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"See you shortly." Yvette Iglesia ran to intercept her brother in front of the Bazelon row house. Javier glanced at the crowd of tough guys on the sidewalk and saw that they were following his every step. He recognized Paco Ramirez and thought he'd look like the nice kid next door if not for the wannabe gangsta clothing. Javier nodded at him, and Paco nodded back.

As Javier reached the sidewalk, Yvette met him. He saw that her eyes were tearing. As she hugged him, she softly said, "You were right, big bro."

"About what?"

She took a step back, crossed her arms over her chest, and looked up at Javier.

"She's only told Keesha," she said, "and Keesha's only told me."

"What?" he asked quietly.

She turned her back to the boys on the sidewalk, then, keeping her voice low, practically spat out: "That fucking shit Xpress-Xavier Smith?" She paused, and after Javier nodded that he knew him, went on. "He was here last night getting revenge on Sasha's grandmother for calling the cops on him. She saw him stealing a neighbor's TV. He hid on the porch last night, and when Sasha got home from Keesha's, he forced his way inside."

She sniffled, then wiped at her nose and cheek.

Javier said, "What happened then?"

"You were right about Principal Bazelon being tied up. He used the phone cord. Then he… then he put a gun to Sasha's head and made her-"

Javier saw the tears flowing faster.

She angrily wiped them away and finished: "That fucking shit make her blow him and made her abuela watch! That's what killed her!"

"Jesus Christ!" Javier said softly.

He looked over his baby sister's head to the porch. Keesha was stroking Sasha's hair.

Her abuela died of a real broken heart.

Dr. Mitchell told me about those, where stress damages the heart muscle, especially an old, weak one, to the point of triggering a deadly cardiac arrest.

Jesus!

Yvette added: "And he threatened Sasha, said not to tell nobody, that he could come back anytime, and that he could get her anywhere."

Javier shook his head and said, "No wonder she's terrified. Now she has no family and is constantly worried that Xpress will come back."

She nodded. "We're going to get her away from this. Walk over and see the memorial at the school, you know? Maybe that'll make her feel a little better."

They both glanced back at the porch. Sasha was moving down the steps with Keesha Cook at her side. Everyone along the way stepped back, making a path for her.

When Sasha and Keesha reached Yvette and Javier, Javier said, "I didn't get a chance to say earlier how much your grandmother meant to me, Sasha. I am terribly sorry for your loss, I really am."

Sasha looked him in the eyes and simply said, "Thanks."

Javier looked at Keesha and said, "Good to see you. Glad you can be here for Sasha."

Keesha nodded. Then she said, "You going over to the memorial at the school?"

"I wouldn't miss it for anything."

He gestured for them to lead the way. But when they turned to walk to Fifty-fifth Street, Sasha looked toward the intersection and froze, her wide eyes terrified.

And from deep inside her came a gut-wrenching moan that turned into a wail.

Coming toward them, having just turned the corner, was a medium-size black male in baggy jeans, his head covered by the hood of his black sweatshirt. When he looked up at the sound of the scream, the hard face of Xavier "Xpress" Smith was clearly visible-and, judging by its shocked expression, clearly caught off guard by the crowd at Sasha Bazelon's house.

Javier thought Smith's eyes-now huge-looked particularly bloodshot.

He's hopped up on something…

"He's come back!" Sasha then cried out, and she started bawling uncontrollably.

Keesha, holding her arm, struggled to keep her from collapsing to the ground.

Yvette, gesturing wildly at Xavier Smith, exploded: "That bastard stuck a fucking gun to Sasha's head last night! Made her go down on him in front of her grandmother!"

The eyes of the crowd were all on Yvette. Everyone was either not sure they'd heard what they thought they'd heard, or was processing the incredibly awful news.

"What?" Paco Ramirez asked.

"It's true!" Yvette said. "Almost killed Sasha, too!"

Then the eyes turned to Xavier Smith. He'd already started walking away from the group. Now, glancing over his shoulder-and looking guilty as hell-Xavier Smith bolted across Ridgewood.

"And that no-good nigger just tried to get Sasha again!" Keesha screamed.

Yvette started running. "Don't let him get way! C'mon!"

Oh, shit, Javier thought. "Yvette, wait!"

When she didn't, Javier took off after her.

Two male teenagers ran to a small red Ford pickup truck. They got in and, tires squealing, roared up the street.

Almost everyone else took off to follow Yvette, who was furiously sprinting.

Everyone but Keesha, who now sat on the sidewalk consoling a sobbing Sasha.

"See?" Sasha said. "He said he would. Anytime…" A crowd at least twenty strong closed in on Smith, who now ran down the middle of Fifty-fifth Street. Barely dodging a Chevy sedan, its horn blaring and tires squealing, he then bolted across Beaumont Avenue, looking as if he were going to take a shortcut through the asphalt parking lot of Shaw Middle School.

There was a small group by the door to the school, looking at and adding to the makeshift memorial for Principal Joelle Bazelon. They turned and watched Smith approaching, then saw the angry mob that was chasing him-and fled the school grounds.

Xavier Smith turned to look over his shoulder, and as he glanced back he tripped on the uneven surface of the parking lot. He went down fast and hard, hitting the asphalt face-first. It dazed him.

The crowd, still led by Yvette Iglesia, caught up in no time.

They circled Xavier Smith. He remained motionless.

"Not much of a bad ass now, are you?" Yvette yelled between gasps for breath.

"We're sick of your shit, pendejo!" Paco Ramirez said-and suddenly, angrily, began kicking him.

Others immediately joined in, shoes and boots striking him on his back and legs. Some of the girls were throwing their weight into their kicks, their arms swinging with the exertion.

Smith recoiled. He pulled into the fetal position, protecting his face with his arms.

Oh, shit! Street justice! Javier thought.

The punk's getting what he deserves. But…

The rest of the crowd joined in, and Javier could see that the frenzy was building on itself.

They're going to kill him!

And then their lives are really ruined…

Smith managed to roll over and reach underneath his sweatshirt. He pulled out a chrome-plated, snub-nosed.32-caliber revolver.

He waved it up at the crowd. "Back off! Now!"

The circle of angry teens instinctively took a couple steps backward.

Two of the older males pulled out knives. And another-Javier recognized him as the driver of the pickup, which he now saw was parked close by-came up to the circle carrying a baseball bat.

Xavier Smith jumped to his feet, but stayed in a crouch as he cradled his torso with his left hand.

They must have fractured or broke some ribs, Javier thought.

Smith waved the pistol at the crowd.

Then one teenage boy in the crowd laughed. He taunted him: "Woohoo! You crazy, Xpress!"

Smith aimed the pistol at him as the boy went on: "You got only five, maybe six bullets in that gun. There's a whole lot more of us than that!"

"And you ain't getting no chance to reload," said another teenage boy.

Smith jerked the pistol to aim it at him.

Then a teenage girl added, "Yeah, you can't shoot us all!"

He aimed the gun at her.

Then another laughed and said: "You must be snorting too much of your own shit!"

Suddenly, someone in the crowd behind Xavier Smith threw a broken red clay brick, one that had once been part of the old school building's wall. It struck Smith square in the back of the skull, causing him to crumble to the cracked black asphalt. He dropped the pistol as he went down. The gun bounced twice but did not go off.