A rumble of boos fills the dark auditorium. “Check one, two. Check one, two,” repeats a deep voice over the PA. “Are you ready?” But the 250 students at Prosser Vocational high school, on West Wrightwood, sit on their hands, united in their belligerence. They know the enemy is behind the curtain.
Look where you’re headed, look where you’re headed . . .
To start thinking about carrying a gun.
Now five years have passed,
The Slick Boys have once again captivated an audience that wasn’t quite ready to listen. At dozens of schools, jails, and juvenile homes inside and outside the city they’re on a mission to help inner-city youths while erasing negative police stereotypes. Along the way they’ve raised $ 100,000, all of which went to Cabrini-Green, where all three work–for school supplies, for a playlot, for 1,500 turkeys at Thanksgiving. They’ve been such a hit that Universal is planning a series for the Fox network next year.
When he was 13 years old–“out on the streets, gang banging, doing the wrong things”–his colors cost him two bullets, one in his stomach, the other in his calf. But he ditched the gang and chose new friends. “I was banging, got shot, got scared, turned into a punk, and started going to school. Ain’t that what we call that? You a square, you a punk, right? That’s right.”
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Officer Eric Davis kicks back on his puffy white couch in his quiet south-side apartment. “You’ve seen 21,” he says in a cool, calm voice. “Now you see Eric. I don’t drink or anything. So it’s like an escape–a chance to act like you never would in your normal everyday life.” His six-year-old daughter, Alex, dashes down the hallway, then skids across the hardwood floor, only to be stopped by the living-room rug. She then stands up and makes faces at her father, hoping to receive some attention. “Alex,” Davis says softly. “You’re killing me. Would you please go into the other room for a little bit?” She drops her head and scoots off without a word.
