IBO - Brian R. Lundin (100 books to read in a lifetime .txt) 📗

/> “That's great, reverend, thanks a lot Professor Ambrose I’ll get those papers to you tomorrow,” Malik said leaving.
However, Malik did not go out with his classmates; he went back to work. As he was approaching his drug spot, Yellow police tape roped off the area. There were police cars and an ambulance with their lights flashing and their radios squawking. Police officers were putting yellow tape around the scene and other police officers held by a crowd of people who had gathered. Malik saw two paramedics putting a body into a body bag, which was on a stretcher, and into the rear of the ambulance. Malik saw Pops and Cinque in the crowd and walked over to them.
Malik asked Pops, “ What's up?”
“Contact got popped,” Pop answered.
“What happened?” Malik asked.
“I’m not sure, but one of the blowers said he saw this maroon colored car pull up and a white dude got out and walked over to Contact, they shook hands, and all of a sudden the white dude popped Contact and booked, the blower said he overheard the dude say something about some bad shit he had got from Contact. Do you know if Contact was fucking with the shit?” Pops asked.
“Not as far as I know,” Malik answered.
Malik and Pops did not see the heavyset black man walking towards them.
“So you survived, Malik, I see you are still hanging with your dope dealing homeboys, I guess none of you know what happened? The detective said curtly.
Malik looked at Detective Clark and said, “No man, we don't know anything.”
“I just left my graduation,” Malik said defiantly.
Pops told the detective what he the blower had told him, but did not identify the blower to Detective Clark. Detective Clark left and started talking to the other police officers at the scene.
“You’re the man now,” Pops said. “You will take over the spot when things cool down.”
“Cool,” Malik said.
Malik took over Contact’s spots and it was one of the better spots in Robert Taylor Homes.
It ran from 51st South Federal Street to 47th South Federal, four blocks. On one side of the street was the rear of the buildings on the other side were four parking lots, one in each block adjacent to the railroad tracks. The only entrances to the area was on 51st or 47th St, the Dan Ryan Expressway had an exit and entrance ramps on both streets, very convenient for customers coming from all parts of the city, and it was only a block West of Federal. Most of the streetlights in the area either was out or dim. Blowers positioned themselves in each block, and a hawker was in each parking lot. Malik was usually in the poorly lit breezeway of 4947 South Federal Street. Close by were his security men, the Simbas all armed with automatic weapons
Malik got his drugs from Pops every afternoon at one thirty. Malik would meet Pops at the Dowop Restaurant located at 47th South State Street. The gang owned the restaurant and it was the gang’s headquarters. Pops would keep a record of the drugs Malik had gotten and sold and how much money he owed. Malik would give Pops the money he had made the night before and Pops kept an account, including Malik’s ten percent. If Malik needed drugs Pops, would have them delivered that night.
Malik was earning between five hundred and one thousand dollars a week but the money could not be put into the bank because banking regulations required the banks to report to the Internal Revenue Service any deposits over ten thousand dollars so the gang had set up legitimate businesses to wash the huge sums of cash they were getting. They invested in restaurants, bars, used car dealerships, real estate holding companies and other ventures in an attempt to launder the huge sums of money they were receiving from the drug sells. Instead of pocketing the money and spending it on fancy jewelry or big cars, as most of the dealers did, Malik had Pops invest half of his weekly salary into the businesses the gang owned. Malik had earned over $30,000 since taking over the spot from Contact; he was eighteen years old.
Two months after graduating Malik finally received a letter from Harvard University. The letter stated that he had been recommended for consideration into the minority set aside programs. He was requested to contact a Ms. Jamison for further details. Malik called Ms. Jamison.

“Ms. Jamison this is Malik Johnson, I’m calling concerning the minority set aside program.”
“Hi, Malik, you are being considered for the program, I see on your application you were highly recommended by Professor Ambrose. Did he explain the process?”
“Yes, a little.”
“Ok, I’ll go over it with you. We have scheduled you and other applicants for an interview on 28 July 2004. I will send you the plane tickets and you will arrive here at Harvard on the 26 July. You will be met at the airport by Doctor Knox, a member of our faculty, and transport you to the campus. The next day there will be a get acquainted reception party at the university where you will get a chance to talk to some of our students and faculty; also you will get a chance to meet the members of the selection board and the other applicants. As you probably know, the university is only offering ten scholarships for the fall term, beginning in September, so you will get a chance to meet your competitors, any questions?
“No ma’am thanks a lot.”
“Ok, I’ll notify the airline and you can pick up the tickets at the airport, I’ll send you another letter with all the details, thanks for calling,” Ms. Jamison said before hanging up the telephone.
Malik continues to sell drugs during the summer and he told Pops about the Harvard offer.
“My man going to be a Harvard man, that's great. You aren’t going to forget your homeys, are you?”
Malik was embarrassed, “No way man, State Street Boy to the bone,” Malik said, giving the gang sign

