Cover of Hoodlum

The Juneway Jungle is located on the very north side of Chicago on the north side. It Has a “Square,” Block. Juneway, and Marshfield is a north south street while Howard and Jonquil Terrace are an east and west street. They all connect in one big square. That’s why they call that horrible area the Jungle.

All four streets are laden with crime and poverty. Tenements are the majority housing for the residents.

If you were to go into the jungle, if you don’t get mugged, stabbed or shot on Howard street or Jonquil Terrace, you will sure be attacked on Marshfield and Juneway.

I accidently wandered into the Jungle. And I heard, one , two, three, four, five, six shots.  I was so afraid. I’m glad that I got out of there alive.

The Jungle is full of hoodlums which in a way is worse than street gangs.

These hoodlums live in all four of the above mentioned streets.

The hoodlums mame, kill, mug, rape, stab and slay anybody that gets in their path. They throw rocks and bricks at pedestrians. They get violent any old time they feel like doing so.

I have overheard so many people say, “Don’t go into the Jungle. You won’t come out alive.”

A shot in the back by these despicable hoodlums means hello. A Blow to the head with a brick means, How are you?

This was back in the 1990s, but I’m pretty sure that the Jungle exists today. I know that I’ll never go there ever again.

Sirens ran through the air,

it dominated every other sound,

made everyone’s heart pound,

an emergency was near,

and that was very clear,

it was a summer afternoon

in Brooklyn USA, 1965,

and suddenly,

with a body on the ground

that afternoon became a crime scene,

and race became the dominant theme,

the dead kid was decidedly black,

laid in a pool of blood on his back,

the loser in a fight,

and the police, standing over their daylight scene

were decidedly white,

the crowd grew restless,

sometimes death could happen

at the wrong time,

and in the wrong places,

from the other side of the police line

there was a sea of angry faces,

the noise level was loud,

as trash was being thrown at the police

from the angry crowd,

then someone said,

cover that boy up and show some

respect for the dead,

it was indeed a horrific sight,

as another one shouted,

he’s just another dead nigger to you, right?

The police could feel the heat,

as they were part of the pavement jungle survival,

as the body stayed on the street,

stranded there by a delayed arrival,

it was a civil unrest,

humanity put to a test,

and racism stood tall,

and true to every single letter,

fuck them all,

the kid is dead

and he won’t get any better,

fear dominated the air, then repeats,

as the white racist police conspiracy

ran rampant on the streets,

a uniform pulled a white plastic sheet

over the kid’s torso and head,

the kid’s skin might be black,

but his blood ran red.

Ignorance took him places,

and there he would see a mass of whiteness

in a sea of black faces,

he’d walk by and your eyes would twitch,

he’d rarely hit anyone,

but he was a racist son of a bitch,

and he’d take it to his grave,

sometimes he reacted to what he saw

by crawling into a psychological cave,

and as far as he could tell,

he’d be damning every nigger

and liberal faggot to hell,

mostly for screwing up his country,

and other people’s sensitivity was his strength,

the gay community he wanted to tame,

not realizing that only respect brings respect,

and contempt the same,

he became a police officer,

who lacked the measure of intelligence,

and that was a must,

and it was a precious commodity,

if you wanted to win over the black community’s trust,

during a raid and an attack,

he showed no respect or care for the blacks,

he displayed his prejudice, and it showed,

as he was dropping words like losers and toad,

then enough was said,

as he suffered a single gunshot to his head.

For example, right now, America is going through a huge dip in economy.  Too many jobs are being lost.  A lot of people have lost their jobs and cannot find another one because of this poor recession period.  They are living on the pintints of welfare and unemployment comp. Some people even live in their cars or on the streets because they can’t find work. Or ways to get money. This is so sad.

There just are too many people who are living in poverty more than ever. Yet, people do credit checks, in order to see if people have big bills to pay. Duuuuh, a person who is not able to find a job for months and months, it is no wonder that they can’t pay their bills.

The media shows Ipods, new cars, toys for the kids, clothes on tv. And if you don’t have an I pod or a killer car or a wardrobe of beautiful up to the minute clothing, then you have a problem. Now that is definately by all means a double standard. When you are poor and the economy is not ok by any means, how can you afford to buy these lovely trinkets?

Girls are having sex at fourteen-years old and are getting pregnant at that age as well. Yet they are labled, “Sluts,” “Whores,”  “Harlots.” Yet, there is never ending sex in movies, even television is giving people messages that it is ok to have sex.

It is cruelty to animals to beat, neglect, or starve an animal, however it is ok for a vet. to declaw a cat (this is cruelty to cats.)

It is not ok to rape a woman but when a woman is being raped it is always her fault. People may ask, “What was she wearing?” Or, “Did she lead the guy on?” Or, “She likes to have sex with guys. It’s no wonder that she has been raped.” Yes, rape is a crime that is punishable by law, but the woman or girl who was raped gets all the heat. And many times the man gets off scott free or only gets three years in prison. I think a rapist should get life in prison. Rape can cause a woman to be emotionally beaten for life.

