BOMAW Vol. 10-12 (58 page)

"Mundo, come on man, the sign says no gambling."

"They ain't got to know do they? We can take them man, come on - make a little money real quick, you play pretty good, I play damn good."

And before he could get his bearings and control of the situation, they were playing and winning. And Mundo wanted to play again, this time, fifty was the stake. Again they won, and had to play it off because the guy watching over things, was looking their way, and had yelled. "NO BETTING!!" To which one of the two they were playing against yelled back, "AIN'T NOBODY BETTIN' MAN!"

"BET NOT BE, KING LOUIE DON'T ALLOW IT!!"

"Mundo, enough already." Ben tried once more.

"One more - just one more game, come on man - they want a chance to win they money back, they puttin' up a hundred-fifty man."

"Mundo, it's a hustle - can't you see it?"

"Man, you been watchin' too much TV, last game, promise."

"No, that's it, let's go." But before he could get Mundo to leave with him, someone stepped up.

"Hey, man, I'll partner with you, I'll even put in another twenty."

Mundo looked at Ben, smiled and winked, "Last game, we'll leave - you just stand by and watch me rake it in."

Now that he was standing by, he could see what was happening, the third guy, stepped up and pulled Mundo in, because after all, they'd set him up to get their money back and that amount of his as well. Ben was scared, because he hadn't a clue of how to get them out of there if things went wrong. He put his hand in his pocket to take his phone out, realizing that if things got ugly, he might have to call the police. He kept glancing over at Eddie, who was busy with someone else and then he looked up to see King Louie entering the pool hall. He didn't notice them at first, because there were quite a few there playing pool, but then one of the guys they'd been speaking with, pointed them out.

King Louie looked first at him, and then at Mundo playing pool and back to him. Ben gave him a nervous smile and a nod. King Louie shook his head, not returning the smile and walked to the rear of the pool hall, disappearing in the back.

Ben grew even more nervous, he was getting pissed and wanted to go. He was one of only three white guys in the pool hall, all the rest black. Then what he feared most was beginning, Mundo was getting worked up over the game because he was losing and to his shock, two-hundred-fifty dollars was the stake. Two-hundred-fifty dollars that he didn't have, at the most, Mundo had eighty of his own money and seventy-five of theirs that he'd won, and the stake was now much higher - which would get them their money back and all of his plus more. Ben was sweating, if he were anyone else but Mundo, he would leave him. But he couldn't, if he left there, he had to make sure that Mundo was with him. Problem was, he hadn't a clue of how to get them out of it, and just then Mundo got mad and threw his pool stick on the table.

"Man, forget that! I ain't playing no more. I'm out."

"Hey m'man you quit, you forfeit, you got to pay up, two-fifty boy."

"Naaaw man, forget that - here, you can have your money back, screw it." Mundo put the seventy-five he won off of them on the table, backing away.

"Fuck!" Ben muttered to himself, they were going to have to fight their way out of there, he could see it as clear as the nose on his face.

"Nigga don't mess wit' my money, you need to lay down a hundred-seventy-five more than that, we paid when you won, now your turn to pay hom'boy. I want my money man."

"Hey man, I paid you your money, there your money right there!" Mundo backed up some more, now finally seeing it for what it was, and wondered if he and Ben could get to the door - but then, once they got outside, then what?

"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK I SAY ABOUT GAMBLIN' IN MY POOL HALL? YOU MOTHA'FUCKAS CAN'T READ!?" King Louie bellowed making his way towards them, bat in hand, after Eddie went to him in the back telling him what he thought was going on and by the time King Louie pushed his plate away, stood and walked out there, they were in the midst of confrontation.

"Hey man, we 'bout to get on up out'ah here, soon as m'man pay up what he owe, we gone dude."

Mundo looked at King Louie, "I don't owe him nothing!"

"Boy you in my pool hall gamblin'?! You see that goddamn sign on the wall? It's up there for a motha'fuckin' reason - to keep blood shed down to a goddamn minimum!"

"Fuck all that, I want my money!" The one who initiated the hustle insisted. "When I had to pay up, I paid up - now this nigga here tryin' t'back out, fuck that, it's his goddamn turn to pay up."

"Did you hear what I said man? No gamblin' in my pool hall, so ain't nobody got to pay up shit!"

"Damn that! He gone peel me some green, or I'm gone peel the flesh off his ass - two-fi'ty worth! Which one it's gone be?" He asked blocking the door so they couldn't leave.

