I’Ve Got to Make It to Heaven for Going Through Hell: Part Ii

By Tony J. Ward Jr

In part II, Antoine is caught in the center of a gang war brewing in and around the school. Getting use to being the center of attention Antoine sets his sights on a more ambitious plan - to be the number 1 in charge. Although getting to the top is never easy Antoine finds himself struggling to navigate through his new "family", and who he can and can't trust. All the while still struggling to cope with life, Antoine's lifestyle raises some questions on if his worst enemy is the one that lies within?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491852002

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© 2015 Tony J. Ward Jr. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse    02/10/2015

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5199-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-5200-2 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Chapter 8    Batter Up

Chapter 9    More Of The Same

Chapter 10    Top Of The World

Chapter 11    Books And Crooks

Chapter 12    Breach Of Contract

Chapter 13    42nd Street Sprint

Chapter 14    New General In Town

Chapter 15    The Pick-Up

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my beautiful daughter A.J. Ward. You are a daily reminder of the promise my Father made to me. What a joy you are to me, and what joy you bring to my life. I love you.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I woud like to take this time to thank my mother for the inspiration to write this story. Although there were some rocky years, it was ultimately tough love that caused me to see the light. But in the end, there is no one that could take your place. I love you.

PART

II

THE CHARACTERS, GANG NAMES, AND PLACES IN THIS BOOK ARE STRICTLY FICTIONAL. ANY SIMILARITIES TO REAL LIFE ARE COINCIDENTAL.

CHAPTER 8

BATTER UP

T OINE… TOINE… TOINE. I’m leaving for work. Call me later, my mom said as she exited my room and headed towards the front door.

Call me later? She hasn’t said that to me in a while. It caught me off-guard. I wasn’t planning on calling her. I never did. I stopped that a long time ago. Our relationship was just hello, bye, and whenever she would try to press me about where I’ve been. Other than that, it was non-existent.

Ring . . . . Ring . . . . Ring . . . .

Yo, who’s calling this early?

I thought about letting the phone ring, but whoever the person was kept calling back. They were persistent. I jumped out of the bed in disgust; I hated to get up early when I didn’t have to. It was the summer. I should’ve been sleeping ‘til the afternoon.

Hello?? I said with force in my voice. I wanted to make sure the person on the other line knew I wasn’t happy about answering the phone that early.

What’s up… , a soft voice said on the other line. Of course there was only one girl with that seductive voice that early in the morning.

What’s good Amber? Why you callin this early. You crazy?

Toine please, you know ya mother just left for work and woke you up and told you. So you weren’t sleep.

It was scary how this girl knew my whole schedule. Not that I was going to tell her, but I was just happy we were talking again.

Oh yea, what happen yesterday in the elevator with you, Neena, and Meeka? Why did you leave with them? That was dumb. You must have wanted them to bang you out.

Bang on who, me? Please, they didn’t touch me. They know better than that. And if they wanted to they could have jumped off. But all they did was look at me. They didn’t know where I was coming from. They just gave me nasty stares.

I’m not believing that. They had to know it was you. You were carrying the same bag Neena saw on my floor genius. Neena asked Riq about the bag remember?

Oh shoot… . they saw my bag? she replied in a shaky voice.

Yea.

Just as I replied the other line beeped.

Yo hold on, I told Amber and clicked on the other line.

Hello?

Wow, look who’s up? Neena’s voice sounded like she’d been up for a minute.

What’s good with y’all girls calling me this early. Can’t a dude sleep over here!

"I know you better watch your mouth. And who’s ‘y’all girls’? Who else you on the phone with, Toine?"

Oh that’s my aunt. She wanted to speak to my moms, but I was tellin her that she left already.

I was good on my toes with my back to the wall.

Toine, you are such a liar. I know you talking to that chick Amber. Tell her the next time I catch her in your house, I’ma straight smack her.

Yea whateva. Aight hold on let me tell her on the other line.

Preme I’m not playing. I’ma hurt that girl. Tell her to stay away from you.

You tell her.

That’s how you want it to go down? Fine I will, Neena said angrily. I could tell she was being real.

So anyway, you coming down to the club today? Some heads from the Pit wanna meet you.

Who? Why they wanna meet me? Ohhh yo hold on, I forgot about my other line.

I clicked back over to Amber.

Hello? I said.

Toine, why you kept me on hold for that long?

Yo my fault.

So can I come over now since your mom is gone?

Nah, I’ma bout to get dressed and get out of here soon.

Where you going?

