Vertical Street Mentality

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

Nar Shaddaa - 15 years ago

I hadn't given a lot of thought to the guestion.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

I looked at the holo flimsy and then back at the woman who'd given it to me. She looked tired, and ready to get the hell out of this job at a drop of a hat. Not that I cared. I mean, that was all on her. Stuck trying to reach me? Did I look like I cared if she tried or not?

Riding low in my chair, I humored the question.

"I wanna be a gangsta."

I could see the bitch deflate before my eyes. Not the answer she wanted.

"You're thinking small, young man. You can be anything you want to be. Star Pilot. Doctor. Politician. I'm here to help you do all these things."

I shrugged.

"I wanna hustle and make easy money."

And that was the rub, wasn't it? She didn't get it. She'd never get it. I got all I needed to know in her exasperated sigh.




* * *



I'm Sanis Prent. AKA Sanis Young Sleazy. AKA 2Fab U Lix. AKA Da Trill Trillionaire.

I rep the VRT. That's Nar Shaddaa. Vertical City for you offzies. Tuka district level 312.

I live with ma mum. Her name's Tilly. She's on gov stamps on account of her being a disadvantaged mum. What that means is that as long as she's knocked up, we get an Imperial stipend. Did I mention I gots six brothers and sisters? I do. But they don't really figure into this. Story's bout me, ya see?

I'm special, you see. Not special like them suits say. Like I'm on scholarship right? Not like that. No, I'm a cut above, see. Me dad's a real mover. Space Pirate, me mum says. Means I'm cut out to be somethin' else. She says he's got a treasure locked up and waitin' to come back Nar Shaddaa way and move us all to the big life. Maybe that is. Maybe that ain't. Me mum's me mum, but she's small time. Waitin' for that ship to come in. I ain't content to wait.

We live in Imperial Social Domiciles, the ISD. Means four walls and enough cots for heads to lay on. The Moff packs us in tight as we like, cause let's be serious right, we ain't shit, is we? Don't matter to me, mum gets rent free, so we gets stipend to spend. We ain't supposed to spend it on shit like booze and shit, but I knows people and they turn stipend to creds, easy peasy like. Weekly stipend goes to cheap food, but what we get on the side we put to this man named Loti on the corner. Met Loti by way of Razadi, cause she was on the block first and she knows people.

I ain't got a big sister. Razadi's closest thing. She's sorta like that, but sorta like a business partner. We put our stipend together, and what's left after sundries goes to cheap Nar Shaddaan swill. Beggars ain't choosers ya see? We take our cut, put it together, and between that and a little street hustle here and there, we make enough to blow the block up every weekend. Razadi's been at it longer than I have, so I look up to her like that. She says she's punchin' her number in this gangsta game, so I figure that's where I'm at too.

[Razadi Syfa]

I been at dis game long 'nuff. Long 'nuff to know how ta play it least. Dagga, s'ain't hard. Ya tell da mahn your troubles and he gives ya wot ya need. Wot you 'need' is a tetchy thing, and could mean anyt'ing. Got kids wot need food could be any'ting. Got a old mum wot needs meds could be anyt'ing. S'all 'bout perspective and how ya really look a'it.

I gotta mum. She crazza. I say she 'senile', and needs meds. I get the creds and scrips.

Mum's a slag and makes her own livin' fokkin' da real desp'rate.

Gotta know how ta gem da system, ya know. Creds pay for da food and da scrips get sold for more creds. Those pay for da good stuff.

Sanis likes da good stuff. He likes it, and he likes me. He loves me, an' I love 'im back. We street like dat. We got da connection that on'y stars got, y'know? He young, an' dat's da way I like 'em. Only by two years, but eh. We solid. Like Inio an' Ketta. Only we ain't gonna die. We immortal.

We kings an' queens.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

Peep this now, we's at level 221, on th' low spots. Down 'ere it ain't shit but hustlin', an' even the laws don't patrol. Course, that means we're swimmin' without a net. Real gangsta shit down 'ere.

Me an' 'Zadi was doin' what we do, sippin' big lagers and watchin a dice game. To this pint we ain't put our skin in th' game, but we's watchin a Gran spin these dice an' some Niktas was losin' they roll in th' game.

"Them dice's loaded."

I spoke under me breath to 'Zadi. Course, she was a street goddess, so I'se speakin' to the choir no doubt.

Course, the bulges at the edges of the Nikta's coats didn't escape my sight either. It was smart to roll with heat this far down the city, and these guys was rolling correct. If they got wise on the game, shit was likely to get sticky.

[Razadi Syfa]

Y'don' whispa dat shit. Ya don't even t'ink dat shit. Ya just know it an' let it' ride. Ya let it ride an' c'llect da reward for yor good eyes.

"Dagga, git yo maf shut."

