LitShark
Predator
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
- Posts
- 3,515
Eric Johnson checked his stainless Rolex, a much less gaudy timepiece than most of his contemporaries wore, but it did what it was supposed to—it kept the time. Eric—or E&J as he was often called, a nickname from childhood when he got sick on cheap brandy with his friends. Eric had once been someone described as having “a bright future,” by teachers and counselors far and wide. He got into a prestigious university on both sports and academic scholarships and even got his picture taken for the local news for getting a 1550 on his SATs, the highest in his district (though to this day he views it as a personal disgrace that he didn’t score 1600).
Eric’s late father, Col. James Johnson had raised him in the “twice-as-good” philosophy that his generation abided as a means of survival. For a black man to survive in America, he needs to be twice as good as the next best white man. Like most good parables, it made sense, and had led an entire generation of men and women like his father to achieve great things in the name of being twice-as-good.
Perhaps Col. Johnson’s only flaw, his Achilles heel was that he fell in love with a fair-haired white woman who came from an upper-class family. Eric’s mother, Tanya was white, but her decision to marry his father left them both outcast by her family and his community. It was a taboo for both races to cross lines, and for Col. Johnson—formerly a pillar of the black community, it was a brutal betrayal for one of the rare, uncorrupted, successful black men to marry a white woman.
Eric barely had a chance to know his father before he was killed in a traffic stop when the trooper caught sight of his military issue sidearm in the glove compartment when he reached for his vehicle registration.
Though his father had never touched the weapon and made every attempt to comply with the officer, the officer said in his statement that he’d feared for his life and the presence of the gun led the board of review to determine that the shooting was justified. The officer wasn’t even reprimanded.
Tanya didn’t take the death well at all. Cut off by her wealthy family, she lost the ability to support Eric or even care for herself properly, developing bad habits and drug addictions that became her daily routine.
Eric left for college not one day too soon, and though his mother still required and inordinate amount of his time and attention, the discipline he’d learned from his father served him well in juggling sports, his education and his mother’s proclivities. But in spite of all of his hard work, Eric learned that the past was something he couldn’t escape from.
Back home on spring break, Eric had been spending time with some of his oldest friends from the neighborhood, most of them full-time block boys by now, but all of them loyal and overjoyed to see the golden boy again. Though he declined to smoke weed with them, they were celebrating his return and he didn’t think much of riding with them to a local hangout spot that was known for having amorous young ladies.
The group of young, black men were stopped by the same officer who had killed Eric’s father and from the moment his smug, white face leaned into the driver’s side window of the Impala, Eric’s life was never the same. All four occupants of the car were arrested and brought in on drug charges for possession of marijuana with intent to sell—intent, they were able to prove based only on the quantity. Even though Eric swore he hadn’t been smoking and tested negative for any drugs, the charges were enough to lose him his scholarships and get him kicked out of school.
That was how this young man with a “bright future,” who everyone said was “so well spoken,” ended up as a local leader of the notorious Rollin’ 22’s street gang in South Central Los Angeles. His mother died of an overdose, not long after he lost his scholarships—but Eric found that he liked his new life more than he’d expected to. He liked drinking and doing drugs, he liked making and laundering vast sums of money—more than his father earned in a lifetime of “honest work.” Most of all, Eric loved outsmarting the police. His life experience had given him a healthy mistrust of police, and he reveled in being so much smarter than even the smartest among them.
The one thing that Eric didn’t like was the violence—it was much too loud, too hard to cover up and typically required special preparation on his part, to outsmart the Federal police who dealt with murders. There were no shortage of others for whom violence was the primary draw—like Eric’s oldest and closest friend Dale, Loc to his friends.
Loc was exactly the type of young man that most white people feared when they saw a black man. Quick to anger, reckless and arrogant, not to mention sexually gratuitous and misogynistic. But for Eric, he was still the skinny little dweeb who broke his leg trying to jump a stolen bike off the roof on a cardboard ramp.
This day, seemed like any other—Eric double checking his ledger books and triple checking the weights of pre-measured baggies, Loc smoking a blunt and dancing to abrasively loud rap music from his most valuable possession, his Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic sound system that was almost too tall for the room.
This house had once been Eric’s father’s, the crowning achievement on his illustrious career, but after his mother had turned it into a drug den, there was little sentimentality left for the house itself. Only his father’s wart medals from Viet Nam which hung above Eric’s bed reminded him of that better, “bright future” time.
“Cut that shit off, I’ve got a call coming in from the towers,” Eric called over his shoulder at Loc, “you know how fucking hard it is to get a phone in there. If you get Omar busted for this one, the replacement’s going to be in your ass when we get it to him.”
“Shit, nigga. Calm your ass down,” Loc sneered, muting the stereo by remote, “give a nigga a chance to do the shit before you make up a big story ‘bout how deep you gon’ get in my ass.”
Loc had a point, but Eric wouldn’t admit it. Luckily enough, Eric’s Nokia burner began vibrating on his desk. He answered it quickly.
“Are we in business?” Eric asked, anxious about what was in essence a very simple extortion gig, Wall Street white boy pays for protection—but it made him nervous that half of the operation was happening in prison where he couldn’t be a witness to the dealings.
“Yeah, we’re in business. She should be coming by in the next hour or so, he gave her all of your instructions and she’s on her way there now.”
“And she’s ready to be searched, right? I don’t need some white bitch up in here screamin’ ‘rape’ as soon as I put my hands on her.”
“She knows.”
“A’ight, good work. Keep the phone safe, I’ll text you if I need to talk,” Eric pressed the end button and swiftly snapped off the back of the phone and removed the battery.