Down to the club to chill.

Can I go with you?

Nah, I’m goin to meet some heads down there.

I already knew what question was coming next.

Oh you mean Neena? So you would chill with her over me? What you didn’t enjoy yourself yesterday with me? You think she looks better than me Toine?

Ayo this girl be actin up sometimes! I knew the answer to that question, no. But I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.

No comment, I replied

Toine, you can’t be serious. You think she does?

Yo I’m not answering that. And you sound real concerned for a girl who thinks she looks better, anyway.

I knew this wasn’t going to go away until I told her the answer, so I had to do something else.

Yo whateva, I gotta go. I’ma talk to you later, I said

Toine, no don’t go ‘til you answer me. So you gonna just play me for her?

Yo you not my girl. Why you keep pressin me like that! I screamed at her.

I knew I had messed up. But she had gotten me tight. She pushed me there. Suddenly, the phone conversation got real quiet and I began to hear Amber break down.

Whateva Toine, she replied with a broken-up voice.

She couldn’t even finish her reply before busting out in tears over the phone.

You know what, forget you Toine. You so heartless. But watch, you gonna get yours. You gonna get yours. Just watch.

Then, she hung up on me. I didn’t let that stop me. I clicked back over to the other line.

Hello? I said.

Yea, I’m still here, Neena said.

Oh aight, I would have hung up the phone if I was you.

I know you would have, but everyone doesn’t have a cold heart like you. Anyway, so what time you coming down here?

Yo I don’t know. Why you pressin me like that? When I’m ready to come, I’ll call you.

Let me find out what both Amber and Neena said about me being cold-hearted was getting to me. The more I kept hearing it, the more I started to believe it. Now I know why they say be careful what you say to people.

Oh no, see, you not going to be talking to me like that. Let’s get that part straight right now. Anyway, Preme I’ma let you go. But I meant what I said. Keep that chick Amber out your house, and out of my sight. I don’t want you around her. You gonna make me catch a case over that girl. When you ready to come just call me. Bye, Neena said, then hung up the phone.

She didn’t even give me a chance to say anything back.

I hung up and jumped back into the bed. Am I heartless? Do I have a conscience? Am I that selfish? Nah, that’s not me. I quickly put that contemplation to rest as I laid back down and fell back to sleep. I slept for a while.

Beep . . . . Beep . . . . Beep . . .

Beep . . . . Beep . . . . Beep . . .

Oh, my phone! I screamed to myself out loud.

I hopped out the bed and went towards my phone on the dresser.

Oh that’s Neena, yo what time is it? I was talking out loud again. I took a look at the clock and it said 1:30 p.m. I was sleeping that long. It didn’t even feel like it. I ran to the phone and called Neena’s job.

Hello, the Club; can I help you? the voice on the other end said.

Yea can I speak to Neena?

Hold on, the voice said again.

Hello this Neena.

Yo what’s good.

Oh look who’s up now?

Yea, I replied.

I thought you were going to sleep all day long, so I had to wake you up. You mad at me, aren’t you? she asked.

That kind of caught me off-guard. I thought I was the one who flipped on her, not her on me. But once again, I just had that gift to make others feel guilty even when it was my fault. I was good.

Nah I’m not mad at you. I got a lot of things on my mind right now, I replied.

She listened as if she was expecting to hear more from me. I hope she wasn’t waiting for an apology because that she wasn’t going to get from me; not at all. It would take an act of God to get me to apologize for something I did.

So you coming down now or what? she said.

Yea I’ma bout to get dressed.

Aight some of them from the Pit are already here. Hurry up; they wanna meet you.

Aight I’m gettin ready now. Later.

I hung up the phone and put it back on the hook. I pulled out my clothes and went to the bathroom and turned on the water for the shower. I quickly undressed and hopped in. My thoughts were racing while I was in the shower. Once again, those voices started to speak to me. Who’s they and why do they want to meet you? Maybe they trying to set you up and Neena’s helping them.

The whole time I was in the shower, I played crazy scenarios over and over in my head. Everything from them setting me up, to Neena being the one standing over me and spitting in my face while I was lying in a pool of my own blood. I know it sounds kind of sick, but my thoughts were sometimes sick like that. I made my way out the bathroom and back into my room. I pulled out my clothes, which happened to be a black-fire shirt with a black-fire headband and blue jeans, with white and black-fire sneakers with black-fire shoelaces. The last thing I needed was my banger. I didn’t go anywhere without it. The blade was about 5 inches by itself, which came out of a black handle. I pulled the blade out to make sure it was sharp enough to pierce through a body just in case it got ugly down there. I texted Neena and then threw my cell phone in my pocket, got my keys, and headed out the door and down to the elevator.

