George Pelecanos - DC Noir (Akashic Noir)

DC Noir
edited by
George Pelecanos

ALSO IN THE AKASHIC NOIRSERIES:

DublinNoir, edited by Ken Bruen

BrooklynNoir, edited by Tim McLoughlin

BrooklynNoir 2: The Classics, edited by Tim McLoughlin

ChicagoNoir, edited by Neal Pollack

SanFrancisco Noir, edited by Peter Maravelis

FORTHCOMING:

ManhattanNoir, edited by Lawrence Block

BaltimoreNoir, edited by Laura Lippman

TwinCities Noir, edited by Julie Schaper & Steven Horwitz

LosAngeles Noir, edited by Denise Hamilton

LondonNoir, edited by Cathi Unsworth

MiamiNoir, edited by Les Standiford

HavanaNoir, edited by Achy Obejas

LoneStar Noir, edited by Edward Nawotka

WallStreet Noir, edited by Peter Spiegelman

Thiscollection is comprised of works of fiction. All names, characters, places, andincidents are the product of the authors' imaginations. Any resemblance to realevents or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Seriesconcept by Tim McLoughlin and Johnny Temple

D.C.map by Sohrab Habibion

Publishedby Akashic Books

(c)2006George Pelecanos

ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-936-07025-1

ISBN-13:978-1-888451-90-0

ISBN-10:1-888451-90-4

Libraryof Congress Control Number: 2005925467

Allrights reserved

Firstprinting

Printedin Canada

AkashicBooks

POBox 1456

NewYork, NY 10009

Akashic7@aol.com

www.akashicbooks.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Recently,on the way to a witness interview on the 1600 block of W Street, S.E. withdetectives from Washington, D.C.'s MPD Violent Crimes Branch, I passed throughthe low-rise, government-assisted dwellings off Langston Place in Ward 7.There, in a dirt and concrete courtyard patched with the last of winter's snow,was a make-shift memorial of sorts to a teenaged murder victim who hadallegedly been in the life himself. Grouped around a steel pole were variousforms of stuffed animals, teddy bears and the like, along with plastic flowersand some balloons, long depleted of their helium, lying on the ground. The sitecontained no R.I.P. tags or name identifications of any kind. It's what's knownas a "tribute" in this part of town.

Thatnight, in the comfort of my home, I sat down to read the Washington Post. Theabove-the-fold story on the front page of the Style section, which jumpedinside and took up many column inches, concerned an author from wealthy,mostly-white Ward 3, who had written a book about the anxiety of today'sWashington woman, who has to deal with "soul-draining perfectionism," shuttlingkids to soccer matches, nighttime Girl Scout cookie meetings, and finding theright art camp and piano teacher for her kids. Buried in the Metro section ofthat same newspaper were the latest crime fatalities, all occurring far awayfrom those houses on the high ground of Cleveland Park and Chevy Chase. The victims, many unnamed, all young, got two paragraphs of spaceinside the section.

Bynow you may think you know where this is going. But the truth is , it's just an anecdote that describes "that thing"D.C.-area residents live with every day. The reason so much space was devotedto the article about "today's Washington woman" was because it would be read bya large number of Washingtonians, who could relate. Yet just as many read theCrime and Justice capsule inside Metro, because they might have heard thegunshots outside their doors, or they might have known the victims or theshooters, or both, when they were children. Yes, this city is polarized, butthat's a too-easy observation, and it denies the District's complexity as awhole. In fact, it would be inaccurate to repeat the notion that there are twoD.C.'s.

Here'sanother myth debunked: This is not a transient city, as it is often ludicrouslydescribed. A very small percentage of the population comes and goes everyfour-to-eight years, blowing in and out of town with whatever presidentialadministration sets up temporary camp. The vast majority of the citizens, manywho came up from the South, have lived here for generations. Others came andstill come from overseas, or emigrated from other states, chasing opportunityand riding the great prosperity boom/hiring rush of the post--World War IIyears. Many arrived with a desire to be a part of early-'60s Camelot.

Iimagine they stayed because they liked it. There are easier places to live, butfew as interesting. Nowhere in this country is the race, class, and culturedivide more obvious than it is in Washington, D.C. And the conflict does notbubble below the surface--this American experiment is disected and discussed,in-your-face style, every day.

Otherthings: The citizens of Washington have no vote or meaningful representation inthe House or the Senate of the U.S. Congress. No taxation withoutrepresentation, except for the citizens of the nation's capital. The federalgovernment controls the purse strings here, and the policymakers dole out themoney according to their own motives. Since there is no vote to massage,politicians and presidents have historically ignored the neediest people ofthis city, as there's little upside to reaching out. Walk into any public highschool in the District, take a look around, and see a stark illustration of anabsolute failure of governance.

Thatthe kids always suffer is nothing less than a national disgrace. But thecommunities, realizing that the financial gatekeepers have turned a blind eyetoward their children, have dug deep and looked in their own backyards forsolutions. Coaches, teachers, big brothers and sisters, mentors, church groups,and other volunteers are the real heroes of this city, and have stepped up in abig way to impact the lives of our young men and women. Still, there is a greatdeal of bitterness on the part of Washingtonians toward the federal government.

Sodon't expect all the locals to get misty-eyed over monuments, inaugurationballs, or care about the society sightings inside Style. What might get thememotional is the sight of someone who shares their memories. The ones whoremember Riggo breaking that tackle in '83, Len Bias's jersey number, PhilChenier's baseline jumper, Frank Howard's swing, or Doug Williams throwingdownfield like God was talking in his ear. The ones who saw Aretha as a child performingwith her father onstage at the Howard, or Sinatra at the Watergate barge, orTrouble Funk at the old 9:30, or Hendrix at the Ambassador, or Bruce at theChilde Harold. The ones who play Frankie Beverly or EWF atSunday picnics in Rock Creek Park. The ones who have Backyard Band,Minor Threat, Chuck Brown, William DeVaughn, Shirley Horn, and Bad Brains intheir record collections. The ones who know that Elgin Baylor came out ofSpingarn, or that Adrian Dantley and Brian Westbrook were DeMatha Stags. The ones who hear the voice of Bobby "The Mighty Burner" Bennett onthe radio and can't help but grin. The ones who bleedBurgundy and Gold. The ones who will claim that they know your distantcousin, or tell you they like the looks of your car, or, if it needs to bereplaced, mention that it's a hooptie. Or the woman at theSafeway who hands you your receipt and tells you to "have a blessed day." Or the matriarch on your street with the prunish, beautifulface who raised six sons and now lords over a house holding many of theirchildren.

It'sabout the collective memories of the locals, and also about the voices. If youclose your eyes and listen to the people of this city, you will hear the manydifferent voices, and if you've lived here long enough, the cadences andrhythms, the familiarity of it, the feeling that you are home, will make yousmile.

Thisis a collection of short stories that, in the context of crime/noir fiction,attempts to capture those voices. Why crime fiction? It involves a high degreeof conflict, which drives most good fiction. It also allows us to exploresocial issues and the strengths and frailties of humanity that are a part ofour everyday lives here.