hanging out with him after school and shit.” I keep my eyes on the road, but every now and then look back to where Tommy sits, talking with his head back on the seat, eyes on the ceiling.
“Turns out, this kid is a Crip. We start hanging out with a bunch of them at different spots. We even make a few friends. Derrick and I both started selling weed for them. Just small time shit, ya know? Dime bags to buddies from high school mostly.” He shakes his head. “After a while, they started teaching us some shit about how they work. Invited us both to parties. We spent a lot of time high, man. And the ladies … ” He smirks and shakes his head. “The ladies were everywhere, ya know? Man, we were gettin’ laid almost every night.”
“Who was taking you to these parties?”
Tommy leans forward and his eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror. “Fuck that, man. I’ll take you to Derrick. I’ll even tell you his story, but I’m no narc. You hear that?” I nod, knowing that he might not have much choice before this is all done. Giving up the gang may be the only way the cops can offer him protection.
Tommy sits back in his seat. “Anyway, all of the sudden the other guys were going to parties and we weren’t invited. It was bullshit, man. Pissed us both off. We were told those parties were for members only. Finally, one of them asks us if we want to become members ourselves. Derrick and I both said yes. We’d have been crazy not to. The weed and women alone made the initiation worth it.”
I look back at him through the mirror. “What was the initiation?”
He smirks. “No way, man. Not tellin’ you that shit either. I will say that we had to do something specific. Something illegal. Once that was done, we were in — full-fledged Crips.”
“So what happened?”
Tommy shakes his head. “Derrick started talkin’ to some bitch online. She lives in the country somewhere on some fuckin’ horse farm. He took her out a few times. Stupid fucker told me that she was the one. You imagine? Dude is nineteen years old and he thinks he found the one ?”
I take the next exit, our destination only a few blocks away.
“Anyway, Derrick goes up to the head guy, ya know? Not gonna tell ya more than I need to, but basically he tells him he wants out. Buddy tells him it ain’t that easy. Derrick says he don’t fuckin’ care. He’s movin’ away and wants to go to college with this bitch and he’ll do what he needs to do.” Tommy shakes his head and sniffs, trying to look unaffected by his own story. “Buddy tells him the only way he’ll let Derrick out is to jump him out.”
I know exactly what that means. You don’t work on the Street Crimes Unit and not know what a jump out is. Basically, if a gang member wants out and the gang is willing to let him go without fear of him turning on them and trading their secrets, they’ll do a jump out. It’s where every member of the gang takes turns beating the shit out of the member. If he lives, he’s out. Free from the gang.
“Is Derrick alive, Tommy?”
He nods solemnly. “Barely.” I pull into the driveway of the address he gave me and look up at the large abandoned warehouse. This building had been on police radar for a while for being a hub for gang activity. Tommy directs me towards a rear entrance and keeps talking.
“Those fuckers kicked the shit out of him, man. Even I had to take my turn or I’d have looked like a pussy.” His breath wavers a little. “When they were done, everyone went their separate ways but Derrick didn’t get up. He was bleeding like crazy and I could tell that some of his bones were broken.”
“Why didn’t you take him to the hospital?”
“They were watching me, man. The boss though, he liked Derrick, and he let me pull him off into one of the offices and said if I could nurse him back to health, he was free to go.” I pull to a stop and look back to see Tommy shake his head sadly. “It’s not good, man.”
“Take
“Turns out, this kid is a Crip. We start hanging out with a bunch of them at different spots. We even make a few friends. Derrick and I both started selling weed for them. Just small time shit, ya know? Dime bags to buddies from high school mostly.” He shakes his head. “After a while, they started teaching us some shit about how they work. Invited us both to parties. We spent a lot of time high, man. And the ladies … ” He smirks and shakes his head. “The ladies were everywhere, ya know? Man, we were gettin’ laid almost every night.”
“Who was taking you to these parties?”
Tommy leans forward and his eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror. “Fuck that, man. I’ll take you to Derrick. I’ll even tell you his story, but I’m no narc. You hear that?” I nod, knowing that he might not have much choice before this is all done. Giving up the gang may be the only way the cops can offer him protection.
Tommy sits back in his seat. “Anyway, all of the sudden the other guys were going to parties and we weren’t invited. It was bullshit, man. Pissed us both off. We were told those parties were for members only. Finally, one of them asks us if we want to become members ourselves. Derrick and I both said yes. We’d have been crazy not to. The weed and women alone made the initiation worth it.”
I look back at him through the mirror. “What was the initiation?”
He smirks. “No way, man. Not tellin’ you that shit either. I will say that we had to do something specific. Something illegal. Once that was done, we were in — full-fledged Crips.”
“So what happened?”
Tommy shakes his head. “Derrick started talkin’ to some bitch online. She lives in the country somewhere on some fuckin’ horse farm. He took her out a few times. Stupid fucker told me that she was the one. You imagine? Dude is nineteen years old and he thinks he found the one ?”
I take the next exit, our destination only a few blocks away.
“Anyway, Derrick goes up to the head guy, ya know? Not gonna tell ya more than I need to, but basically he tells him he wants out. Buddy tells him it ain’t that easy. Derrick says he don’t fuckin’ care. He’s movin’ away and wants to go to college with this bitch and he’ll do what he needs to do.” Tommy shakes his head and sniffs, trying to look unaffected by his own story. “Buddy tells him the only way he’ll let Derrick out is to jump him out.”
I know exactly what that means. You don’t work on the Street Crimes Unit and not know what a jump out is. Basically, if a gang member wants out and the gang is willing to let him go without fear of him turning on them and trading their secrets, they’ll do a jump out. It’s where every member of the gang takes turns beating the shit out of the member. If he lives, he’s out. Free from the gang.
“Is Derrick alive, Tommy?”
He nods solemnly. “Barely.” I pull into the driveway of the address he gave me and look up at the large abandoned warehouse. This building had been on police radar for a while for being a hub for gang activity. Tommy directs me towards a rear entrance and keeps talking.
“Those fuckers kicked the shit out of him, man. Even I had to take my turn or I’d have looked like a pussy.” His breath wavers a little. “When they were done, everyone went their separate ways but Derrick didn’t get up. He was bleeding like crazy and I could tell that some of his bones were broken.”
“Why didn’t you take him to the hospital?”
“They were watching me, man. The boss though, he liked Derrick, and he let me pull him off into one of the offices and said if I could nurse him back to health, he was free to go.” I pull to a stop and look back to see Tommy shake his head sadly. “It’s not good, man.”
“Take
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