Shades of retribution_____________________________Page 1
"Daddy! You're not listening to me." The pretty little girl exclaimed. "I'm sorry, pudding," said the man lying in the grass. He was guilty as charged. Instead of listening to his daughter, he was caught up in the beauty of life. Staring into the sky, he watched the clouds move and form different artistic shapes. He smelled the grass, felt the summer breeze and saw life at its best. The little girl grinned as she ripped up grass in her tiny hand and poured the broken grass on her daddy's chest. They both laughed. "Baby, what were you saying?" Jegil asked his daughter. "Daddy why aren't you going to auntie Linda's house with us?" The little girl asked her father, displaying the biggest, prettiest, brown eyes he'd ever seen. "Pudding, daddy can't go this weekend because I have to work." Jegil told his youngest daughter. Mr. Jegil Dugger was a computer programmer for a local insurance company. Every three months, he had to be on call for the nightly computer system's run. This meant he had to be close by a telephone or carry a beeper in case something went wrong and his company needed to have him come in to correct a problem. This was only for a seven day time frame, but this week was his turn in the barrel, so to speak. Melody, Jegil's wife, was taking the girls with her this weekend to visit her sister in Cleveland, Ohio. The smell of bar-B-Que ribs filled the air. Mrs. Melody Dugger appeared at the backdoor and took roll call, "pudding!, Peaches! Jegil! Wash your hands, dinner's ready." The Dugger family was having a picnic in the backyard this evening. They always did things together. There were two children, pudding was six years old and Peaches was eight years old. The family gathered around the picnic table that Jegil had assembled last summer. On this hot summer evening they were feasting on bar-b-que ribs, potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans in the large backyard. Melody worked as a schoolteacher. Her income combined with Jegil's helped made it possible for the Duggers to afford their nice home on Detroit's well-to-do east side. They were buying the ninety thousand dollar, brick ranch home. It included a large recreation room in the basement, central air, two and a half baths, a sixteen by thirty-two feet above ground pool with sun deck. The home had a Florida room and a couple of family rooms. This area was considered by most to be one of Detroit's premiere neighborhoods. All of the lawns appeared to be dyed the same color of green and manicured to the same height. The next day Jegil took his family to nearby suburban Sterling Heights Michigan for gocart riding. Afterwards they stopped off for pizza. Mr. Dugger loved his little girls and especially the woman that made it possible for him to have his two daughters. The thirty five year old Jegil had met melody in Wayne county community college ten years ago. They dated and fell madly in
Shades of retribution ____________________________________page 2
Love. The thought of love is a joke to many, but to Jegil and Melody, love was real. Jegil often wondered what he would do without melody. He loved her so much, he would probably just lie down and die, but enough of that, he would have her forever. When temperatures reached into the nineties, Belle Isle park Resembled an ant colony. People and vehicles over populated the Small island. This in fact, is one of the better parks in the metro Detroit area. There is a mini police station on the island, but that is hardly enough to police the amount of people on belle isle Today. Most of the occupants were out to have a good time and enjoy the summer weather while it lasted. The beach was full of glistening suntanned bodies, as was the basketball court, tennis courts, and baseball diamonds. Families were out canoeing, visiting the zoo, and taking nature walks. Ghetto blasters could be heard everywhere. Each played a different rap song. Laughter and children's voices pierced the evening summer air. The black jeep cruised the island slowly. The five young men inside passed the forty-ounce bottle of beer around. The jeep's bass speakers could be heard blocks away, as the blaring rap tape continued. Jimmy, riding in the back seat was nineteen years old. He liked hanging out with tank because tank was crazy. Nobody ever messed with tank. Tank got his name because of his build and his explosive temper. Tank stood five feet nine and weighed a solid two hundred and fifty pounds. The jeep belonged to tank. Jimmy shouted out of the back window at every girl he saw, even if her male friend was with her. If the guy dared to get an attitude, one look at tank and he cooled off real quickly. The twenty-one year old tank turned the black, four-door jeep left down a secluded area of the island. This area was reserved for couples and referred to as lover's lane. This was a wooded area and populated by deer and other animals. The loud bass boomed and the deer ran to safety. One deer was grazing some grass and didn't scamper from the booming bass of the jeep's stereo. Johnny drank the last of one of the forty ounces. Johnny was a follower, and would do just about anything to gain him crazy points. A half buzzed nineteen year old Johnny flung the empty beer bottle as hard as he could at the deer. The bottle hit the deer in the side, with a loud thud. The startled animal jumped and ran deep into the woods seeking safety. A couple were necking on a side clearing, off the road. The girl jumped at the sound of the roaring music approaching. The boy said to her, "I don't understand why people have to play their music so loud. How can they even hear it?" The girl responded, "They're disturbing everybody with that noise, even the poor animals, seems like the police would make them turn that music down!" As the jeep approached, Jimmy yelled out, "hey baby, don't you want a real man?" The girl quickly turned and Shades of retribution page 12 told her boyfriend to ignore them. Then jimmy yelled, "drop that wimp! Come ride with us! He's a looser!" Before the girl could hush him up, the boy yelled back, "if you were so much of a man, you wouldn't be riding with a bunch of other men, you'd be riding with a woman!" The jeep came to a halt. Tank asked, "What did he say?" Tony didn't Say nothing, come on man!" Then he turned to Jimmy and said, "why You always starting shit?" It was too late, tank had already gotten out of the jeep and was fast approaching the boy. Everybody got out of the jeep. The fear on the boy's face told the whole story. The girl screamed, "he didn't mean it, please let us alone!" The boy stood up, it was a mistake. Tank swung so hard, the wind from the Swing drowned out the cracking sound of the boy's jaw. The boy was dazed, and out on his feet. Tank hit him in the mouth knocking out one of his front teeth. Before the boy could fall to the ground, Tank grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt, while holding the boy up, tank head-butted him in the nose. Blood gushed out of the boy's nostrils. The breaking of his nose sent sharp pains immediately to the boy's brain and rendered him unconscious. The boy then collapsed. Tony and the rest of the guys pulled tank away from the sprawled out figure and the screaming girl. Her cries went 'unheard in the mass of noise on the island. On Thursday evening, melody rushed home from work to finish packing. She tried to pack light, since they were just going for the weekend. Try as she may, there always seem to be something that she felt either she or the girls might need. Included in her personal effects were a curling iron, teeth flossing string, and her makeup kit. Since her sister didn't have any children, she figured that she'd better pack some of the girl’s toys so they wouldn't get bored. Jegil insisted that melody take his Cadillac instead of her BMW. He treasured his brand new, black, sedan Cadillac, but he knew that his family would need plenty of room on the road. "Sweet heart take the Cadillac, it's more roomier and it rides a little bit more comfortable than your BMW." Jegil told Melody. "Well if you're sure you won't mind. You just bought the Cadillac and really haven't had chance to road test it, so I didn't bother you about taking it." Melody replied. "Mind? Woman take the Cadillac ... And have a good time at Linda’s!" Jegil told his wife. After the girls bathed, melody braided their hair and sent them up to bed. She felt they should all get a couple of hours of sleep before hitting the highway. When Melody opened the door to her bedroom she found Jegil waiting. He had gotten an urge for his wife. She stood in front of the mirror. Jegil grabbed her from behind and kissed melody in her ear. This began to turn melody on. Jegil whispered into melody's ear that he loved her,
Shades of retribution page__________________________________ 3
