Fences... In London I discovered that there were unseen fences, unseen by the ordinary people who went about their lives without knowing of these constant shifting fences as they expand and abrogate. The territories of the gangs were referred to as fences and the worst thing you could do was to get caught on the wrong side of it.Leaving the restaurant, I told Mickey to take me to Amin. He drove for a while, and that was one thing I never got tired of, a drive around in London.  It was the only time that I could listen to myself think, the house was always too quiet when Micheal was not home, and that was basically all the time. Micheal wasted no time before getting involved with a white girl and he was always with her. Amin's spot was a laundry house, the place was beside a car wash which he also owned. Half the people walking around the neighborhood were either his soldier or informants. "This guy is doing well out here," I thought to myself as Mickey pulled the car ov

I guess there is a woman for every man...even the worst of men, ones as lost as me. Sharon showed the kind of interest in me that no woman except my mother had ever shown me before... She cared and carefully watched me as I signed to her, she always had this genuine smile when we were together. I could really have deep, meaningful conversations with her, and at first, I thought she was just doing her job but before long, I started expecting her visits with a kind of eagerness and a smile on my face too. I spent the time of the days before she walked through the door thinking about her and even that was fulfilling enough. I struggled with this feeling...it was so strange to me and no matter how much I tried to suppress it, I just could not. "Is this what they call love?" I thought. I was for the first time seeing a whole side of life I never thought I could even reach, a side of life I never had an interest in reaching. For me, life was all about survival, it was at this moment that I

I was with Sharon that night. Peace, calmness, everything was perfect. She offered me tea and for the first time in a very long time I accepted a drink that didn't have alcohol in it. I drank the tea and smiled even though it tasted like horse piss in my mouth. "You don't like it, do you?" she asked as she stared at me, giggling childishly from ear to ear. I shook my head in agreement that I didn't like the tea. Then she stood up and disappeared into one of the rooms, she returned with a bottle of wine and two glasses in her hand. "I hope you don't hate this though," she whispered as she passed me one of the glasses and proceeded to fill it with the wine. I never really liked wine either but it tasted better than tea. We chatted throughout the cold night, well...she chatted and I signed. But it never could make it less interesting, her presence enough filled me with happiness, a feeling that was so strange to me. We drank the first bottle of wine and then she brought the second. By

I lost consciousness immediately after stabbing the last guy, we both collapsed into his pool of blood and I was off to the land of dreams. I saw my mom, the sight was so vivid it was almost real...she was so beautiful. It is funny how you tend to forget faces first when people die, even the faces of people you love and cherish the most. I didn't have any photos of my folks, but when I dreamt of her for the first time in like forever, I was filled with peace and happiness. That harmonious feeling that made me want to give it all up, life, my family, and even my newly found love. They all didn't matter at that brief, beautiful moment. If heaven existed, I was in it with my beautiful mother, and that is exactly where she belongs, in heaven.I suddenly heard the screeching sound of tires against asphalt, a voice asking if he was awake. He being me and the thick African accented voice was Bobby's. "He is starting to regain consciousness, I think," Sharon replied him. "Oh, thank God, he's

A wise man once told me that the constant dissension generated by a lot of enemies must be avoided by eliminating all of your enemies. Because if left to fester, this might be what subtracts you from life. Chaka the Zulu also said, "Do not leave your enemy alive so that he might fly at your throat the next day." Society made us what we became, they made monsters out of us all or let out the monsters we had caged in us all along at the very least. I remember when I wanted to be a lawyer, a tongueless mute being a lawyer sounds funny, even to me. My dream of being anything other than what I became was crushed beneath society's jackboot before it even started. So, there I was once again, face to face with death.I was taken to an empty construction site at the very edge of town. A handful of Amir's men were brought there too, they had been beaten to the brink of death, I looked at them and could not even recognize them anymore, the faces I saw had been messed up and damaged so much that