“The Closest Call”

The first one of you to cross my arms reach, I’m taking out your intestines! I warned.

My back was truly against the wall in the New Jersey prison system. On my side was my best friend Eddie aka Resk Tc5. We were surrounded by 30 to 40 of the most grimey, ghetto minded inmates from Newark, New Jersey. Some had shanks while others had razor blades. Eddie and I were strapped with a shank in each hand. Still, I was scared to death and with every reason to be. It didn’t look like I was getting out of this one alive or at least permanently fucked up. Maybe I should have let things go earlier that morning. Damm, I fucked up. Once again.

Eddie, don’t you see what’s going on?

Eddie was unmoving his belongings from the big room he just moved back into to his original smaller room. In this particular institution, the bigger cells were reserved for inmates with seniority.

Wussy has more seniority than me! Eddie protested.

Yeah, I know. But he doesn’t want the room. He’s only taken it because Bilah pressured him to. Not only that, they waited until you moved all your shit! Fuck that shit, bro! They’re trying to play you.

Wussy passed by.

You lucky I don’t fuck your little bitch ass up! I yelled at him.

Then I saw Bilah standing in front of his cell with his stupid purple doo-rag on, smirking. Bilah had a face that was easy to hate. He liked to shadow box while looking around to see who was checking him out. Let’s just say, I didn’t like him.

Yo, the rules are the rules, homey. He snickered.

We’re in jail! Fuck the rules, motherfucker!

Whatever! Just as long as your brother moves his shit out.

You hear that nigga, Eddie? He’s popping shit! Either you’re going to fuck him up or I am. What’s up?

Go strap up! I warned Bilah that he better put on his fighting clothes.

Both you niggas ain’t shit to me.

Eddie gave the scenario some thought and realized I was right. He finally got mad. He finished moving every thing out of the big room as Bilah heckled him. When he was finished, Eddie invited him inside. I went up to Bilah and looked up at him.

Get the fuck in there.

What? You two are going to jump me?

Nobody needs to jump you.

When Bilah was going to enter the bigger room with Eddie already seething inside, I couldn’t resist shoving him in from behind. Bilah ran into a haymaker that Eddie timed just right. The two traded some very hard punches.

I kept on checking for our cell block correction officer between cheering Eddie on. I didn’t see when Eddie bit the dude, but I saw the stupid look on his face afterwards. It put me on the floor, laughing. The fight finished and Eddie walked out of the room triumphantly.

When Bilah tried to leave, I blocked him.

You know what time it is!

I already fought your brother! He protested with fear in his eyes.

It wasn’t so much that he was afraid of me. The dude towered over me by a good 5 inches. It was more that Eddie just took out all the fight in him, but I didn’t care.

You know the rules. If you fight one brother, you have to fight the other.

So you’re jumping me?

I didn’t answer the question. I just hooked off on him and didn’t stop hitting him until it I felt it was pointless.

Word had spread through the building that the two Latin brothers from New York had jumped and beaten Bilah. During lunchtime mess, I saw Bilah congregating with his boys from Newark. Bilah had a reputation as a knucklehead and most of his boys didn’t take him serious. Newark is such a presence in the N.J. state prison system, that there were enough kids who were bigger knuckleheads than Bilah that did take him serious. It seemed that he had all of their attention right now, wilding them up for his cause. I knew Eddie and I were going to have some problems.

Back on the tier, some of the Latin guys called Eddie and I into a meeting.

Jorge spoke. This is the deal. Bilah got his Newark buddies to believe that you guys jumped him. I told them that wasn’t what happened, but they don’t think its right….

Everybody looked at me like I was the bad guy.

…..that Mr.Psycho here fucked him up when Eddie already took care of business. That was stupid, dude. Why you do that?

It’s too late now. I did what I did.

Eddie looked at me. You shouldn’t have done that.

I know! I’m a troublemaker...what can I say?

Listen, we can’t get involved. Because then it’ll go from being a personal thing to being a racial thing and we don’t want that. Besides, I’m up for parole in four months.

Who asked these fuck faces for help? I wondered but refrained from saying.

Jorge unwrapped four impressive looking homemade prison shanks from a prison issued towel. They were sturdy with jagged edges and sharp..

Word! I blurted out.

After recreation, they’re going to step to you two in the dug-out. There will be about 30 to 40 of them. Don’t talk, just start shanking away. They’re going to kill you. Good luck.

Jorge and the guys left my cell. Before they fully left, Jorge stopped to look at me.

You realize that this is all over a big room?

I know. It’s too late now. What do you want me to do?

Jorge left. I looked at Eddie. You’re mad at me, bro?

I’m not mad at you. This is fucked up though. You know that Bilah has mad people from Newark.

I know. I know.

Recreation in the gymnasium was called out the evening. Eddie and I left our tier together and stuck close together. We lifted weights, trying to ignore that Bilah and his boys were on the bleachers, staring at us, doing their best to intimidate us. Bilah strolled towards us.

Are you cowards afraid?

I was more afraid of fucking your mother because I knew she was really a man!

I don’t know why but Bilah looked at Eddie.

Don’t look at him, I said it. Your mother’s a fucking MAN!

You see, I was going to let you guys slide, but forget it now.