and will miss her this weekend. As melody turned around to face her husband and return his kisses, jegil whispered "baby i want you, your hubby needs something to hold him over until his little lady returns." Melody responded in a low sexy voice, "baby you know I just took a bath." "ah come on honey, just a quickie." Jegil pleaded his case and pleaded it convincingly. They both were now on the large bed, kissing with incredible passion. With the girls down the hall, they muffled the sounds of ecstasy as well as they could. They had gotten pretty good at the art of silent lovemaking. The alarm clock was set for twelve o'clock midnight. Inside the jungle, music was playing, people were dancing and Sherea was having a good time. This was one of the popular Night clubs that she frequented. The jungle was small and cozy. The atmosphere was conducive for the young and the old. It was located on the west side of Detroit on Plymouth road and the Southfield freeway. People gathered here from the west side, east side, south west side and from as far north as the city of Pontiac. The entrance was accessible from the parking lot at the side of the building. The plush red carpet seemed to bounce with every step. The lights were dim to hide and protect those guilty of being unfaithful. To the right, past the length of the long bar, was the dance floor and DJ booth. To the left were two elevated seating areas where people also danced. Beyond that were the rest rooms and the home of the best chicken wings in the world. People often stopped at the jungle, just before closing to order chicken wings to go. Sherea was four feet, and five inches tall. A small but very pretty girl. She was out this night with her cousin George and two of his friends. George was small like his cousin, about a foot taller than Sherea. They hung out together a lot. There was a bond between them since childhood. They were out tonight because Thursday night was ladies night, and ladies drinks were half off. George leaned over and told his buddy, "Sam, here is five dollars, pay the waitress when she comes back. I'm going to dance." "I gotcha covered, home boy." Sam replied. Sam and Mark sat at the table with Sherea and one of her friends Cindy, making small talk. The loud thuds from the bass seemed to make the small jeep dance as it turned off Plymouth into the parking lot of the jungle. The jeep circled the lot as if it were spying on something or someone then it came to stop. Tank said, "that's the bitches' car! I told her not to have her ass at this bar no more. Johnny go in and tell that ditch to get her ass out here!" Johnny stepped out of the jeep and went into the jungle. After passing through the doorway, he searched through the dimly lit, smoke filled club, and spotted Sherea at a table in the back. She was sitting with some people talking and didn't see him.
Shades of retribution__________________________________ page 4
Johnny smiled, he was going to enjoy this. He approached the table. "Excuse me! Tank told me he wants you to get your ass outside now!” Johnny said looking directly at Sherea, ignoring everyone else. Johnny turned and walked back out. "Shit!, Sherea exclaimed, she was about to ask, what was he doing here, but Johnny had vanished. She told Sam she'd be right back. When Sherea reached the parking lot, tank was standing by the jeep, waiting with a look of anger on his face. Sherea knew there was trouble brewing. His stare was menacing enough to send chills through her body. She though briefly about going back into the jungle, but knew he'd only come in and make a terrible scene, but there would be a lot of people around. Then she realized that tank didn't care about people seeing what he did. Sherea went to where tank was standing. Tank hollered at Sherea, "I figured you'd be here! What the hell are you doing here?" Sherea timidly replied, "i just came out with my cousin and some friends for a little while. I wasn't going to stay long. Honest tank...." Before Sherea could finish tank's large open hand came down across her face followed by stars, as Sherea fell down to one knee, stunned and terrified. He said, "how many times I gotta tell you to stay away from this damn bar?" "when your man tells you to do something, you do it! Understand?" Tank yelled. George came back to the table from dancing. He was energetic and sweaty. He grabbed his drink and asked, "Where's Sherea?" Sam told George that some guy came in and told her that somebody wanted her outside. "She said she'd be right back", Sam said. "Outside?" George questioned. "aw man you shouldn't have let her go out there by herself to meet nobody. How come he couldn't come in here?" George asked. Sam responded, "you're right man. I wasn't thinking." George, Sam and their other friend mark headed outside. Mark was six feet tall, but slight in build. He was a wiry sort of guy. Sam could be described as a chu33y young man, but quick on his feet. He was a very good dancer. As they reached the doorway to the parking lot, George peered through the glass door and saw his cousin on her knees crying. Some big ape looking guy was standing over her. George rushed through the door to his cousin's rescue. Tank spotted three men rushing out of the door towards rim. Jimmy, Johnny and Tony quickly lined up next to tank. George shouted at tank, "get the fuck away from my cousin!" He ran up to tank. Sherea screamed, "no! Go back inside! I'll 13e back in there in a minute!" It was too late. The two men had taken an instant dislike for one another. George swung on tank. The blow landed, but didn't register any pain to tank. It only served to anger the big man. Tank gave George a sinister smile, and swung with all of his might definitely attempting to take the smaller man's head off. George was a good boxer, and saw the blow coming
Shades of retribution__________________________________ page 5
just in time to duck and counter. Tank had swung so hard, that after not connecting with anything, he nearly fell down. Tank swung again, and again missing the smaller man each time. George was too quick. George stepped back to get some leverage, and leaped into the big man with a solid right hand, to the left eye of tank. This temporarily blinded tank, and George took full advantage of this moment, by leaping all over tank. Jimmy stepped in and pulled George off of tank. He began to swing on George, as everybody joined in. Tank regained his vision and grabbed George from behind. He slammed George to the ground and began to stomp him. Mark's long arms were swinging wildly. He was connecting with left hooks and over hand rights. He stood toe to toe with both jimmy and Johnny. They were fighting to the best of their skills, but could not get close enough to the long skinny man in front of them. Mark was quick, and fought as if possessed by the devil, on a mission to destroy whoever stepped in front of him. Tony and Sam were on the ground wrestling and punching each other. The fight had turned into an all out brawl. The sounds of fists landing, groans and moans, feet shuffling, and loud cursing filled the parking lot. The bar patrons poured into the parking lot to witness the battle. Tank suddenly jumped into the jeep. He called to his buddies to get in. He angrily shouted to George and his friends, "we'll settle this next time!" Mark ran towards the jeep as it retreated, but then tank shouted, "I'm going to nail that mother fucker!" The jeep's back tires squealed and began to spin, as it lounged forward. Mark saw it coming at him. He tried to jump out of the way, but he was struck by the side of the jeep. He bounced forward into a flip onto the hood of the jeep, then bounced again backwards into the air. Mark landed on his head. The sounds of his head cracking as it hit the concrete parking lot was sickening. The black jeep sped out of the parking lot. Speeding down the Southfield freeway, and coming up at the Mc Nichols exit. Tank cursed, "the bitch ain't gonna get away with that shit, putting her punk ass cousin on me. I'll show her who the man is!" Johnny asked, "what’s up now?" Tank replied, "we're gonna get the guns, and fire her house up!” the jeep turned right off of Mc Nichols and went down about two blocks before stopping. Tank jumped out and ran into the house. After about ten minutes he returned to the jeep. He handed Tony and jimmy a couple of nine millimeter pistols and each a bullet clip. He tossed a shotgun into the back seat to Johnny along with a hand full of shells. Tank slammed a long bullet clip into his favorite weapon, a Mac ten hand gun, then stuffed the automatic weapon into his waist band. He jumped into the jeep and drove off. Tank instructed everybody in the jeep, "When we get there, wait until I say fire, then I want everybody to start shooting at the house!" The jeep headed east.
