Chapter 13: H.B.

When the oldest Santini brother Bobby heard Carson was hanging out with us at Jason’s house and that he stole Jody's weed, he was furious. A few days after Carson's return, Jason received a phone call from a number he did not recognize. He let the call go to voicemail and then quickly checked it once his phone alerted him to a message.

He seemed to hear the voice and metaphorically shit himself right then and there. It was Bobby.

“Carson is not allowed at your house anymore. I am going to make this very clear, if I find out Carson came over to your house again, I will be coming over there as well. You don’t want me to come over. I am going to look the other way over the weed you guys stole but this is your first and last warning! Stay away from Carson!”

Bobby was in his twenties already. He did not want to get in trouble for fighting minors like Jason. So, Bobby put Jody who was only 17 in charge of watching Carson and dealing with Jason. Jody stopped doing business with Jason. He was pretty angry and assumed Jason and I had helped Carson steal from him somehow. Like it was our plan all along.

Jason attempted to ignore Carson's phone calls. As much as he loved Carson like a brother, he thought it was in both of their best interest to spend some time apart.

Carson continued to show up at Jason’s house like normal. He banged on the garage again like the first time.

"Jason are you in there? Your phone isn't working." Carson said from outside the door.

Jason told him “Bobby is going to kick my ass if he finds out you came over here. You gotta leave! He called me up and he said if I let you come over here or we hang out he's going to beat the shit out of me.”

“Bobby is a fucking bitch! He's not going to come over here and beat your ass. Bobby already got in trouble for beating up a minor. He managed to convince the kid's family to drop the charges. He won't risk that kind of charge again. Fuck Bobby. I’ll go where I want! He's not in charge of me.” Carson replied.

Carson was stubborn and refused to leave. He ended up sitting down outside the garage and crying.

"What the fuck Jason! Let me in!" Carson called from the driveway.

Eventually Jason's sister June came home and walked past Carson in the driveway. She said hello and he followed her in the house.

Carson walked into the garage with a smirk on his face.

"Hell no!" Jason shouted.

"You need to leave dude!" Jason pleaded.

"Just let me stay. Nothing is going to happen!" Carson replied.

Jason gave up and he let Carson stay. Carson joined our round of bong rips and settled down watching Jason play Grand Theft Auto. The peace only lasted a few minutes.

Suddenly there was a large pounding on the exterior of the garage door. Like someone was using their feet to kick it in.

"Carson get the fuck out here right now!" Jody shouted.

We all sat quietly hoping Jody might think no one was home.

"Jason, I know you are in there; I heard you playing Grand Theft Auto before I banged on the door." Jody called from outside.

Jody started kicking the garage door again. This time you could tell there was more than one person outside with him. The banging sound echoed in the garage and was slightly unbearable.

"Dude, you got to go out there before he breaks my garage door. I told you they were going to come here and start shit. My landlord lives next door. This kind of shit is going to get me kicked out."

Carson nodded in agreement. He got up and slowly walked towards the door.

"I'll be right back." he told us.

Carson walked out the garage into the house. Then we heard him open the front door and head outside. The metal screen on the front door banged shut.

"Alright Jody Damn! I am right here!" we heard Carson shouting.

That was it. We heard muffled talking in the distance. Car doors opening and shutting. Carson didn't come back.

Jason started getting his weed from a new dealer in the neighborhood named Oli. Oli was half Argentine and half Israeli. His prices were a bit higher, but his weed was better. Oli sold higher quality medical marijuana he got from a friend who worked at a legal dispensary. Oli was another short king. He had dark hair with Latin looking features but light milk colored skin. He spoke with an accent that was a mixture of his heritages. Sometimes it was hard to understand what he said.

Monday through Friday I worked till 4pm with my dad. When I got off work, I would head over to Jason’s house and hang out with the boys. We would take bong rips, play video games and drink Jägermeister. Our drink of choice at the garage was Jager bombs.