I don’t want you to let us slide, motherfucker! I like beef. The more the better! I live for this shit!

Eddie told me to chill.

Let him yap away, Eddie. It doesn’t matter. Ya’ll going to die tonight anyway.

I’m fine with that. But you better believe I’m taking at least one of your boys with me. And I know my anatomy. I’m not missing any vitals.

You don’t have any guns.

Keep on thinking that. Yo, we’re trying to work out here!

After Bilah left, Eddie scolded me for talking shit to him

It’s your fault that we’re here in the first place. Fucking New Jersey! I was fine in New York.

What? I didn’t twist your arm.

And I didn’t twist your arm to go beat up Bilah.

Right now I’ve would have been all warm in bed with Laura and shit.

I can’t believe you’re still talking about that hoe. She’s not talking about you!

Shut up, asshole!

REC OVER!!! REC OVER!! The loud speaker screeched. It was time to go back to our cell blocks. It was time to face death.

Yo Vincent! Whenever Eddie called me Vincent and not Psycho I knew he was serious.

What’s up?

You know I love you, man.

Yeah, I love you too. But it’s not time for all that though.

Approching the dug-out/staircase entrance to our tier was Bilah and about twenty of his homies.

There’s a lot of them, Eddie.

Yeah, and I bet there’s more inside the dug-out waiting.

I didn’t even think of that shit.

On the surface, I looked as cool as can be. Internally, every nerve was going crazy in spasms. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack any second. I wondered if you could see my shirt pulsating from the force of my heart rate. I was scared.

You’re ready? Eddie asked me.

Ready.

I had positioned my two shanks in the waist band of my khakis so that they were easily accessible. Bilah and his boys made way for Eddie and I to enter the dug-out. As soon as we did, Eddie and I whipped out our shanks.

Back the fuck up! I warned.

Yeah! What? What? Eddie grunted. He suddenly looked hyper and crazy in the eyes. I had to take a second look at him. If the situation wasn’t so dire, I would have been on the floor laughing. 

Bilah conveniently snuck behind all his boys. He wasn’t chancing getting stabbed. The thing was that these clowns needed leadership.

What’s up, Bilah?

Get them! Bilah ordered.

Any one of you get any closer, you’re getting it….and deep too, man! I mean it. I gave fair warning.

Even though they out numbered Eddie and I by dozens, it didn’t seem that any of them wanted to chance getting stabbed for Bilah.

One of you are about to go down with me and if you notice, Bilah is playing the back in safety. You niggas are suckers!

Yeah, look at Bilah…playing the back like a bitch! He’s not even willing to get stabbed for his own beef. Eddie helped me out with some psychological warfare.

What’s up with that, Bilah? One of his boys wanted to know. Why you’re playing the back? You suppose to be up front, leading this shit.

Don’t listen to them. Of course, they’re going to say some sneaky shit like that.

Sneaky? You’re the sneaky one. I’m just stating the truth. Come up front so I could twist both these shanks in you. Come on! I yelled dramatically, trying to put pressure on Bilah.

Right then, Smithy walked into the dug-out in his kitchen whites.

Whoa! Whoa! What’s going on here with my two sons from New York?

They wanna stab us up because Eddie and I fucked up Bilah this morning.

Nah, nobody is stabbingg my two sons.

I never really was fond of Smithy calling me his son, but in this case, it was welcomed. Smithy was from Newark and was a mystery to me. I never found out what he was in for. He always had a friendly disposition about him. I never saw him angry. I knew he meditated and practiced some sort of martial arts and held the respect of just about every inmate at Albert C. Wagner. Smithy was a good ally to have. I knew we were safe.

Bilah, if you got beef with Eddie or Psycho, you could go one on one with them anytime you want.

I tried Smithy, but they jumped me.

No, we didn’t! Eddie and I yelled at him at the same time.

You did so!

Smithy, we didn’t. I said.

It doesn’t matter. Anybody jumps you is going to have some serious beef.

You brothers know how I do.

All of Bilah’s homeboys acknowledged Smithy while I wondered how he did. There was more to Smithy than met the eye.

A correction officer walked in.

What’s going on, here?

Nothing officer at least ten people answered at once. Everybody, including Eddie and I hid their shanks on their persons. Walking up the staircase relieved, Smithy gave Eddie and me two BLT sandwiches each that he smuggled from the guard’s dining room. Entering our tier, all the Latin guys looked like they seen a ghost. They were sure that it was over for Eddie and I.

Bilah walked into his cell pissed. I sat in Eddie’s cell while Eddie rehashed what happened to the Spanish guys while we ate our BLT’s and drank instant coffee that we called “hype’” because we made it as strong as possible.

I got up to retire to my own cell. It was snowing outside the bars of my window. The prison land was blanketed in snow. It made me reminisce about a snowball fight I had with Laura at the Cloisters in Fort Tyron Park. I thought about the time I had left on my sentence. I had close to four more years to do. Maybe getting stabbed to death wouldn’t have been so bad I concluded.

If you ever go get inked at Big Ed’s, ask him about the story. He’s a funny guy, so I’m sure you’ll get a laugh out of hearing his version. Peace.

Posted on December 19, 2007 at 07:54 AM   |   Previous Entry   |   Next Entry   |   Entry List   |   Email Entry   |    Digg

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