Charlton Casanova Crew

1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5439-0420-8
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 306 Seiten

King James, Polo, Star and E-Rock are four young hustlers who form a pact and vow to always have each other's back, while chasing the money, power, and street fame that will eventually tear them apart.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Charlton, Warren

Leseproben

‘If it don’t make dollars, it don’t make sense’ thought King James as he sat in the last pew of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. It was Easter Sunday 1995 and at age 15 he could think of a hundred other things that he would rather be doing; all of which involved getting money.

The church was crowded like a Jay Z concert. Full of people that had not been to church since the prior Easter. New suits, snake skin shoes, and fresh haircuts adorned the men, while the women sported hi-heels with matching purses, new dresses, and crisp hair do’s. Some even had exotic hats on top of their do’s. The mixture of all the colognes and perfume created a nose-stinging aroma that was so heavy in the air that you seemed to taste it when you breathed.

‘This ain’t nothing but a damn fashion show’ thought King James as he twisted his lips and shook his head in disgust. He watched as Reverend Johnson walked slowly to the altar. His grey hair seemed to match his three piece suit perfectly. When he opened his mouth to give the invocation King James tuned his voice completely out. He pretended to have pushed the mute button on an invisible remote control and smiled to himself as Reverend Johnson’s lips moved in silence. Then he took his private game a step further and started imagining that Reverend Johnson was hosting a contest.

“And this year’s Mount Zion’s Easter Queen Award goes to the sister with the biggest hat and the fattest back. Chuuch! Give it up for sister Walona Rivers. Whoa! Look at the tail on that whale. Such a blessing of a bootie! So much junk in her trunk that if you tell her to haul ass she gotta make two trips! Can I get an amen?”

King James snickered to himself a little louder than he intended which brought an elbow jab in his ribs from Polo, who was sitting next to him. He frowned at Polo then looked past him at Star and E-Rock and whispered “Y’all ‘bout ready to go?”

Star shrugged his shoulders in an I -don’t-care kind of way. E-Rock locked eyes with King James and stated “We stayin’ till it’s over.” In response, King James took a deep breath and exhaled noisily while gluing his eyes to the ceiling. The four juveniles were all around the same age. Everybody was fifteen except for Star. He was fourteen. He and Polo were brothers. They were born eleven months apart and had been fighting each other ever since. Although Polo was the oldest it was Star that usually won the fights. The two brothers were close but always seemed to be in constant competition with each other. Polo’s best friend was E-Rock. Star’s best friend was King James. All together, they were a four man wrecking crew. They always hung out together and never backed down from anybody. Already at their age they were well respected in their hood, which was the Eastside of a city called Pensacola located in northern Florida.

When they were about ten years old the boys were at the local skating rink where the teenagers and pre-teens hung out. Star was talking to a cute little yellow-skinned girl and had her smiling from ear to ear. She was twelve at the time and her girlish frame was noticeably turning in to that of a young woman’s. Out of nowhere a slim brown-skinned youth stepped between Star and the young girl. “Who the hell are you little nigga? You think you a Casanova or something?” he stated, while pointing his finger in Star’s face. The boy was thirteen years old and seemed to tower over Star. “I aughta kick your little ...” The boy never got a chance to finish his sentence. Star’s fist crashed in to his mouth so fast that he never saw it coming. The boy had a few friends with him and they attempted to pull Star off the boy, but Polo, E-Rock, and King James jumped in the scuffle. In the end the youngsters had been outnumbered six to four and still beat the older boys. The young girl seeing her boyfriend had gotten beat up announced “I’m going with Casanova,” and grabbed Star’s hand. They held hands and skated together for the remainder of the evening. The word kept buzzing around the skating rink that some boys had whipped Slim and his crew. Whenever someone would say “Who was it?” People started saying “It was the Casanova Crew.” And from there the name had stuck like glue. The Casanova Crew.