King Louie looked at Ben and Mundo, "Get over here by me." He told them both, to which they both moved and then to the two men, while he held his baseball bat, slapping it in his palm, "You hear what I say?"

That's where Shawn walked in, looking for Ben and Mundo, he spotted them beside King Louie, and made his way through the two antagonist walking towards King Louie in the midst of it with his bat in clear view. Shawn knew for King Louie to have his bat out, that meant trouble. "What's going on King Louie?" He asked coming to his side, eying Mundo and Ben with a look that made them both gulp.

"Yo'boy been hustled in here, they been betting. You know I don't have no bettin' in my pool hall!"

"Hey man, fuck all that! I want my money! Or I'm gone have to take lil'man out and carve it out his ass?!"

Immediately Shawn switched on them facing the guy, "Who the fuck you talkin' bout carvin' motha'fucka!?"

"Who is you man? This ain't got shit to do wit' you, see what I'm sayin'? Betta' take yo'white ass on up out my face - for you get hurt! I want - my money!"

Breathing hard, burning with anger, Shawn reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet, "How much he owe you?"

"A hundred-seventy-five dollars! Why you wanna know?"

"Because you're talkin' about my son, here's two hundred for you, keep the fuckin' change!" Shawn flung the money at him, two fifties and twenties.

The second guy, standing next to the first knelt to pick up the money while the first pointed at Mundo, "I catch you on the street, I'm still gone take it out yo'ass!"

In a blink of an eye everything went out of control, the guy should have taken the money and been happy. Because his last words were the last words he would say that day. He hadn't blinked before Shawn was on him, knocking him over the one kneeling, he kicked the one on the ground and stepped on him to get to the one he knocked down, who was scrambling shocked, to get back to his feet, too late, Shawn was there hammering and battering him, trying to break his jaw.

"I KNEW IT!! I KNEW THIS SHIT WAS GON' HAPPEN!! GET'OFF'IM - MOBY-D GET OFF'EM!!" King Louie shouted as Shawn went berserk on both of them, punching one, kicking the other he was in such a rage of fury. Those watching knew if they didn't step in, he would kill one of them.

"COME ON MAN! THAT'S ENOUGH MOBY-D - THAT'S ENOUGH MAN!!" They yelled at him, a bit afraid to grab him, as he might turn on them.

The third guy pulled a knife out to cut Shawn to get him off when a pool stick was broken across his forearm, and then used on his head, along with a strong right hook from Ben. The second guy on the floor rolled away from Shawn, got to his feet, mouth and nose bleeding he went for Ben and Mundo tackled him back to the floor, scared for Ben, he punched the guy on the side of the head, over and over, trying to knock him out; while King Louie wrestled Shawn off of the instigator, his big arms clamped around him like a bear hug hauling him up and back.

"HEY MAN! THAT'S IT! You hear me man! That's it! Get your goddamn boys and go!"

"NOBODY - TOUCHES MY FUCKIN' BOYS! HE THREATENED MY SON! YOU THINK HE GETS TO WALK AFTER THAT? FUCKIN' LET ME GO SO I CAN KILL HIS ASS! YOU DON'T FUCK WITH MY BOYS!! LET ME GO!" Shawn shouted breathing hard, his fist bloody.

"I let you go, you take your boys and get the hell up out'ah here! Go the back way!"

Shawn shook him off looking for Mundo and Ben, spotting them, "That way - now!" He growled and looked back to those watching him, those that knew him. "You all let them fuckin' touch my boys!?" He demanded. "I want him dead!" Shawn raged.

"Man, gone man! You done knocked his teeth out all over the goddamn floor! He fucked up man - your boys all right, gone now, the police comin'! Get the fuck up on out'ah here!" A regular yelled at him, but staying back.

Shawn tried to go back to the man knocked out on the floor, tears in his eyes, he was scared to leave him alive. He'd threatened Mundo.

"Don't have me knock you out man! Leave it alone! Go!" King Louie warned, blocking Shawn from getting to him again.

He looked into King Louie's eyes, his own streaming with tears of fury. "He fuckin' threatened my son!" King Louie had his money in hand and stuffed the bills into his jean pockets, "Man, let it go, now go!"

Shawn stood with flared nostrils, his heart pounding, he wanted to say something more, but the sirens made him turn and head for the back as he was told. At the exit Ben and Mundo stood waiting for him, shaken up, sweaty, in shock. He grabbed them both, an arm in each hand he shoved them hard through the back door.

