Monday, November 08, 2010

Heaven, INC: Chapter 26: GANG WAR

NORCESTOR AND IMPERIAL,
MARKET PARK
11:00 A.M. PDT

DETECTIVE CHEN was the kind of guy who talked with his hands in his pockets, stuffing them clear to the bottom such that when he spoke, all his gestures came from the elbows. Chen had been introduced by Lt. Marcus as an expert in the neighborhood’s gang culture, but Pope thought he looked more like a computer programmer.

“It’s gotta be Chucho Reyes,” Chen was saying, adding with a broad expansion of the elbows,

“Big time bad guy. Big time. His parents moved here from Nicaragua during the war, and he was in and out of Juvie three dozen times growing up. He got older, got smarter, stayed alive and out of jail long enough to become Dirty Oscar Sanchez’s second-in-command. With Oscar still bunking at San Quentin, when Chucho was released, he apparently decided he was automatically in charge. Unfortunately, there were changes to the neighborhood in the four years Chucho was away. And Chucho isn’t happy.”

Lt. Marcus said around a mouthful of smoke, “This zip’s seen a forty-percent a bump in homicides since that piece of shit was released. Looks like a war’s escalating.”

“A three-way war,” Chen said, “between Chucho, a Mexican cat named Ramos del Torres and Don Gomez, a Guatemalan with a bad temper.” Chen waggled his elbows, “See, so . . . essentially they’ve got this place set up like little ghetto fiefdoms, with Chucho Reyes taking over Norcestor Arms Building Three here, del Torres occupying Building Two and Three and way down there—” pointing an elbow down the street “— the Norcestor Arms is Gomez’s turf.”

Surveying the crumbling buildings and burned out lawns, Al said, “Wow. Quite the kingdom.”

“Better to rule in Hell,” Pope observed, “than to serve in Heaven, I suppose. All right, at this point, Chucho’s the last person to see Ducroix . . .”

And so far the only person we know potentially exposed to the virus.

“ . . . so let’s get him in and find out if he can shed any light on the situation.”

“Look, if you’re hoping Chucho’s gonna help you with this Ducroix kid, you’re mistaken. He wouldn’t piss on law enforcement if we were burning.”

Pope glanced up at the Norcestor Arms, the midmorning sun casting short hard shadows onto the crumbling buildings. “You could be right, Detective, but at the same time, we need to move the ball forward however we can and Mr. Reyes is all we’ve got.” He turned to Lt. Marcus:

“Lieutenant, if you’ll allow, I’d like Detective Chen to point out Chucho for my team?” Upon Marcus’s unenthusiastic agreement, Pope looked to Al. “Form a detail and bring him out. But please, for godsake, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

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