Sparx

QUICK NOTE: Hi. I just wanted to make a few comments regarding the story that i have posted. This is the first part of my short story. I'm in the process of writing the second part. The story is set in East London and so i used the the same kind of language that is used in East London. This means some slang was used, that some readers may not understand. Below is a just a list of the slangs and their definitions.

Tag name: A sort of nick name
Nicked: arrested
Pussy: Weakling/coward
Endz: Area or place
Popo: Police
Yard: House

Anyway, thats all i wanted to mention. I hope you enjoy the first part of the story and i look forward to your comments. Peace.


Pulling the Trigger PART 1

10.30 am, East London

“Hey Lostboy, hurry up man, its fuckin’ freezing out ‘ere,” Ade shouted.

Reggie lurched, surprised by the sound of Ade’s booming voice from outside his house. He’d just remembered that Ade was patiently waiting for him to finish dressing up. As quickly as his hands could manage, he grabbed his Nike hood jacket from a pile of stacked books underneath his bed and swiftly took his New York Yankee cap from his computer before making his way out the door of his bedroom.

Hastily, he ran down the stairs, ignoring the furious shouts of mother telling him to be back home at 5.00pm. He didn’t have time to answer her now anyway. Since returning from youth prison a few months ago, he hadn’t been out on the streets of London and no one was going to stop him from going out now, not even his mother.

“Damn Lostboy, what took you so long?” Ade asked as Reggie closed the door of his house. “You know how fuckin’ cold it is in the morning”.

“Oi Ade, I swear I told you to stop calling me lostboy, it’s not my tag name no more--”

“Oh come off it, you will always be Lostboy, you can’t deny that”.

“Look Ade, I just don’t want you calling me that name no more. Alright,” Reggie said with a hint of severity to his tone.

“Aight, aight. Chill Reg, I’m playin’ wit’ you,” Ade said, humorously slapping Reggie on the back.

“It’s cool. So what’s been happening while I’ve been gone?” Reggie asked.

“Shit, bare shit has been happening. When you got arrested for carryin’ a gun I got excluded from school.”

Reggie stammered as he walked, caught of guard by Ade’s reply. He knew very well that Ade disliked school and it was understandable. Who liked a school where the teachers where practically governed by the students? However, the thought of Ade getting excluded from school had never crossed his mind. Things sure had changed while he’d been in youth prison.

“You got excluded, shit. What did you do, man?” Reggie asked.

“Oi, it won’t my fault, man. It’s that bastards fault, Hesam Ashraf. You know him, right? The one that lives down Surrey Estate and smokes weed all day”.

Reggie nodded his head. “Yeah I remember him. They used to call him Double A or something like that”.

“Yeah, that’s the one Im’ talkin’ about. He must have told the police that I was stealin’ computer screens at school. The fuckin’ police believe anything these days. Hell, if I told them bin laden was in my garden, they’d probably call fuckin’… George bush over.”

“So the police expelled you. Damn, I didn’t think Hesam would lie like that.”

“Yeah, well he did lie and I’m gonna get him back,” Ade said, pulling a silver object from his Nike bag which rested on his back.

Reggie turned his head slightly; curious to see what his friend was taking out his bag. Slowly, he peered over Ade’s shoulder and saw the object in Ade’s hand. His heart almost leaped out of his body when he saw what Ade was grasping.

“Damn, that’s a gun your holding,” Reggie cried, slowly withdrawing from Ade’s shoulder.

“Nah, I’m holding a banana. Of cause it’s a gun, man. Its 9 millimeter semiautomatic pistol. I took it from my cousin, you know, black devil. He doesn’t know I took it though…but he don’t have to know,” Ade said, scrutinizing the gun with his eyes.

Reggie stared at the gun uneasily, as if it were some sort of silver snake that could bite at any moment. Guns were the reason he had spent several wasted months of his life locked up in youth prison. Guns were the reason his parents had lost faith in him as a son. Guns were the reason he had almost lost faith in himself.

“Oi Ade, what are you doing with that?” Reggie asked, eyes still concentrated on the gun. “Don’t do anything stupid, man. Don’t even tell me your gonna--“

“Don’t be stupid, Reg. I’m not gonna fuckin’ pull the trigger. I’m just gonna use it to scare Hesam and show the motherfucker I’m no pussy”.

“I don’t know man; I don’t want to get nicked again, man. I don’t want to go through that shit again”.

“Come on, man. I need you to back me up. You’re my homeboy and I need you by my side. I swear to you, nothing is gonna happen, Reg”.

