Boss Of All Bosses

Prologue

The Chicago Crime Commission estimated that females accounted for as many as 20,000 of the 100,000 gang members in the city of the turn of the century... by Andrew J. Diamond

For being a statuesque woman, Wanetta A.K.A Bee knew some females could not hold a candle to her. She never thought of herself as fat or overweight. Wanetta felt more appropriately like a plus size female and a voluptuous lady. She had that confidence about her. Wanetta knew her confidence came from her father who was a confident man that allowed her to feel proud of her weight.

As far as Wanetta’s mother Monique Sheperd, her mother had been a beauty pageant winner back in the days in their hometown of Chicago. What Wanetta got from her father in size and weight, she also received from her mother Monique in the looks department.

Wanetta got her first name from a combination of her father’s great grandmother named Wanda and her mother’s favorite grandmother, Netta. Her family originated from Mississippi, plus Alabama, and migrated to Cabrini-Green public housing on Chicago’s near North Side. Cabrini-Green was bordered by Evergreen Avenue on the north, Sedgwick Street on east, Chicago Avenue on the south, and Halsted Street on the west. Cabrini-Green residence lived in mid- and high-rise apartment buildings. Unlike Robert Taylor Homes, Stateway Gardens on South Side, Rockwell Gardens plus the Henry Horner Homes on West Side; Cabrini-Green was situated in an affluent part of the city.

Gang violence and neglect created terrible conditions for the residents. In 1970 two policemen were killed by snipers. Commitment to making the projects safer then took form in then Mayor Jane Byrne who moved into a fourth floor apartment in 1981 backed by a number of police officers, and substantial personal bodyguard detail. Most of the residence saw her move as a publicity stunt, because in three weeks she removed herself from the building. When Byrne stayed at the Cabrini-Green housing project the rear entryway unit was welded shut, leaving gang members a new way of putting up barriers between themselves and police.

In 1992 seven-year-old Dantrell Davis was killed by a stray bullet while walking to school with his mother. On January 9, 1997 a nine-year-old girl was viciously raped, poisoned on the seventh-floor stairwell at 1121 N. Larrabee Street. The attack left her blind, paralyzed, and unable to speak. The attacker wanted to throw police off his trail, so the attacker made it seem as if the crime had been done by gang members by leaving gang makers on the little girl.

Members of the Gangster Disciples were ordered by gang leaders to find the person responsible and to brutally assault the individual. The attacker Patrick Sykes who was not a gang member was apprehended by police, and sentenced to 120 years in prison before gang members could get to him. Added to this was the chaotic New Year’s Eve celebration, when gang members would fire guns into the air causing police to block off nearby streets every year. Violence was part of the reason why Wanetta’s parents move from Chicago to Harlem. Upon the move to Harlem, Wanetta’s parents became divorce. Her mother remarried.

Wanetta pushed her black Benz through the pouring rain, which beat down on her car like African drums. It was as if the Higher Power up above was washing away the day’s filth. Wanetta seemed like a loan traveler on a desolate highway. She could not see any cars as she entered New Jersey. The rain brought with it a sense of relaxation for Wanetta, even though the news which was carrying her to New York and towards the heart of Manhattan had been one of a sad nature.

Her comfort came from listening to Chicago’s own native son, R. Kelly. All Wanetta could hear from the speakers of her car system were the words, If, if I could turn, turn back the hands of time, then my darling you, you would be here... Although others would say his, Step in the Name of Love or I Wish were his best songs. Wanetta knew her mother Monique would have told them different. Even with the case of child molestation brought up against him, her mother had still been a fan of Robert Kelly.

Wanetta at that point remembered the words her mother had said to her which were, ‘Baby, that’s what’s wrong with America. They tend to build their stars up, and then try to break them down. Look how they tried to do, Chuck Berry back in the days, because he was sleeping with their white women. The boy made his mistake but the one thing I like about our people is that we never abandon our own, even when they make a mess of things. We might want to throw them back in the pond, but baby it’s just to teach them a lesson, nobody love like we do!