Shades of retribution___________________________________page 6
The alarm clock went off with music playing from a jazz radio station. Melody's eye's opened. She rolled over to look at the clock. It was twelve o'clock midnight, and time to get up. Melody whispered into Jegil's ear, "sweetheart, I'm getting up and get the girls ready. You go back to sleep. I'll call you when we get to Linda's." Jegil sleepily responded, "non-sense, I’m getting up. I've got to see my beautiful women off." At that moment Jegil rolled over to hug his wife and best friend in the world. They embraced and the feeling came over both of them. The moonlight danced through the window to set the stage for another romantic moment. The movement of the shadows on the wall displayed an exotic dance that seemed to reveal some secret ritual of an Indian tribe. The dance could probably be found in the book of love entitled the 'Kama Sutra'. Jegil could not pass up a moment to express physical and or mental love to his wife. He'd been in love since the day they met. Melody felt so good inside. She was lucky to have such a wonderful husband. Sherea entered the house around one o'clock am. She was crying. Her cousin's friend was in the hospital, he was in intensive care and not expected to live. She felt guilty, it had all happened because of her. She walked up the stairs and woke her mother up. Sherea needed someone to talk to. Her mother was concerned and wanted to call the police, but Sherea talked her out of it. She explained to her mother that tank was crazy and very dangerous. There's no telling what he might do, if he suspected they called the police on him. Her mother asked how she ever got involved with someone like that. Sherea began to cry again, between words, while telling her mother, "at first it was fun being with someone so powerful and masterful. Tank was respected. Everybody knows tank. Everybody knows me, I became popular just from being with tank! But now he's like a nightmare! I know he really doesn't care about anybody!" Her mother told her, "You go to 13ed and get some sleep. We don't want to wake your father or your brothers. We'll discuss what to do about Mr. Tank in the morning." Melody got the girls up and dressed. She fixed them some cereal and glasses of orange juice. While melody was getting herself together Jegil put the luggage in the trunk of the car. Pudding and peaches both hugged their father and told him they loved him. Jegil kissed his daughters goodbye. Melody kissed Jegil on his cheek and told him to go back to bed, so he could make it to work on time. At one thirty am. The black Cadillac pulled out of the driveway. Jegil went back to red. The jeep took on the appearance of a black panther lurking through the streets. It's eyes bright, as it darted past corners, moving swiftly through the shadows, with the smell of death and destruction surrounding it. The occupants half crazed from the poison of alcohol, and bent on revenge, anticipate another act of terrorism to satisfy their thirst to spread fear
Shades of retribution____________________________________page 7
over the city. Neither of the men thought much about what they were setting out to do. They only knew that Tank wished that this be done. Tank was the leader and no one questioned his decisions. Two blocks away from their destination, Tank turned off the headlights. Jimmy asked, "what if somebody sees us?" Tank answered, "man, when you hear gunshots, which way do you go? Do you look out of your window to see what's going on?" Jimmy responded, "hell no, I ain’t getting my head blown off!" "That’s right, anybody with good sense hits the floor and wait until it over. Then they'll look out, but by then we'll be long gone!" Tank said. They cruised to a stop in front of the house. The entire street was dark, and this house was no different. Jimmy raised up from the driver's side, back seat with his nine millimeter. Johnny pointed the shotgun at the house. Tony patiently pointed his nine millimeter at the house and waited for orders. Tank yelled, "fire!". The loud boom sounded from the shotgun. There were several minutes of rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat from the automatic weapons, accompanied by the booming shotgun. Flashes from the guns lit up the night. While the war like sound pierced the ears of all that could hear it. Bullets chipped away at the brick house. Glass shattered everywhere at the front of the house. Inside the house Sherea sat up in her bed and screamed. Her mother was alerted instantly and woke her husband. Together they rolled to the floor amidst the flying glass and debris. They crawled from their bedroom to the hallway, careful to keep their heads down low. Down the hall Sherea was on the floor screaming, "stop it!, Please stop it!" Large wood splints from the doorway fell to the floor. The wind from the killer bullets could be felt overhead. The moonlight showed holes rapidly appearing into the plaster in a straight row. Then with a thunderous roar, and a loud crackling noise, a hole large enough for a man to walk through blasted through the wall. The sounds of destruction on the first floor made Sherea's father crawl down the stairs in search of his two little boys. They were both running up the stairs seeking safety. Everyone was hollering, "get down!" Then the shooting stopped. Outside the black jeep sped down the street, blending into the dark night. It turned right onto Eight mile road. Inside the jeep was quiet. Nobody spoke a word, but they all were thinking the same thoughts. They wondered if they had shot anybody, was anybody dead. Tony thought to himself, "damn! Lord please don't let nobody be dead. I've got no business doing shit like this!" Jimmy thought, "come on tank, get this jeep out of here. The way they were screaming i know we killed them all, damn! I didn't want to kill nobody!" Johnny nervously looked out the window for
Shades of retribution____________________________________page 8
any trace of the police, and thought, "I should've told tank to take me home when we left the bar. Those people didn't do nothing to me. Now we done killed them, I ain't going to jail! Tank had better hurry up and get us out of here cause I ain't going to nobody's jail!" Tank thought, I know somebody got hit. That bitch'll know from now on, and so will everybody else, Don't fuck with tank!" He pushed the gas pedal as far as it could go. The jeep was moving so fast that at times it was actually air born. They were supposedly looking for a u-turn to go back to the Westside, but tank wasn't thinking straight. The black devil was flying east. Melody turned on the radio as they turned right onto Eight mile road. She signaled and got all the way over to the far left lane so that she could u-turn around the island and head west to 1-75 highway. "Hardly any traffic out this time of the morning." Melody said to her girls. Peaches and pudding were riding in the front seat. A song came on the radio, and melody began to sing along. This song made her feel good. The girls also liked Sade's song 'feel no pain'. They joined in with their mother. The female Duggers were singing 'mama been laid off! Papa been laid off!' as the black Cadillac cruised eight mile road. Peaches reached over the back seat and grabbed a bag of potato chips from the goodie bag her mother had prepared. She turned around and opened the potato chips. Before she knew anything pudding had snatched the bag of chips from her hand. Peaches and pudding started to struggle over the chips in the front seat of the car. Peaches shouted at pudding to let go. Pudding began to cry. The Cadillac passed the 1-75 turn. Melody was trying to break the girls apart with her right hand while controlling the car with her left. Her left turn was approaching quickly. She swerved into the U-turn around the center island, as she told the girls to stop it. Melody was making the turn so that she could go back to the 1-75 freeway ramp. She was making the turn, but she was turning with only one hand. She turned wide. The jeep was traveling so fast, that tank never saw the Cadillac turning in front of him. Tony's eyes bulged wide open. The two passengers in the back seat hit the floor. Tank yanked the steering wheel sharply to the left. Melody surprisingly looked up. She heard the loud sound of tires squealing. She saw the black jeep with no headlights coming at her. She floored the Cadillac in an effort to avoid the jeep. The girls screamed. The Cadillac jumped the curb and smashed into a brick building. A section of the brick wall came crashing down unto the Cadillac, killing everyone inside. The jeep swerved onto the center island and came to a stop. It was facing the opposite direction. Tank said, "shit! where the hell did that bitch come from?" Tony hollered, "let's go and see