Deep down in his mind, Reggie clearly knew he shouldn’t go. His conscience was continuously telling him to stay out of it, telling him that he was better than this now. However, deep in his heart, he was still a street boy and a street boy always back up their friends; despite the consequences.

“Fine then. Whatever,” Reggie finally replied, adjusting his cap. “But you owe me for this shit, yeah”.

“Cool, cool. Now come let’s go. Its time to go and teach this boy who’s the bigger man,” Ade said as he put the silver gun back in his bag.

11.00 am, East London

Surrey Estate hadn’t changed a bit since Reggie had gotten arrested several months ago. Tall, brown estate flats still rose like massive trees made of rock. Houses and cars where still vandalized with all sorts of spray painting and teenagers dressed in large trousers and hoodies still hanged about the estate like restless ghosts.

“Man, this place is just as shitty as I had left it,” Reggie joked as he got of the bus that had dropped himself and Ade to the estate. “Where do you think Hesam is?”

Ade chuckled. “Where else do you think the fucking druggie is? His down the basketball court smoking his fucked up life away, as usual”.

Reggie walked alongside Ade to the basketball court, being very careful not to make eye contact with any of the boys who hanged about the estate. From experience, he knew that one misplaced look at any of these boys could mean you’d be sleeping with the worms tonight.

After what seemed like a particularly long time, Reggie and Ade finally arrived at the basketball court-or what used to be a basketball court. There was no basketball net, the floor looked liked it had been the victim of a very violent stampede and the cages that surrounded the court had turned brown in color. An Asian boy stood in the corner of the basketball court with a cigarette in his mouth.

“There’s the fucking bastard, Hesam Ashraf,” Ade said as he got out the gun from his bag and put it in his pocket.

“Alright, lets just scare this guy and get the hell out of here, ok”, Reggie said.

Slowly, they both made their way to Hesam Ashraf. Reggie never really knew Hesam Ashraf well, even when he went to his school. To him, Hesam was one of those boys who roared with the lions but fought like a fly. He knew that Hesam knew a lot of very dangerous people in East London including the ruthless thug, Rellick.

“Fuck, if aint the computer thief himself. What the fuck do you tink your doin’ in my endz?” Hesam asked as he took another cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.

“You’re a joker, Hesam. You know that. Since when was Surrey Estate your endz”, Ade said, looking Hesam directly in his face.

“What, you came all the way down here to diss me. You fuckin’ monkey. I don’t give a shit if you’re angry about bein’ kicked outta school. I didn’t fuckin’ tell the popo”.

Within in that very moment and to Reggie’s surprise, Ade quickly took out the 9mm semiautomatic pistol from his pocket and aimed it directly at Hesam’s chest.

The cigarette in Hesam’s mouth fell to the floor as Hesam staggered back in shock. “Wha…wha…what the fuck are you tryin’ to do? Don’t fuckin’ shoot me; I swear I didn’t open my mouth to the popo,” Hesam whimpered.

“You aint so fucking big now, are you. I thought this was your endz, huh. Come on, you waste guy”.

“Oi Ade, that’s enough, man. Put the gun away,” Reggie said, trying to grab hold of Ade’s arm.

“Why you so fuckin’ scared for? Why you so fuckin scared? You’re not such a top boy when a 9mm pistol is in your fucked up face”.

“Ade, allow him. That’s enough, man. The guy is fuckin’ scared, look at his face. Now, let’s get out of here!”

“Please, don’t shoot me, man. I didn’t fuckin’ tell the popo anything, I swear”.

“Stop fuckin lyin’ to me!”

Suddenly, the sound of police sirens filled their ears. Reggie quickly let go of Ade’s arm and turned his head to look over at the main road. A police car was pulling up and two police officers where slowly making their way out of the car.

“That’s it, it’s finished. Let’s get the fuck out of here, now”, Reggie said, yanking Ade by his arm.

“Don’t fuck with me next time, or I’ll pull the trigger,” Ade shouted to Hesam as he ran out the basketball court alongside Reggie.

To be continued…

Part 3(Final part)

11. 45 am, East London

“Shit, I can’t fuckin believe it,” Ade said as he violently punched a near by lamp post. “That stupid motherfucker actually called Rellik.”

“I told you he would call him, damn if it wasn’t for the popo showing up when they did, we wouldn’t be talking right now,” Reggie said.

Suddenly, Ade brutally punched a lamppost. “No fucking way im I lettin’ this go,” Ade began to say as he continued to strike the lamppost. “No motherfucker puts a gun to my face like that. Rellik thinks his so top but will see.”