I love 'im, but he's denss assa shiffa.

'Ad a numa fruit in hand, and I bit inna it. Ya don' look tense at places like diss. Ya look cool and calm. Numa fruit makes ya look calm. I even leaned inna San. Gave 'im a good squeeze where he liked. Weren't sex'al dis time though. Was a caution.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

"Kor' eh, I know, eh."

Played it smoov, like. 'Zadi grinded me like I please, an' yeah, that took me edge off in a way. Made me think, right. Watched 'em shoot, same as we'd been watchin'. Ain't my place to call a game as jigged, ain't it? Ain't my money up on deck, ain't it? 'Zadi got it right, an' I just lay back an watched, sharin' a zol between us. lightin' up an not causin a fuss.

Somethin' got me attention though through all this, an' you don't roll the streets without noticin' things. Them Nikta blokes was inked up in a way, an' I imagined not coincidentally, but the both sported matchin' ink. Me, I played it smoov, but peeped my main lady on that.

"Ko eh, thems is sum machaz, eh?"

Shared me zol, cause thats what we do. Still smoov, but it gave me pause. Matchin inks meant more to me than seein Imperial unis down here. Meant somethin' else.

[Razadi Syfa]

I took a pull - was good stuff. I always made sure San had de best.

Ink like what dem Nikta's had was somt'in you pay 'tention to. Ya don't cross 'em, and if ya don't got it in good wiv 'em you walk away an' don get involved. I handed the zol back and spoke low-like.

"Shiffa's break an burn, we dash. Reason, se?"

Don' care how much in da pot, I ain't gettin' shiffed an' shanked like dem sticks o' bant'a meat dat old Mozzi sells. When da dagga flies, so do we. It's how ya liff foreva.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

'course, the way shit pops ain't always easy to see, and doz' machaz was sick of their sideways game. In a blink, they was down to bust, and that dice shoota was down, smokin' out his chest like the zol in me hand.

"Ai, fuck!"

Look, I'm streets full and full, see? Ain't no stranger to hearin about folks on your block gettin' shot. Everyone knows someone that gets popped at, an' we all keep our heads low when heat's bout to flow. But this was me first murder, like, seein' wit me own eyes. So I froze up. Eyes all big and shit, holdin on tight to me zol and lettin that ash grow on the end. Then them Niktas turned to us. Thought for sure they was gonna put two in each of us too, but they put up they shootaz.

I exhaled breath I didn't know I was holding.

[Razadi Syfa]

I got a mouf fulla numa, and only went backta chewin' when dem machaz went doss. Dey looked at me an' San like we wasn't dere, and went to pickin' up de creds dey been loosin'. Dey weren't loosin' now, were dey.

Looked at de makka-ded busta an' dat hole in 'is chest. I ain't goin' out like dat; I ain't goin' out t'all. I'm invincible. Me an' San bot' is.

It was da second body I seen gunned to de groun' in fronta me, and I weren't happy 'bout it. I liff 'round death, but I don' go out lookin' for it. When ya go lookin' for it is when da risk goes up an' de chance of me endin' up dead gets bigga. Den again ya gotta be 'round it since dat's where da creds usually are.

Gotta be cool. Gotta act like it ain't no t'ing.

"Fokkin' skeef shoulda knowd dey 'ad a rocket wit' 'is name onnit."

Was a lesson I knew, and now San knew it too. Ya don' cheat da ink.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

Dem shootas stepped to us, an' I knew I hadta ackrite, y'see? Play it smoov, San. I took a pull on the zol, lettin purple flow out me nose as I passed it to me right.

"Skropi, right. Fokken skropi. Ain't goin that way no, no."

The Niktas ain't much impressed by us actin' hard, les they ain't look it.

"You lot see any of that?"

I scoffed, findin' me rocks at the right moment.

"Dag' no we ain't seen nuffin."

Rule number one, that's skropi for sure. Shit drops, catch some dagga amnesia, fast.

I looked to 'Zadi to hammer home the point.

[Razadi Syfa]

San looked at me, an' I shrugged.

"I ain't knowin' what da fuss is. Ain't nothin' happen here."

I knew betta. Ya don' see a t'ing when da dagga flies. Ya don' do nothin'. Ya jus' ferget real kik-like. Dat's how ya stay liffin'. I took a long drag from de zol dat San given my way. Helped keep t'ings sunt.

We was sunt.

We dinna see a t'ing.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

That was that, an' the kadjic machaz stepped on past, brushin' by 'cuz they owned th' street an they knew it. Zol was at least keepin' me nerves sunt, but still I gave a breath after they'd stepped past. Took me eyes elsewhere from th' ratfood in th' gutter, an started walkin. Didn't wanna see, jus' in case someone did ask real hard like. Buckets didn't step this far downways much, but bes' to keep it safe, cause they'd make your life shit if it weren't for the kadjic boyz runnin' the game.