Shades of retribution___________________________________ page 9
if we can help them!" Tank yelled, "man we got to get out of here! You forgot we just shot up that house, and got these guns in here? Let the police help them." Jimmy seconded that emotion, "yeah we'd better the hell out of here." The jeep drove off the center island, this time heading back to the west side. The sun peeked over the quiet neighboring homes. The shadows came to-life. The crickets became silent as the birds began to sing. There was a knock at the door. Jegil was just coming out of the shower. He quickly grabbed his bathrobe to cover his naked body, after hearing the knock at the door. He looked out of the window to see who was there, before opening the door. His heart skipped a beat after seeing that there were two police officer's on his front porch. He opened the door immediately asking, "what's wrong officers?" The first officer asked, "Are you Mr. Jegil Dugger?" Jegil responded, "Yes I am. Is there something wrong?" The officer then asked if They could come in. Jegil stepped back to let the officers enter his home. He offered them seats but instead, they told him it would be better if he sat down. A nervous Jegil did just that. The second police officer began to explain the details of the early morning events which had brought them there. He told Jegil that there had been a terrible accident. They had found Jegil's registration and some other papers in the remains of a black Cadillac. Jegil sanked down into a chair. The officer further explained that the bodies of one adult female and two young girls were pulled from the wreak. However none of them survived. The investigators had t Determined that the driver had lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a store front building. The occupants were killed instantly. He informed Jegil that they wanted him to come down to the morgue and identify the bodies. Jegil jumped out of the chair, with tears in his eyes he responded, "that was my wife and kids! That was my family! That was my whole life!" The officer acknowledged Jegil's grief and said, "I'm sorry for you. You have my deepest regrets. Take your time and to pull yourself together, but we will need for you to come down to the morgue later on today." The police officers left. Mr. Jegil dugger screamed to the top of his lungs, he pounded his fists against his head, then he began to beat the walls of the living room. Jegil kicked the expensive coffee table and broke it in half. He screamed and screamed again, "god no! Please don't let this be true! Not my family! Please tell me you didn't take them away from me! No! Not all at one time! I should have went! I should've been driving!" He fell to the floor crying. Then Jegil was greeted by loneliness, shock and depression. All the fight had left his body limp as he lay on the floor. A weeping Jegil Dugger passed into semi consciousness. At that moment he had been reduced to a broken man.
Shades of retribution _________________________________page 10
When the police left sherea's house, they left her father in a furious state of mind. Sherea had explained the events of last night to the police. All they said was that they should come down to the station and file a report. The officer told them that if nobody saw anybody actually do the shooting, you can't possibly prove that it was this guy named Tank. Therefore we can't charge him with anything. Mr. Isaac Jones was not going to let this go that easily. They had violated his home in the worst way. They almost killed his family. Some young punk had threatened his world. He felt that if he didn't react to this, he could not be considered a man. When the law don't work, you have to enforce your own law. Mr. Jones took his thirty-eight from the closet and loaded it. He grabbed his daughter by the arm and told her, "take me to him!" His wife begged him not to go. She pleaded, "let the police handle this!" But he forced Sherea outside and into the car. He drove to the west side. Sherea showed him the bar where the fight took place, no black jeep there so they drove to tank's house. His jeep wasn't there, so they waited for awhile, then Mr. Jones drove on. He really didn't want sherea involved in his plans of revenge. After all, now he knew where to find the guy. The man had been to his home once so he knew what tank looked like. Weeks had passed by since the tragedy. Jegil hadn't been to work since the day of the accident. He hadn't bathed or shaved. Jegil had barely eaten anything. He was never a big man, always slight in build, but now he was even smaller, due to losing weight. Without his family he had no appetite. His sorrow was deep. Mr. Dugger hadn't paid any bills. He tossed all bills in the garbage. He hardly left the house. The outside world was cruel and vicious, it had robbed him of his most valuable possessions. As more weeks passed, his lights and telephone were disconnected. He didn't care. Soon a letter arrived informing him of his employment termination. A couple of days later Jegil was served with an eviction notice. He tossed the letter on the floor in the pile of letters and bills and sympathy cards. As the leaves changed colors Mr. Dugger fell deeper and deeper into depression. The darkness fell like the curtains to the final act of a Broadway play. The moon was in full circle and surrounded by bright stars. The crickets sounded loudly, but in harmony. They supplied the main ingredients for a mild fall night. The stage was set for the next scene on these deadly Detroit streets. Every so often a car would pass through the neighborhood. The cream colored car sat quietly across the street from tank's house. Mr. Jones was a forty year old family man. He was a very good provider. He was not always the kind of man he is today. He is a good man, a loving and caring man. He has come along way. No one ever expected Isaac to fall in love. And everyone was shocked when he got married. As a young man in his teens, he belonged to one of the toughest gangs around. He was wild and crazy in those days. He had a reputation of being a very
Shades of retribution___________________________________page 11
dangerous kid. He had shot at and shot many rival members back in the day. However after time had passed, he settled down, got married and had some children. His precious daughter Sherea had softened him up, although he would deny it when his friends teased him. Mr. Jones loved Sherea and wanted to let the world know, not to mess with his daughter. He was no stranger to what he was about to do tonight. He thought, "yeah tank, you made a grave mistake, messing with me." Head lights approached, they were closely set, almost like those of a jeep. These did belong to a jeep. It was a black jeep filled with young guys. Mr. Jones clutched his nickel plated thirty-eight. The music blared louder as the jeep came closer. Before the headlights were upon the cream colored Chrysler, Mr. Jones ducked down so that he could not be seen. The jeep pulled into the driveway. It's occupants got out. Mr. Jones raised his head to see which one he remembered to be tank. "yeah thats him, the big one." Mr. Jones thought. Tank stepped away from the jeep laughing with his buddies. He was totally unaware of what was coming next. Mr. Jones opened his car door cautiously. He got out of the car quietly without closing the door, so as not to make any noise. He wore gym shoes to aid in this surprise attack. Mr. Jones reached the curb, and couldn't resist the urge to shout, "tank!" The big man turned around quickly. Mr. Jones aimed the pistol at tank. The urge to taunt tank came, "punk, you been shooting up any