Judging by the tone of Ade’s voice, which was a very enraged tone; Reggie knew very well what Ade was thinking although deep in his own heart he prayed Ade wouldn’t go that extent.

Unluckily, god didn’t answer his prayers in time.

“Yo Reggie, im goin’ to go and see Black Devil, and tell him what Rellik tried to do to us; when he hears about this, he’ll teach Rellik a lesson”.

This is what Reggie had feared. He knew Ade would want to get Black devil involved since Black devil was not only his cousin but was also a means in which Ade used to threaten people. And like his name suggested, Black devil is indeed the personification of a devil.

“Yo, Ade I understand your angry,” Reggie began as he put his hand on Ade’s stiff shoulder. “But I don’t think we need to get Black devil involved in this shit.”

Angrily, Ade shrugged of Reggie’s hand from his shoulder. “Im goin’ to Black devil’s house and I aint changin’ my mind, Reggie.”

It was useless trying to persuade Ade once he was in this infuriated state. Reggie knew Ade hadn’t changed a bit; his temper was still like a sleeping lion and once it was awoken, there was no stopping its roar.

“Alright then Ade lets go.”

The two of them walked quickly through the streets of London; Reggie being extra careful not to be sighted by any wondering police officers. As they entered a small estate that was filled with young boys in baggy trousers inhaling drugs, Reggie suddenly remembered how Black Devil had gotten his name.

He’d always remember that day in his memory. After all, how many people get to see someone brutally mutilated right in front of their eyes? Before that shocking day, Black Devil was merely known by his birth name, Dwayne Jackson. He was a lanky boy who had just arrived from Africa and had come to stay with his younger cousin, Ade. At first, Dwayne was a good kid. Reggie remembered when Dwayne once showed him how they balanced pots on their heads back in Africa. However, as time passed, the corruption of East London culture began to settle on him like a thick mist. Then one day, Black Devil just completely changed into a ruthless and calculating young criminal who was so heartless that he had mutilated a boy who was only 2 years younger than him at the time. Reggie shivered as he remembered that memory in his head.

As Reggie reminisced about the past events of Black Devil’s life, Ade suddenly stopped in front of him. “What’s wrong?” Reggie asked as he scanned the estate in case any police where around.

“We’re here, at his house”.
Reggie looked forward and could see that himself and Ade where both standing in front of a small flat house, if that’s what you want to call it. The flat had two broken windows and the door was slightly opened and there was no sign of a door handle. It surprised Reggie that anyone in their right mind would want to live in such an atrocious place then again, not many estate flats where royalty material.

Carefully, Reggie and Ade stepped into the flat. As Reggie stepped in his nose instantly grabbed the smell of cocaine and weed roaming in the air. The smell was strong enough to make tears run down his eyes.

“Yo, Black Devil!” Ade shouted as he looked around the flat. “Yo, Black Devil you here, man?”

Then Reggie felt it. Something cold and hard was pressing against the skin of his neck and it was sending cold chills along his veins. He didn’t need to be a physic to know that it was a gun pressed against his neck.

“Shit, Black Devil its me man, Black rage,” said Ade he turned around to face Reggie.

Suddenly, the gun that was pressing on Reggie’s back was released and Reggie quickly turned around to see Black Devil standing in front of him with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol wrapped within his hands.

“Shit, sorry about that, Lostboy. You two motherfuckers scared me,” said Black Devil as he rested his gun on a near by table that was littered with a dozen cigarettes.

Reggie didn’t even realize that Black Devil was talking to him until Ade gave him a nudge. It had been a long time since someone had directly addressed him as Lostboy. He had told Ade not to call him that earlier this morning and yet when Black Devil said it; it reminded him of the type of person he’d been before he’d got arrested. A young, ruthless street kid who knew how to play with guns.

“So what brings you two niggaz to my yard?” Black Devil asked as he sat on a chair and took out a cigarette and a lighter from his pocket.

“It’s about that bastard, Hesam and Rellik, they tried--“

Rellik cut him off before he could finish his sentence. “Yo, Ade why you messing with Rellik, man? He’s one of my best customers, you know. That bastard buys weed of me everyday.”

“I know Black devil, but it’s not like that. He put a gun to me and Reg…Lostboy’s face.”

Reggie suddenly caught a flash of sharp rage creep upon Black Devil’s face before completely been wiped out by a wide grin.

