Chapter 20: Lil Ron Escapes

Lil Ron got sent to a Juvenile detention camp somewhere outside Los Angeles. Several people had told us it was one of the easiest Juvenile centers in the country. It was a minimum-security facility reserved for nonviolent offenders. A rehab center with bars.

Lil Ron made it sound like he was Miklo from the movie Blood in Blood out.

There were many rumors around the neighborhood that Lil Ron had turned police informant and narked on a few of the other drug dealers in the neighborhood and received a favorable sentence. I wanted to believe because he ended up serving some sort of time, he had not narked. He was some wimpy Jewish kid from Manhattan Beach; a judge would have to be a sadist to send him to a real Juvenile center.

Lil Ron had access to a phone and used to call Jason every few days to tell him about "life on the inside" and get an update on the neighborhood events. Jason and Lil Ron were cousins after all, so it was hard for Jason to turn his back on family. There were still times when Lil Ron called, and Jason ignored his calls.

Jason started to tell us how Lil Ron was planning an escape from Juvenile Hall. We all thought it was hilarious but also very sad.

"He wants to know if John will drive his Nova over there and pick him up when he gets finished digging his tunnel?" Jason told us partly joking.

"Hell No!" John clarified.

"Peter might...for some cash!" Dyno added.

One day a few weeks later our whole crew is hanging out at Jason's garage. Suddenly we hear someone frantically banging on the garage door. We were all thinking it was Jody looking for trouble. Jason goes around and out the front door with his baseball bat to see what's going on. He walks back in accompanied by none other than Lil Ron wearing blue scrubs and no shoes.

Lil Ron and his cell mate had apparently escaped Juvenile Hall.

According to Lil Ron (a known liar), Lil Ron and his cell mate were in charge of laundry on a certain day each week. The place was not exactly high security with huge fences and barbed wire, just locked doors.

Lil Ron had noticed some of the laundry was put into a big cart and the cart got pushed out to the loading dock by a janitor. Sometimes the cart sat outside the loading dock for hours waiting to be picked up.

Lil Ron and his cell mate hatched a plan. The two of them did their normal laundry duties and pretended to leave the laundry room. Then they hid in the laundry cart under the clothes. Lil Ron thought there was no way they would get away with it. He figured when they caught him, he would play it off like it was a joke or maybe they fell asleep in the cart. The janitor pushed the cart out onto the loading dock like usual.

Lil Ron's cell mate had contacted a friend and arranged for him to pick up the two of them a few blocks from the facility. Once they were outside and the coast was clear, Lil Ron and his cell mate jumped out of the cart and ran as fast as they could to get away.

They met up with Lil Ron's cell mate's friend. He was even kind enough to drive Ron back to Redondo Beach.

Lil Ron got dropped off at Jason's house. He knew his parents would not allow him to hide out at home. Lil Ron was under the assumption that at age 18 he would be given a clean record, and any current charges would be dropped. His 18th birthday was only six weeks away so he believed if he could hide out for six weeks eventually, he would be a free man. This was the story he told us anyways.

Lil Ron begged Jason to let him stay in his garage. Jason reluctantly agreed. Jason's mom was Lil Ron's aunt, so she knew what was going on with Lil Ron being on the run. She would not allow him to hide there. Anytime Jason's mom was home Lil Ron hid in the little hobbit hole Dash Minor had built to sleep in.

The hobbit hole became Lil Ron's new home for a few weeks. He wore Jason's old clothes that were way too big and baggy. We joked about Jason's ten-year-old brother having clothes in Ron's size. Lil Ron had a girlfriend who started bringing him over money and food. He spent most of the money on pills and a burner phone. I know Jason was secretly giving him food too.

We would be hanging out in the garage like usual. Lil Ron would be talking shit like always. Then if Jason's mom or sisters suddenly came home, Lil Ron would leap back into his hiding place. It got to a point anytime he heard the front door jingle, or someone come down the driveway that was unexpected, Lil Ron would hide immediately. We started messing with him and telling him we heard Jason's mom, or she was on the way. He would jump into his hiding spot, and we would all laugh.

One time we really fucked with Lil Ron. Everyone was always giving Lil Ron free weed or scraps of food. We all tried to help him out. He could not help but act like an ungrateful spoiled brat. About two weeks into Lil Ron's hiding, we all had had enough of Lil Ron.

I knew John Ripley was coming over a little later so, Jason, John and I all secretly planned to fuck with Lil Ron over text messages. Dyno even managed to see the text over my shoulder and got in on it.

Dyno Mutt offered to go to 711 and pick up drinks and snacks. I gave him a five dollar bill and told him:

"Get me a mountain dew code red and a hot dog."

Everyone else chimed in with what they wanted.

"Get me a hot dog too! Don't forget the ketchup and mustard you mutt!" Lil Ron added.

He had no money but tried to talk his way into one of us paying for it. No one volunteered.