As Reverend Johnson delivered his sermon anybody that happened to glance in the direction of the boys would have sworn that they were tuned in to the message, but truth be told their minds were like North, East, South, and West, all in different directions. King James was thinking about the loaded dice that he had in his pocket, and how he was going to use them on some unsuspecting victim after church. Polo was daydreaming about starting on the freshman football team when he started school in August. Star was checking out a pretty red bone female that was sitting four rows up to his left. She had some big dimples that Star thought made her look very intriguing. Her hair was done in an immaculate French-roll that looked so perfect that Star struggled to find at least one strand of hair out of place, but it wasn’t to be found. E-Rock found himself mumbling under his breath and immediately stopped. He liked to rap and often sat putting rhymes together in his head but he felt convicted for not paying attention to the sermon. The way he saw it, he didn’t come to church too often so he should at least have enough respect to pay attention now that he was there.

The collection plate was being passed around and Reverend Johnson was saying a prayer for some members of the congregation that were sick. Most of the people had their heads bowed and their eyes closed. When the plate came to King James he started to pass it quickly. ‘Ain’t no way in hell I’m giving my money away’ he thought. Then, as if he had a revelation a wicked smile appeared on his face. He swiftly stuck his hand into the plate and grabbed two twenty dollar bills. He was so quick that Polo couldn’t be certain about what had happened. Polo shook his head as if snapping out of a trance and thought to himself ‘Naa, he couldn’t have.’

After the service was over, the crowd made its way slowly up the red carpeted aisle and through the double-doored exit. Numerous deacons and ushers were shaking hands with the visitors as they were leaving. The fellas were walking in a single file line headed to the exit when a deep voice called “James, Lawrence, Louis, and Elijah.” They all turned to see Reverend Johnson.

“You young men come with me to my office for a minute. I need to have a word with you all.” For some strange reason the fellas were all a little nervous. King James was understandably more nervous than the others. He thought to himself ‘There’s no way he could have seen me take that money ...right? But what if God told him? Man, you trippin’. Maybe one of those old nosey women saw me and told him. Hmmm, I’m denying everything.’

Reverend Johnson’s office was cool and spacious. It was furnished with a brown leather sofa and two matching chairs that sat in front of a huge antique-looking dark wood desk. The Reverend took a seat in the comfortable-looking chair behind the desk.

“Have a seat young men,” he said to the fellas. King James, Polo, and Star all sat quickly on the couch leaving E-Rock no choice but to sit in one of the chairs directly facing the Reverend. E-Rock considered himself a young man, but could not help feeling like a little boy as he sat in front of the massive desk. He wiped his now sweaty palms on his new slacks as he bounced his right knee. ‘He must have seen me rappin’ to myself during his sermon’ he thought as he forced himself to look the Reverend in the eyes. No sense in going out like a punk. He decided that he was going to admit to what he had done and face the consequences whatever they may be.

“Did you young men understand the message today?” asked the Reverend.

The fellas all looked at each other hoping that one of them could answer. When it was obvious that nobody else was going to speak up E-Rock decided to be the group’s spokesman.

“Um, I know the message was about ... about a seed?” stated E-Rock. He had only caught the last part and was struggling to remember some details. The Reverend smiled.

“Yes, it was indeed about some seeds.”

The three teenagers on the couch all seemed to exhale at the same time. E-Rock had saved the day.

“I know how it is when you’re young. Believe it or not I was once your age” said the Reverend.

The fellas chuckled at the Reverend’s words. He continued “I know your attention span is short right now, but the Lord put it on my heart to tell you young men this parable.”

The fellas were all quiet. Reverend Johnson had their undivided attention. His face seemed to shine as his powerful voice came alive. “A man went to plant some seeds. His first seed fell by the wayside and a fowl came and devoured it. The second seed was not planted deep enough in the soil. It sprung up but was scorched by the sun because it had weak roots. The third seed was planted among thorns. When it grew it was choked by the thorns. The last seed was planted in good soil. It grew strong and ended up producing fruit.”

Silence hung in the air. It was as if the fellas were waiting for the Reverend to continue, but he was done speaking. Reverend Johnson was staring at the youths looking for any sign that they had understood the message. He did not see it. A knock on the door interrupted the silence.

“Come in,” stated the Reverend.

“Reverend Johnson, the deacons are all waiting for you. You are still meeting...