Hearts in Chains

Set it Off

     "They shot the restaurant up," Damien said to Eduardo, sitting at the meeting table. "Didn't look like Spiders guys, but, that don't mean they didn't know somebody who works for 'em."

     It had been a few days after the incident at the restaurant. Some of the city was on edge, and some of it was not. It was like any other day; a gang comes to a decent area and shoots shit up. Wasn't much of a shocker.

     "Might not be something we need to deal with," one of the other gang members spoke up, leaning back in his seat.

     "You don't know that," another intercepted, frowning. "Even if this wasn't Spider's guys, the problem still stands; gangs are gettin' out of control now days. They aren't respecting their place and honoring the peace we worked so goddamn hard to create."

     "They're gangs," Vincent then spoke up—one of Damien's closest gang affiliates. "Eventually, somebodies gon' make some noises where there shouldn't be none."

     Eduardo, their leader, listened. He had to admit that some of their rival gangs have been getting really bold as of late. But, what could he do about that? He couldn't just go and shoot shit up could he?

     "Ever since Spider came to town, there's been nothin' but trouble," Eduardo grumbled, standing to his feet.

    There was a time when all the gangs seemingly got along. When they put aside their differences in favor of being able to have connections. Now, it seemed that the only way to communicate with a known gang rival was either by not doing it or by having a gun in your hand and threatening to kill them and their entire family for a forty ounce and a bucket of chicken, so to speak.

"What should we do about 'em?" Damien looked over to Eduardo for guidance. If they didn't do something about this new gang, chaos would erupt. And that was the last thing they needed right about now.

Eduardo thought for a moment. What would be the most efficient way to get rid of a gang without having to kill them? A meeting? Hunt down their leader?

"Potremmo ucciderli"." One of the other men said, crossing his arms over his chest. (We could kill them.)

"No," Eduardo quickly replied. "If we can avoid violence, then we will."

One of the men sitting at the meeting table didn't like that answer. He thought violence was key when it came to situations like these.

"We need to wipe the problem from its root," the man then said. "Leavin' 'em alive would only cause future issues."

"I said no," Eduardo countered, his voice its usual stern. He hated defiance more than anything. His word was law. He stood to his feet, a cold and unfeeling expression on his face.

The man speaking to him quickly went quiet, not bothering to say anything else despite his mild annoyance with the answer he was presented.

Damien watched, thinking. Things like this couldn't be taken lightly. It was either they start a gang war with Spider or they deal with the future consequences of not dealing with them beforehand. Problem was, both of those options were promising trouble, and trouble wasn't something Damien had a problem finding. It was getting out of it that he had a problem with.

Eduardo tapped his finger on his cane. Finally, he spoke.

"I say, we wait 'till one of them fucks up. Once they do, we'll have no choice but to act. Sound good?" Eduardo stated, giving a tired sigh. He was getting up in age and this life was becoming more tedious by the day.

"I guess," Damien responded, giving a small nod.

The other men at the meeting table nodded as well, silent.

"Good. I'll have a few men stake them out; see what they've got goin' on. Once it's done and we've got enough to go by, I'll be contacting you," Eduardo said to everybody in the room before he turned to leave, a few lanky guards following behind him.

Damien sat at the meeting table for a moment, he and the other men around him silent. After a second or so, Damien stood to his feet and exited himself. He needed to clear his mind.

*****

     Damien had met up with his friend Donte after the meeting. Whenever he needed space, usually Donte was the one he ran to.

     "I ain't been seein' you much," Donte said to Damien as he kicked a pebble. "You been busy?"

     "More than you can imagine," Damien chuckled softly, walking beside him with his hands in his pockets. "Been tryin' to level everything out."

     "Yeah?"

     "Yeah."

     Damien sighed. He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders at the moment. He had Joey to think about, the gang to think about. The idea of graduating had left him as quickly as it had arrived.

     "How've you been?" Damien then changed the course of the conversation so it was more on Donte.

     "Same as you," Donte told him. "Busy."

     "I can imagine," said Damien.

     "You still on the football team?" Damien then asked, glancing at him.

     "Nah, I quit. Too much work, not enough play," Donte gave a playful grin, shaking his head. "Needed more time to look at the pretty honey's, y'know? Can't do that if I'm getting tackled by big ass guys in helmets 24/7."

     "Can't say I disagree," Damien murmured.

     The two kept walking, heading to their favorite spot.

     It was quiet for a while before Donte spoke up again.

     "You in a gang?" Donte asked Damien.

     Damien's eyes widened. What the fuck was with that abrupt question?

     "What?" Damien stammered out.

     "You heard me," Donte countered, almost teasing. His eyes narrowed in amusement as he watched Damien's eyes dart around. "Are. You. In. A. Gang?" He asked again.

     Damien held his breath. 

     He and Donte usually told each other everything. But, Damien being in a gang was never brought up or spoken of.

     "I.." Damien thought for a moment. "Yeah," he admitted.

     "I could tell," Donte voiced. "I'm in one too!"

     A nervous laugh escaped Damien as he kept walking alongside Donte.

     "You're in a gang?" 

     "Yeah, got recruited a few days ago. Its called "Spider"--real swanky fucks, really," Donte laughed.

     That line made Damien halt in his tracks. Spider? Donte was affiliated with Spider? A cold shudder ran itself down Damien's spine.

     Donte noticed Damien was no longer walking alongside him. He turned to look at Damien, his eyebrow raising.

     "You alright?" Donte questioned him, seeing Damien's expression.

     "I'm fine," Damien responded quietly. "Thought I dropped somethin'," he lied.

     Donte gave a friendly smile. "Well, come on then," he giggled shortly.

     Damien returned the smile, eyes still slighly wide. Just when he thought things couldn't get much worse--they did. 

     "Cazzo," he cursed under his breath as he followed behind Donte, his steps quick. (Fuck.)