw on the ground is no contest to what my men are carrying. You are pissed. And you should be.” He looked at the other boys. “Instead of laughing, one of you should have stepped up to help him.” Turk shrugged. “There is nothing you could do to prevent what happened. But you could have showed your boy a little more respect. If you want to run as a gang, cool. But understand that a gang is about looking out for each other. When I got word that some punks were jacking one of my own, I drove down to let you know, Mac is untouchable. You hear of anyone else coming for Mac I expect you all to have his back. Then I expect a call to let me know Mac is in trouble.” He nodded his head.
Tucker reached into his pocket. He gave the leader ten one hundred dollar bills.
“Whoa, is that real?” Rolo asked.
The man ignored the boys and spoke directly to Toe. “My name is Tucker. This is my card with my address. I expect you in my office tomorrow. I want a report on how you distributed this money to your team. If you do right by them there is more where that came from. If what I hear is some bullshit, you will see me again. I won’t be as nice the next time.”
“Mac is untouchable,” Turk declared. “That card you have is a get out of shit free card. Use it wisely.”
Matt pulled up with Mac in the vehicle. He got out of the car, walked around to join Mac on the other side. The men stood behind them. Matt and Joshua placed a hand on Mac’s shoulders, then faced the boys.
“You see the force surrounding him?” Matt asked.
The boys nodded their heads.
“That’s what will come after you if anything happens to Mac.”
Toe looked from one man to the next. Then he looked down at the Benjamins in his hand. “Ain’t nothing going to happen to him. Come on, Mac, we got your back.”
Turk turned to Matt. “We good here?”
Matt stared at the boys. “We good?”
Toe nodded. “We good.”
Matt nodded to Turk.
“I’m out,” Turk said as he climbed back into the SUV. His men did the same. They watched and listened as the boys circled Mac.
“Man, why you ain’t tell me you had it like that,” Rolo said. “We cousins, man.” He threw his arm around Mac’s neck.
“Yeah, man.” Toe nodded. “We got you from now on.”
The men pulled off with Matt following them out.
“Yo, I have a few people I need y’all to roll up on,” Malone said from the back. “What y’all doing tomorrow?”