Gangsta's Paradise
It's Just Business As Usual
by Chloe Spillane-Tzang
(LOL just kidding)
Β© 2023 Chloe Tzang. All rights reserved. The author asserts a right to be identified as the author of this story. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a review. If you see this story on any website other than Literotica, it's been ripped off without the author's permission.
And here's that little introduction from Chloe:
I'm dedicating this story to a fellow-writer on Literotica and a good friend, Maonaigh, who very recently passed away. Maonaigh and I joined Literotica and started writing here around the same time, shared a love of writing, and read and enjoyed each other's stories. It was Maonaigh who made a comment on one of my other stories (Halloween in Roanapur) that gave me the idea that sparked off the "Hammered" story event back three or four years ago, and I think it's fitting to dedicate my "Hammered" story this year in his memory. Thanks for the inspiration, Maonaigh, and thanks for all the feedback and encouragement as well as your friendship. See you in the next incarnation, and with this story, I'll raise a glass in your memory, for after we're gone, memories are all that remain. SlΓ‘inte.
Since I kicked this event off, I've organized the first, second and now the third "Hammered: An Ode to Mickey Spillane" events on Literotica, but I didn't get a story in for either of the first two myself. Bad Chloe! This year, for the third "Hammered" story event, I managed to complete this little contribution, which was waaaaaay and beyond too late for the 2022 event, unfortunately, but it's now finally completed and in. It's not exactly short (think novel-length, and not a short novel either), and it's not exactly sweetness and light. It is, however, complete and finished, so no waiting for the next episode needed.
There's a long lead in before there's any sex at all, and a lot of the sex is non-con. Not all, but a lot. The protagonist of this little tale isn't the most likable of characters either, so don't start reading this and expecting one of my feel good stories. It's not, and it's in non-con, which should be a clue. Anyhow, no more spoilers. LOL. Let's just say that "Gangsta's Paradise" was written for the "Hammered" story event, and "Hammered" is an Ode to Mickey Spillane, so think noir and dark, along with a lotta sex and violence.
As for Noir, it's an offshoot of the hard-boiled school of fiction. It's "...the long drop off the short pier, and the wrong man and the wrong woman in perfect misalliance. It's the nightmare of flawed souls with big dreams and the precise how and why of the all-time sure thing that goes bad. Noir is opportunity as fatality, social justice as sanctified shuck, and sexual love as a one-way ticket to hell...(Noir is)...dark and often oppressive, failing to allow redemption for most of the people who inhabit their sad, violent, (and) amoral world. Carefully wrought plans
crumble, lovers deceive, normality morphs into decadence, decency is scarce and unrewarded...."
All of that said, this is my first real attempt at Noir, and I do hope I've covered the essentials: the femme fatale (very fatale in this story), some tough criminals, a cynical cop, an urban environment out of the zombie apocalypse, and night...the endless eternal night of Noir, along with seedy bars, run down coffee shops, seedy nightclubs, menacing alleys, and the luxury apartments and protected lifestyles of the obliviously wealthy as society crumbles around them, oblivious until that societal disintegration touches their lives.
And an acknowledgement here: Given this whole event is an Ode to Mickey Spillane, it seemed fitting to include a few of Spillane's lines as a little "homage to the master" towards the end, and I'd like to acknowledge those here - those who've read "I, The Jury" will easily spot them towards the end.. For myself, I really wanted that Noir / Spillane / Mike Hammer ambience, although I've done rather more sex than Spillane EVER did and using a few of Spillane's words seemed a fitting tribute to the master himself, and a tongue-in-cheek way to help wrap the story.
For me, this story was both a challenge, and fun to write, dark as it is. It was also a real learning experience for me in at least attempting to write something Noir. And, as always, I do hope you enjoy this and all the other stories in the "Hammered: An Ode to Mickey Spillane" story event.
Your enjoying these story events, and reading and enjoying the stories themselves, is what makes writing here on Literotica so rewarding and enjoyable...and as well as thanking you, the reader, for reading, I'd like to thank all the other authors who wrote for this event, and who, by doing so, contributed to making it such a success that we've now run it for three years in a row.... I'd also like to thank the readers of Jeong, who have so patiently, or impatiently, been awaiting the next installment. This done, it's coming, guys.
Oh, and a warning. This isn't a short story, it's a 200k+ word novel. So if you're looking for a quick lightweight read, be warned - this is 60 odd Literotica pages of sex and violence. Enjoy, but don't blame me if you're reading to 5am the day after tomorrow....
Chloe
* * * Gangsta's Paradise * * *
"As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long, that
Even my momma thinks that my mind is gone
But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard of
You better watch how you talkin' and where you walkin'
Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk"
Gangsta's Paradise (Coolio, 1995), version sung by Kina Grannis
* * *
Eleven thirty on a Monday evening.
Rain hammered in sideways against my apartment windows, hammered in like a boxer throwing a flurry of haymakers, one after the other without any pause. Coming in hard, so hard I could hear winter pounding against the glass through the triple glazing, glittering blackness, wet and mean, cold and violent as a nightclub bouncer breaking up a drunken brawl.
A good night to be catching up on sleep, and I was.
Clubbing? Nah, forget it. I was in bed.