Chapter 13: Carson Santini

In the wake of Lil Ron getting busted Jason had to find a new steady source for weed. Lil Ron left a serious weed shaped hole in the South Bay. There were obviously other dealers, but their prices did not match up to Lil Ron and the weed he got from Hookr.

Lil Ron's biggest competitor was Jody Santini. Jody was the guy who rode the motor scooter and sold weed to Doogie. The Santini family supposedly got their weed from Northern California and had a firm grip of the streets of Hermosa Beach.

I was nineteen and Jody was a couple years younger than me. Jody was the third oldest in family of four brothers. He had short blond buzzed hair that resembled the sand on a dirty beach. Despite being skinny and shorter than me, he had very lanky arms. Jody had quiet calculated nature and a face that reminded me of a field mouse.

Jody was a money man similar to Jason. He was never willing to lower his prices or negotiate. He was always looking for new ways to make money or expand his profits. He sold weed, shrooms, Xanax, E, or whatever he could get a good deal on. For seventeen years old he was a full-grown businessman in his own head. He was money hungry, but he never ripped customers off and always did honest business.

Nobody messed with Jody because they knew his brothers. Jody and his older brothers were members of a Hermosa Beach gang called H.B. This was a group of surfers and beach rats, mostly dirty white guys with no shoes or shirts on. They terrorized the neighborhoods near the Hermosa Pier. In high school I had seen members of H.B. beat the crap out of some guy at a party using their studded punk belts and beer bottles as weapons.

There were a few times growing up I had ridden my skateboard past where H.B. hung out around a statue of an old surfer near the Pier. They threatened me or threw beer cans at me for no reason. Hermosa was the city that bordered Redondo Beach near the coast. It was relatively small compared to the surrounding neighborhoods. It was easy to run into H.B. if you came to their town.

Bobby Santini was the oldest brother and one of the leaders of the gang. He was about 6'3 and built like a tank. Unlike Jody's blond hair, Bobby's hair was chocolate brown, but they all had the same haircut. They looked nothing alike. Jody was small and Bobby was massive. Jason and I had theorized they had different mothers. The whole neighborhood feared Bobby. He was a beast with a temper to match.

Jason’s best friend in elementary school and middle school was the youngest Santini brother, Carson. Carson had social issues and a slight temper. He was quiet and shy. He wasn’t dumb or slow, but he was definitely on the social spectrum. Carson looked like a mini version of his older brother Bobby but with the same beach blond hair Jody had.

Carson and Jason first started smoking at a young age. Lil Ron discovered weed when he first started high school. He then pressured his younger cousin Jason and his friend Carson to try it. When Jason and Carson were in the eighth grade, they both attended Manhattan Beach Middle school. Carson struggled at school. He was constantly getting in fights and missing class. He had trouble focusing and paying attention. One day a teacher decided to pick on him.

"Mr. Santini you currently have the lowest grade in my class. Not only that but I could barely read your handwriting on yesterday's quiz, so I am giving you another zero. Where you were supposed to write your full name, you just wrote Carson, no last name. In the area for the date, you wrote Period three. As for the date you did write something, I am pretty sure we are not in the year 1955. There is a very good chance you will not pass the eighth-grade Carson. In all the years I have been teaching, you must be the dumbest student I have ever had." Mr. Stevens said.

The classroom erupted with laughter. Carson was sat at the back of a full classroom. He slowly got up out of his seat at his desk. He grabbed his backpack off the back of his chair. The teacher turned to face the chalk board and continued to chuckle to himself. He failed to notice Carson getting up.

Carson walked over to his teacher slowly. His teacher continued to laugh. Carson tapped his teacher on the shoulder. The teacher turned around. Carson threw a thunderous punch right into the teacher's jaw. The teacher fell over bashing his head on the floor and knocking him out cold. The classroom gasped. Then Carson walked out of the class.

Carson climbed a fence outside in the school hallways and then got onto the school roof. He sat down on the roof with his legs dangling off the side, pulled out a glass weed pipe from his backpack and started smoking until the police came twenty minutes later.

Carson peacefully climbed down for the police eventually. He was taken away in handcuffs in the back of a cop car and got sent to juvenile hall.

The Santini family blamed Jason for introducing Carson to weed at a young age and getting him into trouble. Lil Ron had attempted to rob Jody a few times during the rivalry, so they hated him the most. They knew Jason had sold weed for Lil Ron and was also his cousin. That made them like Jason even less.

