Ralph let go of the breath he was holding, thinking how fortunate he was to dodge the chaos that was sure to come his way. He opened his mouth to invite Jah to smoke a blunt with him, but never got the chance. Jah caught him with a right cross, immediately dropping Ralph. Jah followed with a kick to the face and a stomp in the gut, putting Ralph in a world he had no idea existed. In a swift motion he tore both the pockets off Ralph’s jeans, sending loose change and a cell phone scattering on the ground. In Jah’s fist, he now held several hundred dollars in crumbled bills of multiple denominations. The take was more than what Ralph owed Jah, but the rest would go for the “pain and suffering” incurred collecting the debt.

Jah brought the heel of his sneaker down across Ralph’s nose, breaking it. “Don’t never play your fucking self.” Jah kicked him again. “I’m a gorilla on these streets!” Charging footsteps from behind caused Jah to spin around. Before he even looked to see who it was, he had his hammer drawn, freezing Slick midstride.

Slick had intended on rolling up and getting on some G shit, but seeing the angry young man with a big gun softened his approach. “Fuck is going on over here?”

“Be easy, my nigga. This ain’t got nothing to do with you,” Jah told him. He had taken the gun out of Slick’s face, but still kept it pointed at him.

“You beating up one of my workers in my hood,” Slick said, trying to keep his voice calm.

“Your worker shouldn’t be ass betting niggaz,” Jah shot back.

Slick looked from Jah over at Ralph, who was on the ground bleeding all over the ramp to the building. He knew that if Ralph had ass betted the young man, then he deserved what he had gotten, but he had to make some kind of showing in front of his man and the girl.

“I feel you, but that’s my money you’re taking, not his,” Slick tried to reason.

“Listen, fam, possession is nine-tenths of the law. Nothing personal.” Jah crammed the bills in his pocket and started backing out of the projects, flanked by Spooky.

Slick watched helplessly as the two young men backed out of the projects. When they were safely outside the black gates, Jah and Spooky took off running. They cut through the back of Lionel Hampton and disappeared up St. Nicholas Avenue.