Page 5 of Stay Dangerous

The Birch Babies always hung out in the parking lot behind Tower Four. Because it was winter break, everyone was outside, but it was all niggas in green in that particular lot.

Fredo cursed under his breath, just as I made eye contact with the one person I didn’t think would come.

Foolish, really.

Why wouldn’t Pooh come see his sons get put on his gang?

He grinned at us from the hood of his Monte Carlo as we walked into the parking lot. There was a half-circle, with three boys and a woman at the head.

Lem, the leader of the BBs at the time. Kilo, his right hand. Gee, his left hand.

And Tiny, who kept everyone’s pockets lined in exchange for unwavering loyalty.

Pooh didn’t fuck with any of them. A bunch of gang politics I didn’t understand at the time, but basically, they were the new guard. Young, hungry niggas that wanted to be rich and flashy, and led the BBs to be Tiny’s personal bodyguards and corner boys while she flooded the streets with any type of drug she could. Pooh had been pimping since he was thirteen or fourteen, and even though he was the last real OG alive and out of prison, he had no interest moving back to the Birch and lead a bunch of niggas motivated only by dollar signs.

His friends on the inside couldn’t or wouldn’t say much. The money they generated from selling in the prisons kept their opinions to themselves.

So Pooh stayed away. Paid his taxes to Lem. And complained on his daily phone call to Big X, Reem’s brother.

But I guess this was a proud day for him, so there he was.

Lem folded his arms as we stopped in the middle of the circle. “Yo daddy told you how this works?”

Fredo grunted, while I spat at the disrespectful nigga’s feet.

As soon as I could, I’d murk his ass.

He clenched his jaw. “Set! C’mere.”

This boy our age hopped off the brick wall and strolled up to us, stopping next to Tiny. He cracked his neck, cold gray eyes never leaving mine.

He was Peanut’s little cousin, Uncle Boog’s nephew.

I hadn’t seen him since before Peanut went away, since before we went away. Back then, he was quiet, and always followed Peanut around, looking for his mom.

A square in my eyes. Not anymore, though.

“Aight, Kilo, Gee, Set, and Remy. Get active on these niggas.”

Niggas started cheering, but I blocked that out instantly, and tried like hell not to make sure Fredo was straight.

It had been ingrained in me. Fredo and Ty-Ty, make sure they straight. As the oldest, it was up to me. Even when Ty-Ty latched onto his best friend Reem, that just meant one more person to look after.

I’d never seen Fredo fight because I fought every one of his battles. Happily. He was me, and I was him. Any muthafucka who wanted to get to him had to get through me.

He was the same way, in a way. No one could get through to me without getting through him first. He was just as protective of me as I was with him, taking on the role of our mouthpiece, when I didn’t care to explain shit.

We slipped into our roles effortlessly, but that shit didn’t mean anything on the asphalt.

Especially with Set coming at me like I stole something from him.

We were the same height, but his wingspan was longer, so even though I leaned back to dodge his fist, he still clipped me, right before another hand came flying in front of my face.

Stay standing. Stay standing.I repeated in my head as my knuckles hit faces and their knuckles hit mine. Set and Kilo targeted me, while Gee and Remy targeted Fredo behind me.

Time felt like it had slowed to a grinding halt. I felt like I was dreaming. I’d been in plenty of fights before. I couldn’t say I’d lost any, either, even when I was being tag-teamed, like now.

But something about knowing Pooh was there, watching me. Something about knowing after this fight, no matter the outcome, my life wouldn’t be the same. It had me feeling like I was underwater. My arms felt so heavy. My mind got so sluggish.