“No motherfucker puts a gun to my cousin’s head. I aint havin’ that shit go down,” said Black Devil excitedly as he got up from his chair and grabbed his gun. “I think its time we paid a little visit to Mr. Rellik and his Asian friend.”

“Fuck, now that’s what im fuckin’ talkin about”, said Ade with a childish-like excitement present in his voice.

The three of them made their way out of the flat soon after. Black Devil and Ade had put on their bandanas over their mouths and each had their gun in their pocket. Ade walked alongside them, looking at the sun which looked like it was melting in the sky. As he walked alongside Ade to Black Devil’s car he couldn’t help but think that this wasn’t right. He’d just been let out of youth prison and he was risking the second chance he had in living a good life. Deep in his mind and heart, Reggie knew that if he followed Ade and Rellik into this car, he would not come out a free man.

“Yo, Reggie why you stoppin’, man? We aint got time to waste, come on,” said Ade he grabbed hold of Reggie’s arm.

“Yo Ade, I can’t do this shit.”

“Stop fuckin’ about man, and let’s go.”

“Im being serious homeboy, I can’t go through with this shit. I need to be free and I don’t want to be locked up again,” said Reggie as he slowly pushed Ade’s arm away.

Reggie could feel Ade’s eyes rest on him like a huge stone strapped upon his back.

“So that’s how it is, homeboy. You aint gonna back me up.”

“Yo Ade, forget about this shit. Let go of your rage, you don’t need to do this--“

“Shut the fuck up!” Ade bellowed as he kicked the ground violently. “You’ve forgotten what it means to be a street boy, Reggie. Youth prison has made you soft and soft boys don’t survive on the streets. Only those that are hard and don’t take no shit from no motherfucker rise above the rest.”

“Yo, Ade come on, please, man. I need you to--“

“No, Reggie. I’ve got to do this.” And as Ade finished this sentence, he turned around and walked towards Rellik’s car. Yet just before he got into the car he turned around to face Reggie one more time.

“Oh and Reggie, this time im going to pull the trigger.”

And with that, the car sped of into high speed. Reggie merely stood amongst the silence of the flats. As the sun settled, his eyes watched the car race of into the streets until it was nothing more but a small fly and the sound of the engine had been swallowed up by the stillness of the estate.

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"

Jimbob

Hi Sparx, Interesting stroy. Jus t a few things that jangled a bit.

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The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.
Wallace Stevens

Sparx

Jimbob, thank you for your feedback.


They're all in London aren't they? Why does the city need to be mentioned?

Yeah i agree with you. Thats just a stupid mistake i made when i was writing the dialogue(which i'm working on). I'll edit that out right away. Thanks for pointing it out.

"It's hard to beleve that a street biy would have been out of prison for months wihout getting back on the streets".

Why is it hard to believe? I know some boys where i live that where arrested for carrying a gun(just like Reggie in the story) and when they where released from youth prision, they didn't come out on the streets for sometime because they won't allowed since the police had banned them from going out for some time.

"It's had to imagine street boys, getting kicked out of school and going in and out of prison being judgemental about another kid wasting his life by smoking too much dope"

Yeah, the street boys are being judgemental despite having bad lives themselves, however i did this by purpose so the reader can see that the street boys have shacky views on what it means to be a "street boy" and to them, smocking weed all day is a waste of life.

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"

Sparx

Pulling the Trigger Part 2

11. 20 am, East London

“Shit, that was wicked!” Ade said, as he put the gun back into his bag.

Reggie on the other hand wasn’t as thrilled by the previous event. The site of those two police men had really shaken up his nerves. On top of that, a very scary thought had crossed his mind whilst he had had been running.

“Ade, you got too carried away, man. You do know that Hesam knows Rellik. What if he--“

“Yo, Reg stop actin’ like a pussy, man. Hesam isn’t going to call Rellik, trust me. The guy was fuckin’ scared; you saw his face, man. Don’t worry about it, we're cool.”

Despite Ade’s reassuring words, Reggie still had this slight feeling in his mind that they were going to meet Hesam again and this time the circumstances would be a little different.

“Whatever, I just hope your right,” Reggie said as he adjusted his cap that had fallen out of position whilst he was running earlier. “So, where we going now?”

“Well I was thinking--do you still remember Lisa?”

“Yeah, of cause I remember her. I thought she moved away from London though and went to live in Liverpool.”

“Yeah she did but she is stayin’ round her mum’s yard today. She called me earlier this mornin’, told me her mum’s out all day and she has a free yard.”

A wide grin suddenly appeared on Reggie’s face. “Let me guess, she invited you over right, and she has a couple of girlfriends over too.”