This society is full of dog eat dog hypocrites. It is no wonder that society is screwed up.

The gang violence continued,

everyone held their breath,

as a retaliation for a member’s death

took center stage,

and it would have been safer

locked in an animal’s cage,

because what lit up the sky was rage,

gangs set fire to remaining houses,

even the birds would choke,

because there was a thick pall of black smoke,

knocking everything to the ground,

and when it finally died down,

people saw what they had feared,

there city was a mere skeleton,

and through the bones,

you could hear the moans,

a few upright timbers

and sagging roofs,

that costly siege offered no proof,

insanity had much to say,

and reality would not obey,

it was a dawning of a dreadful day.

A big part of the problem is prayer is limited in the homes of these youth. Ever family should put God first. Parents need to fight the streets and grab their children and teach them that the drug dealers and the street bangers don’t love them at all. Those who continue to create confusion are driven by the devil. Loving your children is what they need, also being stern can bring them back to reality. Our children don’t have to fall victim to the big bad streets.

I’ve had family members who chose the wrong path and they are not here today. It is vital that our youth get involved in positive activities. Even if you lose your child for a moment you can gain them back. You must make sure you know who their friends are. No parent should follow their kids everywhere they go but they should be well informed. We all know that our kids do some things that we wouldn’t expect them too but we can stop this as well. Your kids must respect you and feel comfortable talking to you. Many may say you should not be your kids friend I disagree you must be their friend to an extent. If you are to stern you can lose them as well just talk and show your love for them.

Fathers need to get more involved in their sons lives, this will help eliminate many of their problems. Those youth who have had one or both parents incarcerated often follow their parents footsteps. It is very important to pray for your children and eliminate any negative situations. We all need to love one another and support one another. We must do all that we can to save our youth.

Tired eyes, aching feet, 

he moved like a man

who spent his years on the street,

long, dirty and straggly hair

was beginning to recede,

lost of hope was clear

and survival was a need,

starvation was there,

and hunger became a greed,

his face would rarely break

from an unsettling glare,

a look all the more unnerving

because he would rarely blink,

so you’d think

someone could care,

he sells out dated newspapers

to help make a living,

you walk away like he’s contagious,

as he preaches God’s words

from a bible with missing pages,

but in your eyes

he resembles nothing more sinister,

and some call him the homeless street minister,

in cardboard boxes he would sleep,

his dark eyes, his voice deep,

wasting your time,

begging for a dime,

his body moved forward, but slow,

blisters and bruises that didn’t show,

riddled with cancer,

but he would never know,

and when he gets near,

you wouldn’t care,

you could hear that low rumble to his voice,

and then you give him that thousand yard stare,

as if the path he chose with his choice.

Here is a sentence with the word Landloper:

Freddy dropped out of school when he was 18; he had no ambitions and he was a true loner in life.  He left home and crashed at his best friend’s house when it was convenient for him.  He often got into trouble with the law by stealing from department stores and breaking into cars to find goods.

When his friend’s mother found out that Freddy was staying over at the house and was constantly in a disheveled state, she told her son that his friend was no longer welcome at the house.  Freddy turned to the streets and slept wherever he could find a spot to sleep; the nights were long and cold and he truly alone.

Freddy has been in and out of homeless shelters; he could never stay in one place and his family was worried about him.  They said that they wished that he would return home instead of living the life of a landloper.  Freddy eventually ran into a stranger at the homeless shelter and she had befriended him; they would stroll the streets together and eat at the shelter together.

Freddy had opened up to his new friend in saying that he ran away from home because he felt that his parents rules were too strict to follow, but his friend said that he should count his blessings because her parents had passed away from a tragic accident when she was 20 years old and she had to fend for herself; she had no friends or other family members.  She soon turned to the streets for survival and has been there ever since.

Freddy’s new friend had eventually convinced him to go home and to reconciliate with his parents; he was a happier person and he owed his gratitude to his friend, for she had made him see the light.

Hope that you have enjoyed this story!  Have a great day!

You cover the dead with white sheets,

this is what you get

when riding the streets,

it was when life and death met,

first, a white kid was stabbed

in the heart over a $20. drug debt,

his spirit did shout,

then a woman stretched out

on her stomach in a first floor hallway,

her spirit had nothing to say,

it just floated away,

as she would lay

in a red puddle of wetness

where her left eye used to be,

so everyone else could see,

and what scattered were the mice,

then across town, they found,

an owner of a body shop, shot twice,

his clothes burning in a pile,

a middle-aged homosexual was shot

execution style,

a war veteran firing wildly

as he stood at the door,

killing two, and wounding three more,

the reality was so compelling,

dirty streets, hookers selling,

sanity was like a bird,

it  closed its eyes,

and took to the skies,

accepting defeat

as insanity continued riding the streets.