"Lesse jetti kik-kik, eh? Pinch some juice an shit upways? Skropi?"

Nickin' some drink from a bodega was about as hard as I wanted to be right now.

[Razadi Syfa]

"Ja."

Best t'jus get out an' go do somethin' else. Juice sounded good, an' it'd be easy. Marks upways was easy ta brask, an' me an' San was da best when it came to spyin' da ones wit' da fattest credchits.

So we walked. We walked skrekki. Partnas, maats. Was a sorta thing folk knew by da way you walked wit' someone. You was a team; stole togetha, got lit togetha, planned ya dagga togetha, fokked, alla dat. You walked skrekki.

Me an' San was gonna liff foreva.

We was immortal.




* * *


Da mark was easy. Like dey always is. We got da creds, nicked a handle, and swagged to a alley. Any alley issa home for us. We live like kings an' queens inda alleys. San took da first drink from da handle while I rolled up anotha zol. We was in da back, sittin' in shadows. Dey was comfable.

I lit up an' pulled inna long drag 'fore lettin' it out.

Kings an' queens.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

Me head was lighter on me shouldaz thanks to a bitta free hooch, an' I began to think on prior events.

"Them machaz was Kadjic gangstas, 'Zadi. Wiffout dem shootaz, they ain't dat tuff."

I tilted back liquid courage, and gave a shrug.

"Could be us, livin' th' cash game, givin' no fokks. Pick th' roll off whoeva th' fokk. Real machaz, not this broke shit."

[Razadi Syfa]

"Pff, you crazza, San."

I took da drink and pass'd ova da zol. San was gettin' talky now dat we was outta da fire. He was like dat.

"Ya kill fa creds, ya get killt fa creds. We got it made wit' our dagga, why rile it? Ya fokkin' crazza, se."

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

I wasn't content wiffit. Wif this street rat gig. Wif livin' on da dole wif me mum an all dem kids. Wasn't to disrespek on 'Zadi. She was me spirit guide, me best maat, see. We both lived far enough upways to catch a taste. See dem big baller offies splash down and live like fokken kings an' queens. Maybe I wanted more than jus' a taste. Maybe I wanted th' whole plate.

"Ain't all crazza. Figga if some quonnie gets his punched, he ain't lookin' out for his dome, isse? You cross streets every day, 'Zadi. Got hit yet?"

[Razadi Syfa]

"Naw." I took a swig. "I too good for dat. Ain't gettin' my dagga fokked for no one."

San hadda point I s'ppose. We watch da dagga an' keep shiny we might live long 'nough ta make it big.

"Eh, mebbe. Gotta stay shiny y'know. Second we slip is da second we end up inna gutter, makka-ded, se."

San an' me - we was da dagga. Da fokken dagga. Mum weren't nothin', and Da were keskasa. Da weren't even Da, he was jus' a guy dat knocked up Mum an' out I slipped. San was da same, which was why we was perfect for eachudder.

Had anotha drink.

"Ya really t'ink we good 'nuff fa dat dagga?"

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

A shrug and the zol passed me way.

"Why not? Half is attitude anyways, ain't it? Roll big, mean mug, stick sum steel inna quonnie's face 'n make 'em dak. Ain't even gotta bust on no one."

That quonnie what got it still stuck in me head, and I wasn't out to create no bodies, just stick'em fo' they chits is all.

"I know a bru what lives downways some, an' his ol da's gots him a steel he says. Figga we borrow it like, an find us a good caper."

[Razadi Syfa]

"Gotta be watchin' what we do. I dun wanna end up inna gutter."

San was always thinkin' bigger'n where he was, an' I couldn'a blame 'im. But still, we did good for ourselfs an' we always come out on top.

The zol was half done, but I dinna care. We passed it an' da handle back an' fort', 'platin' da nex' step. We could take care of it all, get outta trouble eas'ly 'nuff. Maybe San was right.

"Let's borrow it den," I passed him da zol with one hand, and let my otha slide up his leg to da top button on 'is pants. Dey was always a'most a size too big, but dat was how San liked it. He was all bone an' t'in muscle, an dat was how I liked it. We walked skrekki y'see. Meant we shared ever'ting, an' I wanted ta do some sharin'.

Good dagga in dat handle.

"But not till lata, se?"

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

Th' more I drank, th' more it made sense. 'Zadi was feelin' me in more ways 'n one, and me muse was rollin'.

I pulled the jug from my lips, a bitta juice runnin down me chin as I set it aside. She's me skrekki street queen, an' bein' as I'm th' king, can't rule shit wiffout a lil' kingdom?

"Lata, then. Figga we gotta find th' right quonnie. Find th' right payday, se? We gets paid, we make sum real dakka happen. Maybe we's be big baller offies too if we do this thing all skropi."

