Family:
Frank James is Emerson’s father and considered the most ranking member of the Black Affiliate Nation, which he would rename Almighty Affiliate Nation, and, eventually, the Mighty Affiliate Nation.
I heard what they said about him on the streets my whole life. “His natural disposition leans toward cruelty,” my mother explained. That he was not a man to be trifled with was an understatement. “And no one,” my uncle always warned, “is beyond his wrath.”
Angela James is Emerson’s mother.
Jesse James is the younger brother of Frank and Emerson’s uncle. His real name is Clyde, but only Frank calls him that. He is one of the most senior members of the Affiliates. He and his brother have always been seen as one, which is the reason the Original 10 members are referred to as O9 (O-nine).
Immanuel James, E-Man, is a Chicago police officer and Emerson’s older brother. He and Emerson do not get along. As the three of us lay huddled in the back room that evening, E-man finally spoke the words that would change us forever: “This is your fault. You dun messed everything up. Mr. Alvin untouchable. You so stupid. You know…I hate you, E. I really do.”
Maya James is a year older than her brother Emerson. She has six children. Besides being a professional singer, she seems to be habitually angry. Maya knew she rubbed people the wrong way—that she snapped about the slightest things. She had a habit of turning compliments into insults, of turning a scratch into a cut, of spinning a mild misunderstanding into nuclear war. And what was clear to everybody was that Maya liked these facts about herself.
Yes James is Maya’s six-year-old daughter. She is the only one of Maya’s children with the last name James.
Lance/Slimy is one of Maya’s sons and Emerson’s nephew.
Rawley Simpson is Emerson’s Uncle and a recently retired Deputy Chief of the Chicago Police Department.
Bernice “Bennie” Simpson is Rawley’s wife, Angela James’ sister, and Emerson’s aunt.
Kelly Scott is the daughter of Rawley and Bernice Simpson, mother of Chilly, and Emerson’s cousin.
Charles Scott Jr., aka Chilly, is Kelly’s son and Emerson’s younger cousin. He is an ambitious MAN soldier. When I reached over to kiss my Cousin Kim’s cheek, I saw Chilly, my younger cousin who used to idolize me, move slowly, without care. With his arm extended, he pointed a straight finger at my back with thumb cocked. When I turned slightly, he dropped the thumb and jerked his arm as if he had fired a shot.
Associates:
Night: Abeo Olatunji is a MAN general and the most dangerous “entity” in the gang. He is a successful businessman, which allows him to traverse the legitimate world with his gangster roots. Night is respected by most, but feared by all. He thought himself to be a simple man with simple understandings. None more so than death. The taking of a human life? Easy. He considered killing a mere physical performance, one as uncomplicated as learning any new, diverse skill.
Big T: Terrell Kelper is 6’3 and weighs over 300 pounds. He is Night’s business partner and one of the highest ranking MAN generals. Along with Sims, his reputation as one of the most respected street fighters in the city was earned bare-knuckle fighting pugilists from other gangs.
J.C. Alvin is a MAN general and the only child of Mr. Alvin. He is loud and obnoxious and unaware about the way his Cousins view him. But J.C.? He was clueless. He thought he was loved by everyone. He tended to live in a fantasy world, thinking he was not only revered by others, but that his opinion was valued and his insight was esteemed.
Jelly is a Tribe soldier. He is seen by most to be slow-witted because he doesn’t speak, a result of a crippling car accident that killed his identical twin. The truck that hit them didn’t see the two undersized eight year-olds playing at the curb. He just came around the corner and ran them over, both Bernard Timothy and Thomas Bishop. Thomas was killed instantly. Jelly was in a comma for three months. Next time we saw him, he was wearing a helmet styled contraption that encased his entire head and shoulders, with a hardened plastic body cast over his upper torso. He had bolts twisted into his skull and a metal splint and screws fused into the base of his spinal cord that held everything in place.
He was raised by his grandmother MeMa, the first Affiliate Lotus and highest ranking female in the gang’s history. On the street, her name was spoken with a reverence equaled only by those of the original Council. Not only was she looked upon as the first full fledge female Affiliate member and not a mere girlfriend, she had been in the middle of Civil Rights marches beginning in the early 70s.
Monty B.: Affiliate general and the Tribe’s resident instigator.
Tweeny: Affiliate general and member of the Tribe. He is aggressive and hostile and a bad drunk. He and Monty B. are best friends.
Finished: Affiliate general and member of the Tribe. He is frequently annoyed by the behavior of his AL’s. “I’m so sick of these motherfuckers. They so suspect. This here. This here…” he said, waving his arm through the destroyed door frame, “is that bullshit!”
Tre’: Former gun runner turned nurse, he is a husband and father who has mainly stepped away from all street action. He has a cousin named Mark who is an Affiliate only because of his proximity to Tre’, and an uncle named Jimmy, a former pimp.
Lil Kevin is an Affiliate general. He is loud and seen as a poser. He is a liar and feels the need to be heard constantly. What he was sure of was that lil Kevin—all 5’6, 200 pounds of swollen flesh—was a nuisance and always had been one. Lil Kevin was one of the only members who had always skirted doing anything serious for the gang, comfortable riding the coattail of his uncle’s status.
Wheeze: A MAN general, Wheeze is a pothead with a little man complex who is often underestimated. That’s when Wheeze stopped smiling. His original, more jovial mood was gone. What replaced it was the sly smile of a proven gangster. Even though smiling again, his threat was clear.
Timer: Henry Lew is an MAN general with an extremely short fuse, thus the name.
Big Poo: Michael Samuelson is a CPD officer and a friend from Emerson’s past. He has no known gang affiliations.
Lieutenant Hall: Uncle Rawley’s protege, he runs the city’s Violent Crimes Unit (VCU).