Ben stumbled and snatched his arm way, snapping, "Hey man, what the fuck?! Don't shove on me like that!"

Mundo said not a word, he just gulped afraid that he would go off on them next. Shawn glared into Ben's face, "To the Hummer!" and to Mundo, "Now!" It was parked a bit down the alley where they'd made their exit, so it was quick work getting to it and in. Shawn started it up, looking into his rear view at the police pulling up at the pool hall. Instead of turning on his lights, he slowly rolled towards the end of the alley and then out onto the street, and then put his lights on. He drove a few moments, breathing heavy, furious, flexing his fist. Both of them, Ben and Mundo were in the back seat, quiet, watching him. Neither speaking. Finally Mundo, hesitantly said, "Dad... your - your hand bleeding." He gulped again.

Shawn looked at his hand, his two fingers were cut open from the guys teeth.

"Fuck!" He exclaimed and knew that he had to go into the hospital. Teeth opening your flesh was a guarantee for infection, he was going to have to get to the hospital.

"Either one of you hurt?"

"No." They both answered and then went quiet again.

At the hospital, because of his injuries, he was questioned by the police.

Shawn's story, that the boys knew to support, "We were jumped by two guys who tried to carjack the Hummer, they didn't win."

"You have a description of them?" They asked while his hand was being cleaned and the wound thorough flushed.

"It happened too fast." He answered.

"Were they black? Were they white?"

"One black, one white." He answered.

"Which one did you punch?"

"The white guy, the black one took off and so did the white guy when I let him up. I saw that my hand was busted, we came here straight away."

"You wishing to file a police report?" The officer asked.

"For what? They're two of thousands, I can't give you a good description if I tried. It's over, once my hand is stitched, it's done."

Two and a half hours after King Louie's call to him, he was back in the Hummer with Ben and Mundo sitting quiet and waiting, neither of the two brave enough to sit in the front seat next to him because they both knew there would be more to come, and Mundo got it first.

"Mundo."

"Yeah?"

"Where did you tell me you were going today?"

"It was cancelled at the last minute, and we didn't wanna go right back to the house, so we thought to uh, go - you know, to shoot some pool."

"You should have called me, called home and we could have done something else! What you did tonight, was fucking stupid! There's not a body in that pool hall who could give a shit about you, who the fuck are you to them!?"

"Nobody." He answered right away.

"That's right! Nobody! Do you know that if King Louie had not been there, you could have gotten yourself killed tonight, Ben included! Do you have any fucking idea what that would have done to us? To your mother? To me?! I didn't fucking bring you here - so you could end up DEAD!!! FUCKING HELL!!!" He shouted getting worked up again. "And then you Ben! You're the older of the two, why didn't you call us, let us know what was happening and tell him, fucking no - we're not going there!?"

"We went there to play a harmless game of pool, and - things just got a little out of control."

"A little?" Shawn pulled over quickly with screeching tires and spinning in his seat looked back at them, "You call that a little out of control?! You're the oldest of you two! The one with the most experience - you should have taken the lead and said, NO! Neither one of you know fucking shit! Fuckin' wet behind the ear pussies! Making stupid ass decisions! Neither of you taking into consideration the people you belong to! This family has enough bullshit to contend with, we cannot - survive - a loss of either of you! Both of you could have been killed tonight! I feel like snatching one and then the other of you out of here and beating the shit out of you! Think I can't?! Hm?"

Ben's face was burning, he wasn't used to being talked to like that and resented it.

Mundo's conscience on the other hand, was eating him alive, because he knew that it was him that got them into it.

"Come on dad, chill man, especially on Ben. This is my fault, he wanted to go, but I'm kept saying, one more game."

"You telling me you completely ignored that sign on the wall and gambled?" He asked hot.

"Yeah."

"And almost fuckin' lost more than a few bucks! Man, Mundo, don't you ever fuckin' do anything so stupid as that again! You must - learn to make decisions in your life - that takes your family into consideration. Your mother would be destroyed if anything happened to you! The kind of pain that would cause her; I don't ever want to see my wife that hurt! I wouldn't be able to fix that Mundo?! I know you're young, but you must - think! You do not belong in places like that! If I ever catch you in a place like that again, making dumb decisions like that, I promise you an ass kicking you will never forget, do you understand me!?"