Ran a route in central L.A. in the mid 80's with every gang infested turd bucket building in town on it for a small mom and pop. Part of my route was on the 900 block of south Normandie, area was surrounded by a gang called Mara Salvatrucha. This company hired a probie who just got out of the Army and into the Trade and unfortunately for him paired him with me. Showing him some elevators on Normandie we found one down, start up the stairs. At the 3rd floor of this crap hole we ran into this gangbanger I kinda knew, but more importantly he knew me kinda, chillin on the stairs. We talked a minute and on to the roof. Typical roof for the area, eyeball burning stench of piss, every door and padlock stomped and kicked to crap, broken bottles everywhere and the local artists had covered every vertical surface, I don't know who Lil' Puppet was but he was EVERYWHERE. We open the machine room door and discover the pharmacutical center for the MS, empty coke folds everywhere and I think to myself "DAMMIT". Look around and over my shoulder, all OK. Tell the Probie they have been using the machine room to cut and package cocaine. Found an open fuse, down to the van. We pass the gangbanger at 3 and he asks what we are doing on the roof. I tell him we are working on the elevator and he suggests to hurry up, makes me a little nervous. Find the fuses and start back when two guys sitting in a Caddie parked on the street stop us and ask what we were doing on the roof, now really nervous. I tell them we were working on the elevator but now we just need to pick up my tools and leave. We RUN upstairs, passing the 3rd floor the Hommie tells us to hurry the f**k up and get out. I was grabbing my tools in the machine room when it dawned upon me to check on my probie, he had just been following me around."You Ok?" I asked and he nervously replied "Ya, what's going on?" with a look of terror on his face. No time to explain but I told him "We are going to quickly walk out and to the van and DO NOT look around or stare as we go.". When we got out of the building, every fire escape of every building on the block was full of gangbangers staring us down, it was unreal.
