The Streets

Chapter 6

We were with Crash and Daze at the Train Yard, currently a dangerous place to be. With the police and all the stuff with the black out, we really shouldn't be doing this but we can't control it. Daze yelled" it's the pigs!" Dizzee and I instantly started running, The pig said" Hey, You! Hold it right there! Crash, Daze and Rumi and Renegade, right? Come back here, you fucking moolie! We know who you are! Goddamn punk-ass good-for-nothings! It's gonna be worse if you run, kid." We ran pass and opening, Dizz looked at me then someone said" here. Take my hand." And then we were pulled into the opening, we stood against the wall. Dizz whispered" thank you." The boy said" it's getting harder to hide. Wasn't always this way." Dizz and I said" was for us. Are they gone?" The boy said" what do you write?" Dizz said" you wouldn't know. It's called Rumi and Renegade." The boy said" Rumi and Renegade?" I said" he's this alien who always looks like he's going to the opera but never gets there. And she's this fox who's never to far behind Rumi because she's his friend." Dizz said" and he knows that as soon as he turns up to the opera, even if he has on a top hat and looks like a million bucks, it doesn't matter, that he's still gonna terrify everyone there and that they'll kill him and that they'll steal Renegade." The boy said" you're fucking geniuses." Dizz and I said" what?" He said" I can't believe I'm standing here with the Rumi and Renegade." Dizz said" what do you write?" The boy said" me? I'm nobody." I said" aw, come on." The boy said" I write Thor." Dizz said" oh, my- you're Thor? Wow."
We were riding the subway, with Thor, Thor said" you got Daze, Crash, Butch, Blade and Tracy? Stayhigh. Voice of the Ghetto. Yo... is this really Shao 007?" Dizz and I said" it's the real thing. Talented, crazy free." Thor said" yeah, man, but what happened to him? He went all-city. Did that Clan of the Dragon Fist joint. Turned ghost, huh?" Dizz said" he's still around. He's a DJ now." Thor said" a DJ? Like- like clubs? Like disco?" We said" no. Not like clubs. Haven't heard of the Get-Down, have you?" Thor said" the what?" Dizz said" this music thing we're trying to do." Thor said" could I check it out?" I said" not yet. We're still decoding it." We heard the horrible voice over the PA, Dizz said" the next stop is us." Thor said" whoa, hey, let's exchange books. Make something beautiful. Go wild. Make the craziest, nastiest, freest, most revolutionary piece you ever did in it." Dizz said" thanks." We stood up, I said" you do the same to ours?" Thor said" you bet. I'll meet you back at the writer's bench this weekend." We walked to the door and hung from the pole, we said" Viva La revolución."
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We were cleaning up the salon, which Ra told our parents, Ra said" shit. Yo, yo, yo. It's Shao, man. I gotta lock the fucking door. No, wait a minute. But if we lock the fucking door it's gonna look like we soft." Shao opened the door, he said" so, this the scene of the crime? Where's Zeke at?" Dizz said" look, Shao. It wasn't Zeke's fault, the whole bootleg-tape shit." Shao said" I ask you whose fault it is, or I ask you where he be at?" He got up to Dizz's face, Ra said" look, look, look. Dizzee's just trying to say don't take it all out on Zeke, man." Shao said" Oh, really?" He reached behind him, Ra said" Yo, gun! Gun!" I rolled my eyes, Shao pulled out a tape, he said" I found the bootlegger. Y'all some fucking faggots, man." Boo said" yeah. I ain't no faggot." He got out from under the counter, he said" and Zeke at Papa Fuerte's volunteering. He went out for this internship interview." Shao said" what's an internship?" Dizz said" Internship is when you go downtown.." I said" and you work for the white man but never get paid." Shao said" are you serious?" Dizz and I said" yeah. That's what he told us." Shao said" that's really fucked up. That bitch Mylene put him up to some shit like that, right?" Ra-Ra said" look, they in love, man." Shaolin said" what? She's church trash. A holy fucking ho. And Books is trying to tap that, and she ain't giving it up." Boo said" gave it to him the other night." Shao said" what?" Boo said" homeboy tapped it on our roof. I heard it. Yeah. I thought it was cats."
Shao said" Yo. Y'all see Books before me... y'all tell him I need his ass for a mission." Ra said" Hey, hey. We can come. Whatever it is, we down." Shao said" we going deep into Herc territory... to fix the damage that y'all caused. I got banned, man. From spinning. For fucking life. So, y'all gonna stay here and clean up Mama's fucking store! Y'all fucking lucky! Thank Books!" He walked out after throwing some hair things, we all looked at each other.

We finished, Boo-Boo said" so I guess we done now, right, Ra?" Ra said" Morris Heights, man." Dizz said" Morris Heights what?" Ra said" Fifteen-20." Boo said" Fifteen-20?" Ra said" 1520 Sedgwick. 1520 Sedgwick Avenue. Yo, yo, that's where Kool Herc be at. And that's where Shao and Zeke are gonna try to track down that bootlegger." Dizz and I said" oh, hell, no. After all this shit we in with mom and dad, now you want us to run off to Sedgwick? If the Herculoids don't kill us then Mom and Dad will as soon as we get back." Boo said" I'll go. But how we gonna get there?" Ra said" I don't know, but let's go. Alright? Look, them boys is gonna need us, man. Haven't you been over to Sedgwick, right, Dizz?" I said" only ninja style with spray cans. That's enemy turf over there." Boo said" come on, Ren. We crew. Them boys is gonna need us. And I though you was a rebel." Dizz and I said" I am a rebel." Ra said" but you can't be a rebel if you don't rebel." We both whispered" fuck." Boo and Ra highfived, We said" true. True." Boo said" let's do this like Brutus and Judas 'cause you'll knew this!" We walked out of the salon and started heading to Sedgwick.

We got there and saw them, with the bootlegger, I assume. Ra-Ra said" 300! 300!" Dizz and I said" and we got 50."  Boo knew what he had to do once we got them distracted, Ra said" yo, yo, gentleman. I can see that emotions are running high. But check it out, my associates here and I, belong to a socially-minded consortium of OJ drivers concerned with the ass-poor working conditions in the typical Bronx-based hire limousine. But also the skyrocketing cost of living that's forced the typical OJ driver to now resort to bootlegging the venerated DJ kings." Then the music stopped, oh fuck... the bootlegger said" what the fuck?!" Shao said" run!" Ra said" come on! Go, go, go!" We took off running,
Once we got to the top of the stairs, we went into a door, then went down stairs and then got stopped by the Notorious Three. One of them said" hey, look. It's the fake-down bitches." Ra and boo said" what the fuck?" The guy said" get'em!" We ran into another room and it was a party,
I saw Boo fall and then a sword to his neck, then Herc said" Boy... you must not know where you at."