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

officer has got to be careful or he might wind up in court himself, so I don’t blame them when after roll call they go to the friendly bakery and get their free donuts and coffee and park their squad car somewhere safe and only leave when they get a call, the days of aggressive preventive patrol are over. In my day we tried to prevent crime, now the police respond to crimes that have already occurred. I got tired of risking my life for people who didn’t seem to care, so, I took an early retirement ten years ago and I am glad I did.”
“Why is there such a drug and gang problem in your country?” Yolanda asked Mack.
“Economics,” Mack replied. "You must remember that gangs in one form of the other have been around for hundreds of years, the pirates were probably the first gangbangers. Then there were the Irish gangs, the Jewish gangs and of course, we all know about the Italian gangs, thanks to the Godfather movies. This current rash of gang activity can be traced back to fifty years ago when black gangs were at their height in Chicago. They rose to great numbers and their daily confrontations with each other left many young black men dead. The situation got so bad that many life-long residents white and black started moving out the area fearing for their and their family’s safety. The businesspersons in the area complained of extortion and they fled. When I was a young police officer, I was assigned to the third Police District. This district covered the South East side of the city. My beat or area of assignment was on 63rd Street. 63rd Street was jumping. There were nice restaurants and nightclubs door- to-door, which featured fine dining and top-flight entertainment. The Blackstone Rangers, a black gang had just started forming.
The Rangers began to extort the businesspersons in the area. If they didn’t pay all of their windows might be broken out or their employees harassed, consequently most of the businesses closed and left the area, now 63rd Street look like a ghost town nothing but vacant lots and Arab grocery stores that sell inferior meats and food. Maybe at first the motivation for joining a gang was for a sense of family or protection, but I believe now the motivation for joining a gang is strictly economics, to get rich quick, that the main motivation, although I also believe that the sense of power that comes from being a gangbanger also plays a role. The society we have here makes alternative lifestyles very attractive, and for that I blame the media, movies, music videos and rap music tends to glamorize the gang lifestyle. Look at the Godfather movies where the movie glamorized killers, it’s too much for me.”
“After Mack retired I felt I might as well retire also. Like Mack said, these young people are something else. I taught in one of the inner city schools and I had been there for fifteen years, at first it was nice, the parents were involved in the kids’ education and it was nice, but during the last five years things changed. The parents now threaten the teachers if she give their child bad grades, the kids were selling drugs in the school hallways and the gangs were everywhere; I was ready to retire also. However, you know Yolanda whom I really feel sorry for is the young black woman. By and large, they are trying to do something positive with their lives, they are trying to get an education and a lot of them have good jobs. I use to shake my head when I was in Chicago and driving to work, all you would see at the bus stops in the mornings were young black women. The young black man was probably asleep waiting for his girlfriend to get off work so he could get a few dollars from her. The young black woman is in a fix, her black man is trying to either pimp her or take her money. On time, a young girl maybe fourteen was crying when I asked her what was wrong she said her boyfriend had quit her. She told me that he quit her because he didn’t like the way she fixed him a sandwich She said he told her that if she loved him she would have put mayo, tomato’s and lettuce on his sandwich instead of putting a piece of dry bologna between two pieces of bread, the young girl was heartbroken. The only man the young black woman who wants to make something of her life can turn too is the white man and I hate that, for too long the black woman has been used by the white man. Anyway, we have always liked Indiana the people are friendly and there are none of the big problems like in the big city, but, I have been reading lately in the local paper about more and more drug arrests in Warsaw.
Most of your social agencies in the big cities are helpless to provide alternatives to the gang life-style. Some has tried to reach out and re-direct gang members, but the gangs quickly outgrew the limited resources of these agencies. Some civil-rights groups has attempted to steer gang members into constructive activities through political and economic involvement, by having the gang support political candidates and shutting down construction sites that these leaders say don’t have enough minority representation among its workers. However, many times the leaders were unable to fulfill their promise to the gang in getting them jobs and they used the gang for their own self-serving interests.
Young kids are being turned out in the streets at sixteen years old and earlier a product of a derelict school system stymied by high unemployment and cutbacks in federally funded jobs programs. A few years ago Nancy Reagan came out with a media ad “Just say no to drugs,” That just says no, is bull rap and it’s not working, something drastic got to be done,” Maggie said.
“What have you been up to little brother?” Eli asks Billy.
“Just waiting for graduation, I got a job flipping burgers at Mc Donald’s.”
“What about college?”
“I don’t know, I think I would rather go to a trade school and take some electrician or plumbing classes, with the economy all screwed up it seems a shame to spend four years in college and not be able to get a job when you graduate.”
“Well whatever you decide, let me know, don’t worry about money, ok.”
“Thanks big brother.”
The family spent a pleasant evening talking and laughing, Yolanda felt right at home. After dinner, Mack drove Eli and Yolanda home and they had a glass of wine in front of the fireplace.
“Let’s get married soon, Eli, I want to be your wife and make love to you, but I am a Muslim and sex before marriage is a sin.”
“I feel the same way Yolanda I’ll call Diki and set it up.”
Eli puts his arms around Yolanda and pulled her close while he kissed her passionately as she pressed her body against his, she felt his hardness; she knew that her heart, thoughts and body belonged to him.

Chapter 32

Reginald awakens in the Stuttgart hospital. Standing beside his bed was his mother crying and his father who was talking to a black police officer, when they noticed he was awake they walked over to him and Reginald saw the tears in his father’s eyes as he kissed him on the forehead. Reginald felt very weak and had a terrible headache; the police officer asked Reginald what happened. Reginald told him what he could remember while Rachael called for a nurse who gave Reginald some medication for his headache, shortly Reginald went back to sleep. While Reginald slept the police officer told, Reginald parents what he knew concerning the incident.
“We received a call of a man down on Wilson Avenue. When we arrived, we saw Reginald on the ground unconscious. He had a large bruise on his head and his face was swollen so we called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital. We interviewed people at Sarge’s place, but of course, nobody saw or heard anything. We know that’s a drug and gang area and we will keep investigating this, hopefully, we can find out more. This town is going to pot; I grew up here and have never seen it this bad. Something has to be done about the gangs and drugs in this country. I will keep you informed sir,” the police officer said as he left the room.
Reginald stayed in the hospital for two weeks; on the day of his release, Doctor Hickman visited him and his parents.
“There are some medical matters we need to discuss; X-rays disclosed that as a result of the beating two small blood vessels in Reginald brain were damaged. At this time we do not recommend surgery and we, hope medication will treat it but there is a strong possibility that Reginald will have seizures. I hope that the medication will prevent the seizures, but we cannot guarantee it will. If the seizures happen, we will think about surgery at that time, any questions?”
“How long will I be on the medication,” Reginald asked.
“Probable for the rest of your life, the doctor responded.

Reginald returned to school and graduated but he never went on Wilson Avenue again. Reginald was accepted at Yale University and he graduated from their law school. After graduation and with the help of his father, Reginald became a law clerk to a Supreme Court Justice. Reggie was a hard worker and impressed the Justice who recommended he be appointed as an assistant in the United States Attorney’s Office.
In December 2009, the president appointed Reggie as the United States Attorney for the Arkansas area. To celebrate his appointment he had dinner with his father and mother at one of Little Rocks finest restaurant, it was Christmas Eve. After dinner, Reginald told his parents he would meet them outside at the car, he had to use the toilet. Rachael and Senator Warren, Sr. went outside and gave the valet the ticket for their car. It was a nice night, the air was cool, but not cold and the streets were full of last minute shoppers. Christmas carols were coming from the stored and Christmas lights were on every light pole glimmering red and green. The stores were brightly lit and advertised discount prices. As Reginald approached the door to exit the restaurant, his mother smiled and waved at him, he waved back. Suddenly, there were gunshots.
Rachael smile turned to anguish and shock and she started to fall, blood was coming out of her mouth. His father was falling also. As Reginald rushed to their sides, he saw a black car speeding from the scene. He knelt beside his mother and he could see the blood coming from a big hole in her chest, she was gasping for air, he looked over at his father and a small amount of blood was coming from a hole in his head his eyes were wide open. People started to gather around the dead couple and Reginald could hear the police and ambulance sirens, but he knew it was too late. Reginald was devastated; in one moment of senseless violence, he