Lorenzo watched Mark enter the woods, stepping with care. When he looked back to check on the kid, he saw him booking down the dirt alley. Lorenzo knew that the kid would cut into the woods as soon as he was out of Lorenzo’s sight. He’d go down there and warn the players that the dog man was here, which meant the police were on the way. That’s what he would have done at this boy’s age. Lorenzo didn’t blame him. They all had to play their roles. Besides, the object was to break up the fights and, for now at least, spare those animals some misery. The kid, no matter his intent, was going to get it done.
Lorenzo walked the alley, quickly recording the license plate numbers of the attendees, and the makes and models of the cars. The way that kid was running, he and Mark didn’t have much time.
EIGHT
Must be some old heads runnin’ this thing, thought Melvin Lee, ’cause they’re spinning that old-time stuff out the box. Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, Ice Cube strong and proud, with that production, sounded like Public Enemy and them, behind it. The record had come out back around ’90, when Melvin Lee was first getting into the game. That was some good times back then, like everything was waiting for him up ahead. He’d had some dreams.
If he was up on some blunt right now, this day here would be about perfect. Since he’d come out, though, he couldn’t even get his head up, for fear they’d put him back in. Truth was, he wasn’t supposed to be fraternizing with these kinds of people either. But what’d they expect, that a man was supposed to stop having fun?
Least the boy, Rico, looked like he was enjoying his self for a change. He wasn’t a laugh a minute, but Melvin Lee liked having him around. The way Rico looked up to him, he had to admit, it made Melvin feel important, like all this bullshit he’d done in his life had been worth something.