houses lately?" This was a big mistake. At that instant tank pulled his Mac ten automatic and fired a barrage of bullets. The bullets riddled the body of Mr. Isaac Jones. Mr. Jones fell at the curb gasping for oxygen. He spat blood down his chin. He saw his life flash before him, then he died. The very well kept neighborhood block, now had one house that stuck out like a sore thumb. The grass had grown over a foot tall. The Dugger house was the talk of the block. Jegil sat in the center of the living room floor next to the stack of letters, staring at a half eaten Big Mac hamburger. He had been sitting there for hours, lost in time and lost in memories, not understanding why the lord had let this happen to him. All the ministers preached that the lord is a fair lord. "Haven't I been a good father and husband? I tried so hard to be a good person." Jegil thought. He couldn't think of anything wrong he might have done to deserve this. Knock, knock someone was at the door. Jegil didn't respond, he had hoped they'd go away, but they didn't. The knocking continued. He heard men's voices outside on his porch. A wirily Jegil Dugger got up and went to the door. He looked out the window first, and saw a couple of police officers, a gentleman with a suit and some more guys standing on the sidewalk. He opened the door. The man in the suit came forward an explained to Jegil that he represented the bank holding the mortgage on
Shades of retribution__________________________________ page 12
the house. He told Jegil that the bank had been trying to reach him. Jegil had missed his court date, and a eviction notice had been sent out. He told Jegil that the bank had not received a payment in five months. The bottom line was that the house was repossessed by the bank. The officers asked Jegil to stand outside while the other men entered the house and began to move everything inside the house, outside of the house. They piled everything by the curb, on the lawn. When they were done, they changed the locks and left. The neighbors gathered around and watched but none of them said anything. Jegil said nothing through the whole ordeal. Mr. Jegil Dugger put his hands in his pockets. He played with the paper money inside his pockets. He pulled out the money and counted the bills he had. This was all the money he had to his name. Dressed in an expensive silk shirt and black casual slacks, he would have appeared normal, were it not for his uncombed hair, unwashed and unshaven face. He looked sadly at all of his belongings stacked in the large pile. He should have been embarrassed but instead he felt nothing. Putting his hands back into his pockets, he dropped his head and began to stroll down the street, destination not clear. Darkness began to cover the city. Jegil turned left on chandler park drive and walked towards Cadieux, heading nowhere in particular. He turned right on cadieux. A red van pulled up next to him. The man on the passenger side rolled down the window and asked directions. Jegil shrugged his shoulders, expressing silently that he didn't know. Suddenly the side door of the van slide open. A man appeared holding a gun pointed at Jegil. The man ordered Jegil to get in. There were more men inside the van. They robbed Jegil of his money and his nice silk shirt. They weren't satisfied with just robbing him. They kicked him and beat him for the fun of it. The van pulled off down Cadieux. It made a left turn onto 1-94 expressway heading west. The men threatened to kill Jegil. Jegil didn't put up any resistance. The van exited the 1-94 expressway and entered the john c. Lodge expressway heading north. They exited the john c. Lodge at Meyers road, and turned left, went down three blocks to puritan avenue and turned right, heading west. A couple of miles down the van came to a stop. The van's side door opened and the men threw Jegil out onto the street at the corner of puritan and Greenfield. Jegil looked tattered and worn out. His undershirt ripped from the beating. His shirt was in the van with the men. He resembled a bum the way most people described them. The abused Jegil staggered down Greenfield going north until he reached Mc Nichols street. He turned right on Mc Nichols s heading east. His feet were hurting and he was very tired. He ducked into a store front and curled up in a corner and went to sleep.
Shades of retribution__________________________________page 13
Jegil was awakened by a huge man, screaming and kicking at him to get away from in front of his business. "Go get a job, ya bum!" The man told Jegil. The sun was up now. Jegil still didn't have a clue as to where he was. He walked down Mc Nichols. He began to feel hungry but knew he didn't have any money. A man was approaching him, so a hungry Jegil asked the man he if he could borrow a dollar. The man just laughed and kept walking. A few blocks further, a man was kind enough to give Jegil two dollars. Jegil went into a store and bought a bag of potato chips and some hostess cup cakes. He sat down outside of the store and ate the snacks, while wondering where he was. Mr.Jegil dugar roamed some more and found himself at mcnichols and Littlefield. He was thirsty now and had spent most of the two dollars. He asked some the people passing by for any spare change. By the end of the day he had hustled up on a few dollars. He went into a store on the next corner and bought some snacks. He searched the cooler for something to help him relax. He had a dollar and some change left so he opted for a pint of red wine. Outside of the store he looked for a place to eat and rest, where no one would bother him. Again he wondered where the hell was he. He knew that he was on Mc Nichols and Sorento, but where in the hell was that! Jegil found his way around to the back of the store. In the alley there was a entrance way to the store. The door was locked, he doubted if anyone would be using it tonight, so he cleared away some of the debris and sat down to eat. He drank the wine and felt a feeling of peace. Jegil finally smiled and went to sleep, in the alley, in back of the store. Tank and the boys rode the streets for a couple of hours looking for a victim. The plan was simple, find somebody isolated and rush him or her whatever the case may be. They brought the guns out tonight and wouldn't hesitate to use them. They wanted money. The easiest way to get money was to take it. It seemed like everybody out tonight was in groups, or looked like they were strapped and ready for trouble, giving Detroit an image of the wild west. After all there were others out here just like tank and his boys. This business was like any other business, take as little risks as possible. One mistake could be your last. The jeep cruised out telegraph north. Jimmy said, "tank turn back around there's a couple of banks back at ten mile road." Tank turned the jeep around heading south. The first bank at ten mile was a Comerica bank. They circled the bank, but nobody was there. They turned right down ten mile. Jimmy said, "there's another bank down here." They spotted the bank on the right. There was a man standing at the 24 hour teller machine. They looked at each other and Johnny said, "jackpot!"
Shades of retribution __________________________________page 14