The phone battery was tossed into the top drawer of his desk while the dead phone was placed in a locking bottom drawer. Eric gave Loc a nod and the music resumed. Because of the loud music, though. Neither Eric nor Loc heard the first timid knock on the door with its peeling exterior paint.
Eric’s late father, Col. James Johnson had raised him in the “twice-as-good” philosophy that his generation abided as a means of survival. For a black man to survive in America, he needs to be twice as good as the next best white man. Like most good parables, it made sense, and had led an entire generation of men and women like his father to achieve great things in the name of being twice-as-good.
Perhaps Col. Johnson’s only flaw, his Achilles heel was that he fell in love with a fair-haired white woman who came from an upper-class family. Eric’s mother, Tanya was white, but her decision to marry his father left them both outcast by her family and his community. It was a taboo for both races to cross lines, and for Col. Johnson—formerly a pillar of the black community, it was a brutal betrayal for one of the rare, uncorrupted, successful black men to marry a white woman.
Eric barely had a chance to know his father before he was killed in a traffic stop when the trooper caught sight of his military issue sidearm in the glove compartment when he reached for his vehicle registration.
Though his father had never touched the weapon and made every attempt to comply with the officer, the officer said in his statement that he’d feared for his life and the presence of the gun led the board of review to determine that the shooting was justified. The officer wasn’t even reprimanded.
Tanya didn’t take the death well at all. Cut off by her wealthy family, she lost the ability to support Eric or even care for herself properly, developing bad habits and drug addictions that became her daily routine.
Eric left for college not one day too soon, and though his mother still required and inordinate amount of his time and attention, the discipline he’d learned from his father served him well in juggling sports, his education and his mother’s proclivities. But in spite of all of his hard work, Eric learned that the past was something he couldn’t escape from.
Back home on spring break, Eric had been spending time with some of his oldest friends from the neighborhood, most of them full-time block boys by now, but all of them loyal and overjoyed to see the golden boy again. Though he declined to smoke weed with them, they were celebrating his return and he didn’t think much of riding with them to a local hangout spot that was known for having amorous young ladies.
The group of young, black men were stopped by the same officer who had killed Eric’s father and from the moment his smug, white face leaned into the driver’s side window of the Impala, Eric’s life was never the same. All four occupants of the car were arrested and brought in on drug charges for possession of marijuana with intent to sell—intent, they were able to prove based only on the quantity. Even though Eric swore he hadn’t been smoking and tested negative for any drugs, the charges were enough to lose him his scholarships and get him kicked out of school.
That was how this young man with a “bright future,” who everyone said was “so well spoken,” ended up as a local leader of the notorious Rollin’ 22’s street gang in South Central Los Angeles. His mother died of an overdose, not long after he lost his scholarships—but Eric found that he liked his new life more than he’d expected to. He liked drinking and doing drugs, he liked making and laundering vast sums of money—more than his father earned in a lifetime of “honest work.” Most of all, Eric loved outsmarting the police. His life experience had given him a healthy mistrust of police, and he reveled in being so much smarter than even the smartest among them.
The one thing that Eric didn’t like was the violence—it was much too loud, too hard to cover up and typically required special preparation on his part, to outsmart the Federal police who dealt with murders. There were no shortage of others for whom violence was the primary draw—like Eric’s oldest and closest friend Dale, Loc to his friends.
Loc was exactly the type of young man that most white people feared when they saw a black man. Quick to anger, reckless and arrogant, not to mention sexually gratuitous and misogynistic. But for Eric, he was still the skinny little dweeb who broke his leg trying to jump a stolen bike off the roof on a cardboard ramp.
This day, seemed like any other—Eric double checking his ledger books and triple checking the weights of pre-measured baggies, Loc smoking a blunt and dancing to abrasively loud rap music from his most valuable possession, his Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic sound system that was almost too tall for the room.
This house had once been Eric’s father’s, the crowning achievement on his illustrious career, but after his mother had turned it into a drug den, there was little sentimentality left for the house itself. Only his father’s wart medals from Viet Nam which hung above Eric’s bed reminded him of that better, “bright future” time.
“Cut that shit off, I’ve got a call coming in from the towers,” Eric called over his shoulder at Loc, “you know how fucking hard it is to get a phone in there. If you get Omar busted for this one, the replacement’s going to be in your ass when we get it to him.”
“Shit, nigga. Calm your ass down,” Loc sneered, muting the stereo by remote, “give a nigga a chance to do the shit before you make up a big story ‘bout how deep you gon’ get in my ass.”
Loc had a point, but Eric wouldn’t admit it. Luckily enough, Eric’s Nokia burner began vibrating on his desk. He answered it quickly.
“Are we in business?” Eric asked, anxious about what was in essence a very simple extortion gig, Wall Street white boy pays for protection—but it made him nervous that half of the operation was happening in prison where he couldn’t be a witness to the dealings.
“Yeah, we’re in business. She should be coming by in the next hour or so, he gave her all of your instructions and she’s on her way there now.”
“And she’s ready to be searched, right? I don’t need some white bitch up in here screamin’ ‘rape’ as soon as I put my hands on her.”
“She knows.”
“A’ight, good work. Keep the phone safe, I’ll text you if I need to talk,” Eric pressed the end button and swiftly snapped off the back of the phone and removed the battery.
The phone battery was tossed into the top drawer of his desk while the dead phone was placed in a locking bottom drawer. Eric gave Loc a nod and the music resumed. Because of the loud music, though. Neither Eric nor Loc heard the first timid knock on the door with its peeling exterior paint.