Carmelo’s way: 187 assassins

CARMELO’S WAY

187 Assassins

By A.G. Deberry

Life on the street can have the illusion of a certain kind of success, and at the same time it’s no crystal stair. In the genre of urban fiction, I present to you A.G. Deberry’s Carmelo’s Way: 187 Assassins.

Our central character, Carmelo (Menace) Graham, is a 17-year-old brotha who can barely put two nickels together, living with several family members under one roof. On top of that, he is having three children by three different women. He also carries a legacy of a murder he committed as revenge for the death of a childhood friend, which gave him the street name Menace.

Along comes Brian (B-Dog) Williams, who gives him the opportunity to go into the drug business, mentoring him on the ins and outs of the trade, who to trust, and what to say if picked up by the police. As time passes, their business relationship and their friendship solidifies.

Though the grass seems to be greener in terms of money, material possessions, and the ability to support his children and his increasing number of baby mommas, the weeds are there as well–the stark reality of enemies, dirty deals, and the constant life-endangering situations. In revenge for a killing, Carmelo puts together the 187 Assassins, in it for the business of supporting their families but not gangbanging. Although he maintained his neutrality, he is witness to gang initiations, and he is given a sobering reminder that leaving the drug trade, and a gang, is far more difficult than getting into it…

Deberry gives us a picture of the realities of street life, gang rivalry, and the dysfunctional elements of the life Carmelo leads. He doesn’t show Carmelo as a one-dimensional, heartless villain and deadbeat dad. Rather, in this brotha who is barely out of his teens, we see someone who is committed to providing for his families although he doesn’t spend much quality time with them, someone who handles his business yet doesn’t wish to be associated with any gang. Indeed, Carmelo is a more complex character.

In reading Carmelo’s Way, Deberry leaves no doubt that this story is set here in the Twin Cities; as a native of south Minneapolis, I recognized all the locales he described. I was also reminded of how much Minneapolis has changed since my childhood in the 1950s. His descriptions of the lives of Carmelo and those around him are vivid and raw. Although weakness, vulnerability, and tenderness are something men dare not show in this world, he takes the opportunity to show them from time to time in his characters, which makes them more compelling.

Carmelo’s Way is available through Amazon, Deberry Publishing, and Minnesota Black Authors Expo.

Thank you, A.G., for a most intriguing work of urban fiction. Readers, stay tuned for the sequel.