After getting Jody's phone number from a reluctant Doogie, Jason contacted Jody and convinced him to sell him an ounce of weed. Initially Jody did not want to do business with Jason. I think Jason's reputation as successful local dealer and Jody's hunger for money is what convinced Jody to take a chance. He thought potentially he could make a good profit selling Jason weed on a regular basis.

Jason sold his first ounce from Jody and made his money back and profit pretty quickly. He bought another ounce from Jody within a couple days of the first deal and suddenly Jody was loving their new business relationship. $280 every two days wasn't bad.

Jason quickly became Jody's favorite person to do business with. He even came over and hung out with us at the garage once in a while.

Everything was going great. I had just finished all my court ordeal. I was working Monday through Friday for my dad. I regularly hung out at Jason's garage every day after work or on the weekends. One day we were smoking weed, listening to music and playing video games as we usually did. Out of nowhere we heard a knock at the garage door.

Jason and I looked at each other.

"Did you hear that?" Jason asked me.

"Yeah." I said nodding my head and trying to speak quietly.

The knock repeated.

"Jason are you in there?" a mysterious deep voice called from outside the garage.

I didn't recognize the voice. Jason left the garage through the house and went out the front door to investigate. He was gone for a moment and then the door opened and in walks this bumbling blond ogre with goofy smile on his face followed by Jason. 

"Carson, this is my homie, Jordan. Jordan this is Carson, Jody's younger brother. He just got out of juvenile hall." said Jason with excitement.

I took a good look at Carson.

"Younger brother? This fool looks like he's the bigger brother that ate the little brother." I replied.

"Carson and I go way back." Jason told me.

Carson sat down on the couch. He was carrying a backpack. He took the bag off and opened it up carefully pulling the zipper. Carson reaches into the bag and pulls out two zip lock bags filled with weed.

"You still smoke weed, right?" Carson asked Jason.

"Where did you get this weed from?" Jason replied.

"I stole it from Jody. He's such a bitch." Carson said angrily.

"He was sleeping and the weed was sitting on the desk in his room, so I grabbed it!" Carson continued.

Jason got out his scale and proceeded to weigh the weed for Carson. Turns out Carson had stolen two ounces from Jody. Jason's phone started to ring. He quickly checked his phone expecting a customer.

"Fuck, it's Jody!" Jason blurted out.

"Don't answer it!" Carson said frantically.

"I have to, he sells me weed. Both of you be quiet." Jason replied.

Jason answered the phone right before the last ring ended.

"What up Jody?" we overheard Jason saying.

Jason was quiet for a few seconds while he listened to Jody on the phone. Carson and I couldn't hear him.

"No, I haven't seen him." Jason said into the phone, his eyes going straight to Carson.

Jason listened again for a few seconds.

"I did not even know he was back in town, Jody. We haven't talked since he got sent away in eighth grade." Jason said.

Jody seemed to be buying his story.

"Ya I will call you if he shows up here or I hear anything." Jason told Jody before hanging up the phone.

"Dude you are going to get me in big trouble Carson! He knows you took his weed and he thinks you're at my house or on the way!" Jason said to Carson.

"How did he know I was here?" Carson asked.

"You told your mom you were coming to my house you idiot. Your whole family is looking for you. You need to go home and give Jody back his weed!" Jason replied.

"Fuck my brothers. They told me not to talk to you Jason. You are more of a brother to me than they are. Let's smoke all that weed before Jody busts the door down!" Carson shouted.

Once again, I knew this was not the smartest idea. The three of us attempted to smoke an ounce as fast as we could. We rolled several large blunts. Packed numerous bong rips. We even had a contest to see who could smoke a gram the fastest and timed it with a stopwatch we found in the garage.

In the end Jason won, but I maintain that he only won because the day we had the contest I had been working for seven hours prior in the day. Jason had been home all-day smoking, essentially giving him hours to warm up his lungs and practice. He's also taller and you would assume he has more lung space. If you are a stoner this makes perfect sense, trust me.

Being the money man he was, Jason could not allow the second ounce to go up in smoke. He convinced Carson to front it to him so he could sell it and make Carson some money. I think deep down he knew his days doing business with Jody were coming to an end sooner than he wanted.

When Carson finally went home for the night, his family was furious. When they asked him where the weed he had stolen from Jody was, Carson simply replied:

"I smoked it!"

Chapter 13: H.B.