The Face Off

The Beginning

*Chapter 1: The Beginning

My name is DeMario Spivey, I'm the CEO of a large corporation, or at least I use to be. A lot of people have been on my back about how I got to the top then fell to the bottom.

It all started back when I was about 14 or 15, We lived in Pittsburgh in the hood, growing up we didn't have shit, lights was out all the time, water got cut off every month, didn't have food to eat, I couldn't afford a clean shirt to wear. Everyday I'd see drugs behind sold on the corner and every night I'd see base heads roaming the street. The shit was fucked up bad but even though life was in pieces and it seemed like God had forgotten about us I always knew my grandfather was there for me. I remember watching my grandfather build and make things with his hands and I wanted to be just like he was. He made life better for me and my mom. One day I was outside playing basketball with my friends while my grandfather did some work on my mom's car, then out of no where we here a loud, THUD!! I look up and see the car lop sided and a pair of feet sticking out from under the car. I drop everything, race over with tears in my eyes and jack the car up. "Poppa!!" I yell frantically. "Somebody call 911, hurry up! Please, hurry!" I grab his body out of the pool of blood and as I held my poppa's cold lifeless body in my arms, I realize that he has left me.

The paramedics show up after about an hour. "What the fuck took y'all so long to get here!" I yell still crying. "My granddad just bled out and y'all took y'all time getting here, what the fuck was y'all doing!!" One of the paramedics said "This ain't the best neighborhood to come to when you people always rob us." "What the he-..." "Mario! Calm down" my mom interrupts me. "What do you mean you people!? Just because we're black doesn't mean a damn thing!" I walk to my room in order to keep my cool. I hear my mom and the paramedics argue for about an hour and then I hear "Mario come in here please" as I walk into the living room I hear the sirens of the ambulance driving off. "Mario," then there's this long awkward silence and mom starts crying. "Mario, what are we gonna do now?" I stare into my mothers eyes and I say "I don't know". I knew that life wasn't good at first but it's about to take a turn for the worst.

Later that night I jump out of my sleep because of a nightmare, I hear a door shut and a car start up so I get up to look out my window and while I'm rubbing the sleep from my eyes I see my mom getting into a white Honda Accord with some dude. I figure it's my imagination and that I'm still sleepy, so I lay back down and go back to sleep. When I got up the next morning my mom was still gone and I realized that what I had saw was true, I put on my basketball shorts and slides and I rush next door to use the phone because we couldn't afford one of our own. "Mrs. Parker? May I use your phone to call my mom. She didn't come home last night and I wanna make sure she's okay." Mrs. Parker stares at me with that evil stank lazy eye of hers and says "I ain't got no minutes on my phone." I stop for a minute and think to myself (how the hell do you have minutes on a house phone!?) but then I just say thanks and go back home to wait. So around 12 or 1 in the morning, a dark green Nova pulls up in the yard, shuts off the engine and just sits there. I peep out the good window with the black burglar bars on it and I see two people in the car, one looks like a lady, I think it's my mom but I wait to see who gets out. I swear to God I was looking out the window for a good 30 maybe 40 minutes. My mom gets out the car with some black shades on and different clothes then what she had on when she left home. I asked her where'd she been but she brushed me off to the side. I say "mom, you've been gone all damn night and most of the day, answer my question!!!" My mom keeps walking like she doesn't hear me. "Ma, who was that in the car? Where did you go? Why do you have on shades in the house?" She stops in the hallway and turns around slowly. She takes off her shades and she has a swollen purple eye. I'm shocked at what I see. "Mom who hit you? What's going on? Talk to me mom!","DeMario Isaiah Spivey! Shut the hell up! I'm not in the mood to hear that bullshit come out of your mouth, I'm a grown ass woman and I do what I damn well please. I'm your mother and I don't have to tell you a damn thing, stay out of my business!" She turns back around and I hear her mumbling. (I should've got that abortion when I had the chance) I tell her out loud "it's to damn late now! Shit. You always got somethin' to say!" I was pissed, so I grabbed a shirt and I left the house. I don't even think my mom knew I left the house but I didn't care at the moment I just knew if I didn't leave I might have done something I would regret.

I go to the corner story to use the phone. I call up Drew and ask can I crash at his place for a while, just until things blow over with me and my mom. He says " You know it comes with a price right?" I say " Yea. I know, just tell me when, where, and how much." Now, Drew is the local drug dealer, your basic 6'2" DarkSkin, dread head with dreams of building an empire like the cartel. The call only lasts about 30 seconds before somebody taps on my shoulder and say "How long are you going to be? I need to use the phone 'cause my car broke down over there." I tell the lady to hold on and I continue to talk. "Meet me on the corner of Smith and Westley in ten minutes." Then the phone hangs up, I hand the lady the phone and start heading that way. I look back to see if I'm being followed by anybody, I see this all white Lincoln behind me so I take a detour down a narrow alley, cut through the cemetery, and across Mayhem parking lot. I get to the corner of Smith and Westley with about a minute to spare. I wait and I look around to see what kind of car Drew was gonna pull up in but it never showed up. About 10 minutes go by and as I'm sitting on the curb I see a dark shadowy figure approaching me, I jump up and I post up on the wall like I wasn't worried about nothin'. Out from the shadows steps Drew and I ask him "What happen to you being here in 10 minutes?" He looks at me with a dagger stare and then I say "Where yo car at?" and then Drew says "The car was drawing to much attention and plus I stay around the corner from here." I can understand why he walked here now, "So I got a place to stay or what?" Drew says "yea but it ain't free, you know you gotta put in the work........right?" I pause and I think for a second then I say "Yea. I'm down for whatever." Drew grins at me then tells me to follow him, as we walk off I can't help but feel like some shit is about to go down. I just know it, maybe not now but soon enough.