The Row, Stilwater 2006
Lexi hadn't known how long she stood there on the corner staring at the graffiti covered church that had once been the center of attention, before she found herself walking toward it.
Come to the church when you want to be part of the solution.
The words had somehow found their way into her brain where they chose to stay for the remainder of the night only to serve as a reminder the next morning. When she came back to Stilwater she had only one intention, that was to finally put her big brother to rest and she was bound determined to put a bullet in the motherfucker that murdered him.
Now she found herself standing in the middle of a church yard in a sea of men clad in royal purple. She stuck out like a sore thumb, dressed in an oversized black hoodie and a pair of gray jogging sweats, but nobody seemed to notice her. Instead, they all had their eyes cast upon the dark skinned man atop the concrete steps.
"Every muthafucka here knows what we need to do," Julius Little said addressing the crowd as they watched him intently, hanging onto his every word. "Those bitches be ridin' around, thinkin' they own these streets, I don't care what flags they're flyin'... Rollerz, Carnales, Vice Kings... no one's makin' this nigga scared to walk the Row. We 'bout to lock this shit down... right now."
His posture said it all, he was clearly the man in charge, the one calling the shots.
In the midst of applause and chants from the men surrounding her she catches the eye of the blonde man one step down from Julius, the man who had saved her life the night before. Troy, she recalled. He gave her a slight nod of acknowledgment accompanied by a soft smile before lighting the cigarette between his lips.
"Fuck yeah!" one of the men in front of her shouts, starteling her. He must've sensed this because when he turned around his chocolate brown eyes locked on her emerald greens and he didn't recall ever knowing the petite blonde before him. "Who the fuck's this bitch?" Instantly she dislikes the man with frosted tips and just as she's about to say something Julius interjects.
"Troy and I found her," Julius tells him. "I was gonna see if she'd ride with us."
"Julius, if she wants to run with the Saints she's gotta be canonized," the man quips with a smirk that is both annoying and sexy.
"He's right, Julius," Troy speaks, Boston accent clear as day. "Everyone had to do it."
Julius nods sullenly before meeting her eyes. "You ready for this, Playa?"
She glanced around at the men surrounding her once more before nodding and cracking her knuckles. The first man to swing gets a solid punch to the stomach after she side stepped his fist, causing him to stumble back.
When she stands another comes from behind and wraps his arms around her middle in an attempt to throw her over his back, but her feet were barely off the ground when she leaned forward and elbowed him in the side of his head. He quickly released her and while he was distra ted she turned around and hit him hard enough to send him to the ground. Then she caught sight of a third man coming at her with a metal baseball bat and when he swung she caught the end that would have connected with her face. His eyes widened and he was too stunned to do anything when she tilted it at an angle before shoving the other end back in his face.
The sound following the impact is enough to indicate that his nose is definitely broken. His hands cover most of his face in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but blood seeped through his fingers. When he stumbles back into the crowd a fourth man steps forward with a wary look on his face.
His fist is only inches away from her face when she ducks out of the way and delivers a rock hard blow to his gut that knocks the wind out of his lungs. He stumbles back and hunches over, taking the time to catch his breath before going at her again. She steps out of the way just as he's about to tackle her and the moment he turns around her fist collides with his face. He wipes the blood from his busted lip with his sleeve and takes another swing. Instead of dodging it she catches his fist and twists his arm behind his back where she adds to the pain by pushing up on his elbow with her free hand.
After a minute or so she decided he'd had enough and pushed him forward, but he tripped and almost fell to the ground. She looked around to see if anyone else would step up, but no one did.
"You earned your colors today," Troy says, giving her a high-five, and then pulled her in to pat her on the back. When he stepped back she felt a hand on her shoulder and she whipped around to see the cute dark skinned man looking down on her.
"That's some impressive shit," the man said with a bright smile. "The only other Saint who kicked ass like that was Johnny."
"Shit, took me half the time," the man who had insisted she be canonized says with a smirk she wouldn't mind knocking off.
"I'm Dex, by the way," he said, extending a hand to her.
"Lexi," she smiled, taking his hand in hers.
"Welcome to the 3rd Street Saints," Julius says when he reaches the bottom step, greeting her with a quick fist bump before raising his voice to get everyone else's attention. "Let's get down to business. If we're serious about takin' back the Row, we gotta let those muthafuckas know what time it is. Now you break it down, and it's all about respect. Get enough of it, they're gonna back off, and we're gonna move right on in. We got some friends in town that could use some help. Give 'em a hand. 'Course, you can always drop any muthafucka flyin' the wrong flag. So long as word gets out that the Saints is on the Row, I don't give a damn how you do it. You feel me?"