“You got it, man. Where goin’ to have ourselves some fun. I need to remind you of what it means to be a street boy in the east. So, you comin’ or what?”

“What are we waiting for, lets go”, Reggie replied.

As Reggie walked along the lengthy concrete sidewalk beside Ade, he couldn’t help but feel in high spirits. Even though the earlier confrontation with Hesam had been a real fright, he felt pretty relaxed now. Ade was most likely right; maybe they wouldn’t bump into Hesam.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

“Yo, Reg I know a shortcut. Through that alleyway, just follow me,” Ade said as he pointed to a narrow alleyway that was opposite them.

As the both of them crossed the road and entered the alleyway, they where suddenly halted by a familiar voice.

“Yo, Ade you fuckin’ bastard, turn around. Turn around now. You too Reggie,” Hesam demanded.

When Reggie finally summoned the will to turn around he found himself not facing Hesam. Instead he found himself facing someone far more terrifying. Standing right in front of his face, with a Walther P99 semi-automatic pistol gripped firmly in his huge, black hands was Rellik, one of the most ruthless east London street boys around. Reggie swallowed hard; he knew something was about to go down.

“Oi, is it true what my homeboy here, Hesam, has been telling me?” Rellik asked, his eyes slowly gliding from Ade’s face to Reggie’s.

There was no answer. Only the faint sounds of Reggie breathing hard and Ade slowly fidgeting with his hands which where buried in his pockets could be heard.

“Hey, Hesam, he tried to fuckin’ shoot me, I swear down he did,” Hesam said as he eagerly pointed his finger to Ade as if he where some sort of shooting target that Rellik had to aim for.

Rellik slowly stepped forward to Ade, his gun still fastened into the palms of his hands. “You must think your special, kid. A small youth like you carrying a gun. Do you think you’re special?”

Reggie slowly turned his head to face Ade. Ade wasn’t answering back but he merely stood there; his eyes fixed firmly on Rellik’s face. Even though Ade showed no sign of fear on his facial expression, Reggie could tell that fear was swimming in his eyes.

“I asked you a fuckin’ question, kid,” said Rellik, the gun in his arm now slightly raised towards Ade’s chest. “Oh, so you’re a quiet boy now, not so big when a fuckin’ gun is aimed at your chest.”

“Shoot the motherfucker, shoot him now!” Hesam cried, with a sort of child-like excitement present in his voice.

“Bye, bye kid”.

Just as Rellik was about to press the trigger, the sound of a couple of police officers running down the alleyway quickly stopped him.

“Put the gun down, now”, the police officers demanded as they continued running towards them.

Instantly, Rellik darted off in the opposite direction; putting the gun in his pocket. Likewise, Hesam scurried over to a near by gate and managed to climb over.

“Shit, there comin’. Let’s go!” Ade said as he grabbed onto Reggie’s sleeve with trembling hands.

Reggie didn’t need a telling twice and he and Ade quickly ran through the alleyway and into the street.

To be continued... (Final part coming very soon)

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"

sanctuary

I think you mean off

Why would he hate school if the students practically ran it? Unless you mean that the teachers governed the students...

wouldnt it be nicked?

All-in-all, it is a good piece of writing. I will be back to critique the second part, but you have a good start so far...

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Sparx

Thanks for the feedback sanctuary. I have made a few corrections and thanks for pointing out the mistakes. I look forward to your feedback of part 2.

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"

bheid1.01

i look forward to the last part!
i didn't see anything wrong with the first part, but the second part:

"Don’t worry about it, where cool.” - we're, not where (but you knew that already)
and under that you put a were when it should've been a where.

you also used fount instead of found twice, don't know why.

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NaNoWriMo participant.

(working) title: Something Blasphemous.
Words so far: 4013

Sparx

bheid1.01 thank you for your corrections. I have corrected them now. I'm glad you look forward to the final part; i hope you enjoy it.

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"

hypercool4life

hypercool4life

[quote=hypercool4life]I liked the stories, particularly the hint of a cliff hanger at the end of part two. But I think it would have been nicer if there was a bit more background amidst the dialogue, for instance saying a bit more about Ade, or giving an example of what gave Rellik his hardcore rep.[/]

Sparx

Thanks for the reply hypercool4life. In the last part 3, you will get too see more of Ade's character through Reggie's perspective of cause. Also, i may include a breif explanation of how Rellik did become so feared. Thanks for your suggestions.

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"

Sparx

Posted part 3, the final part.

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"KNIVES AND RHYMES"