The man had just pushed the button, to respond when the machine asked did he want another transaction. The man pushed no. He waited a minute for his receipt and his card. After a few clicks, his card came out of one slot and his receipt came out of another. He took his card and turned around to see the jeep upon him, it's headlights turned off. Johnny and tank got out of the jeep. Their guns were drawn and pointed at him. The man was startled, he hadn't heard the silent vehicle approach. He looked around searching for help, "damn, where's the police when you need them." He muttered under his breath. He put his hands up in the air, and Johnny rifled through his pockets taking his money. Tank asked, "where's the card?" The man gave the card to the big man standing in front of him. Tank gave him the card back and told him to put the money card back into the machine and get some more money out. The man told them he had taken the maximum allowable amount that the bank would let him in a 24 hour period. Tank replied, "lets' see. Put the damn card in the machine and punch your id numbers, now!" "if the numbers are wrong, it'll be your ass!" Tank reminded the man. The man put the card in and punched his pin number in. Tank told the man to ask for a hundred dollars. The man punched in $100.00. The machine dealt out five twenty dollar bills. Tank grabbed the money. At that moment tank pointed the gun at the man's knee and fired once a loud boom, a flash of light, the sound of the knee cap shattering and the man's screams of pain came next. The man fell to the ground clutching his knee. Tank spoke, "the machine won't let you get no more money huh?! I should kill you for lying to me!" They jumped into the jeep and drove off. The next day all the kids were telling their parents and neighbors about the man living in the alley. Jegil Dugger was the talk of yet another neighborhood. The parents told their children to stay away from the man. Jegil stood on the corner in front of the store. When people would pass him to go to the store, he would ask for any spare change. Some people would give a quarter or so, and others wouldn't give anything. They looked upon him as a disease. Not knowing anything about him or his background, he was assigned the role of a parasite. No one could even imagine that he might have been a victim of some awful disaster. Around the corner the booming bass was closing in. The black jeep pulled around the corner and parked in front of Jegil. Tank got out to go in the store. It was time to pick up a couple of forties. The other guys stayed in the jeep. As tank stepped on the curb, Jegil approached him and asked, "excuse me sir, could you spare any change? I'm hungry and homeless." Tank's temper flared, his eyes pierced into Jegil's eyes, he stated, "get your begging ass away from me! I don't give money to no old tired ass, lazy, trifling bums!" Then tank spat at Jegil. The spit landing on Jegil's shoes. When tank came out of the store, he told Jegil, "this is my corner. I don't want to see you on my corner no more!" Tank got in the jeep. As the jeep
Shades of retribution___________________________________page 15
pulled off, the laughter of the other guys in the jeep was drowned out by the loud bass. Tony's folks were out of town so he and the guys invited some girls over for a little get together. Tony's girlfriend brought her girl friends with her. One of her girlfriends seemed out of place. Her name was betty. She was a nice girl. She was raised in a Christian Household. Betty had never been to a party. She didn't drink. Betty just started hanging out with Jeannie because she was bored. She wanted friends. Jeannie had accepted her and treated her like she was one of the girls. Jeannie was Tony's girlfriend. Jeannie talked Betty into drinking her first beer. Betty was five feet and three inches tall. She had long hair and beautiful skin. Tank watched her every move. She turned the big man on. Tank liked everything about Betty. He thought her intelligent diction was some kind of exotic accent. Tank asked Betty to dance. They slow danced in the living room. His nature started to rise. He really wanted this woman bad. He started to grind her in front of everybody. Betty started pulling away, she was uncomfortable dancing in front of everybody. She wasn't really dancing, just following tank around she thought. Tank looked at her like she was a piece of meat. Rolled his eyes over her entire body. He followed Betty everywhere she went. He began to look as if he doing shadow imitations, her shadow of course. Tank told Betty that he had something to tell her, but he wanted to tell her in private. So she followed him downstairs to the basement. Down there they could still hear the music loud and clear. Tank asked her to dance again this time no one else could watch. Betty asked, "what did you want to talk about?" Tank leaned over and kissed her on the lips. A surprised Betty tried to pull away. She said, "Hey wait a minute! I'm not that type of person. Let me go!" Tank was squeezing her so tight that she was having trouble breathing. Fear engulfed Betty as she realized the man wasn't listening to her at all. Tank grabbed the back of Betty's head with his huge bear like paw. He pulled her head to him and sloppily kissed her all over her face. She couldn't pull away and she couldn't scream. She thought he was going to suffocate her. In vain she tried over and over again to get free. Not many men could pull away from tank so this little woman didn't stand a chance. Tank laid Betty across the leather sofa. She kicked and swung her arms wildly. He reached up underneath her dress and snatched her panties off. He tossed them across the room. He placed one hand over her mouth and with the other he pulled down his zipper and pulled out his enormous, throbbing dick and plunged forward missing it's target. He rammed it into her inner thigh sending pain down her leg. She thought he was going to knock a hole into her thigh. This time he took his hand and guided the massive rod into her warm, moist womanhood. It was too big. Betty began to cry. She felt like she was being split open. In this reactionary mode, she bit into
Shades of retribution__________________________________page 16
tank's hand. He slapped her hard across the face. The slap almost knocked her unconscious. She was dazed. Betty had never had sex before. She thought, "Oh my god, this hurts! Please make him take it out!" She felt the blood running down her thighs. The big man pounded her body a few more minutes, then he was through. He rolled over. As soon as Betty regained her senses she jumped up off of the sofa, and ran up the stairs, through the house and out of the front door screaming. Jegil was curled up sleeping as well as anybody could, given his predicament. It was dark in the doorway. There were street lights in the alley, but they didn't reflect well in the corner of life that Jegil occupied. Jegil woke to what he thought was somebody nudging him. He looked around but didn't see anybody, so he closed his eyes again to fall back asleep. "Must have been dreaming." He thought. He felt it again and jumped into a sitting position. About a foot away from his feet was perched a huge grey rat. The rat stared at Jegil with blood red eyes. It's stare sent chills through Jegil's body. The rat seemed to identify Jegil as an intruder. It was clear that this part of town belonged to the rat. Jegil examined the rat from head to toe. It was the size of a two month old German Shepperd puppy. Jegil's nerves began to twitch. He started sweating and he knew the pat sensed his fear. Jegil moved, the rat bared it's teeth. Jegil took a deep breath and the rat positioned itself for attack. Jegil realized that there was nowhere to run, and this rat was going to attack no matter what. Jegil didn't have enough room to mount his own attack on the rat. So he waited. The rat seemed to want Jegil to make the first move. It peered into Jegil's soul, yes the rat knew Jegil was a coward. At that moment the rat leaped for Jegil's throat. Jegil moved quickly. He caught the rat in mid air by it's throat, as the rat squirmed in his hand, and tried to get a bite of Jegil. He squeezed tighter with a vice like grip. He slammed the rat against the concrete building a couple of times. Then he dropped the rat To the ground and violently clubbed it to death with the empty wine Bottle. Jegil stood on the corner. He hadn't begged much today he wasn't in the mood after last night's horrific ordeal with the rat from hell. He had collected four dollars so far and had bought a pint of wine out of that. The wine relaxed him. Images of the monstrous rat kept flashing through his mind. This morning he had awakened to the sickening sight of the dead rodent and had vomited. He credited the red wine with making it possible to get through the days. The wine was twenty percent alcohol. Jegil used it as a crutch and it used him as an example of how not to be. Tank and his posse were cruising the neighborhood, scouting for an opportunity. Jimmy stated, "I heard the Lewis’s went on a vacation in the Bahamas this week." Johnny replied, "So damn what! Who gives a fuck!" Tank smiled and interjected, "dumb ass!