Jody was the one who taught us how to make Jager Bombs. You take a regular size cup, and you fill it one third of the way with energy drink. (At the time we preferred a limited edition, energy drink made by Monster called Lost. If we couldn't get Lost, we would settle for standard Monster.)

Then you fill a shot glass with Jägermeister. You drop the shot glass in the cup carefully, so the energy drink and monster don't mix. Once you tipped the cup to drink it, the energy drink and Jager would mix naturally.

One afternoon I had just got off work. As I walked up to Jason’s house, I noticed the front door was open. When I turned the corner to enter his garage, I found Jody and another random guy holding Jason down on the couch ready to start punching him.

My first thought was they were trying to rob Jason. Unfortunately for them I was carrying my skateboard. As you may know I have a bit of a reputation of hitting people with them. I held up the board and told the two of them:

“Get the fuck off of him."

Jason and I made eye contact. His face looked relieved.

Jody turned around and looked at me. He gave me an angry glare that was intended to call my bluff. I stood my ground and tightened my grip on the bat.

Jody backed away from Jason but kept his eyes fixed on me.

"You won't be the first person I have hit with a skateboard I promise you!" I told them.

They both retreated passed me. Jody stood in the doorway and told me:

"You are going to regret getting involved."

"No, I won't!" I said back with a laugh.

Jody was like Lil Ron in the sense he too had a prescription pill problem. He would take too many Xanax pills, get bored and bold, and then come over to Jason's house looking for trouble.

Jody would come over with his H.B. friends and hide outside in a car. They would wait for Jason to come outside to meet a weed customer and then they would try to rob him. They were never successful. Either Jason got inside his customer's car and drove off, or he managed to run back to the house before Jody and his goons got close enough. After that they would get frustrated and throw rocks at the windows.

Jody would harass Jason’s mom and sisters as they were going in and out.

"Your son is a drug dealer maam!" a drugged-out Jody would scream at Jason's mom.

We just locked the doors and ignored him.

Jason's mom knew Jody's parent's and his brother Carson's history, so she understood the situation. She still gave Jason shit though.

Majority of the time Jody was accompanied by his two right hand men. Mike Hampton and Gorilla Reese. I said Bobby Santini was big, well Gorilla Reese made Bobby look medium.

Mike and Gorilla Reese were on the Mira Costa Varsity football team. Mike was a running back and Reese was the star linebacker. I really have no idea why they hung out with Jody. I guess they liked drugs a lot.

If Jason and I went to a house party in Hermosa or Manhattan Beach, we were constantly looking over our shoulders incase Jody showed up. He often did.

One Friday night Jason and I were sitting in the garage getting high and playing video games. It was raining and we had just ordered a pizza. Jason had been sporadically checking the front door for the delivery guy. Jason left the door open as he came back into the garage to grab the money.

Suddenly the door opens and a wet Jody charges in at Jason out of nowhere.

"Die Fucker!" Jody shouted.

Jody was completely gone, intoxicated off pills. His eyes were deranged. He lounged at Jason attempting to choke him. Jason is 6’4 Jody is 5’6.

Jason threw Jody against the wall like an old toy. Jody collided with the wall and landed on his feet. He rushed at Jason again. Jason tossed Jody on the couch in my direction. I jumped up out of the way holding the bong to avoid Jody landing on me.

Jody kept getting up and charging at Jason and trying to jump on him and Jason countered on him every time. I had Jason’s back no question but there was no point in that fight I felt he needed my help, so I just stood back and watched.

The room was starting to get trashed with Jody smashing into everything. I stood in front of the bong cabinet attempting to protect our precious treasures.

Jody threw a wild punch in Jason's direction and completely missed him. The attempt at punching Jason must have pissed him off. Jason took a step back and lunged forward with his long legs kicking Jody right in the chest.

Jody fell backwards over behind the couch into a pile of boxes and junk from the garage. He did not get up for a few minutes.

