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The Death of J Dogg by 3fx

You know how it is, war breaks out on your block and everyone's looking over their shoulder. The whole neighborhood knows about it, not cos they're down but cos it helps keep them safe. Mom's keep their kids off the street, people hurry home after they are done at the store, every passing car is viewed with suspicion.

That's how it was back then, the town name's not important, the same drama plays out all over, turn on the news and another kid's dead and you know that night his crew's gonna cross town to get one of theirs. It's like it never ends. Mom's crying and an endless stream of funerals as the city buries its future. Sometimes people just get tired and things quieten down. Where I was at things were a little different. It didn't quieten down, people kept dying. Yeah the politicians said there was gonna be a war on gangs but everyone knew they never came where we lived and were just in it for show. There were parts of the city that the police never went. There was a saying “you don't cross the tracks after dark” and people didn't. The railroad ran thru town and to the east was our neighborhoods, people heading out of town for the quiet life went west and stayed there for the night. There was no business and jobs, sure there was a couple of corner stores selling beer and people dealing over fences in their yards so it was just dog eat dog. Even the time the mom and her baby in the stroller got caught in the crossfire didn't do anything to slow things down. The police chief was on TV saying how we was gonna to step up patrols and take action but we all knew it was election year and he had to say something. He wasn't looking for our votes. Things got crazy. Soldiers that were wounded were attacked in hospitals, so from then on there were police guards on rooms. It was just shoot on sight.

Everyone knew it couldn't go on, too many dying so the truce came. The leaders of the 2 sets Big D and J Dogg arranged a sit down in neutral territory and drew a line in the sand. No more missions so long as they were not attacked first. Word got out and the neighborhoods breathed a sigh of relief. Things got a little easier. Kids went back to the parks. Sure they still had to be home before the dealers came out but it was better. The rival sets just kicked it and the shooting stopped.

It was quiet for quite a while, the Summer went by and the kids headed back to school. It's always the way though, Big D got itchy and he started stirring stuff up among the kids, trying to make something happen. He succeeded and some punk kid wannabe kicks it off. That's the way it was, some dumb stuff in a school yard over colors and it was on again. It escalated and one of the kids headed across town and rolled real slow looking for a rival. As (bad) luck would have it he shot Big D's cousin. He didn't kill him but that's not the point. The truce was over and Big D wasn't gonna have his family be targets. He got what he wanted but he wasn't figuring it would be one of his own that'd have to pay.

Word got back to J Dogg. He knew what it meant and that revenge meant digging two graves. He was real tired. Years of the streets, never living outside of this neighborhood. He grew up in it and he lived it every day. After the last war his crew was about 20 light and with the way things were headed more losses were on the way. Sure his set were down for going across town right then but he held them off. He needed time to think. It was the morning and the sun was shining. Chances were it was gonna be quiet until the sun went down. He thought about another sit down but no way that was gonna happen what with it be Big D's family. If they did nothing, they'd look weak and just get picked off. If he called a mission then there'd just be more chalk on pavements. The benches in the park, were painted green and covered in tags, wannabes making their mark and marking their turf. Kids were playing on the swings and J Dogg just sat thinking. When he was a kid he wanted to be a leader, wanted to go into business, something like that but it never played out that way. He joined his set cos he wanted to be down for his hood. This went back a long way. At first it was defensive move, but things have a way of escalating. In some ways J Dogg was above the day to day, almost like an elder statesman, not even a shot caller but someone who when he spoke everyone listened. He knew if he could come up with something he'd have the authority to run with it. So it was and the wheels were in motion.

Dr L was one of the closest to J Dogg, he got his name cos he was always patching people up when they got hurt. When he got the call he was right there. He had to make a call to Big D and arrange a face to face with J Dogg. He advised against it but J Dogg was set on it so it was case closed.

So that evening J Dogg headed across the town alone. They were gonna meet at the old meat packing place. He wasn't surprised to see about 30 of Big D's crew on hand when he arrived. It was real dark in there, just the light from a couple of cars parked outside shone thru the shattered windows and lit up the scene. The end is never like we imagine but his mind was made up.

Big D was kinda surprised to see he was alone but he knew J Dogg was smart so he was still on his guard.

J Dogg didn't waste time here was his offer. He knew things were gonna get out of hand real quick and that a lot of people were gonna bleed before it quieted down again and he was tired of the suffering. So if Big D and his crew wanted to take him down right here, right now, that would end it. The debt would be settled and the truce would be on again. He knew Big D for a lot of years, he was cunning but he could be trusted to a point, and that if he got his word on something there was a good chance he's honor it. He also knew that he wanted the big prize and taking down J Dogg would cement his reputation. Without him his own set would have no direction and scatter, so even if they wanted to hit back they wouldn't be able to.

So that was it, just a matter of details, Big D didn't cross town, swore not to hit back and J Dogg was his. It made sense Big D had been round long enough to know there were gonna be losses on his side too and as he got older he was more about the money so the quieter life sounded real good.

He nodded his agreement and in the same instant an iron bar hit J Dogg behind the knee sending him to the ground. The next blow hit his back and the sounds of his attackers echoed round the warehouse. Kicks and blows rained in on him and sent his mind reeling. He could feel the warmth of his own blood trickle down his forehead and the searing pain where he had received repeated blows. Then he lost consciousness and his mind drifted from his childhood to this moment. A lifetime in an instant. And then the sensation of the knife piercing his side as Big D made sure it was over.

They left him there. It was a week before his body was found but it stayed quiet in the neighborhood. Like he figured his set fell apart and Big D had bigger fish to fry. Nobody was sure why he went there alone that night but by putting 2 and 2 together they figured he made a deal and that his life was the price. It wasn't a deal he wanted or one that he looked for but there was no other way. He knew they'd spent years doing the same thing with the same result and he wanted to break the cycle. He wasn't forgotten. There was a mural for him in the playground and those from his old set knew they were breathing cos J Dogg gave his life for them. People didn't look over their shoulders so much in my neighborhood after that. It was still tough and people didn't cross the tracks but they did have hope and a chance at a future.