Shades of retribution___________________________________page 17
What the man is trying to say is, if they're in the Bahamas, they can't be at home, so the house is empty." Johnny defensively replied, "yeah man, I knew that! I was just bullshitting with ya'll!" the other men all looked at Johnny and in unison shouted, "yeah right, shut the fuck up!" They rode past the Lewis's house. The mail was stacked up, and so were the newspapers, a tell tale sign to any interested parties. Tank told his crew, "We’ll hit it tonight." Tony handed tank a crumpled up ten dollar bill, "here tank, stop by the store and grab a couple of forty ounces." Tony said. Tank replied, "say no more, my brother!" When they pulled up in front of the store. The first thing that tank noticed was the bum standing on the corner. "I told that bum ass that I didn't want him standing on my corner!" Tank said for everyone to hear. "come on man, leave the old man alone, he ain't bothering nobody." Tony responded. "he's bothering me! I can't stand to see an old black man, whose suppose to be setting an example to the young kids, standing out here begging. It makes us look bad!" Tank stated. "damn! Give the man a break, maybe he just got dealt a bad hand." Tony said. "he's just a lazy Mother Fucker, that's all!" Tank said. "I know what your problem is." Tony jokingly said. "what's my fucking problem?" Tank asked. "you afraid one day yo' ass gonna be like that!" Tony replied, and they all laughed. "fuck you! Your momma gonna be like that!" Tank said and again they all laughed. Jegil trembled when he saw the jeep pull around the corner. He remembered the threat that the big guy had made to him. He turned and quickly began to walk towards the alley. Tank got out of the jeep. Jegil tried to walk faster. "Hey!" Tank hollered. Jegil stopped, he knew who the big man was talking to, he turned around. Tank strolled up to him. "didn't I tell you I don't want you on my corner?", asked Tank. Jegil didn't respond. "Do you hear me talking to you?" Tank said impatiently. As Jegil looked into his eyes, he thought, "GOD! I have just met the devil himself!" Jegil stared at tank with hatred in his heart, hoping to conceal this emotion from his eyes, he turned away, he had never hated anyone before. His desire to conceal his hatred apparently didn't work. "Who the fuck you staring at?" Tank yelled. Before Jegil could blink, the big man had swung on him. The old man hit the ground. Jegil's eyes had closed before he touched the ground. Tank didn't really want to hit the old man, but it was an instinctive reaction. "He shouldn't have stared at me like that. It was his eyes. They insulted me. The way he looked at me. I couldn't Help it." Tank told himself to justify his actions. Jegil tried to stand up, but tank began to slap him hard. The stars were out early Jegil thought. The slaps were loud. People came out of the store, cars stopped, people came out of their homes to see what the commotion was all about. They saw the bully beating up an old defenseless man. "boy stop it!" One lady hollered. "that's a damn shame!" Another lady said. "one of you men should stop that Shades of retribution page 28 boy!" A woman yelled from her porch. "ya'll better mind your own fucking business!" Tank stated as he swung one more time, this time more so to show the crowd that they couldn't stop him. Tank let Jegil go and eyeballed the onlookers with a look that asked who's next. The crowd dispersed. No one actually wanted any parts of the young bull. The neighbors went back into their homes shaking their heads. Jegil half crawled and half scooted back into the alley to seek refuge from the crazed youngster. Jegil heard the jeep drive off, and thought, "I must be in Hell!". That night Jegil settled down in the doorway. He had gotten rid of the rat and cleaned up the vomit smell as rest he could. The weather had changed. It was getting cold. One day warm, cold the next. Michigan weather. As the saying goes, if you don't like the weather stay awhile, it'll change. Jegil was trembling and trying to think of a way to get warm. He walked down the alley to the street. He glanced left down Littlefield and noticed trash bins sitting out at the curbs. "Tommorrow must be trash collection day." He thought. He rummaged through trash, tearing open garbage bags. He walked further down the street a couple of blocks. He pilfered through trash as he went. A triangle piece of cotton material stood up from one can. Jegil started to reach for it, then an image of the large rat flashed through his mind. He wondered was there a rat in this trash. It was cold and he was curious to know if this was something he could use. He pulled the soft material out of the trash. It was heavy, he had to use his strength to get it all of the way out of the container. He observed his findings. It was an old soiled blanket filled with stains. He knew it would be warm for tonight. It smelled awful, but he needed protection from the cold. He threw the blanket across his shoulders and headed back. As he draped the blanket around his shoulders, out of the dark came a growling sound. He stopped in his tracks. He looked around but saw nothing. Jegil started walking again, this time a slower curious walk. "was that my imagination?. He wondered. Then he heard it again. "that wasn't my imagination. What is it?" He mumbled. Eyes wide open now, a cautious Jegil retreated quickly. The growl was louder and grew nearer accompanied by the pitter patter of movements. Jegil's walk turned into a trot. The quiet of the night was shattered with a vicious bark, snarling growl. Jegil's trot now a run. He ran for his life while clutching his blanket. The large overfed Doberman pincher raced across the street after Jegil. The devil had unleashed his pet on the struggling Jegil this time. Jegil decided not to run in a straight line, he wouldn't stand a chance in a straight out foot race, so he ran a figure eight around the parked cars, in some cases jumping unto and over them. In and out he went. The dog was committed to the chase. Jegil ran three blocks with the dog still in pursuit, he wondered if he could make it another block. The dog from hell was upon him. Jegil reached the alley.
Shades of retribution__________________________________ page 19
He could feel the demonic creature's breath on his buttocks. He knew that if he stopped now, not only would the chase Be over, but so would his life. Jegil was panicked. He now ran in a circle trying to use some form of strategy. The dog was leaping and lunging at him. Jegil spotted a two by four wooded board about two feet long, lying against a fence. He couldn't stop because the dog was on him like white on rice. Suddenly Jegil faked going right, and went left. The dog ran past him brushing against his leg. Jegil grabbed the two by four and swung it as hard as he could. He swung wildly like a demented batter in a baseball game of life or death. He tried to hit a home run. The Doberman dodged and crouched low, moving it's head Trying to avoid the stick. It barked and showed it's teeth. Looking for an opening to attack the little man in front of him. Suddenly the realization that he had now become the prey, the dog retreated. Jegil took the blanket and his club back to his domain. He was tired and ready for sleep. Around the block, tank and his followers had been parked in front of the Lewis's home. The lights were on all night but nothing moved in the house. Obviously no one was inside. After finishing the last forty ounce bottle of beer. They exited the jeep and moved on to the house. Jimmy kicked the window out, as a test to see if an alarm would go off. The only sound heard was that of broken glass. "the alarm system could be silent and go directly to the police station." Whispered Tony. "Yeah, you're right. Lets' go back to the jeep and wait to see if anybody comes." Tank said looking over his shoulder. After about ten minutes, tank motioned to go inside. Johnny knocked the kitchen window out and let jimmy climb in. Once inside jimmy opened the side door for the guys. The gang ramsacked the house taking everything of value small enough to carry. The jeep pulled off. A neighbor closed her curtains and phoned the police. Jegil had drank a fifth of wine today. He was drunk. He had to get drunk. No other way to deal with this nightmare. He couldn't really define it as a nightmare, because nightmares are bad dreams and this was no dream, it was definitely a reality. He was remembering coming from the shopping mall with his family. Stopping at a traffic light, there was a man standing there with a sign that read, 'homeless and hungry please help!' Jegil had given the man a few dollars. He remembered wondering how will this man ever survive. Now in less than a year's time. He had joined the growing ranks of homeless people destined to over populate mainstream society if something isn't done Soon. He laid down beside the trash dumpster and went to sleep. Soon the dream came. He dreamt about he and his wife melody. They were Standing under Niagara Falls, laughing and enjoying each other. They were getting drenched by the falls, but didn't mind, it was wonderful. Suddenly the dream faded. His eyes were still closed, but his mind was now awake. "It must be raining." He thought. His face was getting wet. "Id better get out of the rain." He thought. Jegil opened his eyes. The big man from the jeep was
Shades of retribution___________________________________page 20