Even still in the elevator I wasn’t feeling good about the people from the Pit Neena was talking about. When the elevator got to the lobby, I walked out the elevator towards the back door and headed down the block towards the club. The closer I got to the club, the faster my thoughts were racing. At first it looked like no one was out there. As I got closer I saw about two groups of six heads standing on each side of the walkway to the front of the club. Of course, Neena was the first to notice me from deep. I could see her looking at me, then turning back to them. Now they were all looking at me walking towards them. I couldn’t tell what she was saying, but I’m pretty sure it went something like, that’s Preme right there.

As I got closer I could see actual faces, but I was still a little ways from them. Everyone’s attention from both groups was focused on me. I was the man in the spotlight. I didn’t mind it, because I loved attention. I finally got close enough where their eyes started scanning my gear from head to toe. These dudes couldn’t touch me. My gear was tighter, I looked better, my stroll was serious, and I had my hand gripped tight around the banger in my pocket.

As I finally approached, I saw one of them throw up an Eastside sign. That was my signal to approach him first. He must have had the highest ranks out of all of them. I went straight to him.

Who you? he asked.

I told him exactly who I was. Like he didn’t already know.

So you Preme? he said, as he scanned me from head to toe along with his homies.

But the others didn’t say a word. They treated him like he was the Godfather or something. None of them even moved. He then went on and told me who he was. The only thing I heard was S.B. I think he said, ‘Smooth something, down with Eastside,’ or something like that. I don’t know. If it had nothing to do with me, I didn’t really pay attention to it, nor would I really listen. But this S.B., I had heard his name before. Now I got to meet him face-to-face. He had a crazy rep himself. Matter of fact, I was sure most of them out there had a crazy rep from what I had heard before.

Yo you do look like one of them sneaky dudes, he said. Yea we heard a little something about you. You gotta a little rep goin in the streets. But we gonna see what’s good.

At first I took it as a challenge, but then he turned around to talk to the other dudes that he was with.

I took it upon myself to give the rest of them an Eastside pound. I went down the line and heard mad names coming from everywhere. I couldn’t remember any of them for the life of me. All I could hear was, I’m such and such. I wasn’t good at remembering people like that.

Yo Preme, who you under? S.B. asked.

Splash from H-dub.

Oh aight, yea I know him. That’s my man. Yo why you never come down to the Pit? S.B. asked me.

Yo I just met them dudes the other day. I told them I was gonna come through… but I heard it’s hot out there right now. Feds is watching everything and running round there like crazy, I told him.

Yea they are. Yo I’m feeling your shoelaces… this is a fly dude right here. We need to put you down with the gorgeous ganstas. As a matter of fact, I’m making you one, S.B. said.

The gorgeous ganstas was a group in the Eastside gang that dressed and looked pretty but kept it gansta; kept it nasty. I was automatically put into that group. I ended up chillin with S.B. and the rest of them for hours. It took a while, but the others finally started talking. It was like they were waiting for S.B.’s approval. He was the leader of some of them; general to the others. The rest of them were under some other dude from the other side of the Bronx. But of course when you have too many people together whose reps precede them, you knew something had to give.

I was standing with my back to the walkway that led up to the front door of the club, talking to S.B. It was just getting dark outside and we were still in front of the club just wildin out. Neena went back in the club to finish her shift. I was waiting for her. While I was still talking to S.B., I heard a group of Spanish kids coming out the club front door. I turned around to look at them for a minute, then turned back towards S.B. It had to be at least seven of them coming out towards us. One of them came too close to me and bumped me a little, but enough to move me a little bit. Dude just kept on walking and talking to the rest of them like nothing happened. I wasn’t feeling that at all.

Ayo fam, watch where you walkin, I yelled at him.

He turned around and looked at me while his peoples stopped. I guess he wanted to see who said it. Everyone else got quiet and just looked at us.

What? Who you talking to, me? he answered back.

You fam. Yea I’m talking to you, I screamed back.

Do I look black? Do I look like your brother, puto?

That was it. That put me over the edge. He had on a nice racing jacket that had a little leather on the sleeves. He was another fool trying to show off a hot leather jacket in the summer. I started to walk towards him and he started walking towards me. There were no words after that, we just both threw up our hands.

Ayo so what’s good, fam, I said as I took my stance.

Its whateva, he said