Bag Gang

Chapter 1

The Summer of 1991 drastically changed Antonio Santanna's life. He was devastated to learn of the passing of his pops. He sat on the edge of his bed, wiping his tears. His mind was going a million miles a minute and there was no stopping in sight.

It seemed like things were only getting worse. His dad was dead, his mom had just gotten laid off, and school was starting back in a month. He didn't have any new clothes, shoes, or even money for back to school. He didn't know what to do, but he knew he wasn't going to be the joke of the new school year. Something was bound to break for him; he just didn't know what.

Needing some fresh air, Antonio ended up sitting on his front porch. He noticed the older heads in the projects. They were running out to cars and coming back with money. He didn't want to start anything so he turned his body and watched them out of the corner of his eyes. What were they doing? What did they have that they could easily turn nothing into something? Perplexed, he wanted in.

Antonio kept watching until the perfect moment presented itself. He walked up to the last man that had returned from a car.

"What's good OG?"

Antonio caught the man by surprise. The old head looked over to his partners on their porch and smirked.

"Nothing much lil peon. Ain't you on the wrong side of the street?"

The guys behind the man snickered as they waited for Antonio to respond.

"Nawl, I'm on the right side of the street OG."

Puzzled, the man looked Antonio in his eyes.

"This is a grown man's game lil nigga."

Antonio dropped his head in embarrassment. He didn't have a rebuttal. He needed to prove himself or else he was going to blow the only chance he had at getting some money.

Antonio sighed.

"That's what I thought lil nigga! Now walk your ass back over there and nurse your lil ego on your mom's broken porch."

Antonio did as he was told. Maybe he wasn't fit for this life. He needed money badly, but he wasn't cut out to handle the big wigs in this league. Getting a job wasn't an option, but what else was there to do?

Antonio stood to go into the house before hearing tires screeching. Antonio turned around and caught a glimpse of the same man he had previously tried to do business with, surrounded by white boys and their unmarked cars.

As soon as they edited the unmarked cars, the men all yelled in unison, "don't move!"

The man didn't listen. He took off running for his life in the direction of Antonio. The man locked eyes with Antonio before throwing a brown bag in his mom's yard. Antonio rushed to the brown paper bag, shoved it in his baggy shorts, and retreated to his room.

Antonio threw the bag on his dresser before running to his window to make sure no one was in his yard. Antonio could see the man still running about a block over from his room. The man reached a dead end and turned to face the men. They drew their guns before nearing him and throwing him to the ground. One of the men rolled him over on his stomach while the others fought him in an attempt to place the handcuffs on him.

Antonio read their lips as they mouthed, "you are under arrest for the sale of cocaine!"

Relieved, he closed the blinds and locked his room door. He returned to his bed, reached over to his dresser, and emptied the contents of the bag onto his bed. He did not know how much money he could make, but he knew someone who would help him out.

The entire block filled with cops within the next fifteen minutes. The block was too hot to risk going outside. The sun was setting, but no one could tell as the lights of the police cars illuminated the area. He couldn't risk going outside.