standing over him, with his dick out. A stream of water was flowing out from his dick. The man was actually pissing on him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The man was laughing. There was more laughter in back of him. They all were laughing. The guys around the jeep really thought this was funny. They were hysterical, and giving each other high fives. Jegil quickly covered his face with his arms to protect himself from the jet stream of foul smelling, warm piss. He jumped to his feet and ran to the alley. "you needed a bath, but the best I could do for you, was to give your nasty ass a shower!" Tank shouted as the guys all laughed. The men left. For a moment, Jegil saw flashes, his wife, his children, The banker, the cops, the men in the van, the rat, the dog, the man from the jeep. Things began to turn red. He felt a surge of evil, it urged him to kill, but ... It was only for a moment. Mrs. Marie Collins was cleaning up her house. She finally had a day off from her job at the plant. For the past month she had been working seven days a week. Marie had been working at the plant every since her husband had passed away. Her husband had died from a liver disease caused by alcoholism. She was a big strong woman. Marie had done the best she could raising her son alone. He had been a very rebellious and angry young man. This was caused by him watching his father deteriorate from drinking alcohol. She knew he was quick tempered and could cause her a lot of grief someday, but he never did, so she reasoned maybe he was a good kid deep down inside. After all he never went to jail or anything like that. But now this. Tank turned the key in the door. Marie turned around to see who was coming in the door. She gave a very disdained look. It was her son. She pushed the switch to turn the vacuum cleaner off. "Hi mamma!" Tank said as he walked in. "don't hi momma me!" She said. "first I come home and the neighbors rushing to tell me about you breaking into the Lewis's house. Then some detective come here telling me that you may be involved in a shooting at somebody's house on the eastside. He said that he had reason to be believe you robbed and shot a man at a bank. Now dammit! I done my best to raise you right! I don't know where i went wrong, and it don't matter much now, cause you're grown! That detective said he'll be back tomorrow to talk to you. I told him don't bother cause you don't stay here no more! You done brought trouble to my home. Boy, you got to go!" Marie told her son. But momma... " Tank tried to say. "ain't no more to be said! Pack your things! I want you out of my house today!" His mother stated. Tank looked his mother in her eyes. He knew she meant it. Marie stood an inch taller than her son, and she was the only person in the world Tank feared. The tall robust woman pointed her finger towards the door. Tank left the house. Tank picked up Jimmy, Johnny and Tony. They sat in front of Johnny's house. Tank told them about what happened. "Damn! Yo
Shades of retribution__________________________________ page 21
ass might be shacking up with that old man in the alley. Wouldn't that be a bitch? Ya'll hanging out together!" Tony said mockingly. "fuck you!" Was tank's rebuttal. "how did the detective find you?" Jimmy asked. "My momma said they traced the slug from the man's leg, to be the kind fired from the same gun used in that bitch's house." Tank said. "Hey let me run back in the house for a minute." Jimmy said as he jumped out of the jeep and ran into the house. He was back in three minutes. "lets ride!" He said. They rode to the football field on grove and Littlefield. Johnny pulled out two tai sticks and two Jamaican gold joints. "let's get fucked up!" He said. They all gave each other high fives. After smoking the tai sticks their speeches began to slur. They could hardly keep their eyes open. They drove to the store and bought a fifth of rum. Back to the football field they went. After drinking the fifth, Johnny reminded them of the two Jamaican joints left. They smoked the weed and began to laugh and get silly. Tank was so high he lost his keys, which were in the ignition. Jimmy suggested more beer. The jeep drove over lawns and curbs back to the store. The music was so loud it set off car alarms. Tank parked the jeep on the curb instead of next to the curb. They were having a good time. Tony went into the store and bought four forty ounce bottles of beer. They drank and talked loudly in front of the store. They stood around the jeep inebriated. Trying to dance if a song came on that they liked. They hollered at girls in passing cars. Jegil had retreated to the safety of the alley when he first heard the loud booming bass. He peeked around the corner of the building hoping they would leave. The music and the noise they were making was too much. Jegil was tired and getting a headache. He sat down in the alley out of sight. In the state they were in he'd be in trouble for sure, if they noticed him. He stayed out of sight. "Man you're a cold blooded Mother Fucker, you shot that man cause he was trying to save a little money." Johnny slurred and they laughed. "yeah I shot him, but we all shot up that bitch's house!" Tank spat out. "member when her ol' man came hunting your ass?" Johnny said trying to hold himself up against the jeep. "damn right! I smoked his old ass, he come trying to smoke me! Shit!" Tank said weaving side to side. "man I still wish we could have saved that woman and the two girls." Tony managed to get out. "what fucking woman you talking about?" A belching Tank asked. "you know, the lady that night." Tony said. "aw he's talking about the lady and the two girls, that night in the black Cadillac, the one that we ran off the road, and they crashed!" Jimmy interjected. "man you talking about that no driving bitch? She should've had her ass at home with them kids. Hell I didn't kill them, they drove into the fucking building."
Shades of retribution________________________________ page 22
Tank said. "yeah but we almost hit them. Tank you know we was flying man, they never saw us coming." Tony stuttered feeling all the effects of the drugs and alcohol. "fuck them bitches, they dead now and nothing nobody can do for them!" Tank stated matter of factly. Jegil's ears were perched. He had heard all of the conversation. "black Cadillac? Accident? Woman with two girls? Eight mile road? Ran off the road?" Jegil pondered these questions in his mind. "No! It can't be!" He thought. Jegil's mind started to clear up, as the realization settled in. "this man! The bastard that beat me and even had the nerve to piss on me! He killed my family! He's the reason I'm here!" Jegil's mind raced. His eyelids dropped half way like window shades, you peek out of without being seen. A long thick vein popped into his forehead. His nose spread with anger. It began to contract and expand rapidly. His chest heaved in and out. His lips curled back like a rabid dog, as spit dripped from his mouth. Gentle Jegil now looked like a prime candidate for a starring role in a horror movie. Veins popped into his arms, as his muscles flexed, from his tight clenching of his fist. His body swelled like Bruce Lee. He bared the sinister appearance of the grim reaper. His face was distorted and menancing. There's not a dog or rat in the world that would challenge this creature standing here now. Tank continued to brag about his conquests, acts of terrorism, and his victims. He talked about who he beat up, and shot, and the drunken gang laughed on. Tank had to take a leak. He stumbled and staggered. The gang laughed on. They were higher than they had ever been, celebrating for their leader's being kicked out of the house. Tank was feeling his way around the dumpster, he inched up to the side of the building, held himself up against the dumpster. He unzipped his his pants, pulled out his dick. When the stream of piss began to flow he sighed with relief. Jegil took on the appearance of a creature of doom, or something evil from hell. His nappy matted hair seemed like a mane, he bared his dirty stained teeth. It scares me to think about describing the way he looked that day. He snatched up his club. The two by four felt good in his hands. He held it in his right hand, and banged it against the palm of his left hand. He stared at the big man, who didn't seem as big anymore. He clutched on to the club of death. Tank never saw him coming. Tank was playing a game of drawing circles, and writing his name in piss against the store's wall. He still braced himself against the dumpster. Trying to maintain his balance. Suddenly from nowhere he saw the beast standing in front of him. He saw death in the beast's eyes. The beast, the bum, whatever, it was about to deliver death. The club came down. Pain shot through tank's head. A sharp pain registered to
Shades of retribution___________________________________page 23
his brain. The club came down again and again. This time tank was not in control. His whole body jerked with pain. His hand slipped from the dumpster, and the big man had nothing to hold himself up with. The club landed again making a loud splitting sound. The club had not split. Pain and darkness, engulfed tank as he fell to the concrete, face first. The last thing tank remembered was the pain in his face as it shattered against the hard concrete. Jimmy, Johnny and Tony were in shock. "Who was that beating tank like that, was it a creature or some crazy man?" Tony questioned. Whatever it was it had killed Tank. It was making a high pitch squealing sound and beating the shit out of the big man. People came out of the store and out of their homes, after hearing the commotion. What they saw was tank lying face down in a pool of blood. A strange kind of justice had been served today. A retribution!
Written by: Rodney Oliver Copyright 1993 Rodney Oliver


select more options back to home
send comments
back to top