Tears began to form within Wanetta’s eyes like that of the rain drops which still came pouring down outside. The one thing Wanetta was regretting as she drove was her mother, and her distancing themselves from her brother and father. The distance Wanetta felt had been caused by the lifestyle her brother and father had chosen. For Wanetta being at the point she was in life, she knew there were only a few people she could count on her finger that knew who her real father was. She knew if some people in her father’s circle knew her, then her life would have always been in danger. Others would have been afraid to approach her.

For Wanetta hearing the news on the death of her mother, in a car accident due to the same condition she was driving in, had been devastating. She was to meet up with her mother on the day that her mother had gotten into the accident. Wanetta did not make the meeting that day to see her mother, because she had some term papers which were due for school. So, Wanetta’s mother at the time had decided upon doing other things.

When the police report came back it stated that Wanetta’s mother had lost control of the car she was driving. The car her mother had been driving in exploded upon impact. What was worse was the story in the newspapers, which came as a smack upon the face of Wanetta. The articles claimed her mother was having an affair with a younger man who was the son of a gangster.

Wanetta’s mother had remarried to an accountant who had become her stepfather. The stepfather had no knowledge of Wanetta’s biological father. Wanetta’s biological father had warned her not to mention anything to the authorities and the newspapers. On the other hand Wanetta knew she could not go to the authorities, and have them retract the stories writing on her mother within the newspapers. She knew it was the only means of keeping her own life safe.

On the flip side of the coin Wanetta’s stepfather, Donald Sheperd, had been livid on learning whom his wife had been caught in the car with. The stepfather had told the authorities Wanetta’s mother, Monique had told him, she was going out with her girlfriends for a spa weekend. Wanetta had always loathed her biological father, because he was a man who could never get his point across without raising his voice to talk. Her father raising his voice had been the least of Wanetta’s irritation. The number one thing which strained their father, daughter relationship was the fact Wanetta’s father tended to curse often in trying to get his point across as well. For such a reason Wanetta never allowed anyone to curse at her. The death of her mother in the car accident had brought Wanetta to have a better understanding of her biological father. They had always talked once every two weeks, but now it seemed as if they were talking every other day.

Listening to R. Kelly had brought back good and bad memories from Wanetta’s past. She reminisced about the times she used to play hop-scotch outside on the sidewalk in her old neighborhood of Chicago. The one thing she remembered was how her mother would yell out the window for her to come back in the house, because it was not safe due to the Gangster Disciples, and Vice Lords who were warring with each other all the time. As a young child Wanetta was oblivious to what gangs were until she got wise real quick. It did not come as a shock to Wanetta either when she found out who her father was later on in life.

It was Wanetta’s biological father who had named her, Bee. She had gotten the name from defending her brother’s honor. Her father had witnessed the beating Wanetta had delivered on a girl.

What had transpired was Wanetta getting into a fight at school. Wanetta plus her brother Roland had been waiting for their father when, Truth elementary school had let out. Her brother was nicknamed, Big Pooh, due to his weight. A girl who was two years older than Wanetta had started to laugh at her, plus her brother Roland as they stood on the sidewalk waiting on their father.

Wanetta sensing the girl was making fun of her and her brother asked, What are you laughing at?

Two rolly pollies. was the girl’s sharp tongue smart aleck return remark.

The girl did not realize Wanetta had quick

reflexes. The girl’s thinking had been Wanetta’s heavy size would slow her down. At that point she pounced on the girl before the girl could run off or get a head start. A right hook came from Wanetta as it connected with the girl’s left eye. The immediate impact had caused the girl’s eye to swell up. A black eye took hold of the spot Wanetta had punched the girl dead on target at. Others looked on in shock. The girl tried to cover up her face as tears formed in her eyes.

The one thing the girl had no inclination of was Wanetta had been taught by her father how to box. The right hook was followed by an upper gut punch, which caused the girl to drop her hands. What came next from Wanetta were body blows to the girl’s rib cages, and facial punches. Wanetta boxing skills were on full display that day. The girl started to bleed from her nose. Her lips swallowed up to twice its size.

The thing Wanetta did not know was her father had taken notice of the fight. He was very proud of her. From hence forth her father had called her, Bee. The name was synonymous for Muhammad Ali’s favorite quote of, Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee...rumble young man rumble...