Jason and I looked at each other but did not say a word. Jason is way bigger than Jody, but I think Jody was also hampered by how intoxicated he was.

When Jody finally got up, he was all red in the face. He climbed over the couch and mumbled fuck you guys as he hobbled towards the garage door and left. He walked pass the pizza man up the driveway.

Jason met the pizza man at the door. He paid and took the pizza. Then he immediately locked the front door.

A few weeks later Jason went camping with his father. This left me with nowhere to hang out and smoke. Luckily my friends Milo and Green Eyes were hosting a house party. It was your typical teenage house party except Green Eyes was a member of a nearby gang from Lawndale, so two of his older homies Ernesto and Julio were there to keep peace and get fucked up.

I was a friend of the host, I had good weed and I was down to match bowls, so I think Ernesto really liked me. My new homies kept pouring me different shots of tequila and handing me beers. My biggest mistake was not eating beforehand.

I had been at the party for a few hours, and I was feeling sick from drinking too much. Milo had allowed me to go into a back part of his house to use a bathroom to throw up in peace and privacy. Unfortunately, I did not make it to the toilet completely in time and threw up a little bit on the floor.

Whenever there was a party in the Beach Cities word spread fast. Someone from H.B. must have come to the party and told Jody. Jody heard I was sick in the backroom and decided it was his chance to kick my ass.

As I was throwing up, Jody, Mike and Reese walked into the bathroom.

"That's not Jason!" Mike commented.

"Good enough." replied Jody.

The three of them approached me. I was so sick it felt like a fever dream. Reese lifted me off the floor from in front of the toilet and held me up loosely in order for Jody to take a swing on me.

"I owe you a punch in the face! Pay your dues and we'll let you go." Jody said to me trying to sound tough.

"Fuck you!" I managed to spit out.

"Just one punch and we will let you go back to ralphing!" Jody replied.

Jody took a swing at me. I leaned my head down and he connected with the hard part on the top of my skull.

"Fuck!" Jody shouted in pain.

I know he hurt his hand. Jody took a step backwards rubbing his knuckles. He stepped right in my puke on the tile floor and slipped. He fell and landed right on the floor. Now he was pissed.

Milo came into the bathroom to check on me. He was holding a towel and bottle of water.

"Who the fuck are these guys?" Milo asked.

He saw Jody on the floor in the puke and Reese standing behind me. Mike was attempting to help Jody up.

"Are these your homies Jordan?" he added.

"These guys are not my friends, Milo. They claim H.B.!" I told Milo.

I managed to squeeze out a smile as I saw Ernesto and Julio coming in behind Milo.

"Who the fuck is H.B.? Are you fucking with my new homie? This is Lawndale fool!" Ernesto said throwing up a gang sign from across the room.

"I think we should leave." Reese whispered to Jody.

Jody, Reese and Mike walked out of the room. Ernesto and Julio continued to mad dog them.

Jody screamed “This isn’t over!” as he left covered in puke.

"What fool?" Ernesto beckoned back.

The next day I text Jason and told him what had happened.

"I am sorry for getting you involved in this bullshit." Jason told me.

"You were the only one who had my back during all my court shit. I intend to repay the favor. You may be taller but you're my little brother now." I told him.

When we met up again after his trip, we decided it was time we started our own crew. By now Jason's garage had several people who regularly hung out with us. It was mostly just the guys we sold and smoked weed with. We told them we were starting our own Krew for people who hung out at the garage. Some were reluctant but they all end up joining.

We called our group BSOK which stood for Bud (weed) Smokers Only Krew.

I realize now as an adult how dumb this sounded. Especially since technically Jason and the other members of our crew took pills and other drugs besides smoking weed. We also drank quite a bit.

We were not a gang. We were just a bunch of dumb stoners whose only vandalism consisted of drawing graffiti in our notebooks. We looked out for each other and got high together.

Chapter 14: Dyno Mutt