Chapter One
Damon felt the effects of his actions the next day; it reminded him of being back on the football team. He touched down in Liberty City, Francis International Airport in Dukes to be precise. He waved down a beaten up black Esperanto taxi and was greeted by a rude driver of some descent, Damon struggled to put a name to the accent.
“Where to? And make this quick, I’ve only got half a tank left and my wife is being a bitch!” The driver snapped.
“Uh…” Damon fumbled in his pocket for a card. “You know the Projects on Wardite Street?”
“So that’s your game, huh? You’re lucky I’m not undercover, what you got, a package of brown taped to the chest? A few rubbers with coke in them?” The driver asked as he pulled off.
“Nah man, I’m seeing my cousin, you might know him, Damian Wyles, got damn confusing at family reunions and shit.” Damon laughed to himself.
“Uncle D? Yeah, I know of him.”
“Uncle…I think you misunderstood me, he’s my cousin.” Damon tried to explain.
“They are all cousins up there, nephews, uncles, one big happy genocide-driven family.”
“Whatever you say.” Damon sat back and watched the Bohan streets drift by him.
The cab eventually reached the Projects and the driver pulled up directly outside.
“Thanks my man.” Damon threw the cabbie $200, realizing he had cash to burn.
Gazing up at the tower blocks, Damon stepped forth and approached two thugs, one in a blue jacket,
the other decked out in blue and orange, with a silver chain, the medallion reading “DIP”.
“What you doing tourist?” The less gaudy dressed one said.
“I’m looking for Damian Wyles.” Damon replied.
“Son, you better not be a Fed, if you are, I suggest you back yo ass up outta here before you get beatdown.” ‘DIP’ stepped up toward Damon.
“Relax man, he’s my cousin.” Damon tried to explain.
“Man, every motherfucker up in here claims they cousins with Uncle D, now step bro!” The thug shouted at Damon, who turned to walk away.
“What’s the problem?” A beanie wearing thug stepped into the altercation.
“That cat claiming you cousins and shit, I was about to pop a cap in his bitch ass!”
“Yo Frankie, time out, go wait for me at the courts, you too DIP, I’ll get this sorted.” The beanie clad man said. “Yo, tourist, get over here.”
Damon walked back and recognized his cousin beneath the beanie.
“Damian, it’s me, Damon.”
“Damon? Ahhh, shit, Lil D, how it happen man?” Damian shook hands with Damon and exchanged a hug.
“Good, ‘cept I nearly got my ass kicked within an hour of being here.” Damon joked.
“Yeah, what’s in the bag man?”
“This? You got a spot? I gotta show you something!”
“We gotta get you outta them threads man, only the Mexican cats up here are wearing lettermans.”
Damon looked down at his old varsity jacket.
“I guess you right.” Damon followed his cousin towards the first Project complex and up the stairs.
“This be the crib, sorry bout the mess.” Damian led Damon in and sat on the armchair, ripped a bong and relaxed. “What’s in the bag man?”
Damon unzipped the bag to reveal $300,000. “Three hundred thousand US Dollars.” Damon smiled, he had the other $30,000 with him after spending little over $3,000 on getting to Liberty City.
Damian nearly jumped out of his seat in shock.
“Damn man, we gotta keep this shit safe!” Damian had always wondered what big money looked like.
“I know, that’s why I was thinking, can we keep this shit here, and can I stay here for a while?”
“Of course you can, you fam, remember? First room on the left, that’s yours. We’re gonna rip up the floorboards and stash that money there too.” Damian jumped up and headed into Damon’s room, the walls clad in porno posters, the dank mattress in the corner of the room.
“Lift up that mattress, we’ll make a false floor and keep it under there.” Said Damian.
After twenty minutes, the money was safely stashed away, and the two of them were drinking beers in Damian’s living room.
“Yo, Damon, while were up here, can you call me D? Everyone else knows me as Uncle D, but seeing as you’re fam, just stick with D yeah? I’ll always known you as Lil D, and so will the boys.”
“Alright D, who were them fuckers who tried to get me to step off?”
“The dumb fucker was Frankie W, the flashy one was DIP, both soldiers in the gang I run with.”
“Oh yeah, you the leader?”
“Not quite, me and Jordan Brooks co-run these projects, I’m the man on the front lines, his LT, while he sets up deals, that’s how he got the name ‘Daddy of The Heights’, he runs shit up here.”
“Do I get to meet the rest of the crew?”
“In good time…speaking of which, how would you like to be one of us? Start out working corners, see where shit heads you?”
“I need work, not as if my hands ain’t used to being dirty.”
“Oh yeah? What you get up to in Bullworth? I hear that place fell to shit.”
“Damn man, I was part of a stickup crew, our last job fucked up.”
“How come D?”
“With some of the old school boys, ended up shooting it out with the cops.”
“Aw yeah? Kill any fucker?”
“Just a few pigs. I think.”
“I mean someone significant?”
“I don’t know man, I dropped them pigs but they will probably be discharged with a medal and a nice gunshot wound.”
“You ever killed a man?”
“Not that I know of, it’s all a bit hazy with the adrenalin pumping, I laid the beatdown on a security guard, he used to give me shit back at school, brother this, brother that. Motherfucker was a prefect back then, I couldn’t do shit about it. I took my chance on him.”
“Oh yeah? What you do to him?” Damian sat forward, looking intrigued.
“We were holding up a bank, and he was working, the staff weren’t complying, so we had to show some force, I laid into this motherfucker ‘til he couldn’t stand.”
“He have a piece?”
“Yeah, a thirty-eight.”
“The poor man’s machete, know what I would’ve done?”
“Nah, what’s that?”
“Sent that motherfucker out into the wild, telling him to fire on the cops. 38’s bounce off damn windscreens, he’s not gonna score a hit and 5-0 would take him down.” Damian started to show his malicious side and began telling stories about holding up liquor stores, cutting people up for not paying up and a whole plethora of tales. After a few hours of casual drinking and smoking, Damon went into his dank room and settled down his first night in Liberty City.