She nodded as did the others before they went off to their own devices.
As everyone passed by she realized she was in fact the only female among them. She was about to ask until she felt a hand clasp down on her shoulder. It was Troy.
"Looks like you're with me today," he says after passing her, making his way toward the sidewalk while beckoning her to follow.
"Where are we going?"she asked when she stepped onto the cracked cement.
"Friendly Fire," he finally answered when they turned the corner. "You're rolling with the Saints now, so you're gonna need a gun. You got any cash on you?" She nodded and continued on down the sidewalk next to him.
"Welcome to Friendly Fire," the bald man behind the display case beamed when they stepped through the door. "What can I do you for, Sir?"
"Something simple for the kid here," Troy answers as she looks over the guns in the case over.
A minute or two passes before she decides to go with a Vice 9. The man behind the counter smiles before retrieving the gun with a holster belt. He hands it to her and Troy raises a brow when she pops out the empty clip and takes aim at the human target poster on the Wall behind her.
"How's the sight on this?" she asked after turning around, flipping the gun over in her hand before placing it on the glass.
"Don't you think that's a bit big?" Troy asks, interrupting the man as he was about to answer her question.
"Normally, I wouldn't dare recommend a gun with this much kick to a little lady such as your daughter, but she looks like she knows what she's doing."
"She's not my daughter," Troy mumbles under his breath and she giggles.
"I'll take this one," she said, reaching into the front of her hoodie for the folded bills she kept hidden in her bra.
"Good choice," he said with a smile, ringing it up. "Will that be all?" He looked up to see her place a few large bills in front of him before placing the rest of her money back in her shirt.
"Uh, seven clips and two... three boxes of ammo," she added, causing Troy look at her sideways with a questioning look etched on his face as the man punched in a few more numbers. She pursed her lips while avoiding his gaze and fastened the belt around her waist.
Once the man handed her change back he placed the ammo and clips in front of her. Both he and Troy watched her with astonishment as she loaded all sever clips in under a minute and placed six, along with the spare ammo in the belt, one in the gun. She pulls back the hammer and placed the gun in its holster as well before they headed out, Troy still looking a little put off.
"Lexi, right?" he asks once the door closes behind him and she nods. "You ever handle a gun before?"
"A few times, yeah," she answered although it was obvious. "Why?"
"It's time we clean up the Row," he told her, pulling his gun from the holster strapped to his jeans.
As he too off down the sidewalk she followed close behind him with her gun on her side. They turned two corners before he held up a hand to stop her. She peered around him to see a small group of three men clad in yellow on the other side of the street. Vice Kings.
When Troy stood there with his back turned to her she pulled her high ponytail tighter before removing her gun to take aim at the fat white guy with a yellow bandanna wrapped around his bald head. A shot rang out and the man fell to the ground, the thud of his heavy body allerting his friends. They turned to Lexi, gun still smoking. Just as Troy was about to say something scolding, two more shots rang out and they were the only ones left standing on the street.
His mouth hung open for a moment, but he found himself at a loss for words.
"You coming?" she asked as she walked past him.
"Yeah, right behind you," he says after clearing his thoughts, following her across the street. As he walked past the bodies of the VKs he furrowed his brows at the disturbing sight of their brain matter spilling from the bullet holes in their heads. "So, you only do headshots?"
"You want them dead, right?" she asked coldly and continued down the sidewalk. "They don't always go down when you shoot elsewhere."
"Alright sweetheart, when you find someone who's survived a bullet to the heart, by all means, please let me know," he said sarcastically, shaking his head.
She takes a deep breath before exhaling through her nose and rounds yet another corner where a larger group of VKs stood, engrossed in conversation.
Without a second to spear, she started firing until she emptied her clip, but quickly replaced it with a full clip. Lucky for the two of them she was fast on her feet because Troy's aim wasn't counting for shit.
When the last VK went down, Lexi turned back to see Troy holding his gun to the side like the fake gangsters she saw in movies. She placed her gun back in it's holster and took hold of his wrist, forcing him to hold it right before letting go.
"Hey, what the fuck?"
"You hold your gun like a fake ads wannabe banger for fuck sake," she told him, defensively crossing her arms over her chest, with a hint of dismay in her tone. "It's why your aim is trash."
