Criminals with brains will often seek to blend into a retail environment when in trouble with the law. It was at such a moment that a hairy little troll of a young man with a swarthy complexion and evil disposition, engaged me in conversation as I stocked the Hot Pockets display. When I told him I was a writer he agreed to let me take notes, so out came the pen and pad.
#60-23, 24 & 25: night, various durations, first-person aggressor
“I was dealin’ out a my house in Hamden—had the keys [kilos of cocaine] delivered to the house. Used to cut it right there in the living room. Got ta be a real hassle: junkies coming to the house; people not payin’; worryin’ ‘bout narcs—you know, a pain in the ass. So I drank a lot.
“I got in a fight with this junkie over somethin’ stupid—right on the living room floor. I was really pounding him (from the mount), so my girl tried to break it up. Now, she was the type of girl that would fight, would help you in a fight. So this other junkie—the junkie’s buddy—was there, thought it was a pile-on situation, and grabbed her and it cooled down.
“Then she told me he grabbed her tits. So I was like, ‘Oh really? This is nice. Here we go again.’ So I put on my brass knuckles—they had spikes like daggers—and got on top of him, punching holes in his face. He was really messed up, in a coma for three weeks. I was charged with attempted murder. But I paid off his family—gave them a few grand—and I ended up getting off.
“Last night, the cops flyin’ down Fort [Avenue] to Light [Street], they were commin’ for me. I’ve been living with the homeless up in Frederick [Central Maryland] for the past three years, and I decided ta come back to Baltimore and get a job. So I stopped at my mom’s house. I walked in and said, ‘What the fuck is up!’
“My brother said, ‘My kid is sleepin’ upstairs, watch your language’—real disrespectful like.
“Well he’s a crack head and he owes me money, and I’m drunk, so we go at it. He nails me in the eye with a right cross, and I kick him in the stomach [with a foot jab], and he grabs me and rocks me pretty good with another cross, and I pull him down on top of me.
Mom got down in between us, and we didn’t wanna hit her—she’s mom! So we stop.
“Five-O shows up and I talk to them and had to go. But I went around back, snuck in, and came up behind that prick and put him in a sentry choke. Then I beat the side of his head in with these three mashed knuckles—got my money back homeboy.”
Now, is there any doubt in your mind that Lille Berry would bite your nose off in a floor fight?