Chapter 18

Eli Whitney was born on 18 December 1983 and raised on the northwest Side of Chicago in the Cabrini Green Housing Project. Eli lived with his mother, Grace and his two younger brothers, John, nine, and Billy, ten. Eli was very light skinned with intelligent grayish eyes. He was a big young man, weighing 200 pounds and stood 6'3". He had a slender frame, but was not awkward like many young men his age and height. Eli attended Young Magnet High School and was an honor student. He was quiet, kept to himself, and avoided the gangs that ran the development.
Grace’s parents were one of the first Black families to move in Cabrini. Her parents, Lue Etta and Pat Edwards had moved up to Chicago from Greenwood, Mississippi in 1957 in search of a better life. Grace and her three older brothers and two younger sisters were amazed at how clean and nice their apartment was. There was with an in-door toilet and hot and cold running water. Grace was a good student and attended school regularly. Her father Pat worked as a doorman at one of the exclusive apartment buildings on Lakeshore Drive, only a mile of two from Cabrini. His pay was minimal, but far more than the three or four dollars a day he got picking cotton in Mississippi. Her older brothers, Pat, Jr., William and Marcus soon joined the Cabrini Vice Lords, the main gang that controlled the housing project. The Vice Lords terrorized and extorted the storeowners and businessmen in the area and engaged in turf wars with the other gangs, which were mainly black and Hispanic. Three years after the family had moved into Cabrini, William was shot and killed by a Jewish storeowner when he and another member of the gang tried to rob him. Pat, Jr. and Marcus received long prison sentences for a drug violations and variety of other crimes, which included home invasion, robbery and burglaries.
In 1980, Grace met Paul Whitney a classmate at her high school. They began dating and after they graduated, they were married. Paul was a Governor with the Cabrini Vice Lords and had promised Grace that he would get out the gang, but shortly after the birth of their youngest son, John, someone shot Paul to death in a gang fight with the El Rukn’s street gang.
Grace knew firsthand the dangers of gang life and she was determined to shield her sons from that life.
Most of Eli’s friends were in the gang, and his best friend, Ronald was the gang leader. Many times the Cabrini Vice Lord’s had approached him to join the gang, however, he knew how his mother felt about gangs and he did not want to do anything to make her ashamed of him and he always refused. Because of his late father’s association with the gang, he was never harassed. Eli and his family spent most of their time together at home.
Grace was very strict on her sons, they all had chores to do after school and they had to be in the house before dark. Grace constantly warned them about the dangers of gangs and drugs and Eli, being the oldest son, was the man of the house, he watched over his younger brothers and worked part-time at the Arab grocery store as a stock/delivery boy. Grace loved to cook; smothered pork chops and potato salad were the family favorite. The family was happiest when in the evenings after dinner they would sit around the television, laugh at the silly sitcoms, and eat his mother’s homemade fried apple pies and ice cream. When there was gunfire outside the window, she would gather her brood around her as they all huddled on the floor beside the sofa. The sofa was near a wall and far away from the windows, but despite all the violence around them, they were a happy family, and Eli was saving his money from his part-time job hoped to move the family out of Cabrini after he graduated.
One early spring day his brother, John came home from school crying, he had a black eye and a bloody nose.
“What's happened, John?” asked Eli.
“These two guys, about fifteen years old has been hanging around the school trying to recruit us into the Vice Lords, when I told him I didn't want to join no gang they jumped me and started hitting me in my face, they told me I better not come back to school until I am ready to join the gang.”
“Do you know them?” Eli asked.
“Yeah, they live around here, and they are Vice Lords. They hang out in the playground with their buddies one is named Prince, the one who hit me, and the other dude is named Lloyd,” John said still crying.
The next week, Eli followed John to school. He walked behind John and his classmates. One morning Eli saw two boys punching one of John's classmates. John looked back at Eli and nodded his head affirming that they were the ones who had beaten him up. As John and his classmates reached the boys, Prince grabbed John in his collar.