Free Gutter by K'wan Page A

and single-handedly take the whole set?” he questioned.
    â€œIf I have to. That nigga should’ve been put down a long time ago. Y’all kept playing with it and look what happened. We lost three set leaders and God knows how many soldiers. We gotta do something, Hawk.”
    â€œSomething has already been done, Ruby. This problem with Gutter is officially out of our hands. We’ll be getting some outside help from the West.”
    â€œJust what we need, some Cali clowns coming out here trying to tell us what to do.” She guzzled her bottle.
    â€œThis clown comes highly recommended,” Hawk said, taking the bottle away from her.
    â€œI don’t even give a fuck no more.” She slumped against the car. “I just want him dead.”
    â€œSoon, I don’t think that’ll be much of a problem.”
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    IT SEEMED like Gutter had just gone to sleep when he heard his cell ringing on the nightstand. He grumbled something in Arabic under
his breath as he reached for the phone. It was four o’clock in the morning and he wondered who the hell could be calling him from a 310 area code.
    â€œHello?” he rasped.
    â€œKenyatta?” the caller asked.
    â€œWho the fuck is this?”
    â€œKen, it’s Rahshida,” the woman replied. Rahshida was his aunt who lived in Watts.
    â€œAuntie, it’s one in the morning out there. Everything okay?” he asked, sitting up.
    â€œKen, oh God, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you all day.”
    â€œRahshida, what’s wrong?”
    â€œIt’s Gunn. He’s been shot!”
    Gutter almost dropped the phone. As if things couldn’t get any worse. Big Gunn was like the surrogate father for all of the lil homeys on the set back home. It was because of him and his tutelage Gutter and Lou-Loc were able to come up through the ranks. He taught them what banging was really all about. In their eyes Gunn was invincible, now his aunt was on the phone telling him he’d been wounded.
    â€œKenyatta, are you still there?” Rahshida cried.
    â€œYeah, I’m here. How is he?”
    â€œNot good. They’re saying he might not make it. Oh, Ken, he was just going to the store and some Swans rolled up on him. They just started—”
    â€œDon’t even say no more over the phone,” he cut her off. “I’m catching the next flight out.” With that, he ended the call.
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    â€œEVERYTHING OKAY?” Sharell asked in a sleep-laden voice.
    â€œYeah, go back to sleep,” he replied, sliding out of bed.
    Sharell was about to call out to him, but didn’t. Whatever had stirred her man at this hour had to be of the utmost importance, but he would tell her when he was ready. Sharell tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t. The early-morning phone call rattled her, but it was her visit with Satin that was nagging at her.
    She was used to the wordless visits, but there was something different about Satin physically that she couldn’t quite put her finger on. She had some sick days she needed to use anyhow so she decided to make another trip to see Satin the following day.
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    AFTER MAKING himself a drink, Gutter stepped out onto his balcony and lit a blunt. The news of his uncle’s shooting was unexpected and ill-timed. There was a full-scale war raging in New York so he couldn’t really afford to dip out, but his family came first. Taking a deep drag off the blunt, he looked out at the water.
    It had been more than two years since Gutter had last walked in the California sunshine. He always knew he’d return, but not under these circumstances. Nearly his entire family was Crip’d out, but Big Gunn banged the hardest. Now that he was out of commission, the weight of restoring order would fall on Gutter.
    He thought about Sharell and how the situation would affect her. She didn’t really know his family, but she had love for them