"Alright, alright. Jesus," he mumbled and she just rolled her eyes seeing as there was nothing more sge could do at this point.
When she turned back toward the road she spotted a bright yellow Capshaw barreling toward them. Troy shot the windshield, but missed the driver. Lexi sighed before pulling her gun back out, putting a bullet in the drivers head.
The vehicle came to a stop just inches in front of them and the moment another VK hopped out of the passenger side he took aim at Troy, but before he had the chance to put a finger on the trigger Lexi puts a bullet between his eyes.
"Thanks, kid."
"I'm not a kid," she said as she walked over and pulled the man's dead body from behind the wheel, leaving him on the sidewalk before taking his place. "Come on, we gotta get outta here before more of those fuckers show up."
He nods, then slips into the passenger seat and she throws the car in reverse before he gets his door shut.
"Where are we going?" he asked after a minute as she swerved from right to left, dodging vehicles.
"My place," she answered while glancing up at the rearview mirror for the tenth time to see if they were being followed. "Just outside of Mission Beach in Harrowgate."
"Oh, okay," was all he said and then put his gun back in the holster.
After ditching the car a block away from her building they climb the two flights of stairs to her apartment. Once inside she removed the suffocating hoodie, revealing the beige spaghetti strap tank top she wore underneath that hugged the curves of her torso.
"Nice place you got here," Troy said, admiring the décor while she removed her sneakers. The room looked like it had come straight out of a Homes and Gardens magazine. Everything from the decorative throw pillows on the couch to the bar stools that sat along the marble island between the living room and kitchen. She had style, he could give her that.
"There's beer in the fridge," she told him as she removed the belt and placed it, along with the contents of her pockets such as her phone and money, on the glass coffee table in front of her.
"No thanks," he said and stopped for a moment to think. "Wait, are you even old enough to buy alcohol?"
"I turned twenty-one a few months ago, asshole," she retorted, taking her hair down, then pointed in the direction of her bathroom. "I'm gonna go get a shower, so just make yourself at home."
When she entered the bathroom she shut the door behind her before turning on the light. As she undressed she placed each item of clothing into the hamper attached to the towel rack and then stepped into the walk-in shower. She turned just tge hot water on and stayed under it until it gradually got cooler. By that time the entire room looked like a sauna and smelled as if someone had set off a lavender bomb.
She wasted no time in drying herself, but kept the towel wrapped around her naked body as she darted out of the bathroom and into her bedroom where she nearly tripped over one of her many unpacked boxes after shutting the door behind her. It took a moment to find the light switch, but once she did she dropped the towel to the floor a d started going through her clothes in search of anything purple.
Five minutes or so had passed before she settled with a thin purple button-up blouse that she tucked into a pair of black high-rise jeans. She took one look in the mirror, then picked the damp towel up from the floor and proceeded to dry her hair as she made her way back into the living room.
Troy stood with his phone in his hand and eyes on a picture of Lexi with her arms wrapped around a taller man with a bright smile on her face. He turned to see her sliding on a pair of black heels.
"Julius called while you were in the sauna," he said with a light chuckle, grabbing her attention before returning his back to the picture. "Is that your boyfriend?"
"My brother," she said with a short breath, then turned to give him a look that told him not to push. "What'd Julius want?"
"Said he got word there's a turf war going on right now, and he wants to crash the party so we can take those sons of bitches out at once," he answered after turning back to face her. "He wants us to meet him back at the church."
"Alright, cool," she says, once again avoiding his gaze while strapping the belt around her waist, then places her phone in her back pocket.
The walk back to the church was quiet, except for Troy's obnoxious questioning about her shoes.
"I hope you're strapped, Playa," Julius told her from the back seat as she took her place behind the wheel of his car, Troy in the passenger seat. "Cause we're about to go in hard."
"I ain't gonna lie to you, when we get in there it's gonna get rough," Troy tells her as she she pulls out of the church parking lot, going over the directions Julius had given her in her head. "Julius, you sure it's cool we take her instead of Johnny?"
"Troy, you worry too much, the kid'll be fine," Julius reassures him and he turns back around in his seat, doing his best to calm his nerves. "Don't worry, Playa, you stick with Troy and me you'll be fine."
About ten minutes later, Lexi pulled up to the docks where she threw the car in park before stepping out to see the men of various races dressed in red, yellow, and blue all firing shots at one another. After a moment of hesitation she pulled out her gun and headed toward the shootout.