Dyno headed off to 711.

I started to mess with Lil Ron and get his mind going.

"Hey Ron, you live over off aviation near the high school, right?"

"Yah why?" Lil Ron replied.

"I saw a bunch of cops off of 18th street parked outside a house." I lied pretending I did not know where Ron lived.

"That's where I live! I mean that's right near my parent's house." Lil Ron said nervously.

The truth was I live on the opposite side of town and for me to even have gone past that direction would be rare. Lil Ron still believed every word.

Dyno Mutt came back with everyone's snacks and drinks. Nobodies change. He came in quickly and looked scared.

Jason asked: "Dyno Mutt you got a weird look on your face, weirder than usual, is everything ok?"

"Guys as I was coming back from 711, I saw a huge group of police cars, maybe ten all parked around the corner. They had swat gear and everything." Dyno replied.

Lil Ron looked like he was suddenly going to shit in his pants, but he tried to play it cool.

"What if those cops were here for Lil Ron, that would be crazy huh?" Jason joined in.

A few minutes later there was loud knocking on the front door.

"This is Redondo Beach Police, Ronald Gavin, we know you are in there, come out and surrender!"

Lil Ron dove into his hiding spot.

I tried to act like I was scared. The three of us attempted to convince Lil Ron to go to the door and surrender. He refused.

"Come on dude, just surrender and save us from getting in trouble!" I said.

"I don't want to get shot bro!" Dyno Mutt pretended to fake cry.

"I have at least an ounce in here I don't want the police busting me!" James added.

"Maybe they will go away if they think nobody is home..." Lil Ron spoke quietly from his hiding place.

The knocking at the door continued.

"Come out we know you are in there. We have you surrounded!" the voice called from the door.

This time it was so fake sounding I had a hard time keeping from laughing. I had to bite my lip and turn away from Lil Ron. It was obviously John's voice. Lil Ron was still buying it.

Jason went over toward the door. He pretended to slip and then "accidentally" hit the garage door opener. The garage door started to open, and Lil Ron started to absolutely panic. The door opening disrupted part of the wall to his blanket fort and the roof collapsed on top of him.

"I am stuck I can't get out!" Lil Ron whispered.

John Ripley walked in carrying a giant handle of Jägermeister and a box of monster energy drinks. He let out his usual greeting:

"Whaddup you bitch?"

Lil Ron realized it was all a trick and was instantly furious. The rest of us all laughed.

Lil Ron made it about three weeks in Jason's garage before he decided to try going home to his parent's house. His parents reluctantly allowed him to stay.

We later found out from Jason's mom that Lil Ron was never even sent to Juvenile Hall. The whole time he was lying. He was really just sent to rehab by his parents. He did really escape the rehab center though. The cops were never looking for him since the rehab was not mandatory. The whole time he was hiding because his parents had threatened to call the police on him for leaving the rehab center. In reality his parents never called the police.

With Lil Ron no longer hiding in a garage 24/7 he started selling pills again and going to parties. It was not long before he got arrested again.

Lil Ron and Dyno Mutt got so fucked up on pills and alcohol one night, they ended up stealing Lil Ron's dad's BMW and going for a joy ride. Neither of them had a license. As they were driving down one of the major streets in our area, they heard a fire truck coming behind them.

Lil Ron and Dyno Mutt did not want to pull over and let the fire truck go past. So, they come up with the genius idea to try and drive faster than the fire truck to get away from it. They speed up in the car and attempt to stay ahead of the fire truck.

The fire truck itself speeds up, and they end up driving alongside the fire truck for a good five minutes before a police officer shows up and pulls Lil Ron and Dyno Mutt over.

Lil Ron was already wanted supposedly. He also had plenty of pills on him. He was driving intoxicated without a license. Somehow Lil Ron avoided jail or getting in any trouble.

Dyno Mutt ended up getting six months in jail. He served two and a half and got released on good behavior and overcrowding.

Lil Ron not only stayed out of jail, but his "escape from the Juvenile facility" also seemed to disappear off his record. We will probably never know the details behind what actually happened. All I can say is what I saw in the neighborhood.

Lil Ron got his get out of jail free card and all his competitors in the drug game including Jody Santini got busted all around the same time. Dyno Mutt received a harsher punishment for being an accomplice to Lil Ron than Lil Ron did for driving the car and possessing the drugs.

When Dyno Mutt got out of jail he told everyone that Lil Ron was a snitch. He claimed when the two of them got brought into the local police station the local cops not only knew Lil Ron personally, but the detectives even brought him a coffee and a donut. Lil Ron sat in the detective's office comfortably, while Dyno rotted in a holding cell.

Jason and I had already been distancing ourselves from Lil Ron ever since he stayed in Jason's garage. I know Jason still saw him for family functions and spoke in text a few times a month. I flat out refused to hang out with him myself.

Chapter 21: Hate Crime