BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Enrique, a young gang member whose street name was Slick Rick, watched, enraptured, as the face-off began in the local dance hall. Standing alongside other gang members with handles like Lurch, Ram, Bibo and Eddie the Dog, Rick was sure this clash would be explosive—the carnage too awful to miss. He clenched his fists and felt blood pound in his temples as one of his heroes dropped like a falling star when a rival gang member stabbed him eight times. High on adrenalin, Rick slipped outside and walked home, replaying the drama like a movie clip in his mind. He looked up at the night sky, knowing that his parents would rage at him for roaming the streets again. Smelling paint fumes, he glanced down and saw Fuzzy, his next door neighbor’s cousin, sniffing from an aerosol can. Fuzzy was the coolest, baddest gang member Rick had ever met. A member of the 18th Street Gang in Los Angeles, he was in Fort Worth laying low from the law. “Look at this,” Fuzzy said, handing Rick a copy of "Life" magazine. It featured a story on gang life, including a full photo spread. In one picture, a guy wore dark sunglasses and held a yellow speedball between his teeth. The ball held a mixture of heroin and cocaine. Gang members who served time in prison, or had killed someone, had teardrops tattooed at the corner of their eye. Fuzzy had two teardrop tattoos. He took another hit of paint fumes and said, “Look Rick, one of these days you’re going to have to decide what you want in life.” Intoxicated with excitement, Rick realized that he already knew. He was tired of just watching the superstars. He wanted to become one. An Early Start “Gangs don’t have to recruit kids,” Rick explains. “Hollywood did that for them. In 1979, the movie "Boulevard Nights," while portraying the dangers of street violence, also glamorized the commitment to brotherhood and survival. After seeing that movie, huge numbers of kids wanted to join street gangs. They weren’t looking to get into trouble. They just wanted to be cool. “A lot of gangs began with a noble purpose. In the 1970s and early ’80s, Fort Worth’s North Side was a mixture of different cultures that didn’t get along. So for protection, when kids went to school or to the park, they traveled in groups. Back then even fourth- and fifth-graders wanted to be in gangs. Gang leaders drove the coolest cars, wore the coolest clothes and dated the prettiest girls. “In my neighborhood, by the age of 9 or 10, kids were using drugs and being promiscuous. I was a late bloomer and didn’t smoke pot until I was 11. I didn’t sniff paint until I was 12 because my parents kept tabs on us. But after meeting Fuzzy, I hung out on the streets more often. “Schools were playgrounds for gangs,” says Rick. “We left class to go use drugs in the park. As our drug use escalated we began cutting class to rob houses to support our habits. Before long I began attending my friends’ funerals.” One hot summer night, Slick Rick, Little Black, Ram and Bibo sold stolen goods and bought LSD to take with their beer. Rick and his friends were all 15, except Little Black, a short, dark-skinned Hispanic boy who was only 13. They all were hallucinating when Bibo suddenly grabbed a guy by the throat. Then, they all beat the guy down, Rick said. Rick and his fellow gang members were still drunk and high on acid a short while later, when the guy they had beat up returned. He had about 10 guys with him. “Run!” Rick shouted. Moments later he was stabbed in the stomach. Looking down through glazed eyes, he watched blood bubble up through his shirt. Giving Him Back to God A year later, at age 16, Rick was expelled from school. ***continues on next page*** BVOV : 23

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