Green Heights Passages

Chapter 4

Victor needed to get back home before the street lights shined bright. That's when the war started. Them 36th boys always stay in some mess. His granny always warned him.

"They're starving for power," she would say, "You can't trust that kinda hunger."

But he always thought that was strange considering she raised the 36th's leader Yogi like one of her sons when he was Victor's age. And Yogi would do anything for her.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Gunshots ring out. Tires screech. Neighbors yell to check on one another. Victor speeds towards the Parkway residential neighborhood. There was a time when the South Side was the safest place in the city for a young black kid in Green Heights at 7 PM. His granny made sure of that. Ever since he can remember he's been told he was born in the wrong generation.

He slows down once he gets to the entrance of the residential area, but he wasn't in the clear. He still had 10 blocks to go. A tricked out SUV with spinning rims drives up next to him. His palms get sweaty. The speakers blare rap group Boyz N Da Hood's "Dem Boyz" on the radio while the bass bangs, booms, and rattles. His heart races as if he was still running. The driver's window slowly begins to roll down. A sense of doom overwhelmed him. There was nowhere for him to run without instantly being caught.

"Victor, is that you?" a teenaged voice speaks out from the pitch black abyss inside the car.

He stopped in his tracks and slightly squints into the car. The driver sounded familiar. A figure in driver's seat leans closer to the window where the street light shines.

"Jericho?" Victor asks.

"I knew that was yo ass! Nigga, what the hell you doing out here? You know it's a war going on," the seventeen year old nephew of Yogi asks with an smile on his face.

"I gotta go pick something up."

"Get in the truck, man."

Victor quickly obliges and gets in the backseat. Jericho's fraternal twin brother Zion sits in the passenger seat.

"You crazy walking out here by yourself?" Zion asks, "Where the ride your granny got you?"

"Man, that thing broke down a long time ago. I gotta get a job if I want to get it fixed."

"Yo bro, you can't be out here right now. Too hot out on these streets. You heard about what happened at Ant's house last week, right?" Jericho confirms, "Stamps crew no doubt firing back on his behalf."

Victor heard about it alright. He also heard the rumor that the 36 crew was involved, on the direction of Yogi. But Victor thought better than to ask if it was true.

"You still aint told us where you was going?" Zion points out.

He wasn't supposed to tell. Nobody was supposed to know. So he remained silent.

The twins look at each other with suspicion. But neither had the time to pull the information out of him. They had strict instructions from their uncle to patrol the South Side to make sure none of theirs gets got. They have to take him home.

"Naw I can't go home without..."

"Without what?" Zion inquires.

He wasn't supposed to tell. But he can't go back home without it.

"The cancer is back. It's bad, ya'll. I mean it's worse than before. I need to go see Ant," Victor reveals.

Yogi was going to be pissed. But there was no right answer. Jericho and Zion couldn't leave Victor out by himself. They damn sure shouldn't be turning into Stamps Street with the street lamps on. Then again, if they were going to go, it was better to do it in one of their uncle's new whips that nobody has seen him in. But, no matter what, Ms. Safiya can't go without her medication.

"Thanks for doing this," Victor says as all three scan the streets making themselves aware of their surroundings. They spot four potential threats hanging out in the driveway of one of the houses down the street. Zion pulls out his 9 millimeter from his waist and takes off the safety.

"The Godmother must be protected at all times," Jericho says looking into the rearview mirror.