[Razadi Syfa]

"How far upways ya wanna go?"

I dinna really care. Long as we kepp our dagga tight we was fine.

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

Another noncommittal shrug.

"A bit ways, eh? Not too upways, an risk real dagga an' get th' buckets on us. Somethin' respekable, but not high vis, an' not a tough nut. So lesse. Banks is out, as is bookies. Ain't on that, on account we wants to both keep our asses."

The juice was runnin' through me brain, an' I was feelin nice and sunt, an' in a frame of mind diff'rent to normal.

"Wossabout sumthin' wheres some creds in the till? Somethin' tangible right, so we goes in, puts a shoota in someone's face, fills a bag, an' we's out jus' as quick?"

[Razadi Syfa]

"Gotta be a joint we ain't go to. Someplace dat's upways."

I ain't goin' anywhere dat knows me, and San won't eitha if he knows what's good for 'im. Sometimes I wonda 'bout him. I gotta keep eyes on 'im sometimes; make sure he ain't gonna do somet'ing real janked.

"Not far upways, like ya say. Far 'nough for us t'be strangas."

San handed back da bottle, an' I took a long gulp. My otha hand was still busy in 'is pants.

"I say a kik food shop, onna dem Gran places where dey ain't got no pr'tection - dey got plenny creds on any day, waitin' for us ta take."

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

'Zadi was messin' wit me in mo' ways 'n one, an makin' plannin' this caper fokken difficult. Course, I ain't a quonnie, and I ain't kak'd in the head is I? So I rolled wit' it. Got me a hand fulla 'er salt shaka and helt on.

"Tha's propa skropi, yeh. Don' wanna be seen, do's we? Course, we gotsa find a place like tha'. Don't wanna roll upways blind wiffout a plan t' jetti th' fok out ef we needs."

[Razadi Syfa]

Now we's talkin'. Get a good mark an' make it happ'n. We was doin' more'n talkin' too, an' I weren't 'bout ta complain. Dinna matter how big 'r small da nick was, I liked a litta bitta feelin' good ta go as dessert. Like a good cake wit' a cherry on top an' a mush o' cream.

"You git da shoota," I whispa'd in 'is ear, "... an' I find da bes' mark, se?"

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

That was a deal if I'd seen one. I copped a smile, nicked the zol, killed it with one last drag, and shotgunned it back to 'Zadi wif a kiss. Me best maat, me queen, and me spirit guide. We was skrekki as we wanna be, rulers of all this, and headed to the top.

"Tha's skropi to me. Now le's put th' bidness aside an' have at."

[Razadi Syfa]

* * *


We walked inda shop like we owned da block. Cool as crystal an' calm as dagga. I found da mark, was easy to pick 'im out from da distance. Shop was nice, an' on we never been in b'fore. Not surprisin', since it was upways. Made sure it were a food shop wot wit'out pr'tection - wouldn't do ta knock a place dat was under watch o' da fokkers we was wantin' ta get good by.

I picked up a menu an' flipped it open, knowin' we wasn't gonna get noffin. Course, we might need ta get somefin for on da way out, an' I know San liked dem crazy roll t'ings wit' da fish bits in 'em, an' if dis place gots 'em, we'll take 'em off deir hands along wit' deir creds, se?

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

I wasn't feelin' hungry, all's I felt was the steel weighin' at me pants. Had it all tucked in, an th' first thing you figga when it's like that is it's heavy, an' you always know its on ya. Even wit me shirt over me middle, I had to play it smoov an remind myself that noone was scopin' the heater. This wasn't like jus' nickin' a bit of merch or cash when you could get away wit it. Nah, this was actin' hard and frontin' some real gangsta dagga.

So I sat an' took a sippa water the waitress lady brought, cause me mouth was dry. Didn't peep a word till she was gone.

"We's really doin' this, ain't we?"

[Razadi Syfa]

"Mm."

Weren't no real answer, but really just a sorta piece o' filla. I was on auto pilotin', an' readin' all da food on da menu was makin' me hungry. We hadn'a had any real food since yestaday. We'd done nicked a few mynock wings from a venda and some pom legs offa me mum.

Oh ya, an' da numa fruit I had when all dis started.

"All da way to da top, Luv."

[Sanis AKA Young Sleazy]

'Zadi got me all filled wit bravado, an' suddenly I was ready to pull da caper.

"Ain't no setta skeefs, we. Coupla real machaz now, ain't it?"

A minute passed, an' the last couple 'sides us split the joint, leavin jus' me, 'Zadi, an' three staff. Time was now. I doubled over th' table an' planted a kiss on me maat.

"An 'ere's how we liv foreva, then."

An' wit that, I was up on me feet, steel in me hand.

"A'ight me skiffaz, bow down an' kiss the linoleum!"