Reality

As the tape stopped Wanetta ejected it from her tape deck and flipped it onto the next side. The tape itself had been made by Wanetta’s Caucasian female roommate, Krystal who attended Harvard University with her. Wanetta had been shocked the first time she meet Krystal. The shock had not been the fact Krystal was Caucasian, and could be a runway model. It was the fact Krystal knew more about African American music artist than her, especially rap and hip-hop. In time Wanetta came to the realization of how Krystal got her vast understanding in the black music culture and songs.

What Wanetta learned was Krystal father was an executive at a major record label. The second factor had been Krystal was smart, and as a D.J. the girl had major skills which came naturally to her on the turntables.

Krystal had made the tape for Wanetta’s long drive to her mother’s funeral. As she drove on what Wanetta heard next was the voice of Greg Nice; one half of the rap group from the Bronx known as Nice and Smooth who’s voice went off. Guru, a member of the group named Gangstarr consisting of D.J. Premier as well came on over the same song talking about, I chant, inny, minny, miney-moe, I wreck a mic. like a pimp, pimps hoes...

A change in the music came later on as the words, Do you want to ride in the back seat of my caddy chop it up with Do or Die... resonate from Wanetta’s car speakers. Tears seemed to weld up within the eyes of Wanetta as memories of her brother came to mind. Wanetta knew along with Twister, Do or Die was another one of her brother’s favorite rappers.

All of a sudden Wanetta felt a hard bump to the back off her Benz which shook her out of her memories. She immediately glanced in her rear-view mirror. All she noticed were gleaming high beam headlights in back of her car. Wanetta quickly grabbed a hold of her steering wheel, as she felt her heart racing. She got a grasp of her skidding car. Wanetta maneuvered it in such a way to stop it from hydroplaning on the rain soaked road.

Wanetta wanted to thank her mother for insisting upon her taking extra defensive maneuvering classes. She honked her horn, placed her warning lights on, signaling for the driver who had bumped her to follow. She wanted to get a look at the damage. Wanetta knew she had seen the sign for the nearest gas station to be five more miles ahead. She had no intention of stopping on the desolate highway to access the damage, because she had seen television series in which people got blindsided while standing by the side of the highway.

Since Wanetta had speed up a bit after getting her car under control she noticed something odd. The car behind her got closer, with its headlights still on high beam as if wanting to blind her vision. At that point Wanetta knew the driver was trying to run her off the road. She immediately placed her right foot down hard on the gas pedal. Wanetta increased her speed on the four lane highway divided by a median. The car behind Wanetta continued to tail very close behind her own. Wanetta felt the road winding around. She started to zigzag back, and forth taking up both lanes on one side of the median. The car in back was still behind her rear bumper.

As luck would have it for Wanetta, she knew the road very well, because she had driven it plenty of times on her holiday weekend getaway from Harvard. When she had a good distance on the car in back of her, she felt the roads winding path straighten out. Wanetta then brought her car to a slow drive. She knew what she was doing. Wanetta was allowing the car behind her to catch up to her own. She placed the high beams on her Benz on. Wanetta knew her tail lights would blind the driver in back of her. She knew the driver behind her could only focus on her taillights.

As the driver behind her was right on her tail Wanetta took notice of the straight four lane path in the highway which had no median to divide it. Wanetta swerved to the left driving on the wrong side of the road onto oncoming traffic. She saw the headlights in front of her. Wanetta knew whoever was trailing behind her could barely see in front of her car to notice what was transpiring. She timed her move as the truck in front of her honked its horn. Wanetta all of a sudden heard what sounded like gunshots going off from behind missing her car. She at that point swerved back just in time to the left lane.

Since there was no median separating the four

way lane; the car which had been tailing Wanetta’s own did not realize what had transpired. The next thing Wanetta took notice of was the head on collision of the car tailing her own, and the truck. Wanetta knew the truck driver was probably going to come out of the wreckage with a few bruises and bumps. As for the car which had been tailing her, and trying to take her off the road, Wanetta could care less if the driver made it out the accident dead or alive.

She turned the volume on her car system up a bit more as she continued with her drive onward to her destination. The music of Westside Connection consisting of Mack 10, W.C., and Ice Cube came blaring out talking about, Bow down, when we come to your town, bow down...

Wanetta at that point came to the realization someone was out to murder her, and there was only one person she could talk to about the dilemma.

My Mother’s Funeral

Wanetta was dressed all in