A Chance to Break

Jamal and Spoon had their eyes dead locked on the pack of men lead by Travis. Still walking in the same direction like two trains on the same track about to crash, the two groups of men had no intentions of making way for each other to pass by. A few long seconds of walking and mean mugging finally ended by them colliding and bumping shoulders. The odds two to four put no fear in Spoon’s and Jamal’s hearts as they quickly dropped their bags and pushed two of the members. They then stepped back both with their hands on their weapons concealed under their shirts, being careful not to reveal them in the mall as shoppers stopped to look. “Nigga wassup?” Spoon yelled as he taped his gun to show the men he was armed. “Ya’ll boys ain’t see us walking?” “What you mean fuck nigga?” Man Man shouted as he slightly lifted up his shirt to show that he too was also carrying a gun. “Ya’ll bumped into us” “What that mean bro?” Jamal asked after seeing Man Man’s gun. “Use that shit!” “Whoa, whoa, whoa…. ya’ll boys calm down,” Travis said as he put a hand on his trigger happy friend’s shoulder to compose him. “What ya’ll gon’ shoot up the mall?” He chuckled. “Them boys should be tired of dodging bullets anyways the way we wet they block up earlier” “That’s funny huh?” Jamal asked not seeing any humor in his joke. “How bout I wet yo ass up now?” “Naw I don’t think so lil’ nigga,” Travis said sarcastically. “Maybe when we cross paths again you could try me” “Hey what’s going on?” A West Palm Beach officer followed by five security guards all armed with tazers yelled before Jamal had a chance to answer. “You guys break it up!” “Ain't no problem officer,” Travis lied. “We were just leaving” “Well make it fast boy!” The officer ordered. “You two stay here and wait until they leave!” Jamal and Spoon were questioned by the officer for a few minutes before he escorted them to the parking lot. The police officer was a skinny white man that looked like he was in his thirties. Spoon felt like giving the officer lip, but didn’t want to get him mad since he was strapped. Following them all the way to their car, he stood watch as Spoon pretended to struggle with unlocking the trunk so that he could stall. He was dirty and the car smelled like weed. Observing Spoon’s unusual behavior, Jamal tried to distract the officer by telling him they were okay now. While doing so Spoon quickly unlocked the driver door and entered the vehicle. Agreeing that everything was okay, the officer walked off. Just as soon as Jamal, who was standing in front of the car, took his eyes away from the officer and fixed them down the parking lot road, he saw the same black mercury that shot up the block earlier, racing at him. Man Man with the black bandanna now around his lower face, was hanging out the window firing a high powered weapon. “Spoon watch out!” Jamal yelled as he ran behind Spoon’s car while dodging bullets at the same time. “Fuck!” Spoon yelled as he flew out the car onto his stomach and rolled under it and continuing on to the other cars parked next to his. “My car man” “Pussy ass Haitians!” Man Man shouted before ducking back into the car. “This The North bitch!” “Fuck niggas!” Jamal shouted as he ran to the middle of the road letting off a few shots at the vehicle that was already in the far distance. “Spoon where you at bro?” “I’m right here man,” said Spoon appearing three cars away from his. “Damn look at my fucking windshield man…them pussy ass niggas gon’ die!” “I know I know bro,” said Jamal who was alerted by the sounds of sirens in the distant. “But we gotta go” As they sped off in the car, Jamal spotted the police officer face down on the ground with his back filled with bullets. Shaking his head at the sight of the dead, Jamal knew he had to take advantage of his chance to break